Need some best config answers for my new homeserver

I am new here, after long deliberation which hypervisor/nas software to use for my ultimate homeserver.

Was in doubt between Proxmox, OmniOs, Truenas core and Unraid (was the lowest on the list) bassically searching for pure performance.

But after seeing JayzTwoCents, Gamers Nexus/LevelOneTech and Spaceinvader One all choosing Unraid for ease of use (plugins and community support), i am convinced Unraid should be the one.

 

But that doesn't mean i don't want max performance out of it 😝.

 

Currently i have a HP Microserver gen8 (upgraded with Xeon E3-1265L V2 and 16 GB memory, 1 x 8 TB HDD) running XPenology, use case: Plex, Tautulli, TvHeadend, Tdarr (just tested and approved 😁) and bassicaly network shares for storing and access personal files like foto's, CAD files, office documents and a lot of complete disk copy/backups of laptop and pc hdd's that need to be sorted sometime 😅.

What i don't like about this setup:

XPenology updaten is not that user friendly and can even criple your setup. That's why i am allways on an old(er) version while i really like the new features DSM 7 has. Also because of that polished app store, running docker containers inside DMS does feel like a workaround when native DMS app is not available. But maybe that is more the way docker is integrated in DSM.

I did use Download station for a while, but that is basicly a folder watcher and download client in one, with far less options then sabnzbd or nzbget.

I don't know if DSM can run full vm's, but i don't think it would be that great on my Microserver.

 

So now what i want with my new setup:

 

Most important:

1. Plex with hardware transcoding (nvidia nvenc)

2. Automated downloads + reencoding

3. Automated requests

4. Retrogame server (maybe PlexArcade)

5. good File, foto organizer/duplicate remover (AI?) + owncloud or alternative

6. Database (for all kind of apps, and want to learn more about it) + easy editor (Azure Data Studio?)

 

Lesser but still important:

7. Firewall

8. VPN server

9. central page to all services running (like grafanna)

10. pxe boot server

11. network adblocker

12. Network monitoring

13. TP-Link Omada controller (for my network hardware)

14. Unifi controller (for easy access to family's hardware)

15. dns cache server

16. self hosted password manager (with support for Yubikey)

* maybe i want to run 7-16 on my Microserver Gen8 when it becomes available, plus plex mirror and reverse proxy (for failover + backup).

 

17. Full vm with CAD software (now i am running this on multiple laptops, always out of space, always files on the other laptop when needed).

18. Full vm with Photogrammetry/Lidar software + CAD Converters

19. Full vm with Ubuntu + ROS/Slam software

20. Full vm with adobe apps, microsoft office apps and maybe other apps i dont need often, but want to have quick access to when needed.

21. Full vm for programming, compiling

22. Full vm reverse engineering circuitboards

23. Central place to store most repeated installations/tweaks (Ansible?, custom windows install disk, custom recovery disk)

24. Mapserver (Wardriving hobby)

25. Full vm/docker for NVR (blueiris?) + security cam setup config's

26. Full vm/docker Inventory manager (list all my collected hardware + specs, links to cool projects (that can make use of it), links to driver/firmware page)

27. Some crypto nodes

28. Some crypto miners

 

So i think i can devide the files in 6 category's:

1. Database (media metadata, mapserver)

2. small files <5 mb (docs, configs, photos, mp3's, rom's, CAD files)

3. large files >1 GB (read + write, high IO: VM's, docker containers) 

4. large files >1 GB (mostly read, low compression gains: ISOs / RAR, video files)

5. large files >1 GB (continu write: NVR)

6. vault/temp files, everything crypto related split from personal files,

   trial software: install, try, delete (maybe this is same as 3. , just VM or docker, although i don't know if user files in docker image/folder can't mess with user files from other docker containers?) 

 

So after this long story, my first questions:

 

• I wanted to make a large ZFS pool (raidz1 with 5x18TB, with 2x 3.8TB nvme for cache) for all these file types/shares, is that a good approach? Or is it better to use one harddrive for say movies, one for tv shows and split as much as possible? (more idle time per drive but slower access time).

 

• Does blocksize matter enough to set it up (specially for media drives/folders)?

        If so, do i have to set it up for the whole pool (when zfs is a good approach) or is it also possible per dataset?

 

• How do i setup ZFS SLOG/cache with Unraid? Do i use the Unraid cache pool for that, or do i have to set this up with ZFS specific tools?

 

• On my Plex server the kids movies/cartoons are the most watched movies and these are often the same for days in a row.
• Can i somehow create a read cache for that folder/drive with an nvme/ssd?

 

• What is the best way to setup the database (for speed/stability)? Native, VM, Docker? I think it will be PostgreSQL + PostGIS, or someone know a (better) alternative i can read into (lat, long/coordinates, map server, media metadata)

 

 

Current hardware for this server:

Thermaltake Level 20 HT, Gigabyte C621-WD12, 2x Samsung 64GB Rdimm 2933mhz, 2x Intel Xeon 8259CL, 1x Nvidia RTX3090, 2x Samsung PM9A3 3.18TB U.2, 1x Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB, 5x Seagate Exos X18 sata 18TB, Kingston DataTraveler Max 256GB as Unraid boot stick

 

still looking for / doing research:

 

Fast network card (maybe with RDMA/RoCe/iWarp, if that gives enough benefit for example with opening CAD files over LAN or WAN)

Good cable or satellite pci capture card with lots of tuners

Maybe a dedicated card for storage connectivity, if that is better for stability/reliability (now handled by motherboard)

 

Edited November 27, 20214 yr by ChemicalNRG