ConnerVT

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Posts posted by ConnerVT

  1. The A320 Motherboard only has 4 SATA connectors and no M.2 connectors.  The available slot is PCIe x1 2.0.  So your options are extremely limited as to adding drives (forget USB - You will have nothing but issues).  The A320 chipset really doesn't have much for configuration or expandability.

     

    I see two options:

    -- If you don't wish for more than 4 drives (and you will want one to be SSD for cache and Docker/VM use) buy the biggest drives you can afford, and accept that will likely be the limit to your storage capacity.

    -- Upgrade the motherboard to one with at least 6 SATA connectors, a M.2 slot, and additional PCIe slots (preferably at least one additional PCIe x16 or x4).  This will give you more options for expansion.  The good news is that with the new AM5 socket CPUs released, the B450M/B550M boards are now being discounted (or you can find them used with folks starting to upgrade).

  2. These days, the first look is there really isn't much difference between a system running Intel vs one running AMD.  For much of the first decade of 2000, AMD had an inferior processor to Intel, no matter what you used to measure it.  With a change in management and the introduction of the ZEN architecture (Ryzen/EPYC), Intel is no longer smacking AMD around and taking their lunch money.

     

    Current Intel and AMD processors match up pretty well in performance now.  AMD has always been the better value (price per performance) but these days not so much, at least on the most recent offerings.  But I've always been one to "Buy the best model of the the previous model line, not the most current..." as I find this is almost always the best value.  So your thoughts on the 5600-5800 Ryzen fits that (though it is the end of the line for the AM4 Socket, so no further CPU upgrade path for the motherboard). 

     

    I'm still waiting to see if Intel gets their mojo back.  Their manufacturing has not been able to deliver much technology improvement for several years, so much so they have even turned to TSMC to handle some of it.  This would of been unheard of 10 years ago.  Perhaps they will get this resolved.  Maybe P-Cores and E-Cores will become the next popular thing in x64 CPUs.  If I had a crystal ball, I'd be buying stocks, and not posting on forums.  😄

    • Like 1
  3. My 5700G server has been a solid performer since built a year or so ago.  The 1500X it replaced is also problem free, once the BIOS was set correctly.  The Ryzen 2600 in the desktop I am typing this has also been a great system.

     

    That said, you would likely be better off using Intel for your Unraid server, if it is running Plex.  Intel's QuickSync is well supported for Plex transcoding, where the AMD iGPU is not.

  4. Reading this thread, I think it's time for a quick Docker tutorial:

     

    -- the docker.img file (which typically resides in the Unraid system share on the cache pool drive, by default) is where the docker "programs" reside.

    -- each docker program's configuration files, logs, databases, and other support files are typically stored in the docker's appdata, which usually is in a folder in the appdata share (usually on the cache pool drive, for fast accesses).  This is typically mapped from inside the docker container to the appdata share folder by a Container Path entry in the docker's template.

    -- For dockers which manage a large amount of data (media servers, photo programs, torrent/NZB downloaders, etc.) data is typically stored on the Unraid array, and the docker has a path mapping from inside the docker container to where the data is in the array.

     

    In Unraid's Dashboard System tile, the Docker line displays how much space the docker programs are using of the allocated docker.img file (Unraid's default size for this file is 20GB).  Ideally, the only time this size should change is when you install an additional docker program.  However, it is good to monitor this size, as sometimes things mess up, and require you take some action.  Some possible things that happen are:

     

    -- Improper Container Path mapping - Say a download program does not have a Path mapped outside the docker container.  Downloads will be written to the docker.img file instead, quickly filling it and causing all of your dockers to crash.

    -- Some containers keep their log files with their program in the docker.img.  Check if there is configuration setting in the program to rotate out old logs, and avoid using debug logging if unneeded.

    -- Almost always avoid updating a docker from within the docker, better to update the entire container.  Some programs store backups when updated, which will likely end up in docker.img.

     

    I have 37 Docker containers installed in my server.  25 of them running all of the time.  My docker.img file is at 22.9GB used.

  5. @xokia I haven't used NUT.  I believe the main benefit is that it allows multiple devices to run NUT (one as server, others as clients) so you can power down these devices as well if running on UPS power during an outage.  apcupsd may have this functionality as well, but I haven't investigated this as I currently don't have a use case for it.

     

    You may wish to reduce your run time before initiating shutdown.  A UPS should not be run down to less than 50% battery capacity.  It is very hard on the battery, reducing battery life.  It also takes significantly longer to charge a battery than discharge - 10 minutes of run time could take hours to return to 100%. 

