Thaddeus Smith Posted April 29, 2012 Author Share Posted April 29, 2012 slight hiccup. I traded my old NAS enclosure for 4TB (2x 2TB) of storage via craigslist. Did some research, and while they are usable with unraid, it takes a bunch of effort. So these two drives are now in my media front end with a fresh install of windows 7 and all of my various media delivery apps. Copying all of my data locally and will begin the process of building my unraid box over the next few months. in the meantime, i have 3.5TB of usable storage space, albeit unprotected from drive failure. I'm not too worried about it, since this is not my long term solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted April 29, 2012 Share Posted April 29, 2012 You have to be flexible with these projects, that's for sure. Tomorrow I hope to finish the HTPC and see how the streaming goes form the unRaid server to the HTPC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 indeed. I'm going to have to figure out how to cool/sound proof my closet or move the server to another room. Those fans are pretty noisy and it sounds like i have a hair dryer constantly running in the closet. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holtrp Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I hate fan noise, that is what doomed my PS3. I even tucked it away in a media closet and it was still too loud, plus it would turn into a fire hazard. Found an interesting thread over at XBMC talking about unRaid servers vs Synology http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=119851. Sounds like the write speed for some unRaid users is a tad slower, but you get much more unRaid for your money. I am still not sure what I want to do yet. We need back up for an all OS X / iOS household, plus a place to store / stream media. I am thinking a Raid 1 or 5 Synology 12TB setup would suit our needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Tonight I was able to get Jriver MC17 to stream to my HTPC with no problem. The stream works just fine and there seem to be no bandwidth problems on the network. I am still dealing with some issues as MC17 and Win7 are having trouble playing together with the installed audio drivers. Its always something! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 indeed. I'm going to have to figure out how to cool/sound proof my closet or move the server to another room. Those fans are pretty noisy and it sounds like i have a hair dryer constantly running in the closet. :/ Do you know what size the fan cases are and what voltage they run? Quiet fans are cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 not yet. the potential problem, though, is that because this is a proper 1U rackmount server and it is from Dell those fans are potentially wired in with specific sensors and such as part of the cooling management system. Dell is notorious for embedding OEM crap like that. i'll dig around and provide my findings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 so here's a sample of what's in there, and if i recall correctly there are 4 of these modules - a total of 8 little fans. http://www.impactcomputers.com/mc545.html# Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 1, 2012 Author Share Posted May 1, 2012 i'm still waiting for my father in-law to clear all of his HAM gear out of my garage office. but the worst case scenario is that I relocate this particular server out to that room and just run it over gigabit connections to the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I thought they might be a standard computer case fan. If you could send me a pic of the assembly I'll bet we (you!) could make a manifold with a bank of quiet fans. You'd need to know the CFM that the stock fans pull though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingman Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 heya guys... I've been watching this thread and understand the goal and what you're trying to put together. I probably haven't gone quite as "deep", but I do have a complete setup that does stream to my HT, my 2 channel and of course the phones. Also using Jriver and had it all running on an older gaming PC that I wasn't using anymore. But when the gaming PC started acting up, I thought I'd try to consolidate my security system, automation system and media streaming into one machine, thus saving space and hopefully, energy. Bought a used Dell rack mount server (I do have a rack in the basement), the 1750 with 3 SCSI drives in a Raid5 config. Standard setup with dual 3ghz Zeon. Although I've heard these machines alot in server rooms, I had no idea of how loud the fans (and this is what made me post here, after reading your fan comment) were in a residential setting. Freeking loud! I'm having trouble getting XP installed on it due to drivers and with the fans that loud, I'm considering abandoning the server option. Last night, started testing it with less and less fans. Looks like it will not get too hot with a few fans missing, but when I remove more to get the sound down, things (especially the CPU's) get really, really hot. Blistering hot in fact. Considering trying some sort of box to keep the sound contained but this server, although darn fast, might not work. I may pull my old gaming PC back out, fix it, remove the honkin' big video and a few drives, maybe change out the power supply for something smallers and just use that for Media and security, while keeping the automation on it's own PC. