It all started with an old Dell core 2 duo laptop. I pulled out this machine that had been in the closet for a little over a year as I mad the switch to Mac. Installed a new SSD got the old laptop running super smooth.
For large storage I was still using my Drobo FS NAS (which is still running great today, thought I am looking into newer faster options).
Fast forward three years
Specs
- Lenovo ThinkStation S30 Workstation
- 1x Xeon E5-2660 2.2GHz Eight Core Processor
- 16GB DDR3 Memory
- AMD Radeon HD 8350
- Added in Aug. 2022: Nvidia Quadro P2000
When I bought the ThinkStation from Newegg, the Passmark on the E5-2660 was at 11,000 according to CPU Breanch Mark, but today it’s showing 7,944 (not sure what that’s about). But regardless, it’s been a great machine having no issues with multiple streams (I only have 5 friends who share, and they don’t use it to often). In comparison to my laptop which was 1,535.
I’ve only seen the CPU spike above 50% a few times, and the RAM never seems to spike above 30%. So I definitionally have room to grow services.
What’s next?
The Drobo FS is feeling it’s age, which is rightfully so since it was released in 2010. I’ve been eyeing the Drobo 5N2, but it’s been back-ordered for quite some time and also released in 2017. I know many friends who have jumped to the Synology line, but those are just a bit more powerful then I need. Especially with the Server I’ve got. I guess we will see.
2021 Updates
In March of 2021 my Drobo FS died, and I bought a Drobo 5N (cheapest option at the time) in order to recover all my data.
March – April
2022 Updates
Added a Nvidia Quadro P2000
August
I bought a Synology DS1522+ to replace the Drobo 5N.
November
After the initial Synology setup, the week long process of migrating all my data and media from the Drobo was completed. I’m going to have a new write up on the new setup here soon.
2024 Updates
Updated my PlexData drive from 256 GB (98% full) to a 1 TB SSD.
January
Updated my Synology DS1522+ RAM. 8GB ➡ 32GB.
October
Found an Intel Xeon E5-2697 V2 on eBay, going to see if that is compatible with the motherboard. Passmark has the CPU Benchmarks at 14309, which is a +6365 over my current CPU.