Budget:
500-1000 without HHDs

More specific use (what games, what programs):
To store recordings and to encode streams via obs to twitch. (basically a twitch machine)

Planned time until purchase:
ASAP

Do you need an Operating System?:
Possibliy, would freenas work for this? if not, then yes

Do you have any specific preferred components?:
Not really.

Do you need a sound or wireless card?:
I don't think so?

Do you want stock cooling or do you plan on overclocking?:\
No overclocking but would a better cooler help?

Do you need a monitor? mouse? keyboard?:
No

Zip code/location? (Shipping costs):
32825 or 32828

So my idea is to have a NAS/Storage server that can also encode streams to twitch via OBS. I would think that this would allow it to just store the recordings directly to itself but I'm not totally sure about this. Lmk if you guys have something like this and your build or how I could go about doing this.
Thanks!

/Edit
Would also like the drives to be hot swappable.


This post was edited by Conner on Jan 30 2018 08:38pm

The encoding can be done by the second pc (not a NAS box) as for a network drive this can be done with any PC.

what resolution/fps rates are you streaming in?

This post was edited by King Atrhur on Jan 30 2018 08:45pm

That's the thing. I want to combine the two together to save $$ and space.
720 mostly, but I think that's because my pc can't handle 1080 while streaming and encoding. I have 60-80 fps average depending on the game at 1080p while not streaming.

no one? =/

Your post literally gave me the idea to make my media server PC also a streaming computer.

Running 3570K and 11TB of storage.

Any old PC with the specs to stream can do it.

Edit:
Just use OBS on your main PC with the NDI plugin and run another instance of OBS on the server and set the source as NDI.

It'll use like 150Mbps local network bandwidth and about 15% of my 6700K, though it only has 6 threads allocated.

The other option is to use a capture card, but it doesn't seem cost efficient if you have a proper router already.

Edit 2:
It also works on Linux, if that matters to you. I had to compile the Linux plugin since there some libraries missing for my distro but it worked 100% in the end.

This post was edited by nexcoor on Feb 1 2018 09:01am

So that's kinda where I get stumped at. I have an incomplete pc that i could probably piece together for a couple hundred bucks. But then i would still need to build the nas/media server/whatever you wanna call it and that's kinda where I need help. Building that actual server that can encode aswell to save space. I'm sure the only thing I really need is for it to support a gfx card as I've read a lot of people use a 1050ti as the gpu for the encoder.
I don't have much of an interest in Linux but that's cool. My router isn't the best (its the one from spectrum) so that may be something else I have to look at.

I'm not using any dedicated GPU on the server, but then again I had an i5 lying around from my old desktop.

As for the media server part, there are multiple options. If you're going to watch your movies etc. on a networked PC, you could just have the media on the servers HDD and set it up as a networked drive (SAMBA for Linux to Windows use).

If that's not good enough, I can vouch for Plex, but that is a subscription based service. I heard about Emby, but I have not tried it yet, therefor cannot vouch for it.

I have no doubt there are multiple easy-to-use and easy-to-automate programs/scripts for transcoding the movies/series.

So the idea for the server isn't to stream movies or tv shows, etc. Its to store the recordings and what not from the stream and other important things like company info and the like. So its really just a storage server that can also encode the stream to take some strain off my pc.

Let us know the specs of that other PC you mentioned. I know many "old" office PCs can do this, although you might want to replace the PSU at some point if you want to run it 24/7.

I also know for certain if you use the same CPU streaming settings for recording, you need a little but only a little more leeway on the CPU while you do both vs just streaming. It might have been just the settings, but my recording was getting fucked up when CPU was at 85% usage while the stream was just fine. Pushing the settings down so I was using <75% CPU resulted in no problems.

The requirements for a local storage server are much lower than streaming, so no worries there. You just need to do your due diligence when talking about backups. Your data is never safe when it's in just one place.

As for the streaming server...

All you need is any PC with either an okayish CPU. A quadcore or a hyperthreaded dualcore Sandy Bridge would do the job. No need for high base clocks so most locked desktop processors will be fine (even the Xeons).

OR

a PC with a GPU with video transcoding acceleration for H264. The quality vs bitrate is a bit lower on NVENC (that is the Nvidia's encoding method). I also don't know which GPU's have this (700-series should still have it) or if their encoding performance changes when you go down the tiers. You mentioned 1050Ti, which is definitely capable of this, but also expensive (at least when the specs you need are this low). You'll need to find out yourself which GPU's can do this and if they're worth it.

Obviously, you could just use another dedicated GPU in your gaming PC and do the encoding on it.

Also, let us know what is the model and maker of your router. Many even a bit older routers can do 300+Mbps, you're not necessarily out of the game.

Ill post specs later. I gotta take it apart to see whats in it. I don't remember lol
But basically I just need help building a streaming server that is capable of 100TB now, and upgradeable later on. So like a Storinator from 45drives but can do twitch stuff.
Waiting to hear back from spectrum right now as I can find anywhere that says the make and model of my gateway. (its one of those modem and router combo things).