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holtrp Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Fan noise sucks. At our new house, I am actual getting 65 db out of my furnace cold air return vent that drives me insane. I get that powerful vacuum sound out of that register and it is plumbed right into my listening area. Cutting a hole in the wall directly out of the utility room and moving it won't be such a chore but it will likely have a negative affect on our basement heating. I wonder if anyone has ever done anything about that sort of fan noise? Your story reminds me why I am no longer a PC guy. LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 i disconnected the fans and it does boot. but after about a minute of running the server shutdown due to thermal limit triggers. comes with the territory of using enterprise hardware for home use. I think i'll just grit through it for now and re-locate to my garage office once I have it up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 We got a boatload of new Dell Optiplex 790s at work. Quad core i5 CPUs. You can't hear them run, and the price is really not that bad at all. I have an old server that I can't justify taking home because of the noise, and it's in a tower style case. The 1U, 2U servers are even noisier. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingman Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I'm sure not against the idea of building a new machine, with new parts. I could certainly end up with a fast, quiet machine. At around $1000, I suspect. I need something with horsepower, the goal would be the~ Security system - 24\7 streaming of 4 video feeds, with software motion detection, remote notification and recording. Media server - Jriver, not a big deal. Streams audio\video to no more than two devices at a time. Home automation - 24\7 RS-485 communication to various devices around the house. Data collection, storage and other database functions. I have to keep this functioning, god forbid that the bird bath wouldn't auto-fill, the birdies would be not happy! The Dell server is one fast machine and the price was right - $100. But again, might be money lost if I can't stand the noise. I hadn't thought of out in the garage! That's a good idea. I've always wanted to run a wire out there and automate garage functions. I could put the server out there too then. But I have a detached garage, I'll need to get my housemate to dig a trench to lay PVC in and then pull the wire. Not hard to do. Hmmmm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy81 Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 As an aside, I was working with my new install of Win7 and my Streamzap remote no longer works due to lack of 64bit drivers. As I searched of options, I found that J. River MC17 includes the capability to control the MC front end via my Droid phone or iPhone, or iPad etc. Works like a champ. I can control whats playing and see the entire media library from my DroidX screen. This system rocks for remote access. Still loving the unRaid setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 8, 2012 Author Share Posted May 8, 2012 very cool! i've tried out about 6 different DLNA servers over the last couple of weeks. I settled on Serviio.. it's free, pretty configurable, and so far has been the only one to run without any issues or obscene quirks that require me to pull out my hair. it's nice having 4tb of storage, but I am of course uneasy about it all being single point of failure. building out the unRAID is certainly high on my list. I'm getting used to the jet engine server - it forces me to crank my system when i really want to watch a movie. darn. [6] so far everything is running just fine, albeit after some reality adjusted expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 Is this in the equipment closet? If so, couldn't you just put some sound deadening in there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 yes. which will also fix the rattling door issue during deep LFE moments. The only potential problem is that it's a hollow core door and I fear the noise will still travel through it. step one is definitely to weather strip/seal the door. maybe affix some insulation or something to the back of the door? I'm not really too concerned about visual aesthetics inside of the closet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 I started digging deeper on the unRaid and it appears my drives stopped being an issue as of last year. i also notice a bunch of new supported plugins for unRaid, one of which was Serviio, the DLNA server i had settled on. So I spent last night swapping bits around and getting ready to convert my 1U server into an unraid box and see if it will better suit my needs now. I plan to go with the 2x 2TB drives as a single volume and skip the parity drive for now since the server can only hold 2 drives internally. And then the franken-server will begin. I think I'm going to try and water cool the CPU's and since I have my gear racked in a cabinet, I will take off the top cover and add another mdf shelf just above the server. This shelf will have everything open-air mounted and include the radiators for the closed loop water cooling, a secondary ATX power supply and the external hard drives that I can install via my single PCIx slot, which will allow an additional 8 drives. This will probably all change in the coming months, but its the current plan for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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