ML 350 G6 Home server questions....

[Titanite]

Hello,

I was given an old ML 350 G6 from a friend who's office didnt need it any longer. I am not an IT pro. I do have a NAS set up at home that I basically stream media and store family photos on, and can get around a home PC (I realize that a server at a different level, but Im willing to learn). I am running out of space on the NAS, and it doesnt play nice with most of my devices due to recent firmware upgrades by the manufacturer (thanks Synology!). I figured this server might work for me to get rid of my home NAS set up. 

Current configuration of the ML 350 is it has 2 processors, 7- 146 GB SAS drives, DVD drive and windows server 2008 R2 on it and 42 GB Ram. My NAS has 2 -1TBdrives in RAID 1 configuration. So im really no further along with storage space with the server set up, and will have to add drives or replace with larger drives on the server to gain more space.

First question: Is it worth my effort to run this ML350 with windows server 2008 R2? For media streaming or home use as network storage? Software wise, will WS2008 allow me to install current software to accomplish this? Or would I be better off putting windows 8 on it? Or do I need WS 2012 or 2016 to be able to utilize media server software available today, rather than in 2009 when this was a current piece of equipment. What are your thoughts on which OS for home media streaming and network attached storage solution?

Secondly, I have several 3.5" LFF hard drives kicking around. This server has a raid array set up in the hot swap bays (7 drives) on the bottom, but also has a second RAID controller installed and is not being used. Is there any reason I cant install these LFF 3.5" drives into the removeable media bays (below the dvd drive) with 2 or 4 trayless mobil rack for 3.5" hard drives like these  (https://www.amazon.ca/StarTech-com-5-25-Inch-Trayless-Mobile-3-5-Inch/dp/B000KS8S9W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515616944&sr=8-1&keywords=StarTech.com+5.25in+Trayless+Hot+Swap+Mobile+Rack+for+3.5in+Hard+Drive) , and connect them to the RAID controller with a  mini sas to 4 x sata cable, like this (https://www.amazon.ca/CableCreation-Reversed-SFF-8087-female-Target/dp/B013G4EQOM/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1515618953&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=mini+sas+to+sata+cable&psc=1). 

Any advice or guidance is greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[denis_b]

Hello @Titanite.

Sorry for delay with reply.

Is your question actual still?

Thank you!

[MaheshKR]

Hi,

I apologize for the delay

To answer your first question if you are looking for media streaming I would recommend OS like FreeNAS or Ubuntu because the current software will not support Windows Server 2008 because it is outaded and there's no support for 2008 however the current software may not have 100% support.

To answer your second question the total number of LFF drive that supports on your server is 8LFF however by default you will get option to install only 6 in the lower bay, but you can add another 2 LFF drives in the place of removal media bays but to use those 2 hdd's you need to buy Harddrive Cage, Harddrive Backplane then you can use the second controller by connecting cable to upper drives.

http://images10.newegg.com/User-Manual/User_Manual_59-107-001.pdf   - Refer Page 42

Please feel free to contact me.

Regards
Mahesh