DoeBoye

I think you're the first v2 chip to show this issue. Makes me feel more confident that this is a board issue. I really wish they would just take ownership and admit that it is a problem (Seems like everytime it is reported, asRock acts like it's the first they hear of it) and come up with a solution. The Conspiracy Theorist in me thinks it is a hardware issue that can't be resolved by a BMC/Bios update and they are avoiding it so they don't need to replace a bunch of defective boards... Also, I have not tried an older BMC.

Definitely! Totally agree. I've been burned in the past by proprietary hardware from the big PC companies! . I know the Dell Small form factor cases are extremely hard to upgrade, but I think the mini tower gives a *bit* more flexibility. The only thing I would consider upgrading is the PSU, and a quick read seems to suggest a standard atx PSU will fit in the mini tower. It seems like you need to get an adapter for the motherboard power though, because it doesn't support the standard 24-pin. Seems like it would make a decent little file server at a really low price. Even comes with a 500GB drive for cache... It's too bad you can't get it without the Windows license. That would save even a few more bucks... Maybe it could be transferred to a vm (I think this unit has basic virtualization support vt-x only)... To be clear, this is an exercise is trying to find the cheapest decent hardware for a basic UnRaid server. Definitely not a recommendation if more budget is available!

I never hear talk of it, but I've been a fan of Dell Refurbished deals for awhile now for non-Unraid applications. Though I've never done it, I wonder if a Dell Tower would make a decent bare-bones UnRaid system? They have coupon deals all the time (I would never buy without a coupon), and right now till tomorrow they seem to have 50% off basic Optiplex towers. Here's an example: https://www.dellrefurbished.com/desktop-computers/dell-optiplex-3020-112265.html This is all the available towers (Coupon doesn't work on the clearance marked ones) https://www.dellrefurbished.com/desktop-computers?filter_brand=188&filter_chassis_type=236&filter_model=439 You need to add the coupon code currently active (In this case, it would be: DT3020DEAL). With the coupon, this unit comes to $170. Holds 2 drives by default, but a 3-in-2 cage for the 2 5.25 bays would add another 3 drives (Assuming it would work)... My biggest concern would be the PSU (Though not confirmed, some sites state it is only 290w)... Might be enough for simple system. No videocard. Max 5 drives). Has anyone tried this? Might be just the thing OP is looking for (And almost 5000 passmark). Processor: Intel Core i3 (i3-4130) 3.40 GHz Memory: 4GB Hard Drive: 500GB

I'm sure you probably already know of it, but in case you don't there's a great website for sourcing parts that also filters hardware as you go to make sure everything you buy is compatible. I find it makes builds so much simpler. https://pcpartpicker.com/ It has a bunch of different country options. Just change your location from the dropdown in the top right corner .

If you're considering my multiple-small-SSDs-for-VMs idea, and you live in Canada, Mike's Computer Shop is clearing out some cheapy 120GB SSDs for $40 a pop. They get surprisingly decent reviews. I posted in Good Deals. They're 3D TLC, not MLC, but the price is hard to complain about

Hi Folks, For anyone looking to try out VMs or maybe a drive to host just their dockers or downloads, Mike's Computer Shop is having a sale on these drives. Reviews look decent on the web (though I've always been a bit leery about the AData brand). Seems to use 3D TLC chips $40. A-DATA SSD ASU650SS-120GT-C https://www.mikescomputershop.com/product/8897337

+1 - If you go this route, check out ebay. There's some good deals occasionally on plenum rated ethernet that I assume is left-overs from commercial sites. I picked up some plenum rated cat6a a few years ago for quite a bit cheaper than buying from a traditional retailer.

Anyone ever hear back from ASRock about a solution? It's fallen off my radar, as I've set up a filter in my email to move the warning emails to a separate folder so it's not annoying me on all the time. That said, I'm still getting multiple warning on a daily basis .

