Josh Slone
Dabbler
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2014
- Messages
- 10
Hello everyone, real quick before I get into my questions I just wanna say that I've been outta the loop on the open source/linux/uinx/bsd world for a few years and thus have forgotten a ton of stuff so please bear with me lol. I used to be a Windows user until I switched to Macs. That background being said here goes...
I want to build a personal media server/personal file server from which I can store all my stuff and then stream it to (and from) my home theater, mobile devices (Apple and Android) and home computers (all Apple machines at the moment). This need has arised out of my Xbox not being able to play a lot of various formats as well as my exasperation with moving hard drives all over the house all the time.
I've played around with various Linux distros in the past (mainly Ubuntu and Mandrake) but I never really got deep into the systems other than to just play with them.
My original plan was to have a simple Linux box with a Drobo on it but the Drobo turned out to be too limited in capabilities for what I want. I then headed over to the Ubuntu forums and was quite surprised when they recommended FreeNAS to me. Prior to that I hadn't heard of FreeNAS so I did a bit of research and liked what I saw.
Here's an itemized list of what I want out of my server:
1) Host and stream HD movie and audio content to home theater, mobile devices, and home computers
2) Use the server as a backup medium for all my computers and devices
3) Be able to securely access my server anywhere I am (provided I have wifi/data connection)
Now here's a list of the hardware components I've selected to date (subject to change):
-CPU: Intel Core i7-4770 Haswell LGA 1150 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681911690) $300
-MOTHERBOARD: MSI B85-G41(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130699) $80
-OS DRIVE: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SATA III SSD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247) $90
-STORAGE DRIVES: Seagate Desktop HDD.15 ST4000DM00 4TB Drive (x6) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178338) $165 ea
-GRAPHICS CARD: ASUS HD7770-1GD5 Radeon HD7770 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121663) $108
-RAM: GSkill Budget Series 4GB Sticks (x2) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231634) $39 ea
-CASE: NZXT Source 210 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075) $40
Input on my hardware selection is much appreciated (budget is a high priority here) as well as guidance on initially installing FreeNAS and then subsequently setting up the server and enabling the features I need. I would like to use Plex to handle my media. And a recommendation on a simple and easy to use file manager client for my mobile devices and home computers would be great as well.
Thanks everyone!
Josh
I want to build a personal media server/personal file server from which I can store all my stuff and then stream it to (and from) my home theater, mobile devices (Apple and Android) and home computers (all Apple machines at the moment). This need has arised out of my Xbox not being able to play a lot of various formats as well as my exasperation with moving hard drives all over the house all the time.
I've played around with various Linux distros in the past (mainly Ubuntu and Mandrake) but I never really got deep into the systems other than to just play with them.
My original plan was to have a simple Linux box with a Drobo on it but the Drobo turned out to be too limited in capabilities for what I want. I then headed over to the Ubuntu forums and was quite surprised when they recommended FreeNAS to me. Prior to that I hadn't heard of FreeNAS so I did a bit of research and liked what I saw.
Here's an itemized list of what I want out of my server:
1) Host and stream HD movie and audio content to home theater, mobile devices, and home computers
2) Use the server as a backup medium for all my computers and devices
3) Be able to securely access my server anywhere I am (provided I have wifi/data connection)
Now here's a list of the hardware components I've selected to date (subject to change):
-CPU: Intel Core i7-4770 Haswell LGA 1150 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681911690) $300
-MOTHERBOARD: MSI B85-G41(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130699) $80
-OS DRIVE: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SATA III SSD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247) $90
-STORAGE DRIVES: Seagate Desktop HDD.15 ST4000DM00 4TB Drive (x6) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178338) $165 ea
-GRAPHICS CARD: ASUS HD7770-1GD5 Radeon HD7770 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121663) $108
-RAM: GSkill Budget Series 4GB Sticks (x2) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231634) $39 ea
-CASE: NZXT Source 210 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075) $40
Input on my hardware selection is much appreciated (budget is a high priority here) as well as guidance on initially installing FreeNAS and then subsequently setting up the server and enabling the features I need. I would like to use Plex to handle my media. And a recommendation on a simple and easy to use file manager client for my mobile devices and home computers would be great as well.
Thanks everyone!
Josh