Building a server for home...

[Altec220]

Hello, I'm wanting to build a server but am still unsure about the hardware I have picked for it. I'm wanting to use ESXI and virtualize Windows Server 2008 and FreeNAS. I'm mostly wanting to use the server for backups of all my computers and streaming music and videos. Here's my hardware so far, any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.

Case: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16811815004

PSU: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=35940&promoid=1015

MOBO: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=64590&promoid=1360

CPU: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=61953

RAM: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=57953&promoid=1015

HDD: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58746

 

[krnmastersgt]

Seems a bit over the top for a simple back-up/streaming box. Typically with these types of boxes you want to go for low power CPUs as they're on constantly.

By the way when you say stream music and videos, I assume you mean that the file is actually played by the host computer but the files are stored on the server yes?

 

[Altec220]

Yes that's what I mean, I want to stream to my Apple TV, Xbox, etc.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Well putting together a build but just some notes for now:
8 GB of ram is really not necessary for this type of server, could get by with a cheaper 4 GB (2x2GB) set.
CPU is complete overkill, but I've already mentioned that.
How many storage drives do you intend to run on this system?

 

[Altec220]

I plan on having 2 I have a spare 500GB and then a 1TB for all the data

 

[krnmastersgt]

CPU: Celeron G530 $50
Motherboard: MSI H61M $50 (I can't tell if there's shipping charges or not so...)
Memory: Corsair XMS 4GB $33 (man that shipping...)
Case: DIYPC SW-713 $30 (cheapest case, if you want to spend more for one you prefer that's fine)
PSU: Antec VP-450 $40

In regards to the hard drive, I'm having trouble telling if certain sites charge shipping or not so if that's without shipping on your link, it's a decent pick.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

You don't need to mess with virtualization for this. Just use FreeNAS on the bare metal, and enable DLNA / uPnP services. That will handle your music/video streaming nicely.

Then map the network volume and use something like Create Synchronicity for backup.

edit: I think you might want more than a single 1TB drive for data. Movies (shrug). You should also consider a RAID-1, because redundancy is your friend.

 

[mfenn]

Do you want to virtualize due to a perceived need to do so or just to play around with it? Like krn and dave have mentioned, you don't really need virtualization anything to accomplish what you want to do.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If you just want to play around with it, Hyper-V in Windows Server is a lot more n00b-friendly.