Solved Also use FreeBSD Plex Server for Backups? Or Separate Server

AndrewMRiv

AndrewMRiv

I have a little FreeBSD Server I built a few years ago that serves as only a Plex Server.

I am looking to also have it be a backup server for the laptops in my home.

Based on the specs below, does it make sense to also use the same server for backups?

If not, I have a Raspberry Pi 2 that I can use. (With the External HDD plugged in via USB 2)

(At the very most, there would be 3-5 people streaming off of the Plex Server simultaneously).

FreeBSD Server's specs are:
  • Intel Core i3-4350 Processor (4M Cache, 3.60 GHz)
  • 8GB of RAM
  • 120GB SSD for FreeBSD
  • A few USB 3 External HDDs (UFS) where the media is stored.

In a test I did, I tried transferring 5 large files (same file, identical size) at the same time with 5 different scp commands over SSH.
Once from laptops to Raspberry Pi, and another from laptops to FreeBSD Server.

The FreeBSD Server transfers were about 3x faster.
(I assume because the Raspberry Pi 2 is limited to USB 2.0?)


So of course transfer speed-wise, it makes sense but would it interfere with CPU usage?
Are there any other factors that I am forgetting to consider in this decision?
 
Hi Andrew,

I do pretty much the same thing on very similar hardware. i3-6100, 16GB RAM, 120GB SSD +1 TB 7200RPM HDD and a couple of USB 3 external HDDs. I might have gone a bit over-the-top on mass storage set-up (ZFS on the HDDs with the SSD providing ZIL, L2ARC, and swap).

It's primary purpose is as my Plex media server. It also acts as a backup server (rsync) and network disk (samba).

I have had it streaming a video on Plex (complete with transcoding) while also syncing cloud storage without an issue.
 
AndrewMRiv said:
So of course transfer speed-wise, it makes sense but would it interfere with CPU usage?
Click to expand...
Both streaming and backups don't use a lot of CPU. CPU would be more of a factor for streaming if you also transcoded the stream. Your limits are probably more I/O bound than CPU bound.
 
ekingston said:
Hi Andrew,

I do pretty much the same thing on very similar hardware. i3-6100, 16GB RAM, 120GB SSD +1 TB 7200RPM HDD and a couple of USB 3 external HDDs. I might have gone a bit over-the-top on mass storage set-up (ZFS on the HDDs with the SSD providing ZIL, L2ARC, and swap).

It's primary purpose is as my Plex media server. It also acts as a backup server (rsync) and network disk (samba).

I have had it streaming a video on Plex (complete with transcoding) while also syncing cloud storage without an issue.
Click to expand...

That is great to hear! Thank you for sharing.
(PS: You can never be too "over-the-top" on mass storage :))

SirDice said:
Both streaming and backups don't use a lot of CPU. CPU would be more of a factor for streaming if you also transcoded the stream. Your limits are probably more I/O bound than CPU bound.
Click to expand...

Gotcha! Thank you for the info. Further makes me feel good about having the FreeBSD Server do both Plex and Backups.
 
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