HTPC/Server AND NAS or both?

H

h41cyon

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 13, 2004
Messages
117
Initially I set out to build a nice mostly silent HTPC system that I could also use as a miniserver for web-development. I was looking to go with the smallest case I could find and something that just sipped power, but yet, be powerful enough to stream HD content to my TV.

I had a pretty good build picked out, but it was kind of lacking on HD space (Can't exactly fit a lot of storage in a Shuttle System XH61V). I also didn't like my main PC being responsible for being the source of all the content.

So next up was looking into getting a NAS so that I could offline my storage needs. I came across a two disk Synology NAS that looked pretty fitting. After looking at that NAS a bit more, I was quickly realizing that it in itself, was a mini PC capable of doing A LOT of what I had originally wanted a HTPC/mini server for. (it could stream to TV, download content, act as VPN, etc). But yet, it still came short on CPU processing power. I had wanted a fully open linux environment for my HTPC/Server with a core i3 proc.

At this point I was thinking getting both would be semi redundant, and perhaps a more logical choice is to just build a single box that can act as both a mini server/HTPC AND NAS.

Question is: You guys think the all-in-one option is superior over doing the two systems separately? Or would it be hard to make a DIY NAS w/ the same performance as the Synology? What would you rather run at home?
 
I have/built an HTPC that my family uses for all media and DVR needs... it has an SSD, Media and DVR drive. As I filled up my Media drive, I decided to expand out to a NAS - a Synolody DS2413+.

For me, they're not redundant - my HTPC is for DVRing/WMC extender needs, whily my NAS is for large capacity/redundant storage which i use to stream my bluray rips across the home in addition to pictures, music, important docs, videos, etc.

You could certainly build a big/single/server PC for all of these items... and it would probably be cheaper (and arguably more powerful) than Synology or any of the pre-built NAS solutions.

I suppose it just depends on where you're keeping this thing.. if it's out of sight/out of mind, probably AIO would be just fine... it also depends how far you want to scale out drive wise.

I like having them separate as I don't particularly like having these systems doing more than what they're designed to... i.e. I don't need my NAS running WMC/DVRing as while I don't need my DVR to be always running a large array of drives (power wise) while recording something.

Not really an opinion either way, but I do like having things separate. My Synology can hold up to 12 drives, has a small form factor and uses considerably less power than a comparable server. Granted, it was more expensive... but I also didn't want to support/worry about setup on my RAID and just need something to work out of the box. It has a bunch of other features I don't use... it is a very complete product IMO.
 
Having a seperate low power NAS box has the advantage that problems with the NAS or problems with the HTPC doesn't down the other. Eg. someone is streaming a movie off the NAS and you just installed new drivers in the HTPC and it need to reboot. If they were the same machine, someone is out of luck.

The other issue is wear and tear and electrical costs. The NAS would likely be left on 24/7. If the HTPC is going to be on and active almost as much it may not matter but if it isn't it will. If you combine them, the HTPC will be on 24/7 and will just die all the sooner with a higher electric bill than the NAS. The NAS can die too but since its basically a really cheap PC, the impact is less. I don't think its a huge factor, but still a factor. If you could build the NAS out of older parts (case, DVD, monitor, etc) and keep the cost of new parts under a few hundred or less (aside from the drives), I would do seperate builds imho.

The one other advantage with a NAS is that if you experiment with a lot of new drivers, configurations, and try things like PlayOn, TVersity, Plex, etc..., You can backup an image to the Network drive more easily. And depending on the software, do restores off the network too if you want to roll back. So if you tinker a lot with new stuff, the NAS offers some convenience. Although an external hard drive would do the same. just more fuss.
 
See sig. I prefer to keep HTPC and NAS/Server duties separate.

If I can't enjoy my movie or TV shows due to lag or crashing, I'm not happy. :)

I used to have it all on one box. Hated it. Linux hated me. Crashed constantly, required too much user intervention. Now, the two separate boxes play nice and I hardly have to intervene! It's like having two little robots doing exactly what they were made to do.
 
I think separate units are way better, no matter how you do it. Me, I'm not going the formal NAS route as I find a true NAS box to be way too expensive for what I think my needs are (not discounting that they probably are the BEST solution, I just rather spend my money on other things). I use an old PC (my previous main system) and I have strung a bunch of hard drives off it. I have 9 media drives in the box (not counting the boot drive and Blu-ray burner) and two 4-bay enclosures hanging off two esata ports. I have four of the 8 bays full...and I have two more 4TB drives ready to go in and 2 other 3 TB drives. All of these are on my network and all of my PCs (that's two HTPC boxes and my main box) can play ripped blu-rays from this computer. Further expansion would be to add 4 more 4-bay enclosures to my main system. All of these PCs are on 24/7, though they do fall asleep most of the time.

And I do back ups separately, so none of that mixes into my media.
 
I've tried it both ways and agree that separate is far better. I'm now running unraid, which I recommend highly for this purpose
 
i too prefer separate boxes.

I have 3 PCs running in my house 24/7
1) File server running WHS 2011 for custom domain forwarding and remote access as well as streaming movies, photos and music
2) HomeSeer Home Automation Server
3) HTPC with a SSD OS drive and 1TB drive for TV recording


I like it this way becasue when i need to work on the H/A system my wife can still watch TV or movies...

if you HTPC goes down then the lights, irrigation and HVAC are still working via remote...

and if our HTPC goes down our music collection photos and movies are still live.


i also picked up a 4 bay NAS and will be on the Home Automation system and will turn on when our file server needs to backup critical files and then shut off when it is done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top