Need a NAS for Steam Games Storage

[tiwill0v2]

TL;DR Need to install steam games on an other pc than the ony i'm playing with and windows sharing isn't cutting it

Hello, i'm a bit new in the server world and i was refered by a person on an other forum. So Basically, i need to build a NAS that will be used to only Store files and games, i want to be able to install steam on any machines plugged to my network and be able to just add a Steam library to the setting and not having the games taking space directly on my gaming pc.

For now, i've just installed windows 10 pro 32bits and shared the drives. and after that i got on my gaming pc, open steam and add a library to the shared files and after that installed games but i have somes problem, somes games refuse to install, they block at some point and give me a "Write disk error" on steam... i was able to install like 77 games of my 86 perfectly fine and they seams to run perfectly without any fps drop or any problem.

so the other person talked to me about iscsi but he also said i would need some really beefy hardware wich beside my gaming pc i don't really have. but what i do have is a bunch of old pc(Core 2 Quad/Core 2 Duo/AM2 processors) so what i have in mind now would be: could i create a freenas that would work for what i want to do? do i need special hardware like raid cards etc... and also, do i need all the drives to be the same? because i have LOTS of old HDD i could use for it but if it's a necessity, i will buy somes.

Right now, my NAS has a Core 2 Quad Q9400 if i remember right, 2GB of ram(i also have a lot more if needed), i have a 320gb hdd for the Windows, a 2tb hdd as "safe" storage and a raid 0(bios level) of 3 hdd 1tb for the games and temporary storage.

if you want more details about what the other person said to me about iscsi, go here: https://linustechtips.com/main/topi...on-separate-pc/?tab=comments#comment-13511379

also, there is the option to just buy an of the shelf server to do what i want but it's WAY over budget for me for now, that's why i want to build it with what i got already :)

 

[jgreco]

If you're thinking that iSCSI is going to let you share your games between two gaming PC's, it will not. NTFS is not a cluster-aware filesystem.

iSCSI is also fairly unpleasant unless you throw a lot of resources at it (64MB RAM, gobs of disk).

https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/the-path-to-success-for-block-storage.81165/

 

[tiwill0v2]

If you're thinking that iSCSI is going to let you share your games between two gaming PC's, it will not. NTFS is not a cluster-aware filesystem.

iSCSI is also fairly unpleasant unless you throw a lot of resources at it (64MB RAM, gobs of disk).

https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/the-path-to-success-for-block-storage.81165/

i already wasn't planning on using iscsi, i'more wondering about what would be the best way to do this?

i'm currently reading the link you attached and from what i read you need different system depending on just archiving files and having exemples a VM. it say that VM need a bit more IOPS from what i understand(this is still all new for me, still not familiar with everything) so now my question is, from what i read and my logic, it seams like i would need a storage system like the ones you have for VM am i right? i just want to know if what i'm trying to learn is what i do need to learn

p.s. just to clarifie, i'm not planning on opening twice the same game on multiple pc, i just want to have acces to all my games from what ever pc i have without having to install all 86 games on every machines(because it would take litherally 3-5x the amount of space used total in the final because i would have the same games installed on all 3-5 pc, just want to save HDD space as much as i can and also having an easier way to play games on all my pc because somes of them only have a 120go ssd and that's it(only one sata port, it's a laptop motherboard that i put inside a wii)

 

[garm]

You still need multiple powerful GPUs and CPUs, what about Steam Link?

 

[tiwill0v2]

You still need multiple powerful GPUs and CPUs, what about Steam Link?

i don't want to run the games from the NAS, just store the files in it otherwise, i have multiples solution, steam has a way implemented directly in it, i can play GTA V max setting 60fps from an i5 second gen like that since it technically run from my gaming machine and just taking the input from the laptop. but these solutions add latency while running the game on the pc i am on and just taking the files from somewhere else, i would get full performences and no additional latency

 

[HoneyBadger]

For something that loads all of the resources up front (eg: Counter-Strike) that won't be an issue, but a game with an open world that "streams" the assets in (GTA, Skyrim, etc) would be negatively impacted by any added network latency to the files.

