The finished article:
As tidy as I can get it without getting really fiddly. Cables are tucked away as tidy as possible to improve airflow and allow me to keep the fans turned down low since it sits in the living room.
Looking tidy out the back too - definitely an improvement on before.
The server in situ.
This was never meant to be a spectacularly pretty or complex build. The main purpose was to build a file server as much as possible from old hardware and to make it as quiet and as power efficient as possible. In that respect, I feel it has been a success.
The server has a usable storage space of 9.08TB. The CPU and RAM are running at stock as running underclocked made virtually no difference in power consumption. It is virtually silent. The two case fans are turned well down and all temps are more than acceptable. If I'm standing up next to it, I can't hear it and I certainly can't hear it from the settee - even with the telly off. I have to crouch down to within 2 feet of it to be able to hear it.
Power consumption is fine. I've had it hooked up to the power monitor for about 5 days now and the figures are:
Minimum power draw = 82W
Maximum power draw = 227W
Average power draw = 115W
Cost per day to run = 36p
The above figures are with it downloading and unpacking a fair bit (1TB over the last week
). I would expect the average power draw to come down to around 100W once the worst of the downloading is complete, which would bring the cost per day down to about 30p.
It's running fine without a graphics card, keyboard or mouse attached. Just had to make a small change in the BIOS to allow it to boot without. I have Teamviewer installed and can access it remotely through that. The only slight niggle with that is that the only resolution available in Teamviewer without a graphics card installed is 640x480 - which does make things fiddly but not impossible. Most of the remote access I need is to Sabnzbd and Couchpotato - both of which I can access in the browser of any of my other rigs. I tried working with Sickbeard but didn't get on with it so I'm not bothering. I don't watch a lot of TV shows anyway so, any I do want to download, I can organise through the browser interface for Sabnzbd.
The Plex server works a treat. I can watch on any device. I have a WDTV live box attached to the big telly in the living room. I have a small smart TV in the dining room with a Plex app installed. I have Plex Media Server installed on all my other PCs (as well as my Macbook). I also have Plex apps installed on both Android tablets and my Android phone. There's also and app for the iPad but it costs £2.99 (the Android apps are free) and the iPad never leaves the house nowadays so I'm not bothering.
I also had to run a network cable to the living room. I'd been using a Homeplug but it packed in. Rather than replace it I decided to bite the bullet and run a cable. One of the advantages of having one of your best mates as a landlord is being able to do stuff you wouldn't normally do in rented accommodation. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Would it be OK if I drilled a hole in the wall to run a network cable from the router in the dining room to the living room?"
Landlord: "Crack on mate."
I had some decent Cat5e cable I got from my flatmate in my last flat so, all I needed was a crimping tool and some rj45 connectors and a bit of Googling and, hey presto, I can haz network in living room. I have a 4 port switch in there so I can hook up the Tivo box, the Xbox and the WDTV live box. I also got a staple gun and some round staples and made a nice neat job of the cabling.
All-in-all, I'm pleased with the way things have gone. No serious issues either with the build or with setting up the media management side of things
As tidy as I can get it without getting really fiddly. Cables are tucked away as tidy as possible to improve airflow and allow me to keep the fans turned down low since it sits in the living room.
Looking tidy out the back too - definitely an improvement on before.
The server in situ.
This was never meant to be a spectacularly pretty or complex build. The main purpose was to build a file server as much as possible from old hardware and to make it as quiet and as power efficient as possible. In that respect, I feel it has been a success.
The server has a usable storage space of 9.08TB. The CPU and RAM are running at stock as running underclocked made virtually no difference in power consumption. It is virtually silent. The two case fans are turned well down and all temps are more than acceptable. If I'm standing up next to it, I can't hear it and I certainly can't hear it from the settee - even with the telly off. I have to crouch down to within 2 feet of it to be able to hear it.
Power consumption is fine. I've had it hooked up to the power monitor for about 5 days now and the figures are:
Minimum power draw = 82W
Maximum power draw = 227W
Average power draw = 115W
Cost per day to run = 36p
The above figures are with it downloading and unpacking a fair bit (1TB over the last week
). I would expect the average power draw to come down to around 100W once the worst of the downloading is complete, which would bring the cost per day down to about 30p.It's running fine without a graphics card, keyboard or mouse attached. Just had to make a small change in the BIOS to allow it to boot without. I have Teamviewer installed and can access it remotely through that. The only slight niggle with that is that the only resolution available in Teamviewer without a graphics card installed is 640x480 - which does make things fiddly but not impossible. Most of the remote access I need is to Sabnzbd and Couchpotato - both of which I can access in the browser of any of my other rigs. I tried working with Sickbeard but didn't get on with it so I'm not bothering. I don't watch a lot of TV shows anyway so, any I do want to download, I can organise through the browser interface for Sabnzbd.
The Plex server works a treat. I can watch on any device. I have a WDTV live box attached to the big telly in the living room. I have a small smart TV in the dining room with a Plex app installed. I have Plex Media Server installed on all my other PCs (as well as my Macbook). I also have Plex apps installed on both Android tablets and my Android phone. There's also and app for the iPad but it costs £2.99 (the Android apps are free) and the iPad never leaves the house nowadays so I'm not bothering.
I also had to run a network cable to the living room. I'd been using a Homeplug but it packed in. Rather than replace it I decided to bite the bullet and run a cable. One of the advantages of having one of your best mates as a landlord is being able to do stuff you wouldn't normally do in rented accommodation. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Would it be OK if I drilled a hole in the wall to run a network cable from the router in the dining room to the living room?"
Landlord: "Crack on mate."
I had some decent Cat5e cable I got from my flatmate in my last flat so, all I needed was a crimping tool and some rj45 connectors and a bit of Googling and, hey presto, I can haz network in living room. I have a 4 port switch in there so I can hook up the Tivo box, the Xbox and the WDTV live box. I also got a staple gun and some round staples and made a nice neat job of the cabling.
All-in-all, I'm pleased with the way things have gone. No serious issues either with the build or with setting up the media management side of things