November 10, 200718 yr Been reading this last week about Unraid and really like what I see. I am going to take the leap and thought I would run the setup I am looking at by the board here. Any comments would be appreciated on the setup. Case Thermaltake Armor Series VA8003BWS Black Full Tower Case w/ 25CM Fan $119.99 MB ASUS P5B-VM DO LGA 775 Intel Q965 Express Micro ATX Intel $106.99 Proc Intel Celeron 440 Conroe-L 2.0GHz 512KB L2 Cache LGA 775 $65.99 Mem CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel $66.00 PS PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad (Black) EPS12V 750W $169.99 Drives SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3@$109.99 Total Cost $860 This should get me going to learn about Unraid. I will upgrade the OS and number of drives later once I get past the learning curve. I would think this setup might allow me to go to the full 16 drives at some point if I choose to do so. I am currently running a 2TB Raid5 setup.
November 11, 200718 yr Looks good to me. Just remember to get a USB key that has been verified to work. BTW, the mongo-sized fan on the case is more appropriate for overclocking CPUs with a big GPU. For drive applications, smaller fans placed to suck air over the drives is what you are looking for. I have a 120mm fan for each of my two drive cages. Bill
November 11, 200718 yr Author Thanks for the cooling suggestion. I was thinking I would use the Thermaltake A2309 iCage which has a 120mm fan on three drives when I start adding more drives to the system. They wouldn't be hot swappable but they should work for what I need. I guess I just don't see the big issue with making all of the drives swappable but I haven't changed out a lot of drives in a big unit like that either. I was also thinking that if I get a lot of drives in that case then the large 250 mm fan would just help move more air out of the unit as a whole. Besides, I just like the case.
November 12, 200718 yr Price seems high for the CPU. I did a 3Gig Celeron from NewEgg for a bit less http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112214 although I do not think the added speed is really needed but if you can get it why not Take a look at the CoolerMaster cases too http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119039 That one takes a single P/S, they have a model that is EXACTLY the same on the outside but takes up to two. I have one of each and both are VERY nice but a little more expensive than what you chose. It comes with a 4in3 cage that has a 12CM fan on it, additional cages cost about $20 and it will hold 3 easily. I've moved to a 5in3 SATA cage for my current build but at $100+ it's not cheap http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817121405 The bays are ALL accessible from the front. Not familier with the one you've found but it never hurts to look around and several of us are using these. Samsung drives are not something I've used often. Frankly I like Seagate a good bit and they have a 5yr warranty. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148097 is $10 more but the warrantly might make it worth considering. Watch Frys.com for 750gig Seagates, NewEgg too. I managed to pickup some 750s on sale for a good price not long ago but the sale looks dead now. Given a choice I like fewer larger drives, means less upgrading. Always remember that the parity drive has to be as big or bigger than the rest. Nothing like finding a sale on big drives, jumping for joy, and then realizing you have to buy two to see the benefit because your parity has to be upgraded too. Doh! Been there, done this many times I'm afraid. The M/B you've chosen is a winner IMO, I just bought it too and it's nice. Note that to boot off the USB you must "FORCE FDD" in the BIOS. Everything else is pretty straightforward to setup. I used cheaper RAM and only a single stick. Yes performance would be "higher" with two sticks blah blah but IMO you will not see a whit of difference in real life. Corsair is great RAM, I think it would be wasted in this application. This RAM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820208321 was like $25 and so far it's rolling along well. Maybe take the savings from CPU and RAM and apply to disks? That P/S is beefy and has an awesome rep. You might be able to save some cash there using one of the ones that Tom uses in his boxes, Sparkle I think, he has it specified on the site somewhere. Nothing wrong with what you chose but man I'll take savings anywhere I can. <shrug>
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