Storage server questions

rctneil · 27 Dec 2017 at 16:38

currently my computing setup is a MacBook Pro with two external 3Tb drives. One is used for storage with the other being used as a backup of the storage drive and also the internal disk of the laptop. I've been looking around at improving this setup but have some questions:

I'm thinking of turning an old PC into an Unraid server that can be accessible from anywhere in my house.

1. Could I make this accessible from outside the house too?

2. Will an Unraid server be fully compatible with my MacBook Pro?

3. I keep seeing guides on how to setup Unraid which looks rather simple but hear nothing about dealing with backups. How would I go about backing up the server or is it just not necessary?

Just looking for some helpful information on this topic really.

Thanks,
Neil

BigT · 27 Dec 2017 at 21:52

1. Yes. Put an Unraid VPN server docker on it. Then connect from anywhere on the internet to your home network to access it as if you were at home.

2. Yes

3. Unraid uses a parity drive to provide redundancy if a disk fails but it is no substitute for backup. You should backup the Unraid server to cloud, another Unraid server or other disk. I backup key files on my Unraid server to an external USB drive that I keep in the safe for example.

rctneil · 27 Dec 2017 at 21:55

Excellent, thankyou. Will buildup a PC out of some spare components sometime and give it a test.

ecksmen · 28 Dec 2017 at 11:23

BigT said:
1. Yes. Put an Unraid VPN server docker on it. Then connect from anywhere on the internet to your home network to access it as if you were at home.

2. Yes

3. Unraid uses a parity drive to provide redundancy if a disk fails but it is no substitute for backup. You should backup the Unraid server to cloud, another Unraid server or other disk. I backup key files on my Unraid server to an external USB drive that I keep in the safe for example.

I'd suggest an alternative option; not that there's anything wrong with the above but using a VPN which gives flat layered access into the entire network just to share files, is in my opinion a little concerning. I'd look at using presentation over HTTPS instead, with something like OwnCloud presenting the SMB / NFS shares of Unraid, again via docker or similar.

You can have content securely on your phone, laptop, desktop all though OwnCloud securely without VPNs and keep the content safe(ish) on UnRAID - backups aside.

rctneil · 29 Dec 2017 at 14:06

I today have got around to giving this all a test. I built a simple machine from old parts I had laying around. Nothing fancy but should do the trick. I put two drives in for now. Unraid is installed and configured. Looks like it's all working great! It's currently running the parity check but should be done in about an hour.

Once this is done and i've done more tests with it then I just need to look around for some good deals on HDD's and start migrating stuff over.

I'll look into adding remote access in the near future I think.

I've also got Plex downloaded and ready to install once the parity check is configured.

rctneil · 31 Dec 2017 at 11:23

Hey guys,

Just a quick update about this. The actual server seems to be working well. What i'm trying to get working is sleep and resume.

I have installed the S3 Sleep plugin and can get the server to sleep fine. When it comes to waking it up, if I manually press the machines power button then it wakes up just fine. I have downloaded a WoL app for my iPhone and configured it within there but attempting to wake it up just fails and nothing happens. This looks to me like the wake up command just is not getting through. Is there anyway I can find out how far my wake up command is getting and any other ideas I can try to fix it?

I ahve tried setting up a port forward on my router (BT Home Hub 5) but i'm a bit out of my depth so wasn't sure how to configure that.

Any ideas? I'd love to get this working perfectly as it's very nearly there now!

UPDATE: Just managed to get this working finally! I had to change the "wake-on-lan" config option from "d" to "g" on my ethernet port as per https://www.howtogeek.com/70374/how-to-geek-explains-what-is-wake-on-lan-and-how-do-i-enable-it/

What i'd love to know is, what do the "d" and "g" options stand for? All I know so far is that one works whilst the other doesn't?

Also, is the spec I am using sufficient do you think? They are:

- Asus P5W Dh Deluxe
- Intel Q6600 running at 2.4Ghz
- 4Gb RAM
- Some nVidia GPU (Unsure without checking which one)

Thanks