6 replies to this topic

[segami]

Hi All,
I am new to the WHS arena, but would like to get some sort of server running at my house. I've self-built my PC's in the past but not sure if I want to tackle the same for a server. Anyone have any advice on doing a self-build vs. buying a pre-built one? By pre-built, I mean something like the HP Mediasmart servers (I missed out on getting one which they looked like they would be a nice little product, but from what I understand, they aren't super easy to come by anymore).

My main features I'm looking for are backup of docs/music/videos, streaming to HTPC/X360 (and possibly internet), and maybe hosting email/domain/web access stuff (but I don't have any domains, so not sure on this one). Much thanks for anyone with some advice for someone just starting out.
-chris

[therealdippy]

You'll need to answer some key questions first:
How much space is there where you plan to locate the server? Does it need to be headless?
How much data do you need to store? Do you want to protect your data with redundancy or rely on backups?
Will you want to do anything else on the server such as transcoding?

I originally looked at the HP Mediasmart for my server but I had some really bad experience with HP support on other PCs that had only just gone out of warranty and expired, and also I thought about my needs and came to the conclusion that I wanted something better. So I ended up building my own, with a fair level of future-proofing in terms of CPU performance and storage capacity. The only issue I had was getting an Intel LAN driver to install on the Asus consumer motherboard (this is a known issue and quite well documented on this forum).

[Teetime]

Hi All,
I am new to the WHS arena, but would like to get some sort of server running at my house. I've self-built my PC's in the past but not sure if I want to tackle the same for a server. Anyone have any advice on doing a self-build vs. buying a pre-built one? By pre-built, I mean something like the HP Mediasmart servers (I missed out on getting one which they looked like they would be a nice little product, but from what I understand, they aren't super easy to come by anymore).

My main features I'm looking for are backup of docs/music/videos, streaming to HTPC/X360 (and possibly internet), and maybe hosting email/domain/web access stuff (but I don't have any domains, so not sure on this one). Much thanks for anyone with some advice for someone just starting out.
-chris

Segami, I had never built my own PC although I was comfortable with changing out components in pre-built computers. When I recently decided to upgrade to WHS 2011 I decided to build my own server using a server-class motherboard that can run headless. You can read my blog entry on this project for more information about my configuration.

/jerry

[maxblack]

Chris building a WHS2011 server is really no big deal, and in many ways IMO anyway a lot easier. But then I only use it for a few things including backups/storage and WSUS.

It also btw is one of the very smallest PCs I own...!

[segami]

You'll need to answer some key questions first:
How much space is there where you plan to locate the server? Does it need to be headless?How much data do you need to store? Do you want to protect your data with redundancy or rely on backups?Will you want to do anything else on the server such as transcoding?

I hadn't thought much about where I'd be locating it yet - I suppose in my office, but I'd lean towards something smaller than larger (ie, I liked the size of the Mediasmart servers). I don't think it would have to be headless, but I'd lean towards it.

For data storage - I have a 500 GB computer, a 80 GB laptop, and a 200GB laptop that I'd want to back up. Some of the data (music files) would be overlapping between them. Some of the files (like a WOW/other game installations) wouldn't have to be backed up. We do have several MiniDV cassettes (maybe 10?) that I've not transferred to a computer yet, so it would be nice to add them. Also might be nice to start ripping my dvd's and store on it so I could stream to TVs in the house. Thoughts on the best size's HDDs to start with?

I like the idea of local redundancy so if a hard drive crashes, I'd be able to just replace it and keep going. But I also think that getting offsite storage would be good too (crashplan recently caught my attention although a friend also recommends carbonite).

I suppose I might use it for some transcoding, but I wouldn't have to use it for that. Thanks for any input.

Edit: fixed formatting

[therealdippy]

In that case I think you'll find that an OEM server will do what you need, and you'll not save much or any money by building yourself.

If it is of any interest, my server backs up 3 PCs and 2 laptops and with system images that takes up about 600GB. Of course I encourage everyone on my family to keep documents on the server shared folders. With media that's about 500GB and growing rapidly as I add HD videos and photos from my camcorder. And I haven't yet digitised the contents of 50 or so 90min Hi8 video tapes from my old camcorder. Then of course I shall want to edit the video, keeping both source and edited content on the server. I then have file redundancy on a lot of this data (I use Drivebender) so at the moment I'm using about 1.7TB of my 4.5TB pool, but I know that at some point I'll need more space. My inital build has 3 2TB drives with another removable 2TB drive in a dock for backups. Then of course I have the system HDD and a BD drive. Since I wanted to be able to easily add drives in the future I quickly decided that I should self-build instead of buying OEM (although as I mentioned I had a bad experience from HP so I wasn't inclined to anyway). I actually have capacity to add at least 6 more drives (I'll need a SATA extender). It's probably way more than I'll need, but at least I really don't need to care about saving data. And I guess as my 2 daughters get older they'll probably start using more than me!

[segami]

Is there a general consensus on what the better/best OEM servers are currently available?