Hi all - my first post here, so please be gentl, and apologies in advance if this is posted to the wrong area.
I’ve been a Squeezebox/LMS user for a long time, but with the demise of one of my units, and my existing server in definite need of replacement, I’m considering stepping into the world of Roon.
I’m looking at the more basic-specced HPE Microserver Gen10 plus (HPE ProLiant Gen10 Plus MicroServer, P16005-421 | Box.co.uk), running Ubuntu Server - I’ll probably throw in another 8GB of RAM, giving it 16GB in total. Is this machine going to be powerful enough to cope with running Roon Core?
It mostly depends on the size of your library (local files and albums you add via streaming services), and of course how you plan to expand…
16GB RAM is more than enough, but I’m not sure how the CPU compares to the min. recommendation of an Intel Core i3, Ivy Bridge+, perhaps someone else can advise you on this.
What you will definitely help performance with a large library is a SSD for the OS and database.
Oh, there’s no question that I’ll be putting the OS and the database on an SSD - that’s a definite (the idea of NOT having an OS on SSD these days makes me shudder!). Remote will be primarily iPad, with additional duties taken by iPhone and Windows PC. And, I think my main question is in relation to the CPU as well. A cursory glance online suggests that the Pentium G comes out slightly ahead of an Ivy Bridge i3 in terms of raw performance, but any empirical viewpoints would be greatly appreciated.
Just noticed you said you would be running Ubuntu Server, is this due to you wanting to run other apps/services on the unit? If not, and the machine is solely for Roon, you should install the Roon OS.
If that is correct about the CPU, then it really is down to library size - how big is it now, and how big could you imagine it becoming (bearing in mind this includes both local files and streaming albums added to your Roon library)?
Responsive in normal usage, but a little slower when importing new tracks, very slow when carrying out background audio analysis (5 sec+ waits for screens to populate).
ASUSTOR Nimbustor 4 AS5304T / Intel Gemini Lake Celeron J4105 Quad Core with 4MB cache / 4GB DDR4 / HDD
Responsive in normal usage, with bearly noticable slowdown when importing new tracks, slow when carrying out background audio analysis (2-3 secs).
Nucleus+ / i7 CPU / 8GB / SSD
Very responsive with any background task running.
OK, you might have a slow down if Roon was carrying out background analysis when you are serving video to the network, but I would guess it would only slow down Roon’s background task, but not to any significant degree (obviously somewhat depends on video file bitrates).
With a relatively modest library I would say the spec is more than suitable.
Don’t forget that any albums you “add to library “ from Tidal / qobuz count into your track count, so 10,000 local tracks could easily swell quickly .
Have a look through the forum for posts about NAS slowness problems , normally as a result of slow processors
‘Go BIG young man” , that server looks a good price but you may live to regret it.
Out of interest I use a bog std tower PC with 250 gb SSD , 16gb RAM , i7 7700 and loads of HDD for audio and video files, noisy but nowhere near my listening spot
