The original post: /r/datahoarder by /u/Charming_Mix2937 on 2025-01-28 19:24:26.

Hi all,

I'm looking for a bit of advice on my planned home server build. My use case is primarily as a media storage server running Jellyfin and the arr stack (Radarr, Sonarr, etc.). I’d also like to future-proof the setup a bit and have the flexibility to spin up game servers for whatever is popular at the time.

Proposed Build Spec

• CPU: Intel i7-12700K
• RAM: 64GB DDR5
• Motherboard: ASRock Z790 Pro RS ATX LGA1700
• Cache Drive: 970 Evo 1TB NVMe x2
• Storage: 4 x 12TB Seagate IronWolf Pro NAS drives
• PSU: Corsair (not finalised yet but plenty of wattage headroom)
• Case: Fractal Design Define R5

I’m planning to run Ubuntu, which I’m comfortable with, and manage the filesystem with SnapRAID + MergerFS. The idea is to cache as much as I can to reduce random reads and increase performance. This build has room for expansion in the future, and with SnapRAID, I’ll have 1-disk redundancy to protect against data loss.

The Question

As I’m already spending a decent amount of money, I’m wondering if it would be worth investing a little more and going for a Xeon + ECC RAM setup with ZFS as the file system instead? Or would my current planned build be sufficient for my needs?

I like the flexibility and simplicity of SnapRAID + MergerFS, but I also recognise that ZFS offers strong data integrity features with built-in redundancy. My concern is whether the performance and reliability benefits of a Xeon/ZFS setup would justify the extra cost, given that this is for a home server.

TL;DR

Home media + game server with Jellyfin, arr stack, SnapRAID + MergerFS on Ubuntu. Proposed i7-12700K build looks solid, but should I instead consider Xeon + ECC RAM + ZFS for better reliability? Looking for advice on whether the upgrade is worth it!

Thanks in advance for any input!