     

    Power outages also aren't consistant.  Power could go out, come back, then go out again.  The "clock" restarts when power comes back on, but now you may be starting at 90% instead of 100% (even after just a minute).

     

    You also need to take in consideration that it takes Unraid a bit of time to do a clean shut down (the goal for a UPS protected system).  Unraid spins up all drives, stops all running Dockers and VM, completes any cached writes in RAM, spins down the array, shuts down any remaining processes, then powers down.  This may take several minutes, depending on what you have running on your server.  It is wise to run a shut down (maybe a few times) and time how long it takes.  Use this information to decide how long the server should run before initiating a shut down.

     

    Here are my settings.  I let the server run on UPS for 6 minutes (Time on Battery).  If the battery level falls below 50% or the UPS says it has less than 12 minutes of runtime left I shut it down (this handles power on/off/on/off situations):

    image.thumb.png.d88b5370d14596ec3083f9e48334ce6b.png

    • Like 1
  6. I'm not having any issue, but I also see this GPU not available bound to VFIO or inuse in a VM message when I expand the GPU pane in my dashboard.  It only pops up for about 2 seconds, then disappears.

     

    I have both a Nvidia Quadro P400 and a AMD 3700G iGPU active (both configured with appropriate driver/TOP).  I only configure to display the Nvidia stats with this plugin, which works just fine.  Neither is bound, nor passed to any VM.  Running Unraid 6.12.8 and the latest GPU Statistics 2024-03-16.

     

    Just thought I would pass along this data point.

  7. Run less Docker containers?  All this should fit easily in the default 20GB dockerimg file.  If it isn't, you likely have something mapped incorrectly, where it is writing in the dockerimg vs to an outside drive/pool/array.

     

    This fits well in a 30GB dockerimg:

    
    Name                                            Container                Writable                 Log
    immich                                          4.16 GB                  2.04 GB                  1.93 MB
    binhex-krusader                                 2.58 GB                  0 B                      52.4 MB
    PhotoPrism                                      1.82 GB                  0 B                      52.4 MB
    binhex-delugevpn                                1.62 GB                  949 kB                   942 kB
    binhex-sabnzbdvpn                               1.25 GB                  100 MB                   13.6 kB
    homebridge                                      998 MB                   85.6 MB                  11.4 MB
    DiskSpeed                                       869 MB                   1.74 MB                  21.8 kB
    Thunderbird                                     807 MB                   7.35 kB                  7.89 kB
    ApacheGuacamole                                 795 MB                   57.8 MB                  89.6 kB
    overseerr                                       702 MB                   2.22 MB                  16.0 MB
    PostgreSQL_Immich                               687 MB                   63 B                     5.41 MB
    homarr                                          663 MB                   0 B                      52.4 MB
    plex                                            615 MB                   275 MB                   213 kB
    dupeGuru                                        569 MB                   0 B                      52.4 MB
    nzbhydra2                                       530 MB                   0 B                      52.4 MB
    nextcloud                                       448 MB                   597 kB                   1.36 MB
    bazarr                                          428 MB                   23.2 kB                  3.27 MB
    bazarr4K                                        391 MB                   73.3 kB                  41.9 kB
    speedtest-tracker-1                             343 MB                   27.1 MB                  679 kB
    sonarr                                          335 MB                   138 MB                   18.8 MB
    mariadb-next                                    333 MB                   25.2 kB                  8.33 kB
    QDirStat                                        314 MB                   19.7 kB                  33.7 kB
    gaps                                            300 MB                   32.8 kB                  88.9 kB
    lidarr                                          270 MB                   23.6 kB                  1.10 MB
    nzbget                                          208 MB                   27.9 MB                  7.31 kB
    radarr                                          198 MB                   23.6 kB                  3.41 MB
    radarr4K                                        198 MB                   23.6 kB                  1.19 MB
    tautulli                                        197 MB                   23.2 kB                  483 kB
    SpeedTest-By-OpenSpeedTest                      181 MB                   4.73 kB                  40.7 kB
    NginxProxyManager                               178 MB                   48.4 kB                  6.72 MB
    jackett                                         171 MB                   0 B                      52.4 MB
    Redis                                           138 MB                   0 B                      997 kB
    glances                                         73.8 MB                  0 B                      52.4 MB
    Rickroll                                        72.3 MB                  5.06 kB                  1.17 MB
    cloudflared                                     51.3 MB                  0 B                      2.70 MB
    Docker-WebUI                                    17.5 MB                  0 B                      44.0 MB
    Dozzle                                          15.5 MB                  0 B                      776 B
    Total size                                      23.5 GB                  2.76 GB                  489 MB

