Earliest decisions when setting up a linux Ubuntu server

[Bullwinkle]

Hello folks, I have some very newbie questions--having never set up a music server and never having used linux or Ubuntu. I hope for useful rules of thumb.

 

1. I have a fresh server with four blank ssd physical disks. It seems that I need to do some pre-configuration of the disks using pre-os software (bios setup and the like) in the system board, perhaps partitioning the disks, perhaps choosing some non-trivial raid configuration (rather than pass-through) and also perhaps doing a few other things before installing ubuntu. Any rules of thumb about these early decisions for (what will become) a linux music server?

 

2. When installing ubuntu server, any rules of thumb about decisions to make during the installation? 

 

I'm sure I need to answer some other questions about what's downstream of the server. Some of those decisions have not yet been made, but the proximate goal is to feed a Gustard X20U DAC (perhaps after feeding a separate control computer first).

 

Thank you for your indulgence of a very newbie. 

[Richard Dale]

21 minutes ago, Bullwinkle said:

Hello folks, I have some very newbie questions--having never set up a music server and never having used linux or Ubuntu. I hope for useful rules of thumb.

 

1. I have a fresh server with four blank ssd physical disks. It seems that I need to do some pre-configuration of the disks using pre-os software (bios setup and the like) in the system board, perhaps partitioning the disks, perhaps choosing some non-trivial raid configuration (rather than pass-through) and also perhaps doing a few other things before installing ubuntu. Any rules of thumb about these early decisions for (what will become) a linux music server?

 

2. When installing ubuntu server, any rules of thumb about decisions to make during the installation? 

 

I'm sure I need to answer some other questions about what's downstream of the server. Some of those decisions have not yet been made, but the proximate goal is to feed a Gustard X20U DAC (perhaps after feeding a separate control computer first).

 

Thank you for your indulgence of a very newbie. 

I suppose the first decision to make is what software you want to run on the server. Have you decided that yet? Depending on what software you want to run it might be easier to use a pre-configured version of Linux that is set up for a particular type of music server. For instance, VortexBox is pre-configured to run as an MPD music server, and it would be easier to get set up than a general purpose distribution such as Ubuntu.

 

If you have a Windows or Macintosh you can practice installing Ubuntu using a Virtual Machine environment such as VMWare or VirtualBox. The installer runs in exactly the same way as on a physical computer and you can see what partitioning options there are and so on, and then try them out without risking anything. You can always throw away a VM image if you get the partitioning wrong and try again.

[Bullwinkle]

Thanks Richard, I am now researching the things you mentioned.

[zackthedog]

Can you be more specific as to what you are trying to build?  Do you want just a NAS-like storage device, or an actual playback computer with extra storage?  Do you want a headless server you can control with a pad or phone or laptop, or a desktop-type server with Jriver or Clementine or some other desktop software?  Are you planning to use a monitor for this computer?

 

Also, what computer are you using for this?

 

One problem with a full Ubuntu installation is that you're going to have PulseAudio as part of the package, and that's less than ideal, sonically.

 

I'd suggest you take a look at Snakeoil-OS.  It is a minimal Ubuntu install that offers multiple built-in players like MPD and squeezelite, and also allows you to install JRiver Media Center, Clementine or HQ Player.  It's very easy to install, and it will format any extra disc drives connected to your motherboard.  When installing it will format and partition your main drive for you.  BUT it is headless so you need to have another laptop, pad or computer to control it via the web interface.

 

The manual is linked below.  You can read it rhough and see of it will meet your needs.

 

https://www.snakeoil-os.net/Manual/

[Bullwinkle]

Hi Zack, thanks a lot for your questions and suggestions. Actually, I am open to most of the possibilities in your questions. I'll research your suggestion of snakeoil for an os--off the cuff, it sounds like it might be a good bet but I need to read up on it. Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me.

[Bullwinkle]

Since you asked, Zack, the server is actually a server: It is a Dell PowerEdge R330. with a low power (25 Watt) processor, four ssds and 16Gb of ram so that, in all, it will be a pretty low wattage box. (It is low enough wattage that I can probably yank the internal fans if this is recommended...I get the sense that there are differences of opinion as to whether that does matter but I am entertaining the idea.) I chose this because my components are rack-based and this is a small 1U rackmount server, and because the server was a good deal, had that nice low-wattage Xeon in it, and I enjoy modifying off-the-shelf computers.

 

However it seems that these Dell servers only play nice with redhat or ubuntu linux. I have attempted to install vortexbox  as suggested by Richard above, without success (it is Fedora-based) but was able to do a full install of ubuntu 18.04 without a hitch. In forums Dell is coy as to whether or not the 13th gen PowerEdge servers are compatible with Fedora, suggesting that some are and some are not (they asked a user inquiring about Fedora to pm the system id  to them). At any rate, since ubuntu installed easily, your suggestion of the ubuntu-based snakeoil sounds promising, and I do have a second home-brew rackmount computer meant to be a "control" computer if needed, so the headless nature of snakeoil should not be an issue. 

[snakeoil.os]

Aha. My question answered - 16 GB.  Now I get a better understanding why you chose the R330.

 

Run 18.04, and execute the following command: 'cat /proc/modules'. So I can find out what SCSI card it's using. Once I have that I can build you a custom install kernel and you should be good to go. Just make sure you read the custom partitioning section of the manual to make sure you install Snakeoil OS on a free partition.

 

As for fans, I expect them to be noisy. So you may choose to remove them if you want but I doubt the server hardware will play nice if you do so. Snakeoil OS is not running any CPU power saving code. As such the TDP may be slightly higher than 25 W because it's not stepping down the frequency when the cores are idling.

[Bullwinkle]

Hello Theng Kiat. I will do as you say later today when I get home from work, but I can tell you that the raid card is the Dell PERC H330. I'm actually not using raid at all right now, just running the hard drives off that card in HBA mode and so letting the system bios control the four ssds. But I will run that command and tell you what it reports.

 

The internal fans are noisy (perhaps in more ways than one) so I am going to yank them, cut a square opening in the top of the case directly over the cpu/ram area, and mount a large, slow and quiet exhaust fan there, powered externally. This area is well towards the back of the case, so this hardware mod will be invisible when the server is in the rack with other components. I may also yank the power supply and replace it with a decent linear psu external to the case, but that's a little more complicated. I'll see.