I have built a few mid-level gaming PCs to date, but have never built a server. I decided a few months ago that I’d build one just with some used hardware I found on the marketplace.
Here is what I got for 250$ (not sure if I got a good price but everything works so I am happy :D.
I have watched lots of videos on YT across a few channels so I know most of what I want to do is possible but no clue if I am missing anything.
I am looking to build a server that does the following
1.) Host all my picks and videos + get my family off online storage.
2.) Host a media server so I can stream on any screen in my apartment.
3.) Run everything on Unraid
So here is where I need the advice
1.) I am not sure if Emby or Jellyfin
2.) Do I need more Ram >? The board supports 64GB
3.) Since there are 2 1060’s I was thinking of running the server as a Bitcoin node (no clue if it’s a good or bad idea)
I’ve moved your thread to a more appropriate category, and removed the wiki status on it so only you can edit the post.
As for your questions:
Personally, I’m biased towards Jellyfin. They both accomplish the stated goal, however, Emby has a freemium model where Jellyfin provides all features for free.
16GB is the bare minimum I would run for now.
I’d suggest that if you already have the memory, try out your system with the 4x4GB and see if you run into issues.
I don’t have a lot of experience with Crypto mining, but I don’t think you’d get your money spent on electricity back mining bitcoin specifically. Someone else may be better suited to elaborate on this specific question.
Them GPUs are EVGA build- very GOOD Builds [EVGA is sorely missed]
Would not need to run both [keep one as spare, in the meantime, or desk decor]
The 6100 be good for initial operation / preliminary troubleshooting of H/W
Could get an i5 Chip, to push up raw core ct, without much of a wattage bump
Consensus, would more likely fall to Jellyfish, around here at least
DDR4 can be had, for relatively cheap. Boards Upper limit [MT/s] arenn’t that crazy
Do experiment, in seeing if you truly do need more [16x2 for initial upgrade]
Try to get matching sets, if your demands end up exceeding [past the 32GB]
I’d put that, as an 0-Go. Bitcoin is thoroughly biased to devoted machinery [ASIC]
Also the algorithm difficulty escalates, the closer to tapping out hard mining limit
With that said… I wouldn’t dare waste your wattage/hardwares life there
IF you’re wanting to fumble, with them crypto currencies, do look what supports GPU(s) usage
I use Jellyfin at home and I have been mostly impressed with it. Emby does have better clients from my experience on most devices. So could be worth checking what devices you use and choosing the one that best fits your needs.
Something you could consider for pictures/music/video syncing to the server is syncthing(https://syncthing.net/) Had someone on the forums recommend it and I’ve been able to leave google photos behind because of it and I don’t need to have jellyfin on my phone. So could be worth looking into.
If it’s just for data storage and media? 16GB should be enough. Per Jellyfin the recommended is only 8GB. Per Emby’s support page it’s only 2GB(I do not recommend using that much) So I would say you should be good to go, but would not hurt stress testing everything with a real world load.
When building a 24/7 machine for home, idle power becomes one of the more important metrics. Every watt you can save equates to 8.76 kWh per year, and depending on your electricity cost that means $1-$3 saved every year, per watt.
That system seems to draw between 30-50 watts idle, drives not included. This can be brought down to 15w idle if you go with something like the Asustor Flashstor, which is a decent home server with 6 bay m.2 storage.
That equates to power savings of at least 130 kWh per year, maybe twice that, and the Flashstor would be sufficient for your current needs. Since you already bought hardware though, this is more for other people looking to go the same route
Also, unless you really need the storage, I would start looking into all-SSD storage for better power draw dynamics - 4TB are now down to $225 or cheaper still, which makes it a quite affordable option.
Other than that, dual 1060 is overkill by a long shot, and even single 1060 wont be that much of a boost over the integrated circuits - what is the point of having an F1 racer when you can only go 80 mph top speed? But yeah, looking good otherwise.
i would use these to mine an altcoin. if they are 6gb cards you could use them for Ethash4g. even if they are only the 3gb models there are still several alts you could mine with. right now they would not quite be profitable, but assuming the crypto market rises you will be holding something that will eventually have some value.
https://whattomine.com/ for things to mine, then consult google for how to mine the thing you choose.
It’s important to select the correct gpu models and update the electricity cost. I cannot find a profitable coin with costs as low as $0.06/kW (commercial rate in some areas).
So, I would forget about mining on that hw - really at all.
This is probably the fact/insight that should drive your future investments.
Budget 1-2W per m.2 drive, 5-8W per HDD (size doesn’t matter).
Goals 1 and 2 are commonly discussed on this forum. You should find lots of good content. I only want to point out that if you host all your family memories (photos) you probably want to double and triple make sure that they’re not lost to any disaster - human made or otherwise. The recommended solution is a 3-2-1 backup strategy.
Estimate how much storage you need. Video content likely will drive the number. A backup from original media will keep optimal quality, but requires most storage (per blu-ray: ~10GB but up to 25GB). There are a bunch of strategies to reduce this (only keep movie, not making-of and such; re-encode to smaller size) where you are responsible to make the compromise.
My household just adopted Immich, which allows automated backup of images/videos from Apple devices to a server for hosting and backup.
No personal experience with Unraid, but I have read several time recently that other platforms for hosting a home server are considered favorable in 2024, namely TrueNAS and Proxmox.
That is at least supported by the number of recent topics on these solutions on this forum.
As you’re starting out this may be a point to consider because I would expect a change later will require considerable effort.
that is one way of looking at it…
mining, hobby mining, heck even mining for profit always has the future aspect to it. also, a lot of people mine for a project that they just believe in, rather it is at all profitable or not. actually, it is impossible to mine XMR for profit basically ever.
my entire rig is running at a small loss today, but the probability of price increase over the next few months is trending up. it always seemed odd to me that people would actively only mine the thing that was ‘most profitable right now’ because even by the time they went to sell that had shifted several times and cost them more in transaction fees across 5 coins than if they would have just picked one and stuck to it.
I appreciate your economics, but loathe the ecological aspect of mining.
Yes, yes, hobby (disclaimer: I do a lot of things that don’t make economic or otherwise sense as a hobby) - but burning electricity to prove - what exactly?
Enough of this for this thread - striving too far from topic.
