DCKJR

Thanks. I went in and unassigned it and was able to list it and start preclear.

I am attempting to use preclear for the first time. I've install preclear_disk.sh in the boot directory of my flash drive. I've installed the drive I want to preclear. It happens to be a WD Red 2TB and is bigger than my existing parity drive. When I boot up UnRAID, the management console recognizes that the drive is there (Disk 10) but if I do a /boot/preclear_disk.sh -l, it does not recognize the drive as available for preclear. Is that expected behavior? Thanks Dudley

Bill - Any feedback on how the APC BX1300LCD is working for you? Is there any feature you wish it had? Are you using their PowerChute software to shut your PC down and does it work alright? Thanks Dudley (Had a momentary power glitch last night, hence the interest

Does the AMS 5-in-3 Backplane Module require retail packaged drives (ie with cables and mounting hardware) or will an OEM drive be sufficient to just plug and play? Thanks Dudley

I was looking for a turnkey solution and was really happy when Tom came out with the MD-1500. The problem was that he gave me two chassis to choose from . I am not space or weight constrained (favors the Lian-Li PC-A16B) nor will I be rack mounting (favors the Aopen H800) my UnRaid box so it came down to thermal performance. I will be sticking my UnRaid box in a closet so acoustical noise is not a significant factor for me. I did some on line research on the two chassis and wanted to share what I found about their thermal differences. Not discused below is any thermal effects from the power supply fan nor the 80mm fan on the AMS 5-in3 drive holders. Even though they are the same components whether you get the AOpen or the Lian-Li chassis, they will have different effects on the overall thermal performance of the chassis. And without having the chassis in hand, I can’t tell you what those differences would be. AOpen H800 Manufacturer’s Web Page: http://global.aopen.com/products_detail.aspx?Auno=717 I could only find one review (http://www.2cpu.com/articles/17_1.html) on the chassis. It seems to have been on the market since 2002 (maybe earlier). From the thermal standpoint it comes with a single 80mm fan mounted on the back of the chassis. There is a mounting position for a second 80mm fan that you can add just below it. The “manual” (1 page pdf) states that you can add this second 80mm fan or “support one 12cm fan” I’m not clear from the statement whether this means that you can have an 80mm AND a 120mm fan in the chassis or whether you can have two 80mm fans OR one 120mm fan. Maybe someone who has one of these chassis can clarify. I couldn’t tell what type of fan bearings they used. From the pictures, the exhaust hole patterns for these fans seem restrictive. I am sure that you could improve it with a dremel tool followed with an off-the-shelf wire fan finger guard. The Aopen H800 has an air filter that sits in the front bezel across the face of the drive slots. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Dust will build up inside a chassis and will provide an insulating blanket on components that will slow down the dissipation of heat. It can also gum up fans if the bearings aren’t seal. Dust would be a disaster if it got into drives but I believe that most drives are sealed up well these days. For all of the above reasons, having a filter is a good thing. But if you don’t clean it regularly, it can create an increasing pressure drop that the fans have to fight against with a resulting reduction in cooling air flowing through the chassis. If you won’t keep it clean, you should take it out. But having a filter option is a plus for me. Air flows in the front and out the back. There do not appear to be any vent openings on the top, bottom, or sides. There is a small rectangular vent pattern in the back for natural convection. Of course the power supply also vents out the back from its internal fan. Lian-Li PC-A16B Manufacturer’s Web Page: http://www.lian-li.com/product/product05.php?pr_index=22&cl_index=1&sc_index=1&ss_index=4 I found a number of reviews (see the bottom) but this one http://www.boxgods.com/dept/hardware/index.php?Action=Article&ID=227&Page=1#Introduction had the best information. This chassis seems to have come out in the last year. It comes with two 120mm fans. One is located conventionally on the back just below the power supply. The second 120mm fan is mounted so that it sits over what would be the PCI slots on the motherboard. Its purpose is to pull heat off of high wattage devices like graphics cards. It is an axial fan like the other one but it is in a sheet metal box whose side edge is mounted to some vent holes on the rear panel of the chassis. The intent here is that it sucks the air in the direction of the axis of the fan and then throws the air at 90 degreee angle out the side of the fan. This is what a radial or centrifugal fan would do but that type of fan has a blade designed specifically to do that. I don’t know how effective using an axial fan to turn air 90 degrees is. Someone who has one of these chassis could let us know by sticking their hand in front of the retangular vent pattern at the bottom of the rear of the chassis and seeing if they can feel any air flow. I looked at the spec they had for this fan. It had a good CFM (53 CFM) but its static pressure (0.06 “ H20) is kind of low. Other reviews on the Lian-Li PC-A16B: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/LianLi/PC-A16B http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=42023 http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/77909585/m/108007984831 Conclusion: With my emphasis on thermal performance and just from an Internet search of information, I am leaning toward the Lian-Li PC-A16B. If I find that the PCI Slot axial fan that they have doesn’t do much, then I would replace it with a radial fan. That would require some sheet metal work. Dudley

I apologize; I was hoping to complete this task last week, but it will have to wait until next week now. Hi Tom - How are you doing on the thermal performance data between the LL and AO cases? Thanks much Dudley Tom - Anything? Dudley

I apologize; I was hoping to complete this task last week, but it will have to wait until next week now. Hi Tom - How are you doing on the thermal performance data between the LL and AO cases? Thanks much Dudley

Hi Tom - Any data on the thermal performance differences between the AO and LL chassis yet? Thanks Dudley

Bump. Any information on the thermal performances differences between the AO and LL cases? Thanks Dudley

I'm not space or weight constrained so it sounds like from your description above that the AO chassis is a best fit for me. However reliability (ie thermal performance) would be a very important criteria for me. Could you tell me what what the cooling differences are between the AO and LL chassis? Any data available from your testing that says what drive temps are between the two chassis? Thanks much Dudley

In looking through the specs on the new MD-1500 servers, it seems like the differences boil down to the chassis only. Could you elaborate on what are the differences between the LL and the AO chassis besides size and rack mountability? Thanks Dudley

Tom - Is there any acoustical noise information on the models? Is this something that can sit out or needs to be tucked away when used in a home environment? Thanks Dudley

I am trying to figure out if UnRaid would work in my situation and have the following questions: 1) In a networked environment of both Windows and Mac OS machines, would the UnRaid server be visible to both types of machines? 2) If so, do the disks in the UnRaid server have to be formatted in a certain way to allow that? 3) Would files stored on the UnRaid server by a Windows machine be accessible to a Mac OS machine on the same network and vice versa? Thanks for the help Dudley

Tom - I wanted to ask if you have further information about your pre-assembled server offering such as features, price, and when it will be available. Thanks Dudley

Sounds good. I'll await the details. Dudley