Need some kind of HTPC/Media Server for both Win7 & MAC OS X

Nemesis379

Nemesis379

Nemesis379

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Need some kind of HTPC/Media Server for both Win7 & MAC OS X

What I need:
  • A way of accessing files from either a HTPC I build or a NAS.
  • Fast speeds 90-100MB/sec for transferring files and watching HD content off the unit.
  • The unit to have decent speeds when connected to a MAC (which I'm looking at buying in the future sometime, I also have Windows PC's too).
  • The unit to be able to watch netflix videos unless it's a NAS then I will use something like LG BP620 to watch netflix/stream videos
  • Maybe be used as a FTP/Web Server at some point as well as the above.
  • It has to be either 2 or 4 bay, and I will be wanting to backup each hard drive to another so 2 backup 2 use (not using Raid 1 or 10 because I don't think it's a viable solution).

What I've been looking at:
  • Making my own Windows 7 HTPC but will speeds from Win7 to MAC OS X be fast enough? (Cheaper option compared to the rest)
  • Buying a synology NAS, however I had the DS412+ a while back and it had problems with transferring large amounts of data it would go on standby.
    I wanted this feature but couldn't and had to disable so I returned the unit.
  • Another NAS from another company. (I would have to buy something like LG BP620 to watch the content from the TV)
  • Buying Mac Mini Server then adding external drives.
  • Cheaper is better if it can do all that I need.

Basically I need centralized data whereby PC's and MAC's can access files fast without a hiccup, if the machine is running as an HTPC then it's a plus. If not I can get a LG BP620 and stream from the machine that has the data, but the machine must be able to handle HD content etc.

I already have hard drives (WD 3TB Reds x4), but I'm only using two at the moment 1 backup 1 use, so If I have to just buy 2 Bay NAS to save money I can.

Any ideas would be great.

Thanks!
 
If I do get something like the HP Proliant Microserver what OS do I use and what kind of speeds will I be getting from OS X to the server.
 
You'd generally stick Linux on it, but Windows can work too.

Speeds from OSX to the server depend primarily on the network and Hard Drives at either end. If you use a 100Mbit ethernet connection you'll only get a maximum of 12.5MB/s (theoretical, actual will be more like 10-11MB/s). You'll need to use Gigabit LAN to get close to the 90-100MB/s you want: Gigabit LAN will allow you to transfer at something between 80MB/s and 110MB/s on a typical network.

Assuming you're using Gigabit LAN the total transfer rate will mostly be dependant on your HDD speeds at each end. Read speeds of most modern larger drives (1TB+) are above 100MB/s anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem - but write speeds of mechanical drives are generally a little lower, so you may struggle to get up to the 90MB/s range.

Why do you consider RAID1 to be unviable? Raid10 sounds ideal for you, as it would provide faster write speeds and intrinsic backups. If nothing else, you'll probably need to RAID0 your HDDs to get sufficient write speeds to get the throughput you want. Using an SSD is the other option, but you'll run out of space faster. This also depends on the read speed of the OSX drive.

Depending on how much data you're transferring to the server, it may make some sense to use a small SSD as a buffer when writing to the server. Write files to the SSD, then have a small utility move them across to the HDD once the transfer is complete.

Realistically, with a single mechanical HDD at each end you're probably looking at about 70MB/s over gigabit LAN, unless the drives are particularly fast. If there are 5400RPM green/laptop drives involved, or you have to use WiFi or 100Mb lan at any point, you're going to find it significantly lower than that.
 
as above a linux os would work the best. something like freenas which has cifs and afp support.

i have just recently got a microserver and had similar requirements (apart from the speed)

i have a mac which needs backing up, a win 8 pc which needs backing up. it needs to store all my media and server them to a jailbroken atv2.

i couldnt get freenas to work so am testing whs11 at the moment.

its working fine with my mac. (have paragon ntfs and ntfs3g) to be able to write to an ntfs partition.

whs11 was easy to setup.
 
It was very easy to set up, download an image, burn it to CD, attached external CD drive to Microserver, pointed the install to USB and boom, done.

I think I read it's 150W.
 
bloodiedathame said:
It was very easy to set up, download an image, burn it to CD, attached external CD drive to Microserver, pointed the install to USB and boom, done.

