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I was kinda hoping that there would be cage that can take 15mm hdds, but it looks like all are 9mm tops. My ideal build would be case that does have 2x5.25" bay in front and still could fit motherboard and HBA, then if there would be cage that could take 15mm HDDs it would be possible to do 8x4TB HDDs in really small form factor, but i guess no luck . I also like that 2.5" drives are much quieter and power efficient - so that was my reason for using them in next build. EDIT: I found the 15mm drive cage http://www.plinkusa.net/websatarw825.htm http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=142 but i can't find any case with only 2 5.25" drive bays in front and space for motherboard. EDIT2: Found SilverStone SST-SG02-F for the case - it is kinda huge, but it is a start, tough build in it would not be awesomely small for the capacity i dreamed

Are there any NAS cases that use 2.5" HDDs? Ideally Something like U-NAS NSC-800, but using 2.5" HDDs.

Plex transconding is exactly why i wanted i3 , but then i tought i could play with vt-d, and that is why i5. So any motherboard recomendations or is it more about chipset that MB is using (H81 vs 87)?

I'm looking for some CPU that is energy efficient in idle and same for Motherboard, where information about power consumption are really sparse. I would like to be about 10W. So can you recommend some motherboards and cpus that are tested to be efficient? I hove done some research and i can't find info if the T cpus idle power consumption is lower then non T cpus. This is for my new home server that should be able to do VT-d so i'm thinking about i5-4460. Then i found MSI B85M ECO that should have low power consumption, but no real test again. This is only benchmark of motherboard power consumption i found http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4444/49/33-haswell-motherboard-group-test-26x-z87-4x-h87-and-3x-b85-energy-consumption-idle-avge-over-5-minutes . Also i'm considering lower the hdds count (still suck some power in spindown state and also i could ditch sas2008 controller - that is another 7w in idle) so i'm looking for 2 motherboard recommendations in fact: 1. haswell motherboard that has really low power consumption in idle 2. haswell motherboard that has really low power consumption in idle and does have at least 6 sata ports I found some builds here, but each has different requirements and few post info about real idle power consumption (or i did not look hard enough). 10w target consumption i mentioned is without hdds, only with system ssd/usb drive.

Now i get it, + i can't probably create vmdk bigger then 2TB, so i will need to lurk more and change the build from the basics. First thing i need to decide is if i would go the adventurous way of AMD-vi, which is about half the price of Intel vt-d for mobo+cpu. Currently i'm thinking more like Intel Core i5 2400S - 4610 - 65W TDP, intel VT-d, ESXi5 comp. Intel Crow Point DQ67OWB3 - 2726 - intel nic, intel a VT-d, non ECC, probably ESXi5 comp. 2* 4GB DDR3 1333 - 900 IBM Express ServeRAID M1015 - 3100 - HBA, ESXi5 comp. Norco RPC-3216 - 9500 - 16HDDs, standard PSU, need to buy 1 sata backplane (found for sale in netherlands) ST-LAB A-214 - 350 - sil3114, for torrenting HDD Chieftec Smart Series GPS-600A8 600W - 1238 - 46A 12V, not a total noname builder About $1100 to buy it here, so it seems still quite a budget, but more server like

And one question about PCI speed on normal motherboard(32 bit 33mhz PCI) if i use 2 sil3114, with 8 HDDs connected, then when doing parity check system will need to access all the drives so the real speed would be 15MBps? So then if i would use 3TB drives then parite check would take 64 hours?

>>> do you want a stock UnRaid, no kernel/driver tweaks but all standard features, then you need vt-d in order to virtualize it. If it is not too much trouble, can you please explain why? Is it because unRaid don't support some VMWare virtual hardware or just because it needs direct access to HDDs - hence i need to map whole controllers to it?

A little, but i'm getting more into it and i'm getting more confused. Now it seams that vt-d is not actually required. Also i think i would use RawDeviceMapping because i would like spare drive for torrent part and if it would be connected to SAS controller than it would be impossible.

Thank you, that part was not clear to me at all. So eiter i will run full OS with vmware workstation or chose very different hardware. Until now i tough it will be just like normal vmware on windows where i can assign local physical hdds to running vms.

Dunno, i'm new to whole ESXi, it just seamed like very nice idea to have it.

