New, Advice needed on first server build

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freenaszfs

New Member
Aug 11, 2019
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I want a media and file storage server that will house my videos, music, photos, etc. preferably using Plex, and I am wondering what pieces I need to make it. Other than the hard drives, do I absolutely need to have a server motherboard, Xeon CPU, ECC RAM, etc. or can I just go with my consumer grade hardware? What software do I need to install, is FreeNAS a good option?
 

Deslok

Well-Known Member
Jul 15, 2015
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deslok.dyndns.org
You can go with enterprise or consumer grade hardware, but if your budget allows it you'll typically get more bang/buck if you're willing to get used enterprise gear either here(there's a sales forum) or ebay(something like a poweredge T620 or a R720 comes to mind for your target use)
 

Marsh

Moderator
May 12, 2013
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1,496
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What is your budget?
How many Plex clients? What are the clients?
How many TB that you want or need?
How big do you envision the server?
Where is the server will be located? Noise and size matters.
How many hours is on per day? Electricity cost ?
Do you have a backup server and backup plan for your files?
For example, I have 4 backup server , therefore, each 10TB storage needs 40 TB backup storage.
 

freenaszfs

New Member
Aug 11, 2019
2
0
1
What is your budget?
How many Plex clients? What are the clients?
How many TB that you want or need?
How big do you envision the server?
Where is the server will be located? Noise and size matters.
How many hours is on per day? Electricity cost ?
Do you have a backup server and backup plan for your files?
For example, I have 4 backup server , therefore, each 10TB storage needs 40 TB backup storage.
I want at least 16-20TB, I will have maybe at max 3 devices streaming Plex at once either through phone, tablet, or laptop and they would be 1080p, maybe 1 4k. This server will always be for home family use so a max of 3-4 connections. It would be on 24/7, electricity cost is negligible as of now. I would have 1 backup server max, so maybe a max of 40TB. Do you think MergerFS + Snapraid would be a good combination?