Media/Central Storage

[bpendz]

Well it took all weekend but i took ubuntu 13.10 , loaded it on a old gateway media pc, with a single core 1gb, loaded a NTFS usb external got it mounted with correct permissions, installed webmin, plex, ssh. Albeit it isn't the most beautiful setup, I have all computers/wifi devices communicating with it, seeing it as a samba server, plex streams to all media devices (not tv yet as i have no client for the tv).

What do you all recommend for a solid performing media server/storage? I am intermediate with linux, mostly google educated and self learning. I know hardware good, but I am not sure what would be good?

I am upgrading my network over the next few moths to all /ac standard and gigabit routing, eventually I will move this desktop up to the router area and not on wifi. (if I can get the eth drivers to recognize the device).

Let me know what your media server is running, that way I can gauge what I may move to. I work in the hosting industry so may be able to pull a lowcost dual quad core, with a few 1tb drives in it. Those things are just so damn load even if tucked away.

[asas]

I'm using a synology ds412+, which i love and was super easy to setup, and is super quiet... but you may have been referring to software if you want to stick with your old gateway hardware wise..?

[anophis]

I'm using a NSA325 v2 | ZyXEL with 2x 4TB HDD.

It's really cheap, easy to set up and has a good modding community.

[zx10guy]

My setup is a little overkill. Ok it's really overkill for a home network. I have virtual server running as a file server with Windows Server 2008 as the OS. The VMware ESXi hypervisor which the virtual file server is running on has two Equallogic iSCSI storage arrays. The storage arrays have 16 drives each (2 hot spares on each array). One array has 15K SAS drives in RAID 50 with about 900 GB of useable storage. The other array has 7200 RPM SATA drives in a RAID 6 setup with about 14 TB of useable storage.

Like I said not your typical home setup and way over kill.

[mdk]

My approach is a bit a different than typical setups. Custom built HTPC in the living room with a 5x Drive Raid 5 running on intel ICH. The case: LC16M is large enough to hold 6 drives and a decent video card, so the PC ends up being a NAS+HTPC+gaming box all in one.

Runs very quiet and I've been using this and a similar setup for about 6 years now. I got burned a while back using a WD mybookworld home NAS (firmware update killed it, and had to spend weeks recovering data), so my primary concern with regards to NAS setups is the replacability of the controller (hardware or software) incase of failure.

[ungod]

For hardware, I'd recommend Synology NAS. I have a Synology DS-106e running at home for 7+ years without a problem. It's a single drive NAS, and the HDD is only 320GB but it's mostly for movies and programs for my kids to watch on the PS3 or Xbox 360.

At work I have various NAS but the only ones I'd recommend, again, are Synology. Great features, easy to setup, very reliable, etc. I was very disappointed with Seagate, Iomega NAS.

I've heard good things regarding ZyXEL NAS but have no experience of these.

I have no experience of any media centre software but Amahi Home Server looks interesting.

[snoopy6489]

can it handle a lot of people steaming movies from it?

[Gost_dog]

I use a simple WD mycloud, 4TB. (available in 2-4-6-12TB even RAID1)

As a NEAT interface... easy to use and setup... built-in backup... email notifications...Apple app to access your stuff while not on same LAN.

Expendable using USB 3.0 at the back!!! (ive got 3 x 5TB attached to it now)

And to answer your last question, Im using is to stream and share its my multimedia library no issues streaming 4 at the same time so far!!!! its been great. (its hardwired to my dual band router on a 100mbp/s connection)

LINK:

WD My Cloud - Secured Personal Cloud - Access Anywhere

[reishin]

this could be any miniATX like Zotac, with possibility to add any feature you want  

[thevexx2]

i used my old computer as a home server, i use it to extend my internet connection, share media, and a website hoster. its running on linux ubuntu server edition 15.04, with 2 tb of storage.

[Ex1Lee]

Synology all the way, but with the hardware you have you could try  XPEenology, you can put the synology on your own hardware! 

[atarigalore]

i really like FreeNAS.  I have 8x 2TB drives on an old opteron supermicro board with 48GB ram.

