Hello, I'm looking for some help choosing an OS for a file server that I'm building.
Currently, I am using the system in my sig as an HTPC. I am running XBMC Live off a small partition of the 250GB Maxtor and I have a 1.5TB Seagate drive which I use for most of my media. I have recently filled the 1.5TB drive and am temporarily storing excess media on my OS drive (on another partition) until I can grab a few larger drives.
My HTPC has served me very well for several years and I have been a huge fan of XBMC since its initial release on the original Xbox. That said, there are a few things about my setup that I dislike:
1. Currently I have no backup of my data and the thought of my 1.5Tb drive failing is starting to scare me.
2. I have configured SAMBA on my HTPC so that I can access my media from other PC's in my house but the transfer performance is pretty poor (~10MB/s) and I would like to change that.
3. I dislike having a large server case beside my TV and would like to build a standalone HTPC that will fit in my media cabinet.
It is for the above reasons that I have decided to build a dedicated file server and have a separate HTPC stream the content via gigabit LAN. The file server will consist of the components in my sig (+ 3-5 1.5TB drives) and must be driven by a free operating system (one of the many linux varients perhaps)
While I have successfully installed many Linux distros in the past (Ubuntu, Gentoo, Suse), my knowledge of server OS's is pretty limited. I have done some preliminary research into Ubuntu Server, FreeNAS, OpenFiler, Debian and a few others but I'm finding it difficult to make a decision based on my limited experience. Hopefully you guys can help me out.
I'm looking for something that is relatively easy to setup and maintain. Once configured, I plan on putting the box in my basement and accessing it remotely via SSH when needed. I may have a screen hooked up to it or I may just run it headless. The box will not be used for anything other then serving files to the rest of the PC's on my LAN. The box will need to be connected to the internet so that I can access it remotely via SSH when I am not at home. I would also like to run the SABnzb web server. SABnzb has been a breeze to install on Ubuntu and XBMCLive so I don't anticipate many problems with other distros.
I am strongly considering software RAID 5 but am open to other suggestions. If I do end up going that route, I would like the OS to support software raid 5 as painlessly as possible and would like to be able to add drives to the array as my space requirements increase. If this is not a possibility with free distros (i know UNraid does this), I'm open to other suggestions.
When it comes to performance, I certainly hope I can get my transfer rates higher then 10MB/s. The NF4-Ultra-D has 2 gigabit ethernet ports, my router (DIR-655) has a gigabit switch and my HTPC motherboard will most likely be a P965 DS3 with gigabit ethernet so hopefully my hardware won't hold me back. I'm looking for the best possible transfer rates I can get on a gigabit network so that I can transfer large files between PC's relatively quickly.
I'm sure i'm forgetting a few things but I think i covered the jist of it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Currently, I am using the system in my sig as an HTPC. I am running XBMC Live off a small partition of the 250GB Maxtor and I have a 1.5TB Seagate drive which I use for most of my media. I have recently filled the 1.5TB drive and am temporarily storing excess media on my OS drive (on another partition) until I can grab a few larger drives.
My HTPC has served me very well for several years and I have been a huge fan of XBMC since its initial release on the original Xbox. That said, there are a few things about my setup that I dislike:
1. Currently I have no backup of my data and the thought of my 1.5Tb drive failing is starting to scare me.
2. I have configured SAMBA on my HTPC so that I can access my media from other PC's in my house but the transfer performance is pretty poor (~10MB/s) and I would like to change that.
3. I dislike having a large server case beside my TV and would like to build a standalone HTPC that will fit in my media cabinet.
It is for the above reasons that I have decided to build a dedicated file server and have a separate HTPC stream the content via gigabit LAN. The file server will consist of the components in my sig (+ 3-5 1.5TB drives) and must be driven by a free operating system (one of the many linux varients perhaps)
While I have successfully installed many Linux distros in the past (Ubuntu, Gentoo, Suse), my knowledge of server OS's is pretty limited. I have done some preliminary research into Ubuntu Server, FreeNAS, OpenFiler, Debian and a few others but I'm finding it difficult to make a decision based on my limited experience. Hopefully you guys can help me out.
I'm looking for something that is relatively easy to setup and maintain. Once configured, I plan on putting the box in my basement and accessing it remotely via SSH when needed. I may have a screen hooked up to it or I may just run it headless. The box will not be used for anything other then serving files to the rest of the PC's on my LAN. The box will need to be connected to the internet so that I can access it remotely via SSH when I am not at home. I would also like to run the SABnzb web server. SABnzb has been a breeze to install on Ubuntu and XBMCLive so I don't anticipate many problems with other distros.
I am strongly considering software RAID 5 but am open to other suggestions. If I do end up going that route, I would like the OS to support software raid 5 as painlessly as possible and would like to be able to add drives to the array as my space requirements increase. If this is not a possibility with free distros (i know UNraid does this), I'm open to other suggestions.
When it comes to performance, I certainly hope I can get my transfer rates higher then 10MB/s. The NF4-Ultra-D has 2 gigabit ethernet ports, my router (DIR-655) has a gigabit switch and my HTPC motherboard will most likely be a P965 DS3 with gigabit ethernet so hopefully my hardware won't hold me back. I'm looking for the best possible transfer rates I can get on a gigabit network so that I can transfer large files between PC's relatively quickly.
I'm sure i'm forgetting a few things but I think i covered the jist of it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.