Home Server upgrade time

[Biohead]

I'm hopefully moving home soon and I figured it's a good time to upgrade my home "server". Clean start and all that.

 

My current solution, some of you may find amusing, but it's done a really good job for the last 4-5 years and served my needs well. I've been using a pink Pogoplug (stop laughing!) running the stock firmware with a few very minor alterations (DDClient and Transmission). I've done it this way as the cloud functionality is pretty good (if you're on the same LAN, it'll go through the LAN as opposed to WAN) and made it really easy to share files with people. It also works over multiple platforms with ease (looking at you ChromeOS!).

 

It is getting on a bit now though, and as the new house has cable broadband the 100mbit connection is going to become limiting on the old Pogoplug. One of my aims is to make it so I can VPN into my home network to get over Geo-blocking whilst I'm abroad.

I feel that with x86 making pretty huge strides in the power consumption department, it's best I go down that route. For my current needs I know I don't need that much processing power (No Xeon, i7 - even i3 seems overkill!) so I've come to two main options. Storage also isn't a huge concern, I'll be reusing my 1TB drive from my Pogoplug until my needs change.

 

The first would be a Bay Trail based device (think the cheap Windows tablets). There's a few mini-pc style devices out there now with the Z3735F and 2GB RAM - some even with a battery (OK, so they actually ARE the cheap tablets without the screen). The quality of these devices may be questionable however and there's the question of will they really cope with what I need? The storage drives would have to be hooked up through USB too (although this is how the Pogoplug is right now). 

 

The other option I've come to would be a Haswell based Celeron - specifically the HP 260G1 DM. There doesn't seem to be too much info on the web on this device, but the HP disassembly manual suggests there's an M.2 slot as well as a SATA port inside.Reputable manufacturer at a decent price, and it's somewhat upgradeable (2x RAM slots). It's quite a small and compact machine and easy to put out of the way.

 

I do have a 3rd option - I have an HP N54L Microserver still at my parents. I know it has pretty good power consumption, but it's quite big and bulky compared to the other options, and I know from experience the AMD processor was very weak. Ideally, I'd like something new and smaller but if it's the most sensible choice I'll go with it.

 

If anyone has other ideas please do share them! I'll worry about the OS later (the first two come with WinBing edition) - this is purely for the hardware.

[sagum]

 

Hi Biohead, if you're wanting a server in the true sense then I highly recommand the HP ProLiant Gen8. You can pick them up for http://www.ebuyer.com/517760-hp-proliant-gen8-g1610t-microserver-712317-421''>

[Praetor]

while i could recommend the N54L, it's CPU can be the bottleneck in todays operations; the next gen (Gen8) Microserver is pretty good, rock solid and has a very low power consumtion (something that most forget until they see the electrical bill). If you don't mind the noise or paying a hefty big electrical bill then go for the Dell 2900; they are super cheap on ebay, you can stuff them with an incredible lot of RAM and HDDs and are pretty good, minus the noise and the power consumption.

[+Fahim S. MVC]

What would you be trying to do with the N54L that would mean that its "weak" processor wouldn't be up to the task?  I ask because there are a good few people here (myself included) using them and finding the performance quite adequate.

 

The device would have to be of a reasonable size for you to fit 2-3 drives inside it.

[BinaryData]

I was looking at something similar but mine was for an ESXi Server. I'm not too familiar with servers and the stress loads of things, but so far that Microserver looks like a good starting point.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't memory and network speeds tie in more towards the VPN, rather than CPU?

[Biohead]

I guess I didn't want to be in the situation finding out a few thousand miles from home the CPU really isn't upto it!

 

I do keep looking at the G8... it is a little on the bulky side but it certainly would be more than adequate. It's power consumption would be the only thing I'm unsure on - particularly with 3.5" drives. I think i'll get the HP 260 and see if it can take a SATA drive... if it can't I'll go pickup a G8 and find somewhere else than what I have in mind right now!

[BinaryData]

I guess I didn't want to be in the situation finding out a few thousand miles from home the CPU really isn't upto it!

 

I do keep looking at the G8... it is a little on the bulky side but it certainly would be more than adequate. It's power consumption would be the only thing I'm unsure on - particularly with 3.5" drives. I think i'll get the HP 260 and see if it can take a SATA drive... if it can't I'll go pickup a G8 and find somewhere else than what I have in mind right now!

