• Hi,
   
  My current All-in-One server box is running windows 7, but I'm not very satisfy with its management, so I'd like to split FileServer part from HomeTheatre/Games one.
   
  My server box is composed of:
  
  • HFX Mini Server case
    
  • Llano ITX motherboard Gigabyte A75N-USB3
    
  • AMD APU A8-3820
    
  • 1 SSD 128Go
    
  • 4 HDDs 2To green
    

 

I'd like my server to offer these following features:

• File Server
  
• Schedule Parity disk (fiable, robust with checksum verification for avoiding silent data corruption)
  
• Homegroup Laptop backups
  
• DLNA Server
  
• uTorrent and/or mldonkey server
  
• couchpotato/Sickbeard
  
• Plex Media Server (maybe)
  
• FTP Server (maybe)
  
• XBMC with GPU Hardware Acceleration
  
• PowerDVD for bluray playback
  
• Light Gaming
  

 

unRaid with be my FileServer and I'll use windows 7/8 for xbmc and gaming box.

For others servers (DLNA, utorrent, sickbeard, ftp) I have to define where they will best run. (unraid, windows or maybe a small linux?)

 

So let's go with my questions:

[*]Many of you seems to be interrested in ESXi virtualization, but are Llano APU compatibles with ESXi

[*]If I virtualize windows 7, will Video Hardware Acceleration (DXVA) work ? Same with Bluray Software Player?

[*]What about running windows natively, and unRaid as a virtualbox guest?

[*]What is the best: ESXi with unraid and windows virtualized, or native windows with unraid virtualized?

[*]Any performance or consumption significant penalities using virtualization?

[*]Does UnRaid supports "add-ins" and offers DLNA, FTP, Utorrent or other features ?

[*]If not, what is the best approach: add a linux virtual machine providing these services?

 

Any help or advices are welcome. 

thanks

You are going to have to do some serious research on getting hardware exceleration for gaming in an ESXi machine.

 

I think/know if can be done.  We (Greenleaf) looked into it a while back as a server offering but the market is to small to make it feasible right now and the hardware list was pretty specific if i remember correctly.

 

You should probably be looking at an intel setup with AMD graphics card that can be passed through to the windows guest.  unRAID can be used as a pure file server and you can put everything else under a linux distro of your choice.

 

Your biggest hurdle is going to be the windows 7 gaming and XBMC machine and that is where your research will have to be done.

Honestly.. I do not think it will be worth the PITA it will take to get it up and running.

I have seen it done. I have talked with the greenleaf guys in the past about this. it was still a bit of a pain. you will also need a second PC to set it all up (nothing fancy).

By the time you get the specific hardware you need, you could almost  build 2 smaller PC's (using what you already have plus new bits)... 1 game/HTPC and one small server.

 

Another option to look into might be windows8 with storage spaces for an all-in-one.. So far I am not impressed with it. but for your needs, it might work.

 

You could also try converting Server 2k8 or 2012 into a workstation and put unraid into a hyper-v session.

some games might not install on 2008 (if its coded to check platform) even after you put all the patches into server to make it work like 7.

I agree with john. See hardforums for ppl that have done it. Can be hard to find motherboard and CPU configuration that works properly with passthrough.

 

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2

You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be. I understand the desire for an all in one box but it's not worth the headache. Just keep the server and HTPC separate.

I should add, that one big problem with an all-in-one box...

 

if you get a virus on it.. you could loose all your server data if you are using the "host" as a normal PC.