Building Storage Server + Media Player


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I am new to Unraid, I want to know if Unraid is good for my use case.

 

What I am trying to achieve is a PC running Unraid storing all my media library and playing the media in windows 10 VM using KODI.

 

My current setup:

CPU: I5 2400

MB: Z68-AP Gigabyte Motherboard

RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz (2*4GB)

PSU: EVGA 500Watt Power Supply

GPU: RX 560 4GB

SATA: M1015 IT mode flashed SATA Controller for 8 SATA drives

  

Storage:

1x120GB SSD Will be used for Windows 10 VM

1x500GB SSD will be used as cache drive

5*8TB WD White to store the media files

1*10GB WD White to be used for parity

 

Home theater Setup:

9.2 Speaker set with Subwoofers.

Denon Receiver

Samsung 82" 4K HDR

 

My Media Library:

Mix between 4k HDR 10Bit, 4K 8Bit, Full HD ... etc.

 

Is the above configuration enough to run Unraid + Windows 10 VM for media playback?

 

Currently I am playing my 4K 10Bit HDR media using KODI without any issues supporting all audio format even 9.2 ATMOS, will VM Windows 10 on my setup be able to run the same?

 

Best Regards

Edited by EmualDave
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While you can certainly do this, you could also do something a little different if you have budget. You could look at having the pc run unRAID just for storage of your media and offload Kodi to something else. Lots of devices can run Kodi as it is pretty lightweight, I run Kodi on Nvidia Shield's which is overkill just for Kodi but I use them for other things too. I like this setup because my servers just do storage and the Shield's run Kodi, works well for me.

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17 hours ago, ashman70 said:

Kodi on Nvidia Shield's

That´s a very good advice. KODI is one of my future tinker projects.

 

I don´t have an audio setup like this, just a soundbar below TV. I use Plex on my Shield (bought mine in 2015) and I´m still very satisfied with it. Runs flawless and the support from Nvidia is really good. Look at the release notes (model 2015):

 

https://shield.nvidia.com/support/nvidia-android-tv/release-notes/1

 

Starting with Android 5 we are now on Android 8. They added more and more apps over the time.

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22 hours ago, ashman70 said:

While you can certainly do this, you could also do something a little different if you have budget. You could look at having the pc run unRAID just for storage of your media and offload Kodi to something else. Lots of devices can run Kodi as it is pretty lightweight, I run Kodi on Nvidia Shield's which is overkill just for Kodi but I use them for other things too. I like this setup because my servers just do storage and the Shield's run Kodi, works well for me.

 

5 hours ago, hitman2158 said:

That´s a very good advice. KODI is one of my future tinker projects.

 

I don´t have an audio setup like this, just a soundbar below TV. I use Plex on my Shield (bought mine in 2015) and I´m still very satisfied with it. Runs flawless and the support from Nvidia is really good. Look at the release notes (model 2015):

 

https://shield.nvidia.com/support/nvidia-android-tv/release-notes/1

 

Starting with Android 5 we are now on Android 8. They added more and more apps over the time.

 

Thanks for both of you, in that case I wont need to use SSD's since I am okay with the normal write speed of upto 50MB/s.

 

Is there any reason to use the cache drive for my use case?

 

I have an I7 2600K, is it worth swapping it with the i5 2400? will it increase response?

 

I will be using the server only for storage of media files. I will buy Nvidia Shield 16GB as media player.

  

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Depends on you purpose. 

 

My PlexMediaServer is running via Docker as well as other apps like Krusader (filemanager via webgui). Docker and VM´s are on my cache SSD. 

 

The prices for SATA SSD´s are decreasing, here some examples (incl. VAT) from the cheapest ones in Germany:

120GB for approx. 20 USD

240GB for 30 USD

480GB for 57 USD

1TB for 110 USD

2TB for 260 USD

 

So you can get a lot bang for the buck. And you have the full speed of your GBit-network while copying big data to the storage, for example copy a few movies like you mentioned in a single slide (100, 200, 300 or more GB). I would spent a few bucks for a cache SSD, especially with a view to expansion in the future.

 

See my sig, 480GB Cache SSD on main rig, 120GB on backup.

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