VonAtlas

WHERE I AM: I'm currently running HexOS on a standard PC build using older parts - Ryzen 3700x Nvidia 1660 Super 32gb DDR4 3200 RAM 5 4TB HDDs (storage) and small nvme for OS HOW I USE IT CURRENTLY: I use the HexOS machine in the garage to stream movies, music, store and view photos, and store old work documents. The machine runs 24/7 because I use them to access music from pretty much all over the house, and the family streams at random times in the day across the house, especially as we start cutting off streaming services. WHY I WANT TO CHANGE THE SETUP: I have two primary reasons for wanting to change things around: 1) Over the course of about a year, I've had two separate failures in the pool - certain drives degraded and became unrecoverable within about 6 months of use (one in the first 6 months, another within the past month), and breaking down the standard PC case to identify the drive and remove it is a pain in the neck - I recognize that I should be printing the drive ID on the hdd (now) but I'm thinking of changing over to a hot-swap format with rack mounted servers with some cheap server computers I've found locally. 2) I want to start experimenting more with home lab projects and understanding networking. WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO: 1) Incorporate 2x Dell R330 servers ($40 each) as NAS, which each have 4x hot swap 3.5 HDD bays. 2) Use the 3700x machine as a transcoder to serve the media around the house (lots of smart tvs so want to make sure different video formats won't cause issues) FEASABILITY: 1) Getting the hardware itself isn't the problem, but I want to know if this plan is possible in terms of functioning with HexOS 2) Even if feasible, does this plan make sense? Is there a "better" way to go about this, or am I tackling the problem entirely from the wrong the viewpoint? 3) Open to all other feedback.

OH... That's a problem... I do have a wifi extender with ethernet port, but still... Maybe I'll have to move the position of the router to where I plan the server, and move the extender into the house?

I read similar things about the GPUs, and I had the spare 1660 sitting around.

The RAM issue for minecraft makes sense - I'll have to check back in on that minecraft with the kids to see if that's actually something they want - but for media streaming, is the 16 gigs sufficient? Edit to add: I've also heard that the encoder provided by Nvidia is superior, even if the cards themselves would otherwise not be as proficient at gaming as their AMD counterparts. Is that something to consider between my two options?

I've thought about the ehternet over power potential before, and it's something to think about, as wife-approval-factor for the server being near the router in the center of our house is likely to be low.

I do have the 3700x already (from my old gaming rig that got updated). Thanks for the other notes, though. I might be able to get the build near my router to wire it, but the original plan was to have it near a wifi extender further away from the router.

I had some spare parts laying around, and supplemented with some new adds - amd 3700x - Rog Strix b550-wifi f mobo - 16 gb ddr4 3200 ram - 1660 Super (also have spare amd 6600 lying around) - 1x 256 gb nvme (planned for boot) - 1x 1TB nvme (planned for... something?) -5x 4TB HGST NAS HDDs (renewed from Amazon) My initial plan was using the server for media streaming (primarily), along with photo and document storage. Secondarily, I'd like to add other functionality (either light server hosting for video games like Minecraft, with the family, or smart home integration/security cam integration). My first concern is the setup - Do I need to hardwire the build to the router or will wifi 6 connectivity suffice? My second concern is the Hardware - How much RAM do I actually need for my intended purpose(s)? Which of my video cards are better suited for the purpose? Will my CPU suffice? With 4 people in the house, it's unclear how many streams we'd be running simultaneously (I'd guess 2 or 3 at most). Will my hardware suffice for 4k? Are there any other concerns I'm missing with my proposed setup?