Hello dear reader!
Pre-Post
First of all, I know I have not used the topic layout as stated in the "Read Me First" topic. Since I'm currently still in the hardware selection phase ill use a text layout. In Stage 2, Ordering and Compiling stage I will change to the actual layout.
Introduction
Untill now I have been using a USB 1.5 TB HDD as my media drive and since it has been fully loaded I started filling up all free space on my laptop drive. Since thats full now aswell I think it is time to get a media server capable of saving my movie and tv serie collection in case of hdd failures. I would have big trouble sleeping if my whole library is lost! unRAID is the logical second step so i've read .
Secondly I am trying to make the server as cheap as possible as we have recently moved homes I do not have alot of spare money left over.
Purpose of the server
Purpose of the media server: The Media frontend which I am using is XBMC on a Windows 7 HTPC. Furthermore I also use a laptop in the bedroom to watch my movies. The server which I am building must be the "can-do-it-all backend. This means I would like to run the well-known combination of Sab + SickB + CouchP. Furthermore I would like to run a single SQL database to synchronize the XBMC databases. Finally, it should keep my data safe ^^.
The Build
After alot of reading on the forums around here I have come to the following build:
Product Price
1x Cooler Master Elite 335 € 30,50
1x Asrock 880GM-LE € 53,39
1x AMD Athlon II X2 245e € 48,20
1x Corsair Builder CX430 € 35,28
1x Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9/2G € 18,50
3x Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000, 2TB € 183,39 +
TOTAL: € 369,
Reasoning Behind Build
CASE: I was looking for the cheapest option which is capable to store atleast HDD's. Furthermore it should be able to stand on the tray in my closet with a max height of 40cm.
MOBO: Asrock is one of the cheaper brands and still of good quality. It has 6 SATA slots one PCIe 16x slot and an additional PCIe slot.
CPU: This is one of the cheaper dual core processors and also has low power usage. As far as I understood in order to be able to stream media and download/unrar/par using sabnzbd simultaniously a dual core processor is a must?
PSU: This is an oftenly used PSU and often recommended by Raj. It must be good, right...
RAM: Kingston is a brand of good quality and its 1333Mhz. Why not spend the €2 extra and get the fastest possible for the mobo right?
HDD: Hitachi are the HDD which are most care-free and have been proven to be working with unRAID. Furthermore this was the cheapest of the brands.
Questions
1. Do you have any suggestions on the build. As said before I would like to make it as cheap as possible. Can I maybe cut some costs on something?
2. I have a SanDisk Cruzer 4gb laying around. Are these known to be trustworthy flash disk and good as an OS Flash Drive? What if the flash drive dies. Will I lose data?
3. Have I missed anything?
Final Remarks
I would already like to thank you for the time taken to read this thread and also my thanks in advance for taking the time to helping a first time unRAID user out with my first setup! I can't wait to start ordering and building to enter the world of unRAID and the idea of my library being in safe hands sounds good aswell!
Cheers,
Jan-Willem
(Netherlands)