Hi,
First question - just got my pass to try it out, probably going for the lifetime pretty quick as it has been pretty good so far.
My situation / question is this - I was building a box actually for freenas when I discovered synology/xpenology - DSM… the unit has a Xeon E-3 1245 processor, 16GB ECC DDR3, Supermicro board etc… running the latest 5.x release of DSM (cannot use 6 yet) - My question is - does plex take full advantage of that hardware on the synology / xpenology platform or would there be benefits running it under linux or windows?
Also I have another system I could put together using AMD Phenom II 955, 8GB DDR2 - xpenology… would that be decent hardware for xpenology and plex? I could use that for media and build a freenas out of the current hardware… just want to get the most out of what I have and what I have seems overkill but I am just not sure - if plex takes full advantage of the hardware then I think I am good but if it does not… thus the question.
Thanks ahead of time for any advise.
Tom
IMHO, I would use the Phenom as the Xpenology server and use the Xeon system as a PMS on Windows (if you have a license to use, otherwise Linux). It is overkill for RAM but you could still use the system as a client or whatever. For most, Windows is the path of least resistance, and some features don’t work on other systems (Premium music on FreeNAS/FreeBSD doesn’t work, some channels - in the past - only ran on Windows, etc.).
Thanks guys,
I think I might build out the Phenom box and run Xpenology and Plex on that and use the current hardware to back it all up to freenas - I am mainly concerned with the Phenoms ability to trans-code - I have a couple kids in college who want access from their dorms and I travel often enough where I will want access on my tablet or phone. I do have plenty of Windows licenses but unless there is a specific ability Plex would use on Windows I would prefer to not use Windows simply because of the overhead, patches, updates and all that.
I am not sure why you would use FreeNAS just for backing up data. If I were to go to the trouble of using FreeNAS, it would definitely be my primary media, and I would use Xpenology as my backup. Either way, it is more difficult to move your install to/from Xpenology/Synology than Windows or Linux. If you never have to switch, it may not be an issue, but I would hate to be locked into a particular platform if it is avoidable (looking at you too, Shield).
@drinehart said:
I am not sure why you would use FreeNAS just for backing up data. If I were to go to the trouble of using FreeNAS, it would definitely be my primary media, and I would use Xpenology as my backup. Either way, it is more difficult to move your install to/from Xpenology/Synology than Windows or Linux. If you never have to switch, it may not be an issue, but I would hate to be locked into a particular platform if it is avoidable (looking at you too, Shield).
If xpenology had btrfs I might have done it that way but currently as far as I know the most current version is not running btrfs and the xeon system has all the recommended specs you need for a solid freenas build (Intel, ECC ram) where as xpenology does not require ECC because it is not using btrfs or zfs. I want one as a backup simply because I will be exposing the other to the internet and even though I run a firewall - if somehow something happens I want an easy rollback / re-install from a solid backup platform… a couple years back I bought the dvd stock of a local dvd rental place that was going out of business and it took literally almost a year to rip all those down… don’t want to go through that again - and because I have the hardware lying around to do it - just try to figure out the best way to go about it… I am a set-it and forget it type, once this is done - other than swapping out bad drives and cleaning the dust filters - I don’t want to deal with it for about 3 years…
I am still of the opinion that people stand a higher chance of misconfiguring and losing their entire array under FreeNAS than they are of EVER suffering bitrot. I think, based on my experience with NAS and small SAN, that the threat of bitrot is far overblown. You can manage the same thing with a good backup and verification strategy without suffering through FreeNAS. However, if FreeNAS is something you find you like, more power to you. It is a great system once it is configured and you build a great understanding of it. It is almost a direct opposite of Synology, IMHO.
Don’t take away from this that I don’t like FreeNAS. I do like it, I just don’t think it is an appropriate system for users who don’t understand storage arrays and just want storage that works and is easy. I don’t know which camp you fall into, so take it with a grain of salt.
@drinehart said:
I am still of the opinion that people stand a higher chance of misconfiguring and losing their entire array under FreeNAS than they are of EVER suffering bitrot. I think, based on my experience with NAS and small SAN, that the threat of bitrot is far overblown. You can manage the same thing with a good backup and verification strategy without suffering through FreeNAS. However, if FreeNAS is something you find you like, more power to you. It is a great system once it is configured and you build a great understanding of it. It is almost a direct opposite of Synology, IMHO.
Don’t take away from this that I don’t like FreeNAS. I do like it, I just don’t think it is an appropriate system for users who don’t understand storage arrays and just want storage that works and is easy. I don’t know which camp you fall into, so take it with a grain of salt.
Trust me I hear you on that, after looking into freeNas and talking to people on the forums etc - one must wonder how much better it can really be then many other solutions given the server grade hardware you need to really comply with it - I would think almost any stable software storage system running on server boards, with server chips and ecc ram would do a fine job - I ran a Server 2012 essentials with stablebit drive pool for 3-4 years and only had to swap out 2 drives during that time and blow out the dust filters on the case - no issue’s at all. I am not 100% set on freeNas but I think it is wise to keep the backup on a different OS so things like Synolock or whatever that may affect one are unlikely to affect the other. I have toyed with the idea of running this in a VM, I have a couple dell R710 with 2x Hex core Xeons and 144GB ram, problem is the Perc 6 controllers and only 6 HDD cages… So I have more than enough hardware, just figuring out which pieces fit best for which role - The only thing I am 100% sure on at this point is Plex itself and having xpenology play some role because the wife loves a couple of their apps. I am toying with the idea of picking up a unit of theirs with 4 bays that can run btfs, they can power on and off by schedule - but I don’t want to fork out $$ for new and I cannot seem to find a definitive guide as to which models will run btrfs… I just like the idea of the main backup having either btrfs or zfs…
