TamezPhoto

Thanks for the reply @trurl. I pay for Plex pass so I had hardware acceleration in mind for the GPU. I Did a little bit of research and it seems like AMD support with both Plex and Unraid (or maybe Linux in general) is sketchy at best and the iGPU acceleration might be better. The info I found was from 2021 so if anything has changed, I'd love to learn more. Otherwise I would not have use for the GPU as you suggested. I am not using virtual machines. To clarify my more specific use of the server. I would not be using it as an "active" drive. I will not be working off the drive. The server will host archived files that have already been retouched and delivered to the client. Which is why I mentioned I won't be uploading more than 3 sessions at a time, and 99% of the time, I won't be "updating" the content of each photo session's folder unless I need to pull assets later. I do have other layers of backup from ingestion through production.

Hi. I am new to the forum. Considering using Unraid because of it's ease of expandability vs the competitors. I am pretty proficient with computer hardware in general. I do my own repairs and have been building my own PCs since I was 15, but when it comes to networking I know very little except what I can absorb from watching LTT videos. I am a photographer so storage and redundancy are important to me and the main purpose of this build. I'd also like to use this as a Plex server. Aside from my friends accessing the Plex server, I will be the only user accessing my photography archive. Right now my archive solution is just external USB drives and my Plex server is a Windows PC that is always on. Here are the spare parts I already have: Intel i7 9700K 64GB G.SKILL TridentZ RGB (4 x 16GB) DDR4 3200 RAM AMD RX 5700 XT 8GB GPU (liquid cooled) MSI Mortar Titanium B360M Motherboard 256GB NVMe PCI-e Gen 3 (for cache) I have this 2.5G ethernet card from Amazon that claims to work with Unraid. If it doesn't I'll be using the onboard gigabit Ethernet port for now https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08V1HG47H?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details --------------------------------------------- My Mobo only has 4 SATA ports so I will be purchasing one of these HBA cards https://www.ebay.com/itm/133481123885 I also have a 1TB NVMe SSD, but most of my photo sessions range in the 30-60GB each and I don't see myself uploading more than 3 at a time. I'd like to keep this drive for on-site backup when I'm traveling or shooting on location unless it is recommended otherwise here. I'll be purchasing 4 8TB drives with the option to expand to another 4 drives in the Fractal Design Node 804 case. If it fits the case with all the drive bays populated, I'd be liquid cooling the cpu mostly because I already have a 280mm AIO and don't have any air coolers to spare. The core of my question is, I suppose, if my CPU, GPU and RAM are going to be used to their full potential? Right now my Plex "server" has an i3 8100 and an nVidia GT 1030