gtaylor

Is there anything I need to upgrade/change before adding these 8TB drives? I'm currently running unRAID 5.0.6 (latest release) with the following hardware: CPU: Intel Core i3 2100T Mainboard: Supermicro X9SCM-F LGA1155 SAS Controller: LSI M1015 <- Running v7 firmware System Memory: Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G (2 x 4GB Kit) Case: Norco RPC-4224 Power Supply: Seasonic X-750 750W USB: Lexar Echo ZX 8GB Drives: A mix of WD REDs, Hitachi 5k3000 & Samsung drives. The firmware on my LSI M1015 is a little out of date but everything is working fine so I haven't seen the need to update. Is there anything else I need to consider before adding 8TB drives to my array?

Where were you six months ago? I would have seriously considered a custom built unRAID box if one had been available in Australia. Taking a look at your website the boxes seem remarkably similar to what I built. The price jump between the non-IPMI and IPMI versions of your systems are baffling as the IPMI boards aren't THAT much more expensive than the standard boards without IPMI. Looking at the pics modular PSU and better cable management would be a something to consider as well. If I am paying a premium to have something built then I expect a neat, tidy layout.

1. I setup my unRAID server and then ran the preclear script on all drives before configuring the array. I ran three passes on each drive. 2. Install the drives in your unRAID machine. 3. I copied my data across using Teracopy and a USB SATA docking station. Copying across all the data from around six drives took several days. From memory the copy speed was roughly 20-25MB/s which is quite acceptable IMO. I set Teracopy to verify files as it copied. If your copy speed is slow then there is probably something wrong.

Hurrah. I must have been unlucky then.

I've got the Norco 4224 and I replaced the fanwall with Noctua 120mm fans and its very quiet. The CPU heatsink fan is causing more noise than the case fans.

The problem with updating to use 4TB drives is that you really need to buy 3 drives to start you off. One drive for parity, one for data and one to keep as a spare in case your parity drive dies. That's $1,200.00 just to add 4TB to your array. Of course you don't have to hold onto a spare drive, but if your parity drive fails who wants to leave their array unprotected for a week while a replacement drive arrives and is tested. Hitachi releases 4TB Deskstar 5K4000 hard drive for $399

The EVO seems to have a push-pin mount which may not be compatible if your board comes with a backplate. Note that the Vortex Plus specifications mention a Universal mount while the EVO does not. The instructions for installing the EVO also show push-pin mount for Intel boards. I looked at the Noctua heatsinks as well, but they use a custom backplate which may not be compatible with boards that come with a pre-installed backplate. If you do buy one and it works let me know. If you haven't received your board yet maybe you should wait before ordering a heatsink/fan. While the board I ordered came with a preinstalled backplate yours may not. I would wait and see. If the board doesn't come with the backplate then you can use any LGA1155 cooler.

The heatsink/fan is Coolermaster Vortex Plus. The card clears the heatsink but there are two small metal clips that hold the fan on to the heatsink that is very, very close. You can see the clips in the closeup pictures here: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6648 http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/heatsinksfans/3188-cooler-master-vortex-plus-cpu-cooler-review The dimensions given on the website don't seem to take into account the additional width taken by these clips. The card fits into the slot okay, however the solder joints on the back of the card are either extremely close to or just touching the clips. I might have another look at them over the weekend. In the meantime I've put the two cards I have into slots 4 & 6 on the board.

My M1015s arrived today. The 0.5 metre SAS cables definitely do not fit . Another 20mm and they'd be just long enough. I'll order some replacement cables before Monday. Another (minor) issue is that heatsink/fan JUST touches the LSI card if I place one in the PCIe slot closest to the CPU.

I'm hoping that the Hitachi 5K3000 3TB falls to under $200.00 again before mid next year. Prices are currently sitting around $300.00.

The primary reason I purchased the M1015 was cost. The M1015 was $127.00/card versus $155.00/card for the AOC-SASLP-MV8.

The Coolermaster Vortex Plus is working a treat. The fan isn't completely silent but its pretty good. You can always upgrade the cooler later if you need to. I'm waiting on the M1015 cards I ordered so I can't comment on the cable situation. I suspect that the 0.5m cables I purchased may be too short due to the location of the connections on the M1015 compared to the AOC-SASLP-MV8 that I had originally planned to purchase. I'll let you know when I get the cards how I go.

I live in Australia and I purchased the X9SCM-F through eBay. The board I purchased came with a backplate preinstalled which meant I couldn't use the stock heatsink/fan. I ended up purchasing a Coolermaster Vortex Plus which is working perfectly. Apart from that I haven't had any issues so far (touch wood). My experience is that mainboards don't fail too often so I wasn't worried about warranty support. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Supermicro-X9SCM-F-E3-Sandy-Bridge-Platform-MB-/280659516152?pt=Motherboards&hash=item41589c5af8

The X9SCM is a great board. I've had my server up and running for a bit over a month with the X9SCM-F. There are a number of other members here also running the X9SCM-F so there's plenty of people around who can answer questions. If you are planning to expand your system up to 20+ drives I think the X9SCM-F is the board of choice.

Do you have a DHCP server on your network (usually a modem/router with DHCP enabled)? If not you will need to manually configure an IP address for your unRAID server. The easiest thing is to ensure that DHCP is enabled on your broadband modem/router.