NAS/Media Server Build Recommendations
NAS/Media Server Build Recommendations
Hi everyone. I’m on the verge of building a new NAS/Media server, and wanted to check here to see if any of you could provide some recommendations based on my goals (below) or your current builds. I currently have a Raspberry Pi 4 running some basic services (Portainer, Home Assistant, Plex, sonarr/radarr/prowlarr, sabnzbd, etc.), but would like to expand my options and capabilities as my interests in the hobby grow.
My goals:
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Ability to have 4+ 1080p streams on Plex. Right now my Pi works surprisingly well at home with one 1080 stream, but basically shits its pants doing much more. Would like to give my parents and a friend or two access.
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Document storage/backup. Interested in Nextcloud, but it seems people have mixed experiences here.
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Photo storage/backup.
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Hosting the services mentioned above, plus some extra headroom for others. I’ll probably move back to Home Assistant OS on my Pi, unless you think I should utilize it for something else.
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OS - unRaid. Not opposed to others, but this does seem to be a great option with a lot of how-guides and videos available.
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Storage/Drives - I honestly don’t know how much I want or need. As it stands, my partner and I probably have less than 1TB of files and photos between the two of us (being very generous with that figure). Would like to expand the media server capabilities as mentioned above.
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Budget - $1000 max including drives.
While the details above are what I would like to achieve with this, you can also consider me an empty canvas. Open to all ideas and suggestions. Let me know if there are other details I can provide that would be helpful. Lastly, thank you all for creating such a great community here.
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How much do you care about power/energy usage?
Also, how important is having one do-it-all server vs. a few separate servers? Sounds like you're ok with at least two servers (Pi turns into HA OS, and you get a new one for everything else).
I wouldn’t say energy usage/efficiency is super high on my list, but I am also not opposed to being somewhat conscious about that. Basically, a little bit extra on my electric bill won’t kill me.
Separate servers is also something I would be fine with. The Pi has been great, and I figured I could keep utilizing it the way I have been with some other services. It is currently running some form of Ubuntu server (can’t remember off the top of my head), and everything is containerized.
Cool! I just got an Orange Pi 5 Plus, 16GB RAM**, but haven't set it up yet so can't give any recommendations. On paper though it looks great --- significantly beefier than a RPi 4 (my current server), and supports M.2 NVME as well. Might be worth looking into for your use too, but the emphasis here is kinda on computing with a very low power budget, so I'm sure you could get more horsepower with e.g. an x64 NUC or similar.
Here's a review, and note that this is without extra heatsink so it was probably thermally throttling (as was the RPi?): https://www.phoronix.com/review/orange-pi-5
**I first ordered the 32GB version but it got seized for counterfeit postage, and then some shenanigans ensued. If buying from Amazon I would suggest only buying units in stock and shipped from Amazon. May only apply to US though...