Hardware Performance Optimization: Seeking Advice for Odroid H3+ (Seedbox/NAS/Plex/AdGuard) reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MiedzCu2 · 2023-11-27 14:21 I am planning to purchase new **seedbox/NAS/Plex/AdGuard** server. I want to **maximize the potential of the Odroid H3+** for these tasks, while maintaining flexibility for any limitations encountered. The base is to be the **Odroid H3+** (with an Intel® Pentium® Silver **N6005** processor). In my view, the most demanding aspect will likely be Plex, especially when attempting to transcode **4K HDR x264 content with a maximum bitrate of 77.5 Mb/s, handling up to 4 transcodes simultaneously.** I would like Plex to use RAM as a **temporary folder (which will likely increase RAM requirements)**. For metadata, it would be best to use SSD. **6 TB of HDD storage space seems sufficient.** **I'm not restricted by budget, but I aim to optimize the components to avoid any bottlenecking.** **My configuration may seem overkill, so I'm asking for advice on optimizing components to use the full performance potential, avoiding overperformance of any component.** My **priorities are x86 and low power consumption** (CPU+GPU Stress: ≃18W + 2xHDD 20W). Due to transcoding, I opt for an **Intel processor with Intel Quick Sync Video**, and considering **sizes limited to a SoC board + 2xHDD 3.5”**. I don't require data redundancy since it'll serve as junk data storage. **Operating conditions for Odroid H3+:** * 1 Gbps ethernet * 1 Gbps internet UP and DOWN * System: Debian GNU * Intended use: seedbox/NAS/Plex/AdGuard for 24/7 operation **Planned components:** * **2x Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS HDD 24TB (RAID 0)** although it seems that 6TB is enough, these 24TB drives offer the highest performance in read/write and this is only reason why I consider them as a baseline configuration.... however, if this performance is already overperformance then we cut performance (or even revision, if IronWolf Pro is too much). If RAID 0 is already overperformance, we can consider a single drive, etc. and so on. It is difficult for me to accurately estimate the performance needed at full load (seedbox + 4 transmissions). * **WD Red SN700 1TB (I don't know whether to take the more powerful Seagate IronWolf IronWolf 525 1TB PCIe Gen3 drive on the Odroid H3+ with the PCIe Gen3 connector)** this disk will a system drive and for storing metadata. -> 1TB was chosen only because it has the best read/write performance, although 256 GB could be sufficient. If the difference is negligible even with slight performance variations, we can go for a smaller capacity. * **Corsair Vengeance 2x32G (64GiB) PC4-24300 CMSX64GX4M2A2933C19 2933 MT/s 19-19-19-47** \-> I'm not sure how much memory will be needed for simultaneous transcoding of 4 materials, where the largest file is 85 GB. The Plex guide suggests that you need disk space close to the size of the transcoding source file plus 100 MB, at least for HDD/SSD - I don't know about RAM. Despite messages about too little space when locating on SSD (85GB movie), when allocating to RAM, this message does not appear even if I currently have only 16GB. However, if 64GB is to much, I can consider reducing it. **Cost estimate for the setup:** * ODROID-H3+ + power supply + case + SATA cabling + customs duty: 299,18 € * 2x HDD drives: 2325,96 € * 1x SSD: 205,03 € * RAM: 157,98 € **Total: 2988,15 €** I'd greatly appreciate advice. The primary goal is maximum performance, but I don't want to invest in hardware that surpasses the speed of its slowest component, leading to overpayment for performance that I won't utilize. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Docccc · 2023-11-27 14:37 HDD drives are way too expensive. I would use unraid and use a cache drive for faster writing: https://docs.unraid.net/legacy/FAQ/cache- disk/ for read speed if your network is not hogher than 1gb then i should not worry about it. het the best price per GB ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dazchad · 2023-11-27 15:05 Is there a typo on the HDD prices? Looks super expensive. With that amount you could have 48TB of NVME drives (assuming you have a controller for that many sticks, but you probably could buy one with the leftover from the sticks) In general you shouldn't spend more on newer HDDs unless you absolutely need that much storage per slot. That is, you are space constrained. Smaller drives with 12~16TB are a much better TB/$. Check diskprices.com to see current trends. If you care about speed, relying on HDDs for that is a bad proposition. You are better served by a SSD cache in front of the HDDs. In case of SSD failure, it's much cheaper/faster to replace that SSD than to rebuild your strained RAID. As for CPU performance, pretty much any newer Intel QuickSync will handle your needs. If money isn't an issue, I'd rather go with Intel NUC 12th gen or newer. I have one and it handles anything I throw at it, including the most demanding 4k transcoding. The NUC and a 4-disk Synology uses less than 50w with the disks being used. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ParticularCod6 · 2023-11-27 20:38 the AOOSTAR R1 2 Bay 40T would be a better buy than ODROID H3+. The n100 is faster: [https://www.servethehome.com/fanless-intel-n100-firewall-and- virtualization-appliance- review/3/](https://www.servethehome.com/fanless-intel-n100-firewall- and-virtualization-appliance-review/3/) It would be a sleeker package ​ edit: just realised the ODROID doesn't have a second ethernet port ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MiedzCu2 · 2023-11-28 17:27 >AOOSTAR R1 Thank you for your response and especially for the proposed solutions. AOOSTAR R1 is already in my shopping cart. However, I have a few doubts: * I understand that the N100 has a faster CPU than the 6005, there is no doubt about that. H**owever, is its integrated graphics card, using Intel Quick Sync Video for hardware transcoding, also more powerful or at least equally powerful (due to fewer pipelines - 32 vs. 24)?** * Secondly - from what I've heard, **integrated graphics cards perform better with Dual-channel RAM**. The N100 opted for a Single-channel controller, abandoning the Dual-channel. I'm not sure if this affects transcoding (that's important to me, I'm not interested in retro 3D gaming performance), but the 6005 still has a Dual-channel controller. * The third issue - **RAM capacity** . The Odroid H3+ supports up to 64 GB of RAM, whereas the AOOSTAR R1 currently guarantees only 32 GB. The temporary transcoding folder will be allocated in RAM. I don't know if 32 GB will be sufficient (working conditions were described in an earlier message) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ParticularCod6 · 2023-12-01 16:00 If you plan to run a lot of services, you can consider0 N305(more CPU cores). And there are fanless PC too (designed for soft router with more Ethernet ports) The major weakness of these N processors is single ram slot so it can have 32Gb Max and no dual channel. The n200 has better GPU as well