 

Should do the calculations to find out. To run my PC 24/7 for a year without ever shutting it down, it'll cost me 130$. Add monitors, and peripherals, that's about 250$ / year. Then again, Washington State has some of the cheapest power in the United States.

EIA - Energy Information Administration

So, for my computer I'm using at home, here's the states

Watts * Hours * 365  / 1000 = x

x * $KW/h = Total Cost

I have a 1300w PSU, I leave it on for 7 days a week, and reboot it once or twice.

1300 * 24 * 365 = 11,388,000

11,388,000 / 1000 = 11,388

11, 388 * $0.09 (Rounded up for compensation/fluctuation) = $1,024.

That's for 1 year, granted I don't think that information is correct, 8 cents a KW/h for WA State seems a bit high. Considering the DC I work in pays 2cents per KW, their power bill is about 50,000$ or less per month. Anyways, you can always setup your server to boot at x time, and have it shut down at x time. That's what I do with one of my servers. Better yet, you could always have WOL (Wake On LAN) setup too. Just a thought.

Also, my PSU pulls 1300w but I don't actually USE 1300w, my PC barely pulls 650.

[Biohead]

So for similar Celeron (2955U/2957U) boxes, they typically use around 8w. Most of its time will be spent at idle, but let's round it to 10w and take into account some of the power brick inefficiencies and a 2.5" drive).

10*24*365= 87,600Wh = 87.6kWh.

Electricity at 13.37p/kWh =

[BinaryData]

So for similar Celeron (2955U/2957U) boxes, they typically use around 8w. Most of its time will be spent at idle, but let's round it to 10w and take into account some of the power brick inefficiencies and a 2.5" drive).

10*24*365= 87,600Wh = 87.6kWh.

Electricity at 13.37p/kWh =

[Praetor]

What would you be trying to do with the N54L that would mean that its "weak" processor wouldn't be up to the task?  I ask because there are a good few people here (myself included) using them and finding the performance quite adequate.

 

The device would have to be of a reasonable size for you to fit 2-3 drives inside it.

 

for me it's more then enough, but try to transcode a 1080p video with Plex and it just doesn't cut it.

[Arachno 1D]

I followed the link and noted the HP ProLiant Gen8 has a

[BinaryData]

for me it's more then enough, but try to transcode a 1080p video with Plex and it just doesn't cut it.

 

Are you seriously trying to stream a 1080p Video from your home computer while you're out and about? That's absolutely ridiculous dude.

 

First off, I honestly cannot tell the difference between 720p and 1080p, and I have perfect vision. It's by far, more logical to use 720p video than a 1080p. If you're in a hotel with good WiFi, then sure, but man..

[+Fahim S. MVC]

for me it's more then enough, but try to transcode a 1080p video with Plex and it just doesn't cut it.

 

From what format to what format.  I run a Windows VM on my Microserver running PMS - not had a problem.  All my movies are MP4 1080P.

 

Are you seriously trying to stream a 1080p Video from your home computer while you're out and about? That's absolutely ridiculous dude.

 

First off, I honestly cannot tell the difference between 720p and 1080p, and I have perfect vision. It's by far, more logical to use 720p video than a 1080p. If you're in a hotel with good WiFi, then sure, but man..

 

I think he means within his residence.

I followed the link and noted the HP ProLiant Gen8 has a

[Praetor]

Are you seriously trying to stream a 1080p Video from your home computer while you're out and about? That's absolutely ridiculous dude.

 

First off, I honestly cannot tell the difference between 720p and 1080p, and I have perfect vision. It's by far, more logical to use 720p video than a 1080p. If you're in a hotel with good WiFi, then sure, but man..

 

i really don't know where in my post i said such... let me check again... yep, in nowhere. i do use PMS to transcode video from a Windows VM in my N54L to my TV and it's just choppy; only 720p works, MP4 or MKV it doesn't matter as long as it is 1080p, it's always very CPU intensive and the N54L CPU just doesn't cut it. But fortunately that's the only flaw i see in that little gem.

 

oh yeah, while watching video in a TV you can see the difference between 720p and 1080p...

[BinaryData]

i really don't know where in my post i said such... let me check again... yep, in nowhere. i do use PMS to transcode video from a Windows VM in my N54L to my TV and it's just choppy; only 720p works, MP4 or MKV it doesn't matter as long as it is 1080p, it's always very CPU intensive and the N54L CPU just doesn't cut it. But fortunately that's the only flaw i see in that little gem.

 

oh yeah, while watching video in a TV you can see the difference between 720p and 1080p...

