Right now I’m running a Late 2012 Mac mini (8 x Intel Core i7-3615QM CPU @ 2.30GHz) with a 1TB SSD, a 4TB external USB HDD and 16GB of RAM. It runs Proxmox with a VM running Docker (just Transmission-OpenVPN container right now), a VM for a Debian VS Code tunnel and a LXC container for Plex. I also have a Pi3B running PiHole and I use a Mac Studio for my personal computer (500GB SSD). I’m using Fios for a 1G fiber connection, a TP-Link router (AX3000) and two daisy chained 1G unmanaged switches (unfortunate scenario due to my small apartment), 1 near my entertainment center (Apple TV, PS5 etc) and another near my desk and the Mini/Studio/Pi.
I’d like to build a NAS server which I could also use for these services. Priorities being 4K transcoding capabilities and the drives for a NAS. I would also like to set up a WireGuard VPN so I can use VNC to my Mac and access home services when I’m away, this is done with the TP-Link router right now.
Right now I can’t decide between Intel or AMD for the CPU, buying something new to future proof or buying some older used office hardware and what I should prioritize (server or network)?
Currently I’ve got a mix of personal data in Dropbox and iCloud Drive, I’ll likely consolidate it all to iCloud and eventually my NAS and have the NAS data backed up to Backblaze as well. I’d also like to backup my Studio to multiple Time Machine backups and have them in multiple locations. My media is currently all on the external drive and nothing is super valuable, just TV and movies (removes eye patch).
I’m trying to learn Linux and some web development (mostly three.js) so I’ll setup a new VM, probably NixOS moving forward, specifically for coding and web dev learning.
I’m looking for hardware recommendations for the Proxmox NAS server and also networking equipment? I’d like to move off the TP-Link hardware and use something open source. Also any suggestions for other services to run or considerations I may have missed. For example monitoring, how to manage users/access like SSH, where to buy hardware, home services you can’t live without etc.
I know this is a broad AF post, but figured it could trigger some good discussions!
If you’re going to be doing transcoding for remote users at lower bitrates, quicksync is still better than AMF, so I’d vote Team Intel.
If you’re not, then buy whatever meets your power envelope desires and price point.
For Intel, anything 8th gen or newer should be able to natively do anything you need in Quicksync, so you don’t need to head to Amazon and buy something new, unless you really want to.
Also, I’d consider hardware that has enough SATA ports for the number of drives you want so that you can avoid dealing with a HBA card: they inflate the power envelope of the system (if power usage is something you’re concerned with), and even in IT mode, I’ve found them to be annoyingly goofy at times and am MUCH happier just using integrated SATA stuff.
Thanks for the suggestions.
I should add… I’m currently only using Direct Play at home and then I download to a iOS device on occasion for trips. I recently turned off the remote access in Plex because I figured it wasn’t the most secure option. I’m trying to stream 4K over the WireGuard and it’s struggling, probably because it’s on the router. So I think a LXC for WireGuard is the way to go with the current setup and potentially the future hardware as well. No one else is accessing it right now and don’t know if that will change any time soon.
I was thinking about Quicksync and maybe going for a 11th or 12th gen Intel, but now I’m starting to think this is redundant if I’m not sharing Plex with others.
Definitely wanting to avoid a HBA card and looking at a tower with SATA. What are your thoughts on older hardware with DDR4 and no ECC for a NAS? I feel like everyone has different opinions!
Also any suggestions on hardware to test power consumption?
Quicksync
Yeah, it doesn’t sound like you’re transcoding in a way that’ll show any particular benefit from Quicksync over AMF or anything else. My ‘it’s better’ use case would be something like streaming to a cell phone at 3-5mbps, and not something local or just making a file to save on your device.
DDR4 and no ECC
That’s what my build is: 128gb of Corsair whatever on a 10850k. I’m sure there’s been some silent corruption somewhere in some video file or whatever, but, honestly, I don’t care about the data enough to even bother with RAID, let alone ECC.
I will say, though, if you’re going to delve into something like ZFS, you should probably consider ECC since there are a lot more ‘well shits’ that can happen than what I’m doing (mergerfs + snapraid).
power consumption
A $30 or whatever they are kill-a-watt plus something like s-tui running on the NAS itself to watch what the CPU is doing in terms of power states and usage. I’ve got a 8-drive i9-10850k under 60w at “idle” which is not super low power, but it’s low enough that the cost of hardware to improve on it even a little bit (and it’d be a very little bit) has a ROI period of longer than I’d expect the hardware to last.
Due to checksum based auto-correction ZFS and btrfs (in raid1) are actually less sensitive to data-corruption due to non-ECC ram.
I run a Celeron J1900 SFF PC. It has only 2 SATA ports, and doesn’t boot off PCI-E. I have used USB drives, but that’s not optimal. I try out new things on a laptop.
Now I’m also looking to upgrade.
Used workstations have SATA ports, but usually have Xeons in them, i think that means no QuickSync. And if they sell it with an old Quadro card, that’s too much for just a few video streams.
New builds get expensive fast. Also not many nice cases that are cheap.
Dedicated NASes are expensive because of the software and services they offer, but I don’t need those.
This is how far I’ve gotten, so I’m looking forward to seeing what other people have to say about it.
