Raspberry Pi Server - Other Alternatives.

I have a Pi B and Pi2 B.  The Pi B ran into performance issues with Owncloud but the 2 runs it well.  I run Owncloud on the 2 with a dynamic DNS client and web exposed and we have 4 phones, two tablets and 6 computers syncing with it.  The Pi runs my internal server with a 1TB drive.  It holds all our other documents, pictures, music, etc that's not on Owncloud.  It's the older stuff that I don't keep synced.  It's also the backup server for the Owncloud pi2.  The internal shares all its data via samba for the windows clients and NFS for the Linux clients and minidlna allows standalone devices like a blueray player to access the media as well.

The orange Pi, period, beaglebone, or small x86 systems such as miniityx boards are all alternatives but the Pi2 works well.

I have a Pi B and Pi2 B.  The Pi B ran into performance issues with Owncloud but the 2 runs it well.

This is just the point. To make a project is more than acceptable to choose the better performances / prices hardware; but if the project should really work for a long time, maybe the worth to invest few more $ and buy a more reliable than super-cheap device anyway.

To make a server IMHO it is different, especially when the server should serve This is the reason that in cases like this I wait until there is not the right budget (or I induce a client) and make the better choice respect the absolute cheaper.

Enrico

Agreed. Again: If you can easily predict that the "cheapest option" will be lacking in some respect, then you should immediately get the more advanced/expensive option.

You're saying "server". You have an image with "server" that may not be the same as what the thread-starter wants/needs.

If "server" means: "a system that can download movies in the background and then serve them on-demand to a media player on my network", then a $35 raspberry pi will suffice. Sure the raspberry pi has lousy disk-performance. But does that hinder the background downloading? No! Does it influence the media streaming at all? No! Of course the disk and ethernet performance come into play if you want to move big files between your PC and the "server", but if you never do that, why spend the extra money on that?

Often you can get a $35 option and "twice as much" for a little extra, say $40. Then even if you don't know what it would be useful for, you might chose to get the bigger option. Now in this case the choice seems to be a $35 raspberry pi or a $70 XU4. You might think that this is quite a jump. But if you count all the extras, SD card, powersupply, harddisks the difference is much less than 50%. The small price-increase might be acceptable for some people even if they don't really know right now if it will be useful, but for others the difference is significant.

You're saying "server". You have an image with "server" that may not be the same as what the thread-starter wants/needs.

This maybe, I have considered this possibility but why not use the correct terms for the things?

Anyway, in the case I have to build a media server (that is lightweight than a traditional server for sure), I should provide at least:

• Good transfer speed because good videos and films today are streamed in MKV format that occupy some giga of space. Try to transfer on a 10/100 lan or with an external USB 2 HDD just only 10 films to put them on your media server ...
• A reasonable external storage space, half or better 1 Tb just for the same reason, films and music
• 90% of the users I know  expect that their media server is permanently downloading torrents, also when they are watching videos.
• There is a good percentage of people that like media servers because gives the possibility to access different sources from different PCs.

And more. Despite that there is a specific distribution for the Raspberry PI to make a good quality media server. With all the hardware imposed limitis.

Enrico

Notice though I said the 2 works well.  Also Owncloud is going to take a little more power than just a file share because Owncloud is using a web server, SSL, database, etc.  It didn't run any better on an old laptop.  The RP 2 has been my Owncloud server since it early this year.  I sync all our services, our calendar, contacts, etc.  On our vacation our phones together uploaded several g of pictures and videos then my tablet downloaded them so we could review at the hotel room later.  So i've given it quite a work out.

Also I still use the original Pi as the internal server, sharing files, music,video, etc that I don't have in ouwcloud.  It does the job without issues.  $50 investment in a pi, case, power supply isn't too much to try it.  I used the drive that wasnin the laptop with a cheap USB adapter since the data was already there.  I've seen people waste $500 on a Mac mini and have nothing more than my $50 server.

Eugene, here we are speaking of things that works, not things that cost! So exclude any Mac mini, mac tv and so on. Who buy a Mac has not idea that an entire world exists outside there

Then about your details and price vs performances it is correct. I remain of the idea that to make a server, including all it's the worth to use something more performing than a PI, while a small media server with acceptable (and accepted) network speed of 10/100 is perfect, in particular when the cost is a strategical aspect.

Enrico

Thats why I've said I've seen people waste the $ when a Pi will do.

Unless your really moving a lot of data around your home network then a Pi will do fine.  Wifi to your laptop will max out first.

Just read some of the posts on the thread, but lots of good points - a RPI 2 performs functions of a server through the advantages of it running Linux.

If price is not the most critical factor then many GigEth boards would be a good choice - especially if needs are expected to change.

The Gizmo2 is pretty slick. I've not used it as a home server. But I did use it for GigEth, and got nice performance out of it (used it for uncompressed HD cam stream).

I purchased some lowish-end Synology NAS boxes for home use in 2010, and they have been running near-non-stop for five years, so they are cost-effective. Permanently doing disk writes. Serving up files daily. They've only been down when the electricity fails (we need an open source UPS project here on Element14!). Never needed images to be rebuilt due to corruption. The only maintenance I will do is replace the spinning disks soon to pre-empt any failures (none so far) as they come to the end of their lives. I can't see a need to replace the NAS boxes themselves, they still run the latest OS and have GigEth, and run cool and extremely quiet. Very well-built too.

Five year operational life so far basically, and still future-proof for the immediate years to come. Incredible value for money.

Can you share a NAS over http and/or sync with your phones and tablets?  What about calendar and contacts?  One of my reasons for using owncloud was so I didn't have to sync all those to different places.

Hi Eugene,

Yes, there is an Android app (probably one for iphone too).

I don't sync calendars (mine is Outlook based and auto-syncs) but calendar server and sync to CalDAV clients is supported.

There are other NASs which are probably equally good (don't want to claim Synology is the greatest thing since sliced bread)  it is just a minor data-point in case anyone wants to

know of some ideas for off-the-shelf options that could be cost-effective given the life of the thing and the rich features/good performance.

What kind of NAS are you using ?

Hi Enrico,

I have DS110+ but there are probably newer replacement models now.

Hi Enrico,

I have DS110+ but there are probably newer replacement models now.

Thank you it seems a bit expansive but it is already on the market. It sounds a good machine.

me and my wife have bought a WD EX4 personal cloud with 16 TB and it works fine by about 1.5 years. We saw this in action in Jan 2014 at CES Las Vegas then as it was available on Amazon we bought one. It is perfect also with NAT and its own (sort of) Dynamics DNS so we can reach it from any mobile.

Enrico

Yeah, sometimes 'known working' is more convenient that build-your-own.

Features like GigEth was more expensive when I got mine.

Yours has higher specs like the dual GigEth.

Here we have a huge amount of data, as books, video productions (with digital masters that consume giga that you have no idea) and more. Then, making tons of new stuff almost daily, the need is to work with a reliable and affordable infrastructure.

I'm pumping 4K video all over my network I've channel bonded 4 x Gig E for that purpose.

Waiting for a cheap 10 G card and Switch

Are you using this in a business environment  then Enrico?