Redstorm

Hey Guys Just wanting a little validation on my plans / calculations I am already running unRAID on a little HP microserver but that was always an interim solution. As it fills up, I need to start firming up my long term plans and buying / blagging components. I want to build a 16/17 drive server in a Fractal Design DEFINE XL case (10x3.5" drives as std then a 5in3 cage using up 3 of the 4 5.25" drive bays and finally an x-swing in the top bay to give me 17 drives. 15 drives will be data drives with one parity and one cache drive (may opt for SSD on the cache drive - 128GB should be fine, no?) I have read the forum and see that you recommend allowing 2A per green drive and 3A for 7200rpm drives. so I was thinking 17 * 2A = 34A*12v = 408W + 60W for the mobo takes it to 468W for an "all green" server. But 17 * 3A = 51A*12v = 612W + 60W for the Mobo = 672W for a "not so green" server. On the basis that I will probably use green drives for both energy efficiency and noise reasons then I was thinking that a 550W PSU ought to be sufficient allowing for a bit of overhead. Since I am using my unRAID server to store media files, I can't imagine a situation where all drives would be spun up at the same time, save for perhaps doing a parity check or on boot. So I am just wanting to know if you think 550W would be enough for my build or would it make sense to go for 650W and be safe? I hear Corsair are pretty good quality and fairly reasonably priced. Any other recommendations for a decent / cheap PSU at this power point would of course be greatfully received. Many thanks

I see someone a page or two back was tlaking about cranking up the microserver to "7 or even 8 drives". Why not go all out and have 11 See my CONCEPT design below - Just for fun!!!