Hello to one and all!! Hope you are finding this 2013 to be a pleasant enough start to the year!!

 

I'll start out by stating that I have been a lurker on these boards and the XBMC boards for a while now but haven't taken the plunge to post until now. (please be kind  ) I am really interested in building a server to hold my unbelievably huge DVD/Blu-Ray collection as well as my iTUNES library and photo collection.

 

First lets get the obvious stickies out of the ways:

 

-What is your budget?

I would say that at this time I have about $400-800 to burn on the system (minus HDDs) Obviously the lower the better but I would like it to still be powerful enough to handle what I throw at it, thus the wider spread.

 

How many drives?

I was thinking about 15 drives total.

1 3TB Parity Drive

13 xTB Storage Drives

1 xGB Cache Drive

 

Is expandability important to you? If so, what's your long term goal?

Well...my longer term goal would be 15 drives total. I would start small initially...say 1 3TB Parity Drive, (2) 2TB Storage Drives, 1 xGB Cache Drive to start out with and add another 2TB Drive every 2-3 months roughly.

 

Are you running any unRAID Add Ons? If so, which ones? Be specific.

I gotta admit I had my eye on running a few add ons, specifically:

UnMENU

Sabnzbd

Sickbeard

CouchPotato

SimpleFeatures: iTUNES Server

AirVideo

Transmission

MySQL

and iSTAT

 

Do you want to run green/low power drives or faster 7200 rpm drives?

I really don't think that I have any specific need for 7200 drives so I guess I would default to the green/low power drives.

 

Do you have any spare parts laying around that you would like to apply towards your build?

Funnily enough, I don't. Seems weird for me since I've got like 3 towers, a laptop, netbook, and an ipad lying within my eyesight as I write this but I can't cannabilize anything from them  :'(

 

If you already have parts in mind, please oh pretty please post links to them so that we don't have to look them up.

Currently have no idea as to which parts I should get to accomplish my needs for this particular build (thus one reason for my posting)

 

Now please bear with me, as I have a few questions that I'm desperately hoping the fine good looking veterans here can shed some light on.

 

Questions/Concerns:

1) Could anybody give me some suggestions for setting up a system that would be powerful enough to handle the various tasks that I would like to assign it? (preferably like it to be low power, very quiet, cool, and external drive bays along the front)

2) Do any of the AddOns seem redundant? Could I lose any to streamline performance and power consumption?

3) What other AddOns or Plugins do the rest of you use or think that I might need?

4) Okay…here’s a big one. In a perfect world I would like to have the server wired to the modem/router, but that is not currently feasible. The modem/router is currently in the kitchen on top of the fridge and the wife would like the server out of sight in the office. Is there any wifi card or other option that allows me to connect the server to my modem/router without invasively going into the walls (I rent at the moment so any sort of deconstruction/reconstruction is not a feasible option)

 

 

If anybody here would be willing to help me take my first steps it would really mean a lot to me!! Thanks for reading and if you have any questions, comments, concerns, quagmires or quandaries feel free to write in!!!

 

Take a look at Powernet products.  They use your home AC wiring to transfer data.  While I have never used powernet, they have the reputation of being faster and more reliable than WiFi but not as goood as a cat5 connection.  However, you probably only would want to use it to connect your router to the unRAID server as you will be sharing the bandwidth among all the devices on powernet circuit. 

For the case I would recommend you get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219033

It's going to be more money up front than other cases but if you want to get up to 15+ disks in any other case that is going to require 4 in 3 or 5 in 3 cages. Those run about $100 each. So 3 of just the cages alone, not including the cost of having to buy a case, is going to cost you almost what this case with the cages included costs and this will hold 5 more disks.

 

To prevent you from having to buy a controller card until you have more disks pick up 1 or 2 of these cables. You will need them to connect to the backplane in the case to your motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133033

 

CPU/Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1198275

The Core i3 is more than powerful enough for what you said you want to do. Runs cool and doesn't use a lot of electricity, even at full load. I as well as a lot of other guys on here use this CPU. Motherboard has 8 SATA ports on board and has plenty of slots to add controller cards in the future.

 

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

8GB which will give you more than enough for all your plugins. I run most of the same ones you listed.

 

Power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

Will be good for up to 20 green/low power disks.

 

Flash drive for unraid installation: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171586

 

 

Total cost: ~$750

 

I know it's at the high end of the spectrum you gave, mainly because of the case, but it will save you money in the long run. I know because I am in that boat right now. About to buy my third 5 in 3 cage which brings the total I spent on my case and drive cages to over $400 bucks and it still holds 5 less drives than the one I listed. Wish I had thought ahead of time and went for the right case.

Take a look at Powernet products.  They use your home AC wiring to transfer data.  While I have never used powernet, they have the reputation of being faster and more reliable than WiFi but not as goood as a cat5 connection.  However, you probably only would want to use it to connect your router to the unRAID server as you will be sharing the bandwidth among all the devices on powernet circuit.

