Reddit mentions of Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 70A40037UX 4U Tower Server Intel Core i3-4150 3.5Ghz,Raven black

nvidia shield, or a lenovo ts140 and use a rpi with rasplex as a client

>My main idea was to create a nas that would be able to transcode my media with plex and i could access outside my network and act as a file server and backups for my laptop

Backing up data is the one thing where you'd benefit from ZFS but everything else can be done as well and perhaps better with Linux.

>but dont fully understand all thier is to freenas

The linked comment in my previous post is a good place to start (especially Cyberjock's Guide), as are the links provided by u/dxm765... I second what he said about asking further questions.

>but looking around everyone always recommends it

FreeNAS is great at what it does but there are certain people who think it's the answer to every NAS / Server question... it isn't. There's also a tendency to not mention certain limitations in the same way you'd say a Ferrari is a fantastic car without mentioning the servicing costs.

>so i just figured my build would be ok since it seems like a good htpc but was i way off. Im not competely set on freenas and if you could suggest other os and programs i could use that would be great apperciate the help.

Am I right to assume that you're not a Linux user?

If that's correct, I'd recommend Ubuntu as it's very user friendly and has the largest community and therefore the largest resource for troubleshooting problems and learning. I'm also partial to the Gnome desktop environment with a few extensions. I can tell you more about what a desktop environment and Gnome extensions are and which extensions I use if you're interested.

As for what applications to use, that depends on what you want to be able to do. You might like to checkout Atomic Toolkit. That should cover pretty much everything you'll need for a HTPC server apart from secure WAN access. There is more than one way to skin the cat though. You could dockerise your server (use a docker image for each application) or you could install everything manually... it all depends on what you want to be able to do.

One thing that might be worth considering is looking for a cashback deal on either a Dell T20 or a Lenovo TS140 (which is known for being very quiet). They're both home/small business servers and they're often on sale. I've actually seen the TS140 with a Xeon e3 1226-v3 being sold for less than the RRP of the processor alone. The reason I mention this is that they're designed for 24/7 as a server.

Here's a TS140 with 4GB of RAM and an i3 4150, which is beefy enough for two simultaneous 1080p transcodes. You'd need to add some RAM and a HDD (as it doesn't come with storage) but for $219, it's certainly worth considering.

[EDIT] Same model of TS140 on offer for $189 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkServer-TS140-70A40037UX-4U-Tower-Server-Intel-Core-i3-4150-3-5Ghz-/291591988601?_trkparms=5373%3A0%7C5374%3AFeatured

Currently running my server on a mid 2009 13" Macbook Pro with the following services

• Plex
  
• Sonarr
  
• CouchPotato
  
• SABNzb
  
• Transmission
  
  Here are the Macbooks Specs just for reference
  
  Type | Item
  ---|---
  CPU | 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
  RAM | 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
  Storage | 500GB Internal HDD
  
  I'm looking to upgrade as the other guy in this thread stated, it's becoming a power hog. Also, I'm constantly jockeying the last 50GB of space on my HDD. Probably doesn't help that the battery is failing. Anyway, does anyone have any experience with or know if any of these pre-built servers are any good?
  
   
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkServer-70A40037UX-Server-i3-4150/dp/B0167MYLL8/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1484936718&sr=1-4&keywords=server
  
  Type | Item
  ---|---
  CPU | Intel Core i3-4130 processor 3.4 GHz
  RAM | 1 x 4 GB PC3-12800E 1600MHz DDR3 ECC-UDIMM UDIMM / 4 Slots Total
  Storage | None, would add my own storage (SSD for OS/sys, HDD for Media)
  
   
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Dell-PowerEdge-T20-Mini-tower-Server/dp/B011ZB45LM/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1484936718&sr=1-5&keywords=server
  
  Type | Item
  ---|---
  CPU | Intel Xeon E3-1225 v3 Quad-core (4 Core) 3.20 GHz
  RAM | 4 GB Installed DDR3 SDRAM
  Storage | 1 TB HDD
  
   
  
  Reason I ask is a build like rage1234 put together (only other post in this thread at the time I'm typing this) costs more than just grabbing one of these towers installing Linux and running with it.

I highly recommend unRAID for an OS. It can do everything you asked (not sure about the email portion) and more! It has a free trial you can use. I played with the free trial for about 10 minutes and knew that I had to have it.

As far as hardware, I'm sure most will recommend something like this from from Amazon. But personally, I like traditional servers, ebay is your best bet for prebuilt goodness, like a Dell R710. But, I digress, I'll let other recommend hardware because I always go over board, you know, for expandability because, I don't know what I may be into in the future.

This is what I get for my friends/family when they ask me to "build them a new pc" At the price point they want to pay anyways, it's hard to beat with a custom build, especially if your time is worth anything.

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkServer-70A40037UX-Server-i3-4150/dp/B0167MYLL8/

I mean on the server side; I stream to everything. Laptops, phones, TV, no changes.

I've seen stuttering with large file sizes, usually with movies 4GB or larger, but that's not what you're describing. As far as equipment goes, my server is a Lenovo TS140 but for nowhere near that price.