A shared drive may work, but if you ever run more than on instance of Steam at a time you could have unpredictable results.

 

[tiwill0v2]

For something that loads all of the resources up front (eg: Counter-Strike) that won't be an issue, but a game with an open world that "streams" the assets in (GTA, Skyrim, etc) would be negatively impacted by any added network latency to the files.

A shared drive may work, but if you ever run more than on instance of Steam at a time you could have unpredictable results.

latency wise, right now, i have GTA V install on what is my curent nas(just a windows pc with shared files), and GtA V works flawlessly, it doesn't seams tu be that bad latency wise(didn't even seams like there were any latency added to be honest so it must be really low latency) so if i could figure out a way to have about as much latency as i have with a windows shared file, it should be fine, for now the only problem i got was when installing somes games who refuse to install on the shared files, it give me a "Disk write error" directly in the steam download section.

 

[HoneyBadger]

for now the only problem i got was when installing somes games who refuse to install on the shared files, it give me a "Disk write error" directly in the steam download section.

You could try installing them to your local drive first and then moving them/rescanning the local files. But others seem to have some intense dislike for installing on or running from a shared drive.

 

[JaimieV]

Games that are ports from consoles such as GTA often won't mind having their files saved on a NAS - they're tuned for slow 2.5" HDDs or even to run directly from optical disks. GTAV was written for Xbox360, a very low end device now! Other games rather expect data to be SSD-local and might not go so well from a NAS share, but there's not much of that. You just have to expect to wait.

You can safely have one share with your non-local Steam library on, and access it from two+ machines. Even playing games on both simultaneously should be okay - savegame sync is local to your machine so there's not a risk of clashing and losing saves. The only mild issue might be that if you install (or delete) a game while Steam is running on the other PC, it might not see the change until you restart Steam there. Not exactly a huge deal.

And of course Steam can use multiple locations simultaneously, so if you do find a problem game you can just copy it to the local C: library on each machine you play it on.

The only real issue I could see is if you have PC/Mac/Linux clients and wanted to play the same game on them, a game with versions for different OSes cannot be installed in the shared location. Steam isn't clever enough to separate them.

All that said: If you have one gaming PC and others that are not so well blessed with GPU/RAM etc, and you have a decent home network, you may well get better results running a game on the gaming PC and using Steamlink to play remotely on your laptop etc. Well worth a try, and means you don't need to have anything other than Steam itself installed on the laptop, no worrying about shared files at all. Just power up the gaming PC with Steam, launch Steam on the laptop, and the gaming PC's games will show as available to play.

 

[JaimieV]

And all *that* said, you can certainly make a FreeNAS box that'll do it. But there are things wrong with your hardware choices - do NOT use any builtin RAID, set it to normal SATA. Get it to at least 8gig RAM. Go read the basic info in the stickies to get started.
I'd suggest posting a new thread about your hardware to get good comments, this one'll be polluted by further steam/games chat :)

 

[Yorick]

Right, shared storage might be an issue, which can be solved by duplicating - separate folders for separate machines, for games that don't like shared storage.

If speed isn't a concern: Mirror of HDDs, GBit network, SMB/CIFS share, 16GiB or 32GiB of RAM on FreeNAS

If speed is a concern: Mirror of SSDs, 10GBit network to PCs, SMB/CIFS share, 16GiB or 32GiB of RAM on FreeNAS

At which point one might reasonably ask: What, exactly, are we solving for; and couldn't it be more profitably solved by just throwing an SSD into each gaming machine and having the games local?

 

[JaimieV]

:) It's a good point, and that's what I do. When a 1TB SSD holds ~100+ games and costs £100... I have three of those in my games box.

Could be impossible on a laptop of course, but that would be served well by Steamlink.

 

[tiwill0v2]

:) It's a good point, and that's what I do. When a 1TB SSD holds ~100+ games and costs £100... I have three of those in my games box.

