NAS PC Help

[zingo]

I currently have an old PC that's really to become a NAS to hold all my music and feed a few Squeezeboxes; my goal is to run it headless, but I can use a monitor/mouse/keyboard to set it up if needed. The last PC server I built a year ago used VortexBox, but I didn't like it. It kept having issues, and I kept having issues logging on to it when the unit would have errors, which left me very frustrated. Right now the PC has a fresh version of Windows XP which I may use with the Squeezebox Server and remote log-in if I can find a better option.

Does anyone have an recommendations of a good and low maintenance solution I can use as I only need to store and be able to access the music; like a NAS. I am not using this as an HTPC, and would prefer to just drag and drop files onto it from my main PC after I rip of download them.

Thanks for the help!

[gdpeck]

So you will have a seperate ripping machine, and the old PC is basically just going to run LMS and store all your files?

I've been running SqueezeboxServer (er...LMS) from a Virtual Machine running Debian for about three years and it has been super low maintenance. I'm not using a Linux GUI at all, so it is all command line. I still access LMS through the web interface though. Debian was pretty easy to install, and if you install Samba you will be able to see the drives in the LMS/NAS in Windows Explorer and either rip directly to those drives, or drag/drop after ripping/downloading. One other nice thing about running it in a VM is that you get remote console access to the VM if you ever need it. For a command line base OS like Debian you can also use SSH sessions to run it headless.

Thanks!
George

I currently have an old PC that's really to become a NAS to hold all my music and feed a few Squeezeboxes; my goal is to run it headless, but I can use a monitor/mouse/keyboard to set it up if needed. The last PC server I built a year ago used VortexBox, but I didn't like it. It kept having issues, and I kept having issues logging on to it when the unit would have errors, which left me very frustrated. Right now the PC has a fresh version of Windows XP which I may use with the Squeezebox Server and remote log-in if I can find a better option.

Does anyone have an recommendations of a good and low maintenance solution I can use as I only need to store and be able to access the music; like a NAS. I am not using this as an HTPC, and would prefer to just drag and drop files onto it from my main PC after I rip of download them.

Thanks for the help!

Attachment 80667

[PrazVT]

Before I switched to a Synology DS413 NAS, I had another Win 7 machine pulling video / audio / ftp serving duties. It was pretty low maintenance. Keep in mind, outside of my tablet & work laptop, everything in my apartment is hardwired in a gigabit network.

But basically:
- shared the folders I store my media on (advanced sharing, full control, windows user id login req'd), and mapped them as network drives (or just accessed them via My Computer -> Network)
- accessed Logitech Media Server settings from a browser (ex. 192.168.1.3:9000) on any browser enabled device on the LAN

I would just copy the music from my laptop / desktop to the remote folder, pull up LMS in a browser, go to settings and hit rescan so the new music is indexed. That's about it.

Aside from some port forwarding on my router so I can access LMS from work, there was no other maintenance or real need to directly access the machine. While I did have a monitor / kb / mouse hooked up, I mostly just remote desktop'd to the server if I needed to do anything on it.

Assuming the machine is fine now since you did a fresh install of XP (ie. no hardware issues), you should be able to do exactly the same.

After moving to a dedicated NAS box, it's the same experience FYI.

[zingo]

Thanks for the responses.

Has anyone tried FreeNas?

[disneyjoe7]

I believe FreeNas works best under Ubuntu

[dhart86]

Before I switched to a Synology DS413 NAS, I had another Win 7 machine pulling video / audio / ftp serving duties. It was pretty low maintenance. Keep in mind, outside of my tablet & work laptop, everything in my apartment is hardwired in a gigabit network.

But basically:
- shared the folders I store my media on (advanced sharing, full control, windows user id login req'd), and mapped them as network drives (or just accessed them via My Computer -> Network)
- accessed Logitech Media Server settings from a browser (ex. 192.168.1.3:9000) on any browser enabled device on the LAN

I would just copy the music from my laptop / desktop to the remote folder, pull up LMS in a browser, go to settings and hit rescan so the new music is indexed. That's about it.

Aside from some port forwarding on my router so I can access LMS from work, there was no other maintenance or real need to directly access the machine. While I did have a monitor / kb / mouse hooked up, I mostly just remote desktop'd to the server if I needed to do anything on it.

Assuming the machine is fine now since you did a fresh install of XP (ie. no hardware issues), you should be able to do exactly the same.

After moving to a dedicated NAS box, it's the same experience FYI.

PrazVT..How do you like the Synology? I was looking at that same exact model to purchase. I am a Nas newbie as this is my 1st venture. Is it user freindly?

[EndersShadow]

Why not just use Windows Home Server?

[PrazVT]

PrazVT..How do you like the Synology? I was looking at that same exact model to purchase. I am a Nas newbie as this is my 1st venture. Is it user freindly?

