[CONFIGURATION] Home server for media storage and backups . . .

[SpecialEd]

Hi folks, I'm thinking about getting a raspberry pi to setup a server for media storage and for backups. When it's all said and done it will be for four users, three on Windows and me on Kubuntu 20.04. Any pointers or suggestions as this is my first foray into a home server type situation.

Thanks in advance,

Ed

P.S. I'll probably be starting out with about 5-6 GB of storage.

[Beerislife]

Chris at Explaining Computers has a video that even I understand ��

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpvlEbdA6qI

I was thinking about it too but my TP-Link Archer WiFi Router has a USB port so I can set up NAS directly from it. If I had a spare drive handy!

[oshunluvr]

A server on a Pi? I guess if you're just storing files and not trying to stream media. Point being, dishing out movies is more taxing than just a file copy. Anyway...

I've had a home server for over a decade. All the software you really need is NFS to share with Linux, SAMBA to share with Windows, and SSH so you can log into the server via the terminal and do updates, etc. This is bare minimum. I would not install a desktop because you won't need it and it's a space and resource hog. Just install Ubuntu Server Legacy version.

My method is to hook the server up to a keyboard and monitor, install Ubuntu Server, set up openSSH server on it and then set up openSSH client on your desktop PC using secure key access to the server so no password is needed (lots of tutorials out there for this). If you're security conscious, you can even disable the ssh password function on the server so only your Linux PC can access the server via SSH. Once you have this working, then power down the server, unhook the keyboard and monitor and park it where it will live. Boot it up and log in with SSH from your Linux PC and set up file sharing.

Note that Windows 10/SAMBA configurations are a PITA re. security levels and you'll need to do some research/work to get that working. Also, you can use just SAMBA and also connect to it from Linux but NFS is easier, more secure. and more stable IME.

My Ubuntu Server 18.04 install uses 8.8G. This is not a basic server (still no graphical desktop) and more than HALF of that is in /var/log/journal (probably because it's been running for over 4 years) which I believe you could safely delete. IMO, the simplest way would be to have /tmp and /var/log/journal mounted in RAM rather than on the drive, but I'd research that. Alternately, a weekly cron job to wipe /var/log/journal would work. See next post

Now, as far as doing more than the bare minimum? I'd start by adding WEBMIN if you don't want to use the terminal all the time. It's not resource hungry and has lots of nice features.

I also highly recommend using BTRFS as a file system. My server has 16TB of storage and 16TB of backup space but it's a media server so has all our music, dvds, photos, etc. on it so I wanted an easy and automatic full backup. I have 14 separate subvolumes (one for each media type and other stuff) that run on an automated backup schedule. Using BTRFS, it's a simple matter to add or remove drives, make backups, transfer data, etc. Really, a dream file system for a server. If you install Ubuntu Server using btrfs and use subvolumes, you be able to add more space or replace a drive without even rebooting.

[oshunluvr]

Useful info on controlling your journal log size: https://unix.stackexchange.com/quest...he-abrt-di-usr

[SpecialEd]

oshunluvr, what hardware are you using as your server?

[oshunluvr]

A home-built one.

Gigabyte H97N-WIFI, i3-4160T CPU @ 3.10GHz, 8G RAM, 3 HDs and 1 SSD, all in a Plinkbuy 2U rack mounted case. Fits nicely in a cabinet in my home office. I run Plex media server, Transmission torrent server, and a couple other things like database servers. It used to run as a print and scanner server but my newest printer/scanner has networking built-in.

I've upgraded it over the years. This is the third mobo/CPU combo and 2nd case. I built the first one back in 2007 or so.

[oshunluvr]

I tend to cycle HDs out on a 3-5 year schedule. I generally use the older ones as backup and add new ones for daily use. Seems to work well. I've only had one drive fail in all those years. I seem to spend the same amount of money - about $200-250 - on each new drive, they just get larger over time.

Drive purchase/upgrade cycle:
4x500GB (Initial server build. 1TB each storage/backup)
2x1TB (500GB drives replaced)
1x2TB + 2X1TB (1TB drives as backup)
2x2TB + 2x1TB (1 2TB added. Configured as 2+1TB each storage/backup)
1X6TB + 2x2TB (Configured as 6TB storage and 2x2TB backup)
2x6TB + 2x2TB (Configured as 6+2TB each storage/backup)
1x10TB + 2x6TB (Configured as 10TB storage ad 2x6TB backup)
1x16TB + 1x10TB + 1x6TB (Single 6TB drive failed. Configured as 16TB storage and 10+6TB backup

The initial 4x500GB drives (WD "Blue") were in my desktop system for a year until I built the server and moved them over. The first one died at just past exactly 3 years old (the warranty period of course) and the rest of them all died within a couple months.

Currently a single 16TB (Seagate "Exos") drive is storage and a newish 10TB (WD "Red Pro") plus older 6TB drive (WD "Red") are backup. My used space is about half of the 16TB storage.

The only unplanned replacement due to failure was the one 6TB WD Red drive which died suddenly about a year ago. It's sister has 39736 power-on hours as of this post and no errors.

The 2x2TB drives (WD "Black") are actually still running in my desktop for backup and playground usage. They have 57938/68124 power-on hours and don't seem to want to die. That's almost 8 years for the eldest!

I skipped over the 4TB size because at the time, the 6TB drives were only a little bit more money. The newest drives - the 16TB/10TB have 7776/29311 hours respectfully.

I also have 2 Samsung 840Pro SSDs with 48712/56058 hours and a Patriot Torch with 15782.