TheWombat Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Brief intro Well my first unRaid server build. I'm migrating from 8TB Raid 5 in a Synology DS408 to an unRaid server capable of reaching 20HDDs via 4 x 5in3s. As I have a number of spare parts from prior PC upgrades parts of the system are over-specced. OS at time of building: 4.7 CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 630 (2.8GHz) underclocked to 1GHz and dual core Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H v2.2 RAM: G Skill F3-10666CL8-2GBHK Case: n/a at present Drive Cage(s): borrowed from my Antec P180 until I buy a case. I expect I will end up with Norcos. Power Supply: Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850W - overspecced however was available to use SATA Expansion Card(s): n/a until add > 6 HDDs Cables: n/a Fans: added during pre-clear: 2xArctic F12PWM & Arctic F8PWM - the nice thing about these fans is you can daisy chain them together from one motherboard fan header Parity Drive: 1 x Hitachi 5k3000 2TB currently going through pre-clear Data Drives: 5 x Hitachi 5k3000 2TB currently going through pre-clear Cache Drive: n/a - may add one at a later date Total Drive Capacity: 12TB and soon to grow to 20TB Note: 4 x Samsung HD203WI 2TB will be moved from Synology DS408 to unRaid server once setup is complete Primary Use: Storing ISO movie images for 2 MediaPortal HTPCs Likes: tbc Dislikes: tbc Add Ons Used: unMenu, Screen, SMTP Future Plans: Migrate components to Lian Li PC-A77FB case, add SuperMicro expansion cards, add 4 x Samsung HD203WI 2TB HDDs Boot (peak): tbc Idle (avg): tbc Active (avg): tbc Light use (avg): tbc Here you can see the Motherboard, PSU (at the back) and 6 x 2TB 5k3000's to the right. There are no fans for the HDDs at present. The HDD cages have come from my Antec P180. The 6th HDD is in an Thermaltake BlacX ST0005U External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5” & 3.5” USB 2.0 & eSATA which is connected via the eSata port on the motherboard. To switch on the machine I need to short out the two pins on the motherboard that would normally connect to the Case on-off switch. A closer look at the motherboard and you can see the 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (x16, x4) which will be used for the SuperMicro cards when needed. This motherboard is one of the few micro-ATX motherboards with Sata III, USB 3, and 2 PCI x16 slots. For those who are concerned on using a Gigabyte motherboard I have confirmed that HPA is disabled by default. The stock CPU cooler will be replaced with a quieter aftermarket one when I migrate the components to the Lian-Li case. As the CPU is under-clocked and dropped to 2 cores there should be less of a concern with heat and power drain. A closer look at the temporary HDD enclosures and external HDD enclosure. Note: no cooling fans. Closing comments Running the parity check and the HDDs were beginning to hit the low 40s temperature, so have added 3 Fans (2x120mm, 1x80mm) and this has reduced temperatures to a comfortable high 20s to low 30s. The fans are just balancing beside the HDD cages, they are not attached. You'll notice my two trusty tape measures are raising one of the 120mm fans higher, and preventing the wires of 80mm fan pulling the fan over. As you can see, the temperatures during the pre-clears have dropped from low 40s to low 30s with the additional cooling added. Thanks to Rajahal for posting pictures and components of one of his Lian Li PC-P80 builds case which helped with determining to go for the Lian Li PC-A77FB for my build. :-) future edits Link to comment
SSD Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I urge you to get a case. This looks like an expensive accident waiting to happen! Link to comment
Rajahal Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Seconding that. Running the motherboard on the ESD bag as you are is not safe, as only the interior of the bag is protected against electro-static discharge. You would be better off running the mobo directly on the cardboard mobo box. Link to comment
TheWombat Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 The case is on back-order. I'll move the motherboard to a safer location thanks :-) Alex Link to comment
grandprix Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Will watch this thread. One concern, the PCIex16 slots appear very close together (odd to see a newer board with a layout like this), which leads me to believe that running two SASLP cards (the 8 port cards) may not be possible due to the heatsink of each. 17 total drive capacity then? 2x two port cards (4), 1x SASLP 8 port ( + mobo (5) Link to comment
TheWombat Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 The aim is for 20HDDs, however will need to see if the 2 x SASLP will fit. Measuring from the center of the PCI 2.0 x16 to the center of the PCI 2.0 x16 (x4) is 20mm width. However I cannot see any 'width' measurements for the AOC-SASLP-MV8 on the Super Micro or New Egg website. Could someone measure the the Super Micro for me in terms of how much width it needs on the side with the heatsink? Worst case I switch this motherboard with the ATX one in my own PC. The Lian Li case I'll be using has plenty of room that will hopefully allow for a good cooling solution. I'll continue to post more once the case arrives in mid April. Alex Link to comment
TheWombat Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 Update: I've fitted the 2xSASLP, and apart from an issue relating to the AMD 880/890 chipset and the SASLP firmware .21 (resolved by downgrading to .15) all seems to be good so far. See more here I have successfully pre-cleared 2 * 5K3000s 2TB 4 times I have successfully pre-cleared 4 * 5K3000s 2TB 1 time (and the 2nd time is now running) If all goes well I should be up and running with 6 HDDs (5+parity) early next week. Once I have migrated my data from the Synology I will then pre-clear the Synology Samsung F3 drives (2TB) and switch them over as well plus add a 500MB WD Black Cache drive for a total of 11 HDDs for now. Overall, while I know the Gigabyte motherboards have a bad reputation with unRaid as a result of HPA, I am pleased to say that the 880GMA appears to be a good choice (with caveats regarding the 880/890 chipset and SASLP firmware). The 2 x PCIe slots are close to each other. Some other motherboard designs place a PCIe x 1 slot between the x16s which would help with cooling. I have not however had issues yet on temperatures, and I believe if you have a good case/fan setup you will be fine. See below: I will be running the motherboard through the level 1 & 2 testing over the coming weeks. More to follow! Alex Link to comment
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