defected's n00bie unRAID build (Termaltake V6 Budget Box - 5 Drives To Start)

[defected07]

FINALLY, got the server up and running last night.  At first I was freaking out because it wouldn't turn on.  I did some PSU testing and realized it was good, and I think I either had the 4 pin power plug in wrong, or most likely, the plugs for the power switch/audio/reset/etc.. in upside down.  I couldn't tell on the plug which is pos and negative, so just tried it the other way, and voila! Started right up.

 

Currently pre-clearing the 2 x 2TBs...WDEARS and Hitachi 5K3000.  I was impressed at the write speeds--over 100 MB/s reading and zeroing the drive, though it finished at about 95 MB/s.  I've got to order a male SATA to female molex adapter for the top bay so I can set that up for transferring and pre-clearing future drives.

 

I noticed the fan is definitely a bit louder than I had anticipated.  I set the Smart Fan speed to Quiet in BIOS.  Any other recommendations?

 

Also, why do you have to set programs to be re-installed everytime the server boots? The Flash drive is non-volatile, why can't the plugins just be installed once?  If I missed this in the reading, please point it out to me.

 

Thanks.

[Rajahal]

Which fan seems loud to you?  The case fan?  The BIOS settings will only affect fans connected to the motherboard, not fans connected directly to the PSU.

 

unRAID and all of the add-ons are reinstalled on every boot.  The flash drive contains all the OS data, but the OS is actually loaded into RAM and run from there (so the flash drive is typically only read once during the server boot, then left unused).  Since RAM is cleared on every power down, the entire OS and set of add-ons needs to be reinstalled every time.

 

 

[trekkiedj]

FINALLY, got the server up and running last night.  At first I was freaking out because it wouldn't turn on.  I did some PSU testing and realized it was good, and I think I either had the 4 pin power plug in wrong, or most likely, the plugs for the power switch/audio/reset/etc.. in upside down.  I couldn't tell on the plug which is pos and negative, so just tried it the other way, and voila! Started right up.

 

Currently pre-clearing the 2 x 2TBs...WDEARS and Hitachi 5K3000.  I was impressed at the write speeds--over 100 MB/s reading and zeroing the drive, though it finished at about 95 MB/s.  I've got to order a male SATA to female molex adapter for the top bay so I can set that up for transferring and pre-clearing future drives.

 

I noticed the fan is definitely a bit louder than I had anticipated.  I set the Smart Fan speed to Quiet in BIOS.  Any other recommendations?

 

Also, why do you have to set programs to be re-installed everytime the server boots? The Flash drive is non-volatile, why can't the plugins just be installed once?  If I missed this in the reading, please point it out to me.

 

Thanks.

 

I wouldnt mind betting its the Norco 5-in-3's fan that you are hearing. In the UK they are sold as Xcase caddies not Norco, but they are identical and the fan is VERY loud. I have 4 of them in a 1200 and i ended up replacing the fans for some Akasa amber fans.

[defected07]

Ah ok, not sure which fan it is.  I can test by shutting off the case fans temporarily.

 

Also, I couldn't find where to turn off the Audio hardware in BIOS.  Do you know where that is, Raj?

[Rajahal]

Do you mean the case speaker?  You can just unplug it.  As for the actual audio ports, I'm not sure if they can be disabled.  If they can, the option is probably under the 'integrated peripherals' page.

[defected07]

Yeah, I meant the audio ports, since I read on the Pre-install setup to disable it since unRAID doesn't need sound.

 

Oh yeah, looking at your builds...I think I installed my Norco upside down!   Does that matter? Or should I fix it?

[Rajahal]

No, it doesn't matter.  I install mine with the handles facing down primarily as a matter of preference.