 

Happen to have just gotten an email from Newegg today with a 20% off coupon code on certain Netgear power line networking products. Code is "BTEXVXS45". It is valid on the items listed here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Depa=0&Description=PPSSNNJDKCTY&nm_mc=EMCPP-IT022013B&cm_mmc=EMCPP-IT022013-_-PPS2-_-banner-Network-_-PromoWord

Take a look at Powernet products.  They use your home AC wiring to transfer data.  While I have never used powernet, they have the reputation of being faster and more reliable than WiFi but not as goood as a cat5 connection.  However, you probably only would want to use it to connect your router to the unRAID server as you will be sharing the bandwidth among all the devices on powernet circuit.

 

+1

 

A 200MBit Powerline is more than equal to a 300Mbit Wireless.

 

Also, there are models out there that utilize Coax-Cables instead of Powerlines, like this: http://www.corinex.com/product/homenet-coax-us-plug

If you have your home cabled up for TV, this is a good option. Quality is better and environmental pollution is lower since these cables are shielded.

 

Hi Thanks for writing! I like the suggestions so far! I initally looked at a rackmount when I first began but was kinda offput by the size of the beast but after cast comparison between a tower and cages or just the rackmount I'm split!

 

I like the idea of the powernet and was looking at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122502

 

One question though; If I use the motherboard mentioned above:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1198275

 

Hypothetically (unless I'm mistaken) I would plug in the cat5 cable from the powernet adapter to the RJ-45 in the motherboard so that the server would be able to access the internet but I have no second RJ-45 port to connect a wifi router to stream the content to my ipad, iphone, etc. Is there a wireless card that would also work?

Hypothetically (unless I'm mistaken) I would plug in the cat5 cable from the powernet adapter to the RJ-45 in the motherboard so that the server would be able to access the internet but I have no second RJ-45 port to connect a wifi router to stream the content to my ipad, iphone, etc. Is there a wireless card that would also work?

 

How is your internet access set-up ATM?

I expect it to be a router with broadband access. Isn't this a wireless model already?

 

The powerline set-up is a bridge.

...that's why you need a kit. one set/piece goes into your router-Hub...the other piece goes to your server. Between these, your home power-grid will distribute the signal.

You can add more pieces to your wall outlets, getting access to the "grid" for more devices. All pieces will share the bandwidth.

Here you can also add  a wireless Access-Point.

If you don't own a wireless AP already, look at these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122388

I can't see it from the pics and specs, but make sure that the powerline AP piece also has a RJ45 socket to connect your server into. This way traffic to the AP will go directly from the server to the AP. Powerline is only used for "smaller" internet bandwith.

So I would connect a small unit to the modem/router and plug in the 2nd unit to the wall and connect it to the router so that the server can access the Internet. If I'm reading your post above correctly the data stored on the server would also be able to be accessed via the second unit?

 

Sorry if this seems jumbled I'm typing using my iphone

...no, not quite.

Think of the unit as being a converter between wired ethernet (one side of the unit, RJ45 connector) and power-cables (wall-plug, other side of the same unit).

So by employing two units, you can span a connection between these two units on either side.

 

it'll look like this:  router -> unit one, left (RJ45) - unit one, right (power, wall-outlet) - powercabling in your house - unit two, right (power, wall-outlet) -unit two, left (RJ45) -> server

 

The "good" thing is, that the units form a network bridge...your home power-grid outlets will act like a hub, with all wall-outlets being a (potential) connection...you will have to plug in another (third, forth, ....) unit though.

Every unit in that "hub" can access all other units and devices connected to the other side(s) of each unit.

 

For example, you can connect your router (for internet) and your server via two units...then add a third unit and connect your HTPC (which will then have access to the internet and your server).

 

If your router is wireless, your wireless devices can access your data on the server via router-powerline-server connection.

However, streaming media over powerline is not that efficient...internet will work fine, but FullHD from a Bluray will (most likely) not.

The kit I linked to has one unit which also provides a wireless AP (it has got a powerline side, a wired ethernet side and a wireless AP side, internally connected already).

If you connect your server into that unit (wired side), the server can reach internet (via powerline, if you connect the other unit (wired side) to your router) and your mobile devices

can connect to this AP, where the server is directly connected into, giving the chance for higher bandwidth into the AP (because signal from server does not need to traverse powerline).

...and the mobile devices will have internet as well, because of bing connected via powerline side of the AP to your router.

Ah, now I believe I'm getting it! 

 

Thanks Prefect! I'm sure I'd even forget my towel if it weren't for the fine people such as yourself on these boards!! 

...no worries, you're welcome!

 

Another remark:

Is your router already a wireless model that you have in use?