I was a little nervous at first, because I was used to having a reasonably beefy quad core box as a server. But, thus far the DS413 has been rock solid.

- I installed the four 3TB drives easily, connected it up and ran Synology Assistant the first time in windows, so it could find the NAS.
- The initial software installation / configuration is pretty straight forward, with respect to setting up the RAID array; I'm using the Hybrid array, which basically gives me 9TB of space with the last 3TB disk being used for parity. There is a 1 time parity check that is done in the background that uses up some cpu resources and takes a 1-2 days, but the NAS is dual core and it didn't impact usage.
- The OS looks like windows and runs in a browser; very easy to use.
- You can install a number 3rd party "packages" - I haven't messed w/ too many though.
- Logitech Media Server runs exactly the same as the Windows version - no issues there.
- The native Synology media server software works really nicely as well; My PS3 can read all the m2ts blu-ray rips I have and the Pioneer AVR can access all my FLAC music (though I use my SB mostly).
- Transfer rates are a little slower w/ the Hybrid RAID (~50-60MB/s), but not a big deal.
- I have another external USB 3.0 2TB disk attached via the DS413's USB 3.0 port, that holds all my music and that shows up fine as well.
- Once you enable windows file sharing in the OS, any computer can access it via the network.
- You can also connect to it remotely and play movies / music using the video station / music station apps, as well as download content to whatever computer you're connecting from using the Filestation app.

Overall..I'm happy with it. It's dual core, responsive, and runs pretty quiet. The led lights are a bit bright, but otherwise no real issues thus far.

BTW, I'm a NAS newbie too. This was my first one, but it was like setting up / tweaking my computer.

If you have any questions or need help, just hit me up.

- Praz

[dhart86]

I was a little nervous at first, because I was used to having a reasonably beefy quad core box as a server. But, thus far the DS413 has been rock solid.

- I installed the four 3TB drives easily, connected it up and ran Synology Assistant the first time in windows, so it could find the NAS.
- The initial software installation / configuration is pretty straight forward, with respect to setting up the RAID array; I'm using the Hybrid array, which basically gives me 9TB of space with the last 3TB disk being used for parity. There is a 1 time parity check that is done in the background that uses up some cpu resources and takes a 1-2 days, but the NAS is dual core and it didn't impact usage.
- The OS looks like windows and runs in a browser; very easy to use.
- You can install a number 3rd party "packages" - I haven't messed w/ too many though.
- Logitech Media Server runs exactly the same as the Windows version - no issues there.
- The native Synology media server software works really nicely as well; My PS3 can read all the m2ts blu-ray rips I have and the Pioneer AVR can access all my FLAC music (though I use my SB mostly).
- Transfer rates are a little slower w/ the Hybrid RAID (~50-60MB/s), but not a big deal.
- I have another external USB 3.0 2TB disk attached via the DS413's USB 3.0 port, that holds all my music and that shows up fine as well.
- Once you enable windows file sharing in the OS, any computer can access it via the network.
- You can also connect to it remotely and play movies / music using the video station / music station apps, as well as download content to whatever computer you're connecting from using the Filestation app.

Overall..I'm happy with it. It's dual core, responsive, and runs pretty quiet. The led lights are a bit bright, but otherwise no real issues thus far.

BTW, I'm a NAS newbie too. This was my first one, but it was like setting up / tweaking my computer.

If you have any questions or need help, just hit me up.

- Praz

Thanks Praz..............just ordered one! One question, please.............. Why did you choose the Hybrid Raid as opposed to the other Raid options. I think initially, the thing I will be challenged with the most is which Raid to select and why.

Thank you for your insight and extremely useful explaination
Darren

[zingo]

Why not just use Windows Home Server?

It looks like copies start at $50? Did I find the right version?

[TurboGTU]

Why not just use Windows Home Server?

1. Linux is free, a little more involved though.
2. Linux based can use some pretty low spec hard ware, this means you can use something that may not get used otherwise and also is likely lower power and will be easier on your electric bill.
3. Once it's set up, it will likely take less maintenance, not a guarantee, but it's likely.
4. Did I mention it's free....:)

If you are a techy person or don't mind learning something new, it's a great way to go. However, if you have all windows in your house, just want something that works, and have the money for it. Windows Home server works as well.

[EndersShadow]

It looks like copies start at $50? Did I find the right version?

I think so

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0home%20server

1. Linux is free, a little more involved though.
2. Linux based can use some pretty low spec hard ware, this means you can use something that may not get used otherwise and also is likely lower power and will be easier on your electric bill.
3. Once it's set up, it will likely take less maintenance, not a guarantee, but it's likely.
4. Did I mention it's free....:)

If you are a techy person or don't mind learning something new, it's a great way to go. However, if you have all windows in your house, just want something that works, and have the money for it. Windows Home server works as well.

