Building my first nas server.

[sandyshells]

Hi everyone I'm building my first nas server, will like some advice of what kind of equipment I should get? (The project is been finance between family and friends) Is going to be between 40-50 users. I won't be transcoding. Would like to know what cpu you guys or girls recommend? If a gpu is required? Familiy and friends want at least 1080p they are hoping for 4k lol. SSD is a most. How much ram is recommended? and what kind of security you guys recommend ? Thank you guys  first post ever.

[TheDreadPirate]

If you aren't transcoding, your main concern is bandwidth. You'd need to have highly compressed media to comfortably serve 40-50 users, potentially simultaneously, on a typical high end home Internet connection. I'm not sure what Internet speed options you have in Korea, though.

16GB of RAM is probably enough if you use a headless Linux server, but 32GB is probably better to ensure you have enough. Any modern CPU will be fine since you aren't transcoding. At least, 6 cores. A GPU is not required since you aren't transcoding. The only "security" we recommend is using a reverse proxy and setup https.

Also, since you aren't transcoding, you will need to put in some effort to make sure your media is in the most compatible format. H264 8-bit SDR, AAC stereo or up to 5.1, burned in subtitles or external SRT subtitle files, MP4 container. 4K SDR is possible. Avoid HDR, not a lot of clients support playing that. If you must have it, Dolby Vision Profile 5 and HDR10 are the most compatible HDR types.

If you don't make an effort to use these codec recommendations, and you aren't transcoding, be prepared for a lot of complaints.

[sandyshells]

Hi TheDreadPirate thank you for your response In Korea we have affordable internet connection from 100mb/s to 10gb/s but in my area at the moment its from 100mb/s to 1gb/s. 1gb/s is like 40 usd for 1 year contract, the reason im emphasizing that, is that going to America, I have seen crazy prices. Going back to the topic for curiosity how does a setup of transcoding will look like, I wonder what will change? More power ? More bandwith, more cpu with more cores? I'm really excited in this journey not sure what to expect, but always expecting the best outcome.

[TheDreadPirate]

For 40-50 users, transcoding is not really viable. There isn't a GPU capable of handling that many, period, in a worst case scenario where all of your users need transcoding. And Jellyfin does not support splitting transcoding over multiple GPUs.

If you want a smooth experience with this many users, you HAVE to aim for maximum client compatibility. But you should still have some sort of GPU for transcoding.

[sandyshells]

I see, what kind of power supply will you add to the previous setup? May I ask your background like studies ? I'm really into the computer tech environment it fascinates me, and love to learn from others.

[TheDreadPirate]

The PSU wattage completely depends on what hardware you end up using. Just don't buy a no-name brand.

I am a professional systems administrator and systems engineer. Been working in this field for 15 years. I won't say my university major since it is an uncommon major and would narrow it down to a couple universities in my region, but it is a computer focused field.

Outside of work, I've been building computers for 22 years and tinkering with them for over 25 years.

[sandyshells]

Amazing so much knowledge behind all that experience. Well I will start the build right after vacation. Will keep you guys posted on my progress

[sandyshells]

This is much complex than what I originally thought it was going to be, what motherboard would you recommend ? And casing when everything is assemble ?

[TheDreadPirate]

This greatly depends on what you need. How many SATA ports you need, how many and what kind of PCIe slots, if you need more than 1Gb Ethernet. Just don't splurge for Z series Intel boards or X series AMD boards. They don't have any features that you'd need for a Jellyfin server except perhaps 2.5Gb Ethernet.

And the case also depends on what you need and the board form factor (ITX, mATX, ATX, etc). I generally recommend Fractal Design cases.

[sandyshells]

@TheDreadPirate I recall you mentioned H264 8-bit SDR, but what are your thoughts on H265 and H266 ?