Could be impossible on a laptop of course, but that would be served well by Steamlink.

i know they get more and more affordable, of course if i had the money for it, i would buy 3 or 5 of them and use only this but my wallet doesn't permit me this, i won't get in much details but i'm paid minimal wage and i have a bunch of dept so i can't afford right now to just trow a half a grand on SSD, my gaming pc was paid before every thing happened to me that's why i have a good gaming pc but the rest is just random pc that people wanted to trow away so i got them for free and salvage the parts, this is why my nas have only a core 2 quad, that's why i have a bunch of HDD and a bunch of ram i can put in it and as i said, i want to make it easier for not just me but also my friends, somes times my friends come to play where i live, they bring their pc and some times they want to try somes of my games so if they just could add a new library it and have it ready to play right away, that would be awesome :D

loading speed isn't a problem for me, as long as i can Play the game normaly without having studering because the game isn't local WHILE i'm playing, it will work :)

i got somes reply that should guide me to the right path, should be fine for now, Thanks All! :D

 

[JaimieV]

That thing about the friends is interesting, definitely a use case I hadn't thought of. My LAN party days are looooong behind me, everything's over the Internet now. Last time I got a dozen friends together was probably 1999 or so...

You'd have to give them "share my games" rights as well as share the NAS Steam library, right? But that's easy when you're side by side :)

 

[hescominsoon]

is etup an iscsi block device on my FreeNAS

TL;DR Need to install steam games on an other pc than the ony i'm playing with and windows sharing isn't cutting it

Hello, i'm a bit new in the server world and i was refered by a person on an other forum. So Basically, i need to build a NAS that will be used to only Store files and games, i want to be able to install steam on any machines plugged to my network and be able to just add a Steam library to the setting and not having the games taking space directly on my gaming pc.

For now, i've just installed windows 10 pro 32bits and shared the drives. and after that i got on my gaming pc, open steam and add a library to the shared files and after that installed games but i have somes problem, somes games refuse to install, they block at some point and give me a "Write disk error" on steam... i was able to install like 77 games of my 86 perfectly fine and they seams to run perfectly without any fps drop or any problem.

so the other person talked to me about iscsi but he also said i would need some really beefy hardware wich beside my gaming pc i don't really have. but what i do have is a bunch of old pc(Core 2 Quad/Core 2 Duo/AM2 processors) so what i have in mind now would be: could i create a freenas that would work for what i want to do? do i need special hardware like raid cards etc... and also, do i need all the drives to be the same? because i have LOTS of old HDD i could use for it but if it's a necessity, i will buy somes.

Right now, my NAS has a Core 2 Quad Q9400 if i remember right, 2GB of ram(i also have a lot more if needed), i have a 320gb hdd for the Windows, a 2tb hdd as "safe" storage and a raid 0(bios level) of 3 hdd 1tb for the games and temporary storage.

if you want more details about what the other person said to me about iscsi, go here: https://linustechtips.com/main/topi...on-separate-pc/?tab=comments#comment-13511379

also, there is the option to just buy an of the shelf server to do what i want but it's WAY over budget for me for now, that's why i want to build it with what i got already :)

I setup an Iscsi block device and that's where i install all of my games. It isn't so i can share it between mahcines..but it means that I do not have to redownload everything should something blow up on my mahcine. Do I need to? No I have a 1TB SSd but again i didn't want to download 250GB+ when i decide to slick my local machine as i am want to do for various testing purposes. I first did it for my eldest as her mahcine has a 256 GB SSD as main storage and she has even more game data than i do(nearly 500GB) so for her it was because i had the resources available and didn't feel like continuously incresing her local stoarge. I actually have two iscsi block devices..one for my machine and one for my daughter's computer. You can read about my adventures here:

Gamecache – HCS's Place

 

[jonathantalkshw]

I want to share my steam games that way if I have computers built and sell something as my side hustle, I want to be able to see all the games on each computer I built to sell online. but ISCSI is more than likely not gonna cut it for my needs. so I gotta find a way to store my games in the most convenient way possible.

 

[jgreco]

An iSCSI device can only be "shared" with a single PC, unless you have a cluster-aware filesystem like VMFS. If you are on Windows and are running NTFS or FAT, you cannot have multiple computers mount that drive at the same time. It would be like plugging a USB HDD into multiple computers simultaneously.