Newbie Introduction and Qs re: new Media / Minecraft Server Build

[Ray T]

Greetings. Apologies in advance for the length of the post.

 

I'm in the process of cleaning up my digital world and after reasonably large amount of research and polling of friends, have decided that a new Unraid server is the best path forward.

 

I'll ask my questions up front, but have included a lot of additional info that I normally see people asking for in response to similar questions. Feel free to ignore. 🙂

 

QUESTIONS
1. It seems like every build I've read about here and on Reddit is very custom, which makes sense, but makes that "first general server" a bit more difficult to put together as a newbie. Is there anything like the old Tom's guides for gaming PCs with Budget, Mid-grade, High-End options for Unraid? At least for a starting point?

 

2. This will be a headless server. As part of my CAT-6 wiring project, I'm building a "data center" rack in the semi-climate-controlled garage, so noise won't be an issue and I'm fine with roaring fans. With that in mind, am I correct in thinking an 11th generation Intel build is the way to go to avoid needing a GPU for HW acceleration?

 

3. This is my general build idea - I'm ok with underutilized capacity, especially since I want this box to have at least a 5-7 year usable lifespan, but don't want to be stupid. Does this look reasonable:

 

• Intel 11th Gen for quicksync / iGPU (Specific model / motherboard recommendations?)
• 32 - 64GB RAM (ECC?)
• 1-2 TB NVME cache drive
• Starting with 2x new 16TB WD Golds (one parity, one data) and adding reclaimed disks from other machines as I move things to Unraid. Anticipating a max 12-drive unit on this first one, but would go beyond that if something that can use disk expansion boxes.
• As for the rest, I'm largely at a loss. I don't build PCs much anymore, so am not brand-loyal or all that picky. I prefer to work on the stuff that's on the computer, not on the computer itself.

 

If I can just get the CPU and case nailed down, I think I can work out the rest.

 

4. With regard to the cache drive, is it a "bigger is always better" or a "anything over XX is wasted money" thing?

 

5. BONUS OFF-TOPIC QUESTION - I suspect the QNAP TS-219P is nearing EOL for QTS support. It works fine and I'm happy to keep running it as-is, but wondering if something like TrueNAS would be a better choice since it will be a backup destination instead of a media store?

 

BUDGET / GENERAL DESIGN

• Obviously cheaper is better, but I'm willing to spend in the $1k - $2k range for this server, excluding disk. 
• Would prefer a rackmount form factor, but ok with a tower also.
• Would like hot-swap
• Fine with building a custom rig, but also fine with buying new/used prebuilt as well.
• Happy to load it up with server tasks, but still tend toward discrete boxes for some things (e.g., DNS, mail/www servers, irrigation control, security cam DVR, etc.) Primary mission is a stable media server and file store.
• It can be ugly. I'm hiding it in the garage.

 

INTENDED USES FOR UNRAID

• Media library storage (audio and video)
• Plex Server & Friends (Arrs, etc)
• Master library for personal photos/video (see note 1 below)
• Video/Audio ripping and remuxing (see note 2 below)
• Local archive storage / cloud backup staging (see note 3 below)
• Light DVR use from an HD-Homerun
• Minecraft server (1-3 players only... mostly just for persistent world)
• Complete local sync/mirror of my Dropbox stuff
• Other cool stuff that pops up (home automation / sensor / network monitoring?)

 

Note 1: My plan for this is to collect all of the various photo libraries currently scattered across multiple machines and hard drives, de-dupe, organize, and create a new master library. This library will be copied out as appropriate to feed end-point software like Apple Photos or Plex for serving things up.

 

Note 2: This is a nice-to-have, but not essential. Once the Unraid box is in place, I'll be starting "The Great Rerip of '22" project to create lossless rips of my extensive CD collection (former DJ). Also, a lot of my older DVDs have been replaced with Blu-Rays, but I haven't ripped a lot of those yet, so that will also be happening.

I'm probably going to use one of the Macs or my gaming PC for this, since I'm also planning on buying an autoloader for batch ripping. Once that's done, if the Unraid box is capable of ripping new stuff, that's great.

 

Note 3: Still working out exactly what's going on with this, but want to backup all of my end-devices to a single place, then back *that* up to something like Backblaze. I'm most likely going to repurpose the QNAP for this, as an 8TB backup is sufficient for the "I can't replace this" stuff. If it's just as easy to use Unraid for this, so much the better.

 

ABOUT ME

• Recovering IT & Marketing executive. Now working as a media composer / video producer / general creative and business consultant.
• Tech literate, but not interested in being a deep expert. Somewhere in between "don't care," serious hobbyist, and prosumer depending on the project. I'm good at following guides and man pages, and happy to do research on my own, but glaze over when reading PC build min/max threads.
• DIY and "buy something close enough" are both valid options.

 

CURRENT ENVIRONMENT

• Mikrotik routers & switches. Currently 1GB backbone in the house, 2.5 or 10GB is at least a year or three away, and I'll likely only do that if needed for moving big video projects around.
• PiHole / Unbound for DNS & ad blocking
• QNAP TS-219P (Currently 2x 8TB in Raid 1) for media library storage, file storage / organization
• Several older (2010 - 2013) Macs
  •     Daily driver / work / content creation stuff
  •     Plex Server
  •     Minecraft server
  •     Video / audio ripping and compression
• New (June 2021) gaming PC
• AppleTVs for set-top
• About to do CAT-6 and speaker wiring throughout the house

 

THANK YOU for reading. Any help/guidance/pointers will be immensely appreciated! I've done my best to do as much legwork as I can, but am now at that "I have knowledge but don't know what I don't know" point. Feel free to give me search term suggestions or other threads to go through!

[JonathanM]

1 hour ago, Ray T said:

This will be a headless server.

I strongly recommend IPMI or some other out of band management system. That somewhat restricts your board (and CPU) choices if the board has built in management, or you can investigate PiKVM if you want to have remote management for a desktop grade system.

 

Given the entire tone of your post however, I think you should be looking at server grade boards with IPMI built in. Perhaps a decommissioned used enterprise rack server would fit what you are asking, be sure you have signature viewing turned on in your profile, and browse around the forums to see what kind of kit others are using.

[Ray T]

9 minutes ago, JonathanM said:

I strongly recommend IPMI or some other out of band management system. That somewhat restricts your board (and CPU) choices if the board has built in management, or you can investigate PiKVM if you want to have remote management for a desktop grade system.

 

Given the entire tone of your post however, I think you should be looking at server grade boards with IPMI built in. Perhaps a decommissioned used enterprise rack server would fit what you are asking, be sure you have signature viewing turned on in your profile, and browse around the forums to see what kind of kit others are using.

 

Thank you, Jonathan. We can also call it a semi-headless server... I'll have a KVM setup at the rack, but being able to do most things remotely would be great. I had been planning on doing most things via the web UI, but will add IPMI to the list of things to research further! 

 

One thing I don't want to get too deep into is homelab / server land (for the same reason I have successfully avoided modular synthesis - I don't have enough money or years left on the planet to do it right).  A less adventurous initial build might be a better approach.

 

Thanks, also, for the reminder about the signature.  I've read so many build threads in the last few days that my eyes are crossed and everything's blurred together.