Than it is maybe not a good idea to employ a powerline unit with another AP in it....unless it is able to work in wireless-repeater/bridge mode.

 

Just make sure what your requirements really are.

Powerline or wireless will get you internet access for your server...and medium to low-bandwidth content/media from your server to your clients.

For FullHD (like a Bluray) powerline or wireless is not suitable...you'll need to downsize/transcode stuff.

The current router is wireless so my wife can use her NetBook and ipad in the kitchen via wifi.

 

Do you think there should be a gigabit switch thrown in there somewhere to run from the server/switch to the htpc other desktops via cat5 cable?

OK--- I am a bit confused as to exactly where all of the components of your home networking setup are at.  It sounds like someone decided that a kitchen might be a good place for a modem router.  (, it doesn't sound like a logical choice to me...)  You have another room with computers in it and a htpc somewhere in the home.  Is there one location where you can easily connect most of these devices together using cat5e or cat 6 cable?  If there is--- put a gigabyte switch there!!!    Your server and htpc are the two items you want connected to the gigabyte switch.  (When you want to transfer data between computers that plugged into the same switch, the data packets never leave the switch and all transfers are at gigabyte speed.) 

 

Use the powernet device to access the internet and to provide DHCP services.  These all have low bandwidth requirements and can be easily handled by powernet.  This means that you put the powernet connection between your gigabyte switch and and your modem/router. 

 

Think of the two powernet devices as using the wiring in your house to replace a run of cat5 cable because you can't run cat 6 cable between those two places. 

 

Your wife will still use WiFi for netbook and ipad. 

+1

 

...also I might add some more questions:

 

Why is your wife using her notebook and iPad in the kitchen, only...what is the quality of wifi reception in the rest of your house/rooms?

Is your wife going to view media, like movies with her iPad? (assuming this has the best quality screen and resolution).

How old is your house/Power-cables installation? What is the distance between router(wall-plug) and potential Gbit-Switch(with Server/TV/HTPC)?

Signal quality will decrease along the distance covered and requires good cabling. Also a large power-gid running more than one phase needs a phase-coupler installed

in order to distribute the powerline signal between wall-outlets of different phases. (not expensive, but needs to be done by a qualified electrician)

 

..if wifi coverage is bad and cabling is bad, powerline will not enable you to stream media from your server to your wife's iPAD.

You need to refurbish your wifi setup in that case as well.

Hi guys, heres a pic that hopefully brings a little clarity to some of the layout confusions

 

 

Sorry if its a little tilted 

 

The modem and router are in the kitchen because they have the best line of sight to a tower from which it receives the internet signal. We're a bit out in the country so cable internet is not available and sattellite internet is too slow even when the weather is good. this is me just guessing but I think the house was built in the late 70s or early 80s but again just a guess.

...wireless uplink?...ouch...what kind of modem is that? A 3G/WCMA connection?

 

Powerline will be OK to connect from your rooms to the router in oder to access internet.

If speed will be OK for media like movies...you'll have to test....there are 500MBit units out there (although most are downwards compatible, I'd rather not mix).

 

..what other cables are already there?

 

- coax for TV?

- telephone?

...there are professional powerline bridges that can do more than one type, like this: http://www.devolo.com/business/104_dlan-500-avpro-uni_product-presentation_1.html?l=en

 

Best would be to run a cable from each HTPC site, behind the toeboard along the wall to a switch which is alongside your server.

If you can't reach each site with an individual cat cable but are able run one single coax-cable round, you can use the coax-based powerline units.

Possible ideas:

 

I would put the switch in the office or master bedroom.  This would give you easy wired access to the server, htpc #2 and any other computer in the office.  (BTW, Cat6 has a max cable length of 100m. Much further than your WiFi signal will reach! )

 

In my last house, I ran cat5 cable through the cold air return from the second floor to the basement.  Look to see where the cold air returns are run.  If you have a basement or crawl space, look at using those get the cables throughout the house.

 

I also ran cat5 from room-to-room on the second floor by going up through the ceiling in bedroom closets and across the attic.  It takes either 3/8" or 1/2"  hole to get the RJ45 connector through drywall.  Before we moved, I just plugged the holes with spackling compound.  You could go up through the master bedroom closet to run a wire over to the living room.  Often patching a small hole in the ceiling results in an virtually invisible repair.  If you put the hole above the edge of a window, you can hide the most of the drop to the floor with the window curtains.  If you buy your cables from monoprice.com, you can often come close to matching the wall color. 

 

Alright I think the ideas are coming together into something cohesive  Below is a modified setup showing the data lines from modem/router to server and to HTPC. The red dashes are the powerline signal and the blue solid line is the CAT6 cable.

 

 

I guess I'm still a little confused as to the order in which things should be plugged in. I think it would go:

Modem/Router -> Powerline #1 -> Powerline #2 -> Gigabit Switch -> Server?

