New to Unraid - Seeking Advice for New Build

[idscomm]

Hi everybody,

 

I will  be building my first Unraid Server shortly. I found most of my answers in regards to storage and parity but I have a question in regards to the cache.

 

I will be using an Asus Prime Z390-P motherboard which gives me the following onboard storage options:

 

Storage

Intel CPU support with Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (RAID 0 & RAID 1) 
- PCIEX16_1 slot supports up to 3 Intel® PCIe NVME SSDs via a Hyper M.2 X16 series Card*

Intel Z390 Chipset with RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and Intel Rapid Storage Technology support

- 1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/2280 storage devices support (SATA mode & X4 PCIE mode)**
- 1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/2280 storage devices support (SATA mode & X2 PCIE mode)
- 4 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports (gray)
- Intel Optane Memory Ready

* Hyper M.2 X16 series card sold separately. Install a Hyper M.2 X16 series card and enable this card under BIOS settings.
** When a device in SATA mode is listed on the M.2_1 socket, SATA_2 port cannot be used.

 

What would be the best option for my cache (SSD, NVME or SATA) knowing that I will be using Unraid for Storage, Plex and maybe a few docker... and size as I was thinking between 500Gb to 1TB?

 

* I will have a 10TB Parity drive with 34TB of storage to start.

 

Thanks in advance.

[DoeBoye]

If cost is not an issue, NVME NVME NVME for cache drive! . Speeds up the whole system, including transfers as well as all the dockers running on it. 500GB is a bit small if you're going to start using it for dockers as well. I would look at 1 to 2TB if possible.

Edited October 18, 2021 by DoeBoye

[idscomm]

Thanks for the reply DoeBoye. I thought I read somewhere on the forum that NVME cache had to copy to SSD then Array... that isn't true right? NVME cache then straight to Array correct? 

[DoeBoye]

Correct. Cache drive can be anything. NVME, SSD, SATA, IDE (🤣). Doesn't matter. Any data copied to a share will first be copied to the cache drive (though the process is 'invisible' to the user. The data will appear to be directly on the share). That data is then transferred to the actual share drive(s) late at night during 'down time' (you can choose when that happens).

 

The point is the cache drive is much faster than the array, and will make transfers etