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Thread: New Server Build

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Beans
    15

    New Server Build

    I'm building my own server (well, a local chop-shop is assembling it for me). Here's what I'm getting:

    Case: Fractal Design 340
    CPU: Intel Core i3 3220
    Motherboard: Asus P8H77
    Memory: 8 GB DDR3
    PSU: Corsair CX Series CX430
    Hard-drives:
    • OS - Intel 520 120 GB SSD
    • Storage - 3 2TB WD Red


    I'll be putting 12.04 on it. Servers: openssh, samba, lamp, plex, squeezecenter (Logitech LMS), probably missing something but those are the highlights.

    Use case: backups, media streaming, test box for web projects.

    I have a mixed network, windows, mac, android. This will be a stretch for me. I'll probably be a frequent poster on this (and other forums). We'll see.

    Wish me luck!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Beans
    74

    Re: New Server Build

    Good Luck you should document everything you do I would be interested in learning more and it would be very beneficial for all noobz out there

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Michigan, USA
    Beans
    2,136
    Distro
    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: New Server Build

    Good Luck! Luckily, none of these things are super difficult to setup. Just google "Ubuntu 12.04 plexmediaserver", "Ubuntu 12.04 afp", etc.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Beans
    15

    Re: New Server Build

    Quote Originally Posted by rubylaser View Post
    Good Luck! Luckily, none of these things are super difficult to setup. Just google "Ubuntu 12.04 plexmediaserver", "Ubuntu 12.04 afp", etc.
    Things went pretty well. I have accomplished most of what I set out to do over the past couple of days.

    Friday night I booted the new machine from a USB stick and installed the OS on the SSD. I also set the raid up and let it build the array. That process took about 4 hours. I went to bed.

    Saturday morning I installed Samba, set up four shares, and moved my music into the Music folder. I then installed the Logitech Media Server and configured it with the location of my media. It's great to get my music back!

    Then I moved over my movies and tv shows and photos onto the shares for these and set up the Plex Media Server.

    Today I installed afp and set up a Time Machine share. I'm running my first time machine backup to the server share as I write this. That was the last thing I wanted to get done this weekend. Here's what it looks like, in situ. It is remarkably quiet, which is awesome.

    IMG_20130707_163743.jpg

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Michigan, USA
    Beans
    2,136
    Distro
    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: New Server Build

    Congratulations! That looks very nice, and it sounds like you have a lot of things working already

    Did you use mdadm/LVM/SnapRAID/ZFS on Linux/Hardware for your RAID? Also, what have you implemented as backup mechanism for this box? Here are a bunch of other things to consider...

    1. Have you setup smartmontools to monitor your disks?
    2. Have you considered a UPS to safely shutdown your box in the event of a power outage?
    3. Have you setup email so that you will receive alerts if things go wrong?
    4. Have you setup your disks to spindown when they are idle to conserve power?
    5. Do you have any questions, now that you have ventured down the Linux server road?
    Last edited by rubylaser; July 8th, 2013 at 01:17 AM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Beans
    97

    Re: New Server Build

    Is there a real reason to use something like Plex Server, when you can setup Samba to share music and movie folders and use the players on the client boxes to play the material. (i.e. Windo Media Player on XP or totem on Ubuntu).

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Michigan, USA
    Beans
    2,136
    Distro
    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: New Server Build

    Quote Originally Posted by grunge09 View Post
    Is there a real reason to use something like Plex Server, when you can setup Samba to share music and movie folders and use the players on the client boxes to play the material. (i.e. Windo Media Player on XP or totem on Ubuntu).
    Sure, one example is that Plex allows you to stream remotely to any Android or IOS device with the Plex App installed. It automatically transcodes and provides it in the correct format for the device. Plus, it provides a much nicer interface to view and select your movies, tv shows, music, or photos than Totem or Windows Media Player does.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Beans
    15

    Re: New Server Build

    Quote Originally Posted by grunge09 View Post
    Is there a real reason to use something like Plex Server, when you can setup Samba to share music and movie folders and use the players on the client boxes to play the material. (i.e. Windo Media Player on XP or totem on Ubuntu).
    My purpose was to make this content available on my tv. I have a samsung and there is a plex client app available for it. Probably the most difficult thing about this process was navigating the abominable interface of the Samsung "Smart" TV to actually get the client installed. What a disaster that UI is.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Beans
    Hidden!
    Distro
    Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

    Re: New Server Build

    Quote Originally Posted by rubylaser View Post
    Congratulations! That looks very nice, and it sounds like you have a lot of things working already

    Did you use mdadm/LVM/SnapRAID/ZFS on Linux/Hardware for your RAID? Also, what have you implemented as backup mechanism for this box? Here are a bunch of other things to consider...

    1. Have you setup smartmontools to monitor your disks?
    2. Have you considered a UPS to safely shutdown your box in the event of a power outage?
    3. Have you setup email so that you will receive alerts if things go wrong?
    4. Have you setup your disks to spindown when they are idle to conserve power?
    5. Do you have any questions, now that you have ventured down the Linux server road?
    Huge +1 to all 5 of those points.

    Quote Originally Posted by samkarpluk View Post
    My purpose was to make this content available on my tv. I have a samsung and there is a plex client app available for it. Probably the most difficult thing about this process was navigating the abominable interface of the Samsung "Smart" TV to actually get the client installed. What a disaster that UI is.
    The build looks awesome and makes me a bit jealous cuz my server is in a tower.
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Beans
    15

    Re: New Server Build

    Quote Originally Posted by rubylaser View Post
    Congratulations! That looks very nice, and it sounds like you have a lot of things working already

    Did you use mdadm/LVM/SnapRAID/ZFS on Linux/Hardware for your RAID? Also, what have you implemented as backup mechanism for this box? Here are a bunch of other things to consider...

    1. Have you setup smartmontools to monitor your disks?
    2. Have you considered a UPS to safely shutdown your box in the event of a power outage?
    3. Have you setup email so that you will receive alerts if things go wrong?
    4. Have you setup your disks to spindown when they are idle to conserve power?
    5. Do you have any questions, now that you have ventured down the Linux server road?
    Hi rubylaser. To answer some of your questions here:

    I used mdadm for the raid 5 implementation.

    Backup mechanism? We don't need no stinkin' backups do we?...

    Just kidding. I have some old internal drives sitting around (500 GB and 1 TB) as well as a 1 TB WD My Book. I was thinking of getting an enclosure for my spares and rotate a backup (i.e. leave one at work). I have under 500 GB of user data (music and photos are the most important items here). I do need to get an offsite backup solution in place for this data. I hooked the WD My Book up yesterday and it wasn't recognized at all. Didn't even power up. Not sure what the deal is there.

    Smartmon tools, not yet. It's on the list.

    UPS: haven't thought about this but it would be a good idea. Recommendations?

    Email Notifications: I have set this up but I have to look into a schedule for this, i.e. cron.

    Disk spin down? No. How is this accomplished?

    Questions? I have many. There are a few above.

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