I learned long ago that if I'm considering two doable options, knowing one would perform better than the other, and I end up choosing the lesser of the two, it'll bother me forever and I'll always wonder how much better the other option would be. More than likely, I'll end up switching to the better of the two . You've got the M4 already, I'd put that in and sign off on this issue. Caveat: Unless that is the SSD you mention in your first post that is the cache drive and hosting the VMs. If that's the case, I would keep the SSD for the VMs If you're looking for more suggestions, personally, this is what I would do (and have done for myself). One Large SSD (256GB or more). Install as cache drive, and save downloads to here. Have a separate SSD for each VM. Since most data should be getting saved to the array, these drives don't need to be large. Big enough for OS and Apps (256GB or less. 120GB should be fine). If the VMs are not being used concurrently, you could even store them on the same SSD, but if they are used concurrently, separate would avoid any potential performance bottlenecks.

Agreed. Absolutely! There's no question that EoP is way more versatile. Until I came across MoCA, I used EoP for my bedroom media player, and it worked fairly well. It really depends on the OPs home and the location of the coax drops in relation to his media players and router. In my situation, MoCA worked very well. Internet comes in the basement. My main router lives beside the modem, as well as my UnRaid server. I've wired the basement, second, and third floor with cat6a, but have the one dead spot in the master bedroom where running ethernet would have proven to be difficult. I have a coax connection in the basement by the router, and have one in the master bedroom, right behind where my tv lives. I have a second router fed by the MoCa connection in the bedroom that provides a hard wired connection to the media player, while also providing a strong wireless signal for the top floor for mobile devices.

Though I'm hearing a lot of voices speaking up for wifi, I've never found wifi to be as fast or as stable as Powerline Ethernet or MoCA (Even though on paper, it seems to claim the opposite). Now I've never used UniFi equipment, so I can't speak to that, but given the choice, I would take a wired solution like MoCA or EoP over wifi. Even the best wifi equipment is still going to be subject to potential interference from other wifi networks in the neighbourhood. Not to say I'm against wifi! In fact, I'm using MoCA to get the signal upstairs, and then I'm using a wireless router as an AP. My Kodi box is hardwired into the router, and any mobile device upstairs connects to the wireless signal from that router to give me a solid connection on the 2nd floor (My main router lives in the basement, and the signal upstairs is less than adequate). That said, speaking as the MoCA advocate in this thread , there may not be a cable outlet available near the endpoint and all my rantings may serve no purpose... .

I think this is a rebranded version of the model I bought from amazon. Looks like you can get it from Amazon UK as well :). I bought a unit from ji-tong because it was half the price of the Action-tec ones, and I have had no issues with it, though it is no longer sold (which concerns me a bit, but, as I said, mine has been flawless. I haven't re-booted due to a performance issue a single time in the over a year that I've owned it. I've had to move one of the adapters, and shut off all my networking stuff when traveling a few times though.). I lied! You can't get it anymore in north america, but it seems to still be available in the UK. Here's a link to the ones I bought, though the one linked above seems to be 'newer'... These are low stock and may be the last of the product...

I think for a basic NAS, with a few dockers, your existing hardware should do just fine. as @pwm states, 4GB is definitely worthwhile. I ran a server for years with specs similar to yours, and had no issues. Also, as an aside, if you are still having bandwidth issues, you might want to look at MoCA 2.0. It can give you near gigabit speeds and, in my experience, is much more stable/reliable than Powerline Ethernet.

The updated list is looking good! Some great recommendations from tdallen! A few thoughts: That CPU comes with heatsink/fan. Are you sure you even need an aftermarket option? Might be a place to save a few bucks... Your case choice comes with a PSU already... A different case without a PSU might save you a few more $ as well. What are the size limitations for this case? Might help deciding. Also, how many drives do you need it to hold? What's the hardware of the current server running Plex? Have you considered combining both servers into one? Might save on $ and electricity... Unraid has some pretty great docker options for Plex...

