Potential purchase questions

[rctneil]

Hello,

 

I'm trialing unRaid currently with some old hardware that i've cobbled together. Before I go ahead and purchase a license and purchase new drives for it I have a couple of questions. My main uses will be a file server and for Plex.

 

Is the following hardware sufficient?:

 

- Asus P5W DH Deluxe

- Intel Q6600 at 2.4

- 4Gb RAM

 

If not then what would you recommend upgrading?

 

If a drive fails and I replace it, can the replacement drive be of a different capacity? (I realise it can't be smaller than the data on the failed drive though)

 

Will I be able to use Chronosync on my laptop to backup my super important files onto an external hard drive also connected to the laptop?

 

What's the best way to allow me to access my shares remotely when away from home?

 

Thankyou,

Neil

 

[ashman70]

If you plan to do any transcoding, then that CPU is not sufficient for Plex, however for basic NAS duties, it's fine. If you want to do transcoding with Plex, it depends on how many streams and at what resolution, but as a base I would suggest a quad core i7 if you want to support at least two HD streams at 720p.

 

If a drives fails you can replace with the same or larger drive, as long as that drive is not larger than your parity disk which must be the largest drive in your system.

 

I am not familiar with Chronosync so I cannot comment.

 

For remote access there are various threads discussing VPN solutions you can look into, this is the suggested way to access your unRAID server remotely.

[s_mason16]

For trialing...your hardware is fine.

ashman70 makes a good point on the plex transcoding and spot on with hard drive replacement and I'm in the dark with him on the chronosync.

your current cpu has a passmark score of 2964, plex has come up with the magic number of 2000 cpu passmark score for each highdef transcode. So with that you should be able to handle 1 HD movie and a SD movie at the same time with a passable performance(if no other dockers or processes were taking place during).

 

I'm under the impression that NextCloud is a great way to sync files to your server while home or away.

and remotely accessing and controlling your server and shares is easily accomplished using a combination of duckdns and openvpn dockers.  

[rctneil]

58 minutes ago, s_mason16 said:

For trialing...your hardware is fine.

ashman70 makes a good point on the plex transcoding and spot on with hard drive replacement and I'm in the dark with him on the chronosync.

your current cpu has a passmark score of 2964, plex has come up with the magic number of 2000 cpu passmark score for each highdef transcode. So with that you should be able to handle 1 HD movie and a SD movie at the same time with a passable performance(if no other dockers or processes were taking place during).

 

I'm under the impression that NextCloud is a great way to sync files to your server while home or away.

and remotely accessing and controlling your server and shares is easily accomplished using a combination of duckdns and openvpn dockers.  

10

 

As there will only be myself using the server, going by what you said about the CPU getting 2964 and Plex's "magic number" been 2000, I should be ok.

 

I'll start with it and when I can do some upgrades, i'll do them.

 

Is there a guide for accessing remotely using those tools?

 

Thank you both!

Edited January 2, 2018 by rctneil

[ashman70]

Search through the forums, there may be even a video done by Space Invader One, he has some great videos for unRAID on here, I don't have any links though.

Edited January 2, 2018 by ashman70