[bcc1911]

why not try Raspberry pi for RAID backup storage? I personally intend to start it since i already got a First gen Pi B

 

http://projpi.com/diy-home-projects-with-a-raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-raid-array-with-usb-hdds/

 

Synology in my opinion is really expensive.

 

 

[grennith]

On 26.2.2017 at 0:12 PM, bcc1911 said:

why not try Raspberry pi for RAID backup storage? I personally intend to start it since i already got a First gen Pi B

 

http://projpi.com/diy-home-projects-with-a-raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-raid-array-with-usb-hdds/

 

Synology in my opinion is really expensive.

 

 

 

Raspberry PI's ethernet is slow... Either go for a Banana or another 1Gb interface-board or go big.

Mod an old desktop to hold an intel ITX board of a newer generation

[enchained]

Thinking about getting Synology 216+II, but it's not cheap. I really want the transcoding, so Intel processor is a must I guess. And I really like how compact it is. I won't be able to assemble something like that by myself, right? or it won't be cheaper. Not sure if small cases like that are even on the market. Or is there a cheaper, probably upgradable NAS that can run XPEnology? Really like that interface.

[mariussx]

On 26/07/2017 at 1:49 PM, enchained said:

Thinking about getting Synology 216+II, but it's not cheap. I really want the transcoding, so Intel processor is a must I guess. And I really like how compact it is. I won't be able to assemble something like that by myself, right? or it won't be cheaper. Not sure if small cases like that are even on the market. Or is there a cheaper, probably upgradable NAS that can run XPEnology? Really like that interface.

 

I would recommend Synology - currently still using my old DS215J and it's still going strong after 3 years. WD Red drivers inside are fine, although had one DOA Red, which was replaced straight away. User interface is great, mobile phone apps are awesome - you can control the NAS while being on holiday in another country etc. I like the fact that they are near silent, have decent performance and low wattage too, which were my main requirements at the time.

[mrfunkyjunkie]

for off the shelf solutions, id tend to lean towards qnap. if your building your own, theres some really good guides out there on hardware (just google 'DIY NAS') - and for ease of use, cant really go past freeNAS (if your purely after a storage platform), there are other options you can consider for streaming/multimedia platforms.

[[LEVO]FuzzyThor]

I have a netgear nighthawk with my 4tb drive connected. I have vpn access to my network from my phone so i can stream my downloaded movies. Also my other computers and tvs on the network can access the drive also.

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by [LEVO]FuzzyThor

[iejun]

Got a netgear

[rtrainer]

On 7/29/2014 at 11:53 PM, zx10guy said:

My setup is a little overkill. Ok it's really overkill for a home network. I have virtual server running as a file server with Windows Server 2008 as the OS. The VMware ESXi hypervisor which the virtual file server is running on has two Equallogic iSCSI storage arrays. The storage arrays have 16 drives each (2 hot spares on each array). One array has 15K SAS drives in RAID 50 with about 900 GB of useable storage. The other array has 7200 RPM SATA drives in a RAID 6 setup with about 14 TB of useable storage.

Like I said not your typical home setup and way over kill.

What do you use for backups?

[rtrainer]

i have 2 Synology boxes. A 1515+ w/5 4GB WD Reds running RAID5 and a 1517+ w/2 10BG WD Reds running RAID1

I also back both up to BackBlaze.

[faboone]

A great tested choice is if the router supports a USB 3 port, for example a Tp-Link Archer C9 1900 router with an external Hdd, 1TB оr 8TB attached to it or flash drive, the opportunities are great. This setup is available for every router with USB2 or USB3, and with functionality for FTP server.  The speeds in this setup in test for transfer over a LAN network are more than 18 mb/s on a 5GHz AC network, through 2 walls, but higher speeds are also possible, under certain conditions . In the router settings, it is easy to turn on or off an FTP server with or without a password, which is visible to all devices on the LAN or on the Internet. You can watch high-definition videos on LAN, for example through Android TV or Android TV box with VLC player.

Edited February 27, 2021 by faboone

[danjayh]

An old HPz420 with a cheap ebay MegaRAID 9621 in raid 6 mode, connected to a bunch of cheap secondhand 4TB SAS drives. Running backblaze unlimited for off-site. Works like a charm and was very low-cost ... only downside is it drinks power like it's free.