CPU Options

[RobbieH]

Hey all, I'm asking here because a lot of you are familiar with the same applications I'll be running.

 

I am going to build a new server, and can't decide on a processor. I was all ready to go with an i7 4790, but now I'm getting a few people telling me I should look at Xeon processors. So the short story is, I am looking for motherboard and processor recommendations.

 

I'll be doing the following:

1. BlueIris is my heaviest processor hog. Honestly though, I may leave it on my existing server and build a new one to sit beside it. If I do this, DrivePool will stay on the existing server (WHS 2011) and I will connect the new server to the old server over gigabit for it to get its data. Or, I may leave it there and put a couple of smaller drives in it, and DrivePool them, then move everything else to the new server. This is still open to discussion. 

 

2. Transcoding - I have MediaBrowser 3 and Plex installed on my server. We use them around the house on different devices for streaming video media. Also, my father connects to my Plex server, he has been spending time in the hospital and enjoys the ability to watch movies on his iPhone 6. (It isn't anything serious, one knee replacement done, one to go). 

 

3. Snatcher applications like CouchPotato and SickBeard. 

 

4. This server will be running VMs. I had settled on ESX, but I may go with Hyper-V just to stay current with Microsoft stuff. I still can't decide on this, to be honest. VMs will be hosting all sorts of operating systems - Windows 7 for WMC and ServerWMC, several Linux applications, many will be network security related such as Snort, etc. And if I decide to retire the old server, WHS 2011 will be moving over. Or I may use Server Essentials as an upgrade - and if so I *believe* it supports Hyper-V VMs, so it might kill two birds with one stone.

 

Regarding running 2 servers, I may slowly migrate things over to the new one so I can retire the old one, I haven't decided, but at least I have the opportunity to do it slowly.

 

I'll probably start with a good sized SSD for boot, landing, processing, etc., and probably stick a 5TB WD Red in there to get me started for stuff I can move over. After that, it just depends on what I decide on having two servers at the same time.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Media Browser has definitely come a long way.

Though, the Home Theater app doesn't respond properly to my remote control half the time. Makes it unusable.

Also, the web player ... has issues for me. And ... the home theater app requires that you install codecs... Or to use an external app (like VLC, which I detest).

[RobbieH]

On my HTPCs, I use MB3 Classic. I don't mind installing the Shark007 packs, I've done it so many times I don't even have to think about it. Kind of like how I just set up SickRage, SABnzbd, CouchPotato, MB3 Server, Plex Server, etc., without having to think. I used to lose my server and/or drives all the time, so I got good at it. It had been a while, but it came back to me as I went along.

 

I won't use external apps like VLC. It ruins the experience for me.

 

I just started playing with MB3 Theater, but it is on my Windows 10 Ultrabook, so no remote is used. I'll be happy if I can take my Ultrabook, plug it into a TV, and close the lid without it messing up the display on the TV. I never could get this to work right under 8.0 or 8.1, although it may be a hardware issue and not an OS issue.

 

So, you are semi famous I see. I was looking for something while building this PC and ran across some video podcasts on the Home Server Podcast website. I hadn't listened to any of those since I was on WHS v1, so I was just running through some of them I thought might be relevant, and there you were.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

I used to reinstall a lot as well.

Now I backup religiously. And I create custom system images.

 

However, I wanted to avoid installing ANYTHING on my HTPC. Especially codecs, as they can cause system instability. I want it as clean as possible. 

 

 

And yeah, in the Home Server communities, I'm definitely semi famous. If you google a WHS related issue, chances are, I'll have posted in the forum thread.

And I've been fairly active in the community since the start. It's been quite a journey!

[RobbieH]

My first HTPC I built used an ATI All in Wonder, on XP, using GBPVR. That dates me a bit.

[RobbieH]

And that's nothing compared to my history with PCs.  My first PC (as in DOS machine) was a Compaq Plus portable (4.77mhz 8088) - 512k RAM and a 10 MB hard drive. I ended up donating it to my dad, where we made it the server in his real estate office. I networked 4 PCs together using Artisoft LANtastic on their old DB9 2mbps cables. Those cables were a pain to build. But all that got me into IT, that experience moved me into network installations and maintenance for a software development company which built turn-key systems for law enforcement departments and municipal courts. I have never looked back, been in IT ever since.