[defected07]

I attempted to organize the cables a bit.  Kept all the SATA data together, and any power cables together, but haven't tried to move them to the side.  Not sure what the best wiring scheme would be, but you can view the album for the photos I took of the case's interior:

 

 

[defected07]

With the Corsair 430w PSU, what can I max out to? Only 5 drives? Right now I have a dedicated slot for pre-clear, 5 green data drives in the Norco, 1 7200RPM cache drive, and 1 green drive in a Monoprice mobile rack.  I have 8 SATA ports (6 on the mobo, and 2 on a PCIe card).  So, how many more drives can I add? Can I squeeze in another 4-in-3 cage, if I get a PCIe card with 4 SATA ports? Or will that be going beyond the limits of the PSU?

 

Thanks.

[Rajahal]

Your PSU has 28A on the +12V rail.  Estimate 2A for each green drive and 3A for each 7200 rpm drive.  Then leave a bit of a buffer (maybe 4 - 6A) for everything else on that rail.  So you can run up to about 12 green drives, 7 7200 rpm drives, or a mixture thereof.

[ilovegoodnugz]

Just curious what is the CF/Adapter for and what is PCH? How come I don't have it or do I not need it? Thanks

[defected07]

PCH = Popcorn Hour (http://popcornhour.com), and that adapter was for to adapt a CompactFlash card to a SATA port.

 

So, pretty much I can't do 12 drives (1 7200RPM, 1 pre-clear bay (not always occupied, but potential to be running with array up), 1 Green parity, and 9 green data).  That may be pushing the limits a bit, eh? I suppose I could get everything, and just upgrade to a 500w PSU when necessary.

[Rajahal]

It might be pushing it, yes.  However, the WD EARS drives actually use about 1.5A each, so if you are using a significant number of them then you might be able to make it work.  All the other green drives use about 2A each.

[defected07]

Gotcha.  Oh well, upgrading to a 500watt Corsair wouldn't be too bad (sure sure, should have done it first -- measure twice, cut once ) but I may not even need all those drives yet. Could also sell that 430watt Corsair for a few bucks on here, but we'll see what I need when the time comes!

 

Hopefully tomorrow's Hitachi 2TB isn't DOA >

[KYThrill]

I just tore apart basically the same server that you built.  Too funny.

 

 

I was running 10 drives with my 430 watt PSU and never had a problem.  It was rated for 33A of 12VDC.  I never saw a peak higher than 215W on my APC, and that was at startup (3 7200 rpm drives too).  I'm pretty confident I could max this case out at 14 drives on that 430W PSU.

[defected07]

Interesting.  Thanks for the input.  I won't pick up a 4-in-3 cage just yet, but just wondering what my maximum potential is.

 

Do you have an internal drive in the top bay? That's where I have my cache drive...

[KYThrill]

Interesting.  Thanks for the input.  I won't pick up a 4-in-3 cage just yet, but just wondering what my maximum potential is.

 

Do you have an internal drive in the top bay? That's where I have my cache drive...

 

Yes, I had a cache drive in the top bay.

[defected07]

Is that a fan or a drive just dangling mid air? lol.

 

What do you have now? A new box?

[KYThrill]

Is that a fan or a drive just dangling mid air? lol.

 

What do you have now? A new box?

 

Fan dangling.  I built a Norco 4220 and was looking for fans that moved more than the 42 cfm fans that I had used in the build.  I thought maybe that Thermaltake fan might move more air, but I had to unscrew it to get the P/N.  It didn't move more than 42 cfm.  I didn't bother to screw it back since I will be parting the case out to other PC builds, or to sell (I never even powered up the Icy Dock 5n3 in the bottom).  I may reuse some of it to create a backup server to locate in a detached building from my house.  However, I would have to squeeze 20 drives into the v6 to do so.  I don't care about hot swap since it would only be on once or twice per month, but still, squeezing 20 in there might be hard (impossible with the MB that is in there, one PCIe x16, one PCIe x1, PCI x2 and 4 SATA on the MB; 18 SATA max).  I may be able to get by for awhile with 15 drives, and then move to another case once I hit 15.  I haven't given it much thought yet.