 

Pretty sure part of this topic was stated as "Traveling". If you're referring to something at your home, then state that. Do you understand the difference between mp4 and mkv?

Life Hacker Explains it very well.

 

 

As for containers, both MKV and MP4 support high quality H.264 video, but in general we prefer MKV for almost everything, since it has more features, supports higher quality audio, and is open source. The one downside of MKV is that it isn't as well supported by certain programs and devices. So, if you're putting these videos on your iPad, Apple TV, or Xbox 360, for example, you'll want to go with the more widely supported MP4. If you're watching them in VLC, PotPlayer, XBMC, or another video player that supports MKV, then MKV is the way to go.

[Praetor]

Pretty sure part of this topic was stated as "Traveling". If you're referring to something at your home, then state that. Do you understand the difference between mp4 and mkv?

Life Hacker Explains it very well.

 

 

pretty sure the OPs didn't mention travelling or such, just that he was upgrading his home server, so i didn't feel the need to state otherwise. I know the difference between containers; the problem is while transcoding the CPU from the N54L is hitting 100% load all the time, meaning that is the bottleneck of the whole process. And it doesn't matter what video i throw in, as long it is 1080p the CPU just can't handle it.

 

This has nothing to do with watching a 720p video or 1080p while travelling (and why not seeing a 1080p while travelling if i had the hardware for it?), since the problem is the transcoding part; in fact if i try to do that then my second bottleneck would be my upload, since it's insufficient for such operation.

 

btw: this is going pretty off topic by now.

[jasondefaoite]

I tend to avoid Plex for this reason (N36L user). Prefer Kodi as it uses the client to decode, rather than the server to transcode. N36L works great for what I use it for. But if the gen8 were available cheap where I am, i'd be tempted

[Praetor]

I tend to avoid Plex for this reason (N36L user). Prefer Kodi as it uses the client to decode, rather than the server to transcode. N36L works great for what I use it for. But if the gen8 were available cheap where I am, i'd be tempted

 

humm... gonna try Kodi then (new XBMC right?). thanks

[Biohead]

No, no, you seem to be misunderstanding this. This is based on the maximum amount of power that can be drawn. My PSU is 1300 watts. You don't base it off what the CPU uses.

Though, I think you may have a nice thought. If you can figure the maximum amount of power you'll use, and factor for that cost, that could be your "minimum", and then you can use my style for the maximum.

Hmm.. I'll have to look into this further.

 

No, pretty sure I'm using the right values. Chromeboxes (which this hardware basically is) have been shown to use around 7w-8w on a typical load (not the CPU, the overall value of the machine). Ok, it may go above this under heavy usage, and it'll go below it when not really being used like at night - so I've just stuck with 10w as an average over the day. Just because it comes with a 65W power brick doesn't mean it'll be using 65W all the time (and even 65w is overkill for that hardware). Although seeing that figure earlier, it's basically a negligible cost over a year even if it doubled!

 

As the question has been asked, I currently DON'T transcode media. I already keep them in a format ideal for my devices (Chromecast) and they're streamed LOCALLY. This might be something I change in future though - and they N54L may fall down here. G8 is looking tempting I'll admit - here's hoping the rebate stays for the future.

 

I will be travelling, however I'd be using my server for VPN access to get over geographic blocks to stream the likes of Sky Go. I wouldn't be streaming video files directly from the server!

[Brian M. Veteran]

I run an N40L, and I can transcode 1080p from it no problem. little box handles everything I can throw at it, you just have to remember that some heavier tasks (converting video, etc) take a while.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

For what you need at the moment the N54L is perfect, just keep it in a cupboard out the way if you think it's too big and bulky.

If you want something new to play with maybe a Raspberry Pi 2?

[BinaryData]

Someone get me links to the N40L and N54L. Haha, NewEgg couldn't find it, lol.

 

I need a Microserver, something I can use for portability.

I do video encoding. It doesn't take much in regards to CPU. Then again, my PC is junky and old.

[+Fahim S. MVC]

N40L is long discontinued. N54L more recently so, but I haven't seen one being advertised in a while

[BinaryData]

N40L is long discontinued. N54L more recently so, but I haven't seen one being advertised in a while

 

No equivalence released? That's strange.

[TPreston]

If you didn't store your media in such obscure containers you wouldn't need to waste energy and cpu time transcoding them every time you want to watch them... Simples.

 

Im sure you can do without having your subtitles in comic sans