Server setup for home use

Hardware Hub Networking
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Hi

I want to build a new network envirement @ home.

What I got that I can use.

As it is:
Synology DS918+ (4x4TB) → RAID 5, Used: 8/12 TB

  • Hosted all Data that is synced to about 10 different devices via Synology drive
  • Reroute xxx.synology.me domain to my IP
  • Plex Media server

Synology DS411 (2x1TB) → RAID 0 , Used ??

  • not productively in use…
  • old HDDs

Synology DS216+ (2x3TB) → RAID 0 USED 6/6TB

  • Automated Backup from DS418+ via hyperbackup

HP ProDesk 600 G2 i5-6500

  • As a ubuntu server for playing around.

What I want to have, if possible:

  • Bigger Backup Server
  • Running Plex on a more powerful server. (4k streaming with multiple streams)
  • More Storage for Backups or better Backup system.
  • Better splitting my Plex library and my Data

All HDDs I got are WD Red
I already bought 4x8TB WD Red Plus in a great deal

What I was planing to do… I don’t know if it is a good idea.

  • Keep using the DS 918+ as main data storage server, replacing the 4TB HDDs with the 8TB HDDs still using RAID 5 (So I get 24 TB)

  • Using the DS411 for it’s drive bays replacing the 1 TB drives with the 4TBs from the DS918+ connecting it to the HP ProDesk and hosting Plex on it. Additionally, replacing the DS216+ and back upping directly to the DS411.

  • running some docker containers on Ubuntu server (HP Prodesk) like a network monitoring tool.

  • if possible, a Remote desktop environment.

I don’t know if this is possible. I started working in application development. So, I know some things about networking, but I am definitely no professional.

If I could get some help, this would be wonderful and would save me a lot of time and headaches.

Is this a smart system, or are there any better options?

I hope I don’t have to mention. Safety is also a priority.

I still have some budget ($300) if I need to get some other parts.

Thanks in advance
Janick from Switzerland.

2

For Plex you either want an Intel CPU with an iGPU so you can use quicksync or go all out with an expensive workstation Nvidia GPU. AMD GPUs for some reason dont work well with Plex. While the hardware is there, something keeps them from being fully utilized. And unless you hack the Nvidia drivers, consumer Nvidia cards are limited to 2-3 Plex streams only. So your best option is an Intel CPU. You can get 10-12 streams out of their iGPU’s media encoding block just fine. And since you are using GPU encoding, the CPU threads dont matter much. Any modern gen Intel will be fine and offer relatively the same performance.

You have 2 options for large storage capability with a custom built server/NAS machine. Either a tower or rack case with a lot of hard drive slots, or that can have a lot of drive slots added, or a small case and use an SAS HBA card with external connections (instead of internal HBA connections) and have all your drives be external to the tower.

For external drive cases, you would want a something like these to put the drives in:

https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/storage/TS431S/
https://www.pc-pitstop.com/8-bay-expander-tower-trayless
https://www.pc-pitstop.com/15-bay-trayless-rackmount-expander

With those that have an expander in them, you can keep chaining them together up to about 1024 drives. They will be limited to the bandwidth of the port they are on though. So like if you have a 6gb HBA with two external connections, all drives that come from one of those connections no matter how many you have will be limited to 6gb/s. So instead of chaining, it is better to split the drives evenly between the connections you have available. You can also spend more and get an HBA with four 12gb/s external connections if you want some serious bandwidth and expansion capability.

If you go with a large case, you can find “ATX Super Towers” that can hold anywhere from 8-30 drives, or go with expensive server rack cases like these to hold even more:

https://www.45drives.com/products/storage/
https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/x11/systems/storage

As for the network side of the data for a Plex server or NAS, Plex doesnt really use much. Each stream is anywhere from 4mb to 60mb/s. Traffic from Plex is easily handled on a basic gigabit network everyone has.

Transferring data to the server though, depending on how many drives you have in an array you may want to get 10gb on the server and your PC. With RAID5 though it wont matter. Write speed is so terrible on it that you probably wont ever get past gigabit on an array like that. You would want to move to a Linux distro like TrueNAS and run an array with ZFS file system, it is superior in speed to RAID5.

You can easily set up multiple drive pools with ZFS on TrueNAS for your Plex media and personal data to keep them separate.

Although not at all necessary for you, since you have a lot of Synology hardware you could go for the Synology RT6600AX router for your network. It has a really nice interface, has some great capabilities, and just matches your other stuff so that’s always cool.

https://www.amazon.com/Synology-RT6600ax-Tri-Band-segmentation-Prevention/dp/B09ZQ5W4G7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiZLHYivAkI
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Hi Janick,

you already have several boxes some inactive. How many boxes do you want/need?

For your use case you really only need two (Plex host and backup).
You’re looking for an upgrade to a more powerful compute option.

This either means

  1. A new box with ample storage as new plex server - using the largest Synology as backup, or
  2. A box with sufficient compute connecting to your Synology DS918+ as primary storage and continue with your existing backup strategy.

There is potentially a third option, where you cluster your set of Synology devices together, e.g. like this dude does it using Proxmox:
Proxmox on NAS
3-node Proxmox HA cluster
Not sure if this is the right direction for you, but if you’re so inclined it may offer your Synology boxes a new lease on life.

I personally would lean towards the first option.

Given, what you have available I’d think about turning your HP ProDesk into the new Proxmox server, potentially building this out. I have used an i5-6500 for many years in similar capacity. If it is currently only used for playing around it may be worth a try.
Maybe you’d look for a new case to transplant the mobo/cpu/ram from the HP and have room to combine them with the 4x 8TB HDDs?
There are tons of options for this. From dumpster diving to obtain any cheap case (craigslist?) to potentially living room worthy. To give you an idea, I have invested in the SilverStone GD08 which is nice to look at, but also can serve as a 4U server chassis. It can mount up to 8x 3.5" HDDs. This would represent an upscale option with room for expansion (add HDDs, exchange/upgrade mobo/CPU).

Questions to consider:

  • Where do you see this setup in 2-5 years? Considering your selection of Synology devices you’ve been through several upgrade cycles…
  • Do you prefer a close-to-ready appliance solution or are you interested in tinkering (the Synology’s suggest appliance, but only you know)
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Piggybacking off of @jode I would just add that you should consider using the 2 drive Synology NAS as a remote backup for important (i.e. documents, family photos, etc) by setting up some sort of VPN and rsync or similar system. You can do the bulk backup locally and then plug it in at a relatives house and just have it do incremental backups as you add data. This will give you a remote, offsite backup of your most important data.

Actually now that I think about it Synology has a native application for doing this.

So have your DS918 local and then just backup your important stuff to the 2 drive (or multiple 2 drives) to offsite locations.

Edit: Saw that you are already using hyper backup. Just connect them via VPN and you are set.