Regarding CPU/MOBO: I understand wanting to save some $$, but if you're buying new, I would look at hardware that is maybe a bit more current. Maybe an Intel platform with a low end Pentium in a 1151socket to start and give yourself room to grow down the road. These are a few options that keep the price low, while not locking you into dead technology: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/jrh6f8 Note: I haven't researched the ram and mobo, so not an absolute recommendation. That said, the board does have 6 sata ports (which is more than enough for you now). When you add more drives in the future, you can always add a 2 or 4 port sata card (monoprice sells them for 20USD. A used 8-port sas card from ebay generally runs about $50 also). It also has 2 full length pci-e slots, a 1x pci-e slot (which is fine for a 2 port sata card) and even a pci slot, which in a pinch, would be ok for 2 sata ports as well. Just an example that will give you a much more powerful machine, with room to grow without needing to replace everything in a few years if you decide you might want to do more (dockers, move plex to the server, maybe VMs).... So, to summarize, I'd stay away from dead tech (if buying new), and look at something entry level that has room for expansion down the road (and at a similar price)...

If you have privacy concerns, I believe you can generate diagnostics and have the script remove any identifiable stuff before it outputs (A checkbox you need to select). Also make sure to turn off mover logging... That might address your concerns while providing a diagnostics file that people can use to help you...

Exciting!!! Make sure to post back and let us know how it works out! If you're up for it, you might want to make a thread on the steps you took to convert the case into a consumer friendly server (with Pics!! ).

That's around the same as you're seeing on your internal network transfers... Which is kind of a good thing, because this means network and internet wireless speeds are roughly the same... Makes it easier to diagnose the problem Still try the external router (Don't forget to put your BT modem/router into router only mode "bridge mode". If you don't you may get double nat issues) though. It may be the BT device that is hampering speeds. Just for fun, you may want to see what the maximum speeds you can get with your system and internet connection. Here's a plugin that runs inside UnRaid that will give you a good feel of that number: My pleasure!

Congrats!! Enjoy the new server!! Did the seller give you a discount if they pulled all the stuff you didn't want, or did you have to buy everything?

Hurrah! Glad to hear the dongle was worth the purchase!! Good question. Your OP mentioned 3.4MB/s. In Internet speak, that translates to roughly 27 mbit/s. Not terrible (But certainly not blazing fast). What is your internet package from BT and what kind of download speeds are you seeing from them? Substantially faster than 27 mbit/s? Assuming you are downloading substantially faster than that from the internet, my first thought is an issue with the modem/router from BT. Now that we've isolated the problem to something to do with wireless, do you have an extra stand-alone router you can test with? Most modem/router combos from Internet providers allow you to disable the routing function. If you have an extra 5ghz router, disable the routing in the modem, and use the test router. Are wireless speeds inside the network still as abysmal? If so....problem probably lies with the mac... We still haven't explained why downloads from the internet are faster (and if it's not a router issue, I've never heard of a wireless card downloading faster from the internet than internal network transfers, so I'm running out of ideas here), but at least we've eliminated some other potential problems... We may need a level 2 network person on this if that's the case .

Ugh. That's a lot of data to backup. Many people will only back up their personal stuff to the cloud and not bother with media (movies, tv, music), so even though their array may be 40TB, usually the cloud backup will be 1 or 2. If you have 40TB of data that needs to be backed up, and if you are considering the Cloud route, some of the services offer the option of mailing them a drive (drives in your case) to get the initial backup done. Might be a faster option for you...

Sounds wise!

You could do user share backups, so it really wouldn't matter what the backup server look like, so long as it has the same or more capacity. Would give you more flexibility for the drive selection (So the second scenario would work well). That said, have you considered a cloud backup strategy rather than a whole new backup server? There's some pretty decent dockers (crashplan etc) that would automate the whole process. Unless you already have the parts lying around, it might be more cost effective as well, and you would be getting an off-site backup with versioning...

Another issue you may want to look into is the PSU fans may also be extremely loud. If they use the same fans as this model sold by newegg, it sounds like you might have to replace the PSUs as well (unless sound is not an issue)...

Don't forget to confirm 4Tb+ drive backplane support! Especially since you already have drives bigger than 4TB. It would suck to buy the chassis and then not be able to use it because of no 8TB support!