Agreed with all the above, personally despite being in IT I am finding I just want things to "work" without relearning a bunch of stuff so when I plan on building another smaller desktop and converting my current desktop into a server I am planning on going with Windows Home Server more than likely.

[PrazVT]

For NAS like functionality (backups, RAID arrangements perhaps not available on Win 7/8, WHS looks useful. Considering Windows Home Server doesn't natively support streaming of mkv / m2ts (h264 + ac3 or dts) or FLAC, I don't see it as being that useful for media serving though.

I simply ran:
- TVersity Pro for mkv / m2ts / avi / mp4 / FLAC / lossy audio
- LMS for the Squeezebox
- Bulletproof FTP for ftp

[disneyjoe7]

Hmm.... Well here's my story about this... I ran Raid 5 under Win 7 in a HTPC and didn't notice any issue with sound of movies recorded or gotten off OTA tuner. My bigger issue was I felt the cpu couldn't keep up and dropped video and or sound at times, so moved back to a single drive or so vs. the Raid setup.

For NAS like functionality (backups, RAID arrangements perhaps not available on Win 7/8, WHS looks useful. Considering Windows Home Server doesn't natively support streaming of mkv / m2ts (h264 + ac3 or dts) or FLAC, I don't see it as being that useful for media serving though.

I simply ran:
- TVersity Pro for mkv / m2ts / avi / mp4 / FLAC / lossy audio
- LMS for the Squeezebox
- Bulletproof FTP for ftp

[PrazVT]

That is possible. Video transcoding requires a beefy CPU to keep up if you are streaming to a device that doesn't natively support the format you are trying to play. While my server box was a relatively beefy Intel Q9650 box, I for the most part, encode to formats that my PS3 can play.

I believe that the RAID capabilities motherboards have + what combinations may be available in Windows are software-based. So I'd guess that there is some CPU overhead for dealing with it. .. which could lead to some stuttering if the machine isn't that powerful. Partly conjecture here - could be wrong :)

[TurboGTU]

Hmm.... Well here's my story about this... I ran Raid 5 under Win 7 in a HTPC and didn't notice any issue with sound of movies recorded or gotten off OTA tuner. My bigger issue was I felt the cpu couldn't keep up and dropped video and or sound at times, so moved back to a single drive or so vs. the Raid setup.

If your going to run a media center, using a software raid is a bad way to go (i.e. pretty much any raid that comes on a consumer mobo, which is still better than the raid you get in the os...), it will take quite a bit of your processor and will also write slower. In this case I would recommend an actual hardware raid card, even a relatively cheap hardware raid card will out perform the os raid or the motherboard software raid.

[disneyjoe7]

If your going to run a media center, using a software raid is a bad way to go (i.e. pretty much any raid that comes on a consumer mobo, which is still better than the raid you get in the os...), it will take quite a bit of your processor and will also write slower. In this case I would recommend an actual hardware raid card, even a relatively cheap hardware raid card will out perform the os raid or the motherboard software raid.

It was a motherboard RAID thing but a teacher of IT told me its was a software raid, sorry to confuse you.

[TurboGTU]

It was a motherboard RAID thing but a teacher of IT told me its was a software raid, sorry to confuse you.

Not really sure on the confusion...you were using RAID built into the motherboard, which is a software RAID setup. This uses your systems processor AND RAM to do this task and could end up using a good portion of it. This is a bad thing when your processor also has to decode video and audio.

I was suggesting if you want RAID look into a dedicated hardware RAID card to plug into a pci-x slot. This offloads the task of managing the RAID to the cards processor (and the cards memory if you get a nice enough card).

I work as a system admin and deal with this stuff a lot. Let me know if you have any questions. I can likely at least point you in the right direction.

*Note* Built in OS "RAID" is worthless for the most part, you'd be far better off using the software RAID on the motherboard.
So in order: OS <<< Motherboard <<<<<<<<<H/W RAID card.

[disneyjoe7]

Thanks and I keep that in mind if I get stuck.

[rdb2001]

Not really sure on the confusion...you were using RAID built into the motherboard, which is a software RAID setup. This uses your systems processor AND RAM to do this task and could end up using a good portion of it. This is a bad thing when your processor also has to decode video and audio.

I was suggesting if you want RAID look into a dedicated hardware RAID card to plug into a pci-x slot. This offloads the task of managing the RAID to the cards processor (and the cards memory if you get a nice enough card).

I work as a system admin and deal with this stuff a lot. Let me know if you have any questions. I can likely at least point you in the right direction.

*Note* Built in OS "RAID" is worthless for the most part, you'd be far better off using the software RAID on the motherboard.
So in order: OS <<< Motherboard <<<<<<<<<H/W RAID card.

+1 This is what my friend in IT suggested when we was building my home server. We use a raid card instead of motherboard with built in raid. It has worked great for me thus far.

[cc43fan]

Why not just use Windows Home Server?

+1. It's surprising how inexpensive WHS is.