     

  8. 10 hours ago, EmersonSC said:
    On 1/19/2024 at 6:12 PM, ConnerVT said:

     

    You posted a link to a post I'm confident the OP knows about (who doesnt at this point), which points out the very recommendations they're saying are no longer available, from a test two years ago. How helpful 👏

     

    If you read through the thread, you will see it is more about the current state of the USB Flash drive market.  There has been a large number of counterfiet flash drives flooding a number of the major Internet marketplaces, making it impossible to just say "Buy this brand and model...".

     

    As I've recommended several times in that thread (and in countless others, all asking the same question) is to buy from a place that has a tightly controlled supply chain, and look at what may be considered 2nd-tier brands (such as Kingston, PNY, Transcend, etc.).

  9. I have been considering putting a few cameras around my home.  I have plenty of reserve storage, RAM and processor power on my server, so I would wish to avoid the cloud and keep everything local.

     

    With much of the advertisements, articles and tutorials biased toward cloud solutions or somewhat outdated, I'm reaching out to the Unraid community for ideas and suggestions.

     

    What software would you recommend?  Docker or VM?

    Recommendations for camera hardware also appreciated.  Need to stay reasonably priced/value for the money.

    If you are currently running a camera system, what would you do differently?

     

    I look forward to everyone's input.

  10. For your initial transfer of data to your array, you will want to:

    • Disable your writes to cache (Primary Storage to array, Secondary Storage to None) for each share you are copying to
    • In Disk Settings, set Tunable (md_write_method) to Reconstruct Write

    Once you've copied everything over, you can set them to what you wish.

     

    Cache will not save you any time if you overflow it, and cause you problems during large transfers.  As it will take as long as it takes to write to the array - cache just delays the pain, making it faster in the long term, but then you do the write again later (when you are less concerned about speed). 

     

    For the Reconstruct write, that does make the transfer faster.

     

     

  11. With a i5-11400?  A lot.  It isn't so much how many VM and docker containers you have installed and/or running.  It is more about how hard you are running those activities.  A Windows VM sitting idle or browsing the Internet doesn't need a lot of processing power.  Plex/Emby streaming a Direct Play video on your home LAN uses very little.  Playing a video game in Windows while transcoding several video streams, well that needs much more.

     

    My biggest suggestion is to add some more DRAM to your system.  16GB is low if you are running VMs (especially Windows.  Would you run Win10/11 on bare metal with 4GB?).  32GB for the system is better.  I also added an inexpensive SSD to put my Domains and ISO shares - They run faster from SSD, and it saves space and wear and tear on my primary cache pool.

  12. 11 hours ago, Hoopster said:

    My wife has said more than once she married me for only two reasons:

    • To kill bugs and spiders in the house
    • To handle all AV equipment/technology in the house

    Both are still accurate 43 years later.

     

    I would be very happy if those were the only things expected from me.  For me, the list keeps on growing.  😆

  13. This is a question that depends not on what you will be running, but how you are running the applications on the server.

     

    Running a Win11 VM?  Will it just be used to open a few browser tabs and watch a YouTube video, or will you be playing games or doing CPU intensive activities like editing video, etc.

     

    Will the Plex be used occasionally to stream Direct Play video for one user on the LAN, or will there be several people watching different videos on devices out on the Internet, all of them transcoding at the same time?  Will there be other dockers (such as the arrs) also be active at the time, downloading torrents or Usenet files, while these other activities are taking place?

     

    If what you plan to do would only be marginal running on bare metal with an 8th Generation Intel (released 7 years ago), it won't run any better on a server, with several layers of code to execute (Base Linux, Unraid server code, Docker/VM layer code).  While it may be a cheaper option, is it really a value to save a few bucks only to decide you need to upgrade to reach the level of satisfaction you desire?

  14. 11 hours ago, MxFox said:

    Initially, I suspected a GPU hardware fault, possibly indicating the need for a replacement. However, I tested by booting into my gaming PC on the same rig (dual boot) and played a solid three-hour Battlefield session without a hitch. This seems to suggest that everything is shipshape on the hardware front.

     

    I don't have a solution for your issue, but I do applaud your diligence in testing the hardware.  😄

    • Haha 2