Yes, the powerline kit will connect your router to the switch.

The cable from HTPC-site #2 will go into the switch as well.

If you want to connect HTPC-site #1, run another cat cable  between site#1 and switch....or plug another powerline (#3) unit at site #1 and connect HTPC #1 to Powerline #3 (although bandwidth might be challenge).

..maybe an improved setup is as follows (in order to get max bandwidth to all HTPC should you manage to run a cat between site #2 and #1):

 

- put the switch and powerline #2 at site #2.

- powerline #2 , HTPC #2 and cat from/to server go into the switch

- run a cable from #2 to #1, connect to switch and HTPC #1

 

Edit: A security measure regarding powerline:  If this is a flat in a multi-flat building, powerline signal can traverse the Power-Meter...and your neighbours could join in with their unit ;-).

        Units have encryption, usually...just remember to change the default Password.

        I also would have an electrician install a band-filter in front of the meter to make sure no signal traverses to the outside of the flat....and no bandwidth is lost to the neigbour.

        If this a single house/family home, distance to neighbour is too far away, normally.       

 

Edit #2: In my part of the world, there are even 1000MBit powerline units available.

              ...can't find them on newegg...but this might be interesting: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833181170 ...switch build in.

Okay we're narrowing this down and getting close! I can feel it! 

 

If I read your last post correctly it would look something like this: (the red dash is the powerline signal and the solid blue line represents a Cat5e or Cat6 cable)

 

 

Now I'm looking at this particular switch:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122128

 

If I read the stars and tea leaves correctly I would be able to:

connect server to internet

have HTPC access data on server

have HTPC access the internet

use the Powerline #2 AP and have my iPad wirelessly access data on server

 

thankfully it is a single family home and we're not stuck in a flat with a bunch of other neighbors, that's one ball of string I don't even want to think about untangling!!

I have had good luck with Trendnet switches over the past couple of years.  Have a good look at these two models.  I would also recommend going with the 8 port switch as opposed to 5 port.  You might be surprised how quick you could use up the ports on the 5 port model. 

 

 

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156251

 

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833156250

 

Well, I simply assumed that you want to be able to deploy two HTPCs in your home.

Every HTPC should have a wired connection to the server, based on cat5e / cat6 cable.

If the switch resides alongside the server in your office, you are in need to run two cat cables from your office...one to HTPC#1 and the second to HTPC#2.

I simply assumed, that running the two cat cables alongside the path from office to HTPC#2 is not possible or would at  best give an ugly look.

By moving the switch into the middle of the cabling, which is obviously site #2 would allow you to run only single cables (less space needed, nicer look).

 

OK, the wireless part is still tricky.

 

I assume your current router manages two wireless connections.

One, via a (3G) modem to your ISP (wireless uplink for internet)...maybe this is a USB dongle plugged into the router.

The second wireless connection managed is the real AP, providing wireless access (internet ATM) to clients in your home.

Is this a a/b/g/N connection?

What's the make and model of your current router and modem?

 

If you go for the powerline kit with one unit also being able to act as an AP you have two options:

 

1. shutdown/disable the AP in your internet router...re-use the SSID and Password in the powerline AP and reconnect your devices.

    Thanks to powerline connection to your internet router, all devices can still access the internet (wireless modem connection in your internet router still up)

2. extend your wireless network with the AP from the powerline unit.

You have two options here

a)  Here you want the units to run in a mode called repeater-bridge.

      You can use the same SSID in the APs and your devices can roam around your house, selecting the strongest signal.

      The powerline AP will work as a repeater in the wireless side...repater-data to the real AP (your internet router) will go via powerline

      This way wireless bandwidth is preserved to real clients only.

b) use the AP as wireless repeater (standard mode).

    it will connect to your internet router AP over wireless...this will cut the wireless bandwidth available to clients in half.

 

...obviously, variant 2b is a no-go with your set-up, I think.

Variant 2a needs support in both APs firmwares and is not easy to do.

Variant 1 is easiest and the new AP should be able to cover your home as good as the old one alone. (I hope, since you stated that your wife is using her iPAD from the kitchen only...which might indicate a quality problem with your curent wifi signal reception

...I also suggest to look into the 500MBit powerline range.

The netgear 200 kit with AP just provides a 10/100MBit RJ45 side....the 500 MMit models should have 1GBit on the wired side....more expensive though.

You could also go for the 200 kit without AP first.

Use and test it....if you want Media stream from server to iPad and it does not work out, add a 500powerline with AP model replacing th 200powerline #2 at the switch.

The 500powerline should be downwards compatible with the 200powerline and connect to your router for internet as well, but provides best connection from server to wireless.

I've done some light searching but haven't really found a 500Mbps with a second unit that also acts as an AP. Would you have any suggestions?