hk4l

I thought about that but got the asrock board for a real cheap price already, I do potentially plan on building an intel system for a blue iris machine in the future I was more thinking for airflow because the FE 1080ti blows out the back and might make sense because the rest of the airflow is going that way, also im using the keylase patch and have had 7+ hw streams at one point it time also didnt know it was 2 x gen4 m.2 thanks for pointing that out

System Specifications & Overview: - Current Motherboard & CPU: ASRock b350 Pro4 with Ryzen 2700x - RAM: 64GB - Array Configuration - Total: 10x disks - Parity: 2x 18TB WD - Storage: 6x 18TB WD, 2x 16TB WD - Cache: 1TB SATA SSD (appdata, media, system(docker&libvirt)) - Unassigned Drives: - 1x SATA SSD (For initial downloads, unpacking) - 1x 1TB SATA SSD (VM Directory) - 1x 1TB SATA SSD (Miscellaneous - potentially InfluxDB or a VM Drive clone) - Previous Case: Fractal Define R6 - Current Case: Silverstone RM43-320-RS - Upcoming Upgrades: - Motherboard & CPU: ASRock Rack X570D4U-2L2T with Ryzen 5900x - M.2 SSD: 2TB 970 Evo Plus (potentially an additional one or a gen4 one) Questions/concerns: 1. With the upcoming motherboard having 2 M.2 slots (1x Gen4 and 1x Gen3), what's the best allocation strategy? For instance, should the Gen4 be used for the cache drive, VM drive, docker storage, etc.? 2. Plan to retain the SATA drive for downloads due to cost and ease of replacement. 3. GPU: Currently using a 1070ti for transcoding. Considering an upgrade to a 1080ti FE I already have for better VRAM and rear exhaust. Feedback on this is appreciated. 4. PCI-E: Using one slot for an HBA (16 ports). Anticipating a possible need for a SAS expander given potential expansion. Also, SATA SSDs will be connected directly to the motherboard and mounted via double-sided tape in the chassis. 5. Backup Strategy: - Considering using ZFS replication for on-system backup. The idea is to replicate the VM SSD (not part of the array) to another unassigned SSD. This could be on a daily/real-time basis, with a weekly push to the array. - Likewise, looking into backing up the cache folder which contains appdata and the docker.img. Here's a reference video for the setup: [SpaceInvaderOne Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T83gqqh0D4E). 6. Future Plans: - Aim to set up another server, possibly using the old motherboard and CPU. The intent is for this to serve as an off-system backup - nightly or weekly for main components such as docker images, appdata, VMs, and essential shares. Would like to optimize this backup process over a 10gbe connection, possibly even leveraging both 10gbe links. Seeking Advice On: - Best practices for drive setup, especially regarding M.2 allocation. - Thoughts on GPU upgrade for transcoding. - Insights on backup strategies, particularly concerning ZFS replication and off-system backup.

New to unraid as well, Someone correct me if I am wrong. But I think you can get away with two GPUs one for system and plex transcoding. and one passed through to VMs also, unraid runs docker images which are definitely easier to set up and can be lighter weight than a full VM per service. Search for "SpaceInvaderOne Unraid" on youtube lots of good videos to get you set up. in terms of motherboards I have read that most 470s should support 5000 series ryzen but you might want to get a board with better vrm if you want to make sure it supports the higher core count ones link to aorus board comparisons looks like the x470 officially has a max of 64gb ram and the x570 look to go up to 128gb dont know if that is a deal breaker for you