Hi all,
I am looking to convert my network at home around a little bit to make better use of the hardware I have ( aka spend little to nothing to make this happen ) to achieve my desired results which I will list here along with what hardware I have to work with and see if you can help me along this path of transition.
Goals:
Headless server that will store media that I already have and be a 24/7 “stick in a closet and forget about it” as well as run uTorrent 24/7 to pick up new downloads that I want from a RSS Feed that I already have setup.
Be able to manage the server from the a laptop in the house ( RDP or Web based control is ok with me ) as well as being able to connect from the outside world to manage anything that comes up while I am away.
Hardware that I have currently:
1. PC that was previously used as a gaming desktop but has become unused since my recent move and job change.
Specs: AMD 965 Black Edition CPU
ASRock 970DE/U3S3 Board ( old mobo died so I grabbed one for this build that had plenty of SATA )
120GB OCZ SSD ( not sure if this is going into the laptop yet, if so I will have an extra HDD )
1x 1TB Seagate 7200 RPM HDD
4GB DDR3
Video card will not be used in this server as it will be headless
Optical Drive will be removed after initial install
2. Asus Laptop that will be used as typical PC (Windows 7) but will also be the base to control server from.
3. WD 2TB MyBook Live Drive ( has Ethernet connection but I am thinking I should pull the drive from the case and just install it in the server. Will reduce network strain and power consumption overall on the house )
Configuration wanted:
Server stores all media as well as runs uTorrent.
Laptop and tablet ( Android based ) can connect and stream media
Laptop can manipulate the files on the drive ( sorting out downloaded files after finishing if not predefined by uTorrent rules )
3 x Roku Boxes on the network can stream from the server ( 1 in each bedroom )
1x Xbox 360 can stream from the server ( in Living Room on main TV )
Ability to connect to server from the outside world
I have very limited experience with Linux and I have a MSDN subscription so I can get pretty much anything Microsoft offers. I am not against learning a new OS ( FreeNAS, Ubuntu, other suggestions ) but I have to try to get this all up and running this weekend while I am off work and I have to also wire up 3 rooms in the house with cat5, format my laptop, assemble the server and configure the OS.
Any suggestions on the OS choice would be great and any tips / hints / links I can refer back to during the process would be amazing.