I would like to to build me home server for media storage and torrenting. So these are main software goals. And also plex media server would be nice. I finished the planing phase, but still want you to check, if you are willing, if i missed something. Well first thing i decided is that i want storage (unraid) separate from other system. My budget is around 800USD. I do live in EU and some things are hard to source or very expensive if i count in shipping and added VAT - ie. Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, norco ss-500, etc. Also i'm sorry if some note from my planning is left untranslated to English. So the software achitecture i imagined like this: ESXi5 runing from stick Linux (probably debian) running rTorrent with ruTorrent, flexget and plex media server (not real need for transcoding) with one dedicated HDD for torrents that are moved to unraid storage after some time installed on physical usb stick unraid installed on physical usb stick Images of usb stick would be backed up to dropbox So i tough that all hdds should run as ahci and would be mapped to virtual machines as physical drives. Hardware Goals: - relatively nice looking case (minimalist design) - minimal maintenance - energy efficient - As quiet as possible - maximal possible reliability - still keep the budget The actual setup i would order: RaidSonic Icy Box IB-545SSK - 3pcs - cheapest 5in3 available here, also hotswap without need of tray, disadvantage: dual 6cm fans. If i will be unable to get these i would get Lian Li EX-H34B , which cost 1/4 less here, but are only 4in3. Cooler Master Centurion 590 - i did not found case with 9 basy without so many holes in it and power button on front and still for a good buck. Chieftec Smart Series GPS-600A8 600W - should have 1x12V 46A ST-LAB A-214 - 3 pcs - cheap and based on SiI3114 - support in ESXi 5 dust filtr 120mm - under psu AMD A6-3500 - dunno how to split cores between VMs 4GB DDR3 1333 - 2 pcs GA-A55-DS3P - ESXi will probably need to bu customised to support Realtek NIC, 6x sata, 3x PCI Cables - moles and SATA - already have these USB sticks - already have these I will start with just 8 drives, but i would like possibility to expand it - so that is why i would go for 3 5in3 cages. Also some drives will be 3TB 7200 seagates as these are only 3 platter and WD greens are 4 platters. Would it be possible for A6 to hande 3VM - 1. unraid, 2. torrent box, 3. PMS? So did i forgot to think about something?

Why everybody chose AMD Athlon II X2 over A4?

Hello, is it possible to boot esxi from usb stick and then have 12 hdds for unraid running from another usb stick and then have some linux with rutorrent running from third usb, but downloading to unraid while there will be only one hdd spinning? Will this work fast enough? I'm quite ok with separate hdd for incoming torrents that would be mounted directly to linux with rutorrent and not to unraid. I just would like to know if anyone has experience with this so i can decide how to build the system. Thank you

Well i'm not going to use it. I was going to use silverstone 4in3 http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=184&area=en with silverstone cp05-sas http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=343&area=en , but then i found out that the CP05-SAS is impossible to source in my country too, so i would need to use older CP05 adpeter with hard attached wires that would make real mess in wiring in case. BTW cheapest nice 5in3 i can source here in Czech rep. is ICY DOCK MB-455SPF for 150+usd. Well ... probably, only shop i found it in has it listed under graphical software ) BTW (2): shipping norcos to CZ would be 50 usd for shipping using polozez parcel (if possible), or more probably 110usd for dhl (supprisingly dhl is cheaper then standard airmail), then i would need to pay import taxes (~80USD) so in the end it would be between 150-160usd for piece - that is why i'm looking into such solutions.

Hello, i was thinking about buying fractal design XL and then some box for top position, but it would not be really eye candy as some hdds would be place in a different way then others. Then i lurked some more and come up with this: kc is my local currency SilverStone SST-KL02 - 1700kc (85usd) 2x SILVERSTONE SST-CFP52B - 650kc/ks -> 1300kc (65usd) 11x SILVERSTONE CP05 - 150kc/ks -> 1650 (83usd) sum 4650kc (233usd) So any known disadvantages of the cages? How is the airflow? These cages are cheapest hotswap 4in3 i found and i'm not quite sure about connection of the SILVERSTONE CP05 to the hdd. Obvious disadvantages against fractal design XL is dust proofing, cable management nad possibly airflow. Advantage is hotswap for all hdds and little smaller size of the case. BTW while i was lurking i found 3in3 cage from xigmatek http://www.xigmatek.com/product.php?productid=152 which goes for about 43usd in my country and it's design seams quite nice. Tough this is probably not so interesting for US users as they can buy norco 5in3 cost 90usd.