I think I read it's 150W.
Click to expand...

i have freenas on a usb which is essentially the same.

i spent hours the other night trying to get my mac to access it but it kept asking for passwords and not accepting them etc. i watched video upon video and read many documents but it still wasnt working.

ended up sticking whs11 on but due to ntfs its just a workaround on the mac which is allowing it to work.
 
bloodiedathame said:
HP Proliant Microsever would suit you and a Raspberry Pi running Xmbc.
Click to expand...

A Raspberry Pi isn't going to run Netflix / Silverlight streaming. It also isn't 'great' when flicking through the interface on XBMC either - it depends what you're comparing it to I guess. I tried it, and was comparing it to my normal HTPC which is a Zbox AD02 - and next to that, it felt a bit slow.

bloodiedathame said:
I think I read it's 150W.
Click to expand...

You've read it wrong, is that the max wattage of the PSU? I have an NL36 and in 'normal' use it's below 20w.

My NL36 runs Ubuntu server 10.04 LTS (hey, it's not broken - I ain't fixing it!). It holds the primary data store for the house, with all clients backing up to it and being able to access the media library.

One of those clients is a MacBookPro - I can run some IPERF on that if you want although I've never noticed it to be 'slow'. The MBP also backs itself up to the NL36 through Time Machine.

My HTPC is (as mentioned above) a Zbox AD02. I don't like noise, so it runs with the fans on low and with an SSD in there. The NL36, whilst quiet, still has large (noisy) storage drives and so lives in the cupboard under the stairs out of the way.

If you're fine with a bit of fan/HDD noise then you could just get the current model MS and add something like a low profile AMD HD 6450 to get your HDMI output.
 
Audigex said:
You'd generally stick Linux on it, but Windows can work too.

Speeds from OSX to the server depend primarily on the network and Hard Drives at either end. If you use a 100Mbit ethernet connection you'll only get a maximum of 12.5MB/s (theoretical, actual will be more like 10-11MB/s). You'll need to use Gigabit LAN to get close to the 90-100MB/s you want: Gigabit LAN will allow you to transfer at something between 80MB/s and 110MB/s on a typical network.

Assuming you're using Gigabit LAN the total transfer rate will mostly be dependant on your HDD speeds at each end. Read speeds of most modern larger drives (1TB+) are above 100MB/s anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem - but write speeds of mechanical drives are generally a little lower, so you may struggle to get up to the 90MB/s range.

Why do you consider RAID1 to be unviable? Raid10 sounds ideal for you, as it would provide faster write speeds and intrinsic backups. If nothing else, you'll probably need to RAID0 your HDDs to get sufficient write speeds to get the throughput you want. Using an SSD is the other option, but you'll run out of space faster. This also depends on the read speed of the OSX drive.

Depending on how much data you're transferring to the server, it may make some sense to use a small SSD as a buffer when writing to the server. Write files to the SSD, then have a small utility move them across to the HDD once the transfer is complete.

Realistically, with a single mechanical HDD at each end you're probably looking at about 70MB/s over gigabit LAN, unless the drives are particularly fast. If there are 5400RPM green/laptop drives involved, or you have to use WiFi or 100Mb lan at any point, you're going to find it significantly lower than that.
Click to expand...

I have a gigabit LAN so that's no problem.

The problem with Raid is what happens if the motherboard goes bust? then what

What Linux OS would you recommend?

The hard drives I will be using are WD RED 3TB's.

Thanks for the response.
 
Here's what I do:
- Physical backups of all my files on my NAS so I can restore if my machine bites the biscuit.
- A spare drive, 250GB as a spare boot drive that I update monthly.
- Another spare drive I use to keep all my completed work on (I use lots of big files)
- Crashplan (£5 a month) for a peace of mind cloud backup.

And I'm in the process of getting all my photos sorted and onto Flickr. And I use Google Music to upload all my songs to.

Doesn't really cost the earth.
 
bloodiedathame said:
Here's what I do:
- Physical backups of all my files on my NAS so I can restore if my machine bites the biscuit.
- A spare drive, 250GB as a spare boot drive that I update monthly.
- Another spare drive I use to keep all my completed work on (I use lots of big files)
- Crashplan (£5 a month) for a peace of mind cloud backup.

And I'm in the process of getting all my photos sorted and onto Flickr. And I use Google Music to upload all my songs to.

Doesn't really cost the earth.
Click to expand...

Not trying to be a D, but I don't really care about offsite backups, and I would never trust a company that has cloud to store my data.

Anyone got any good recommendations for an OS???
 
For right now offsite backup isn't really needed perhaps in the future I will invest in some kind of offsite backup but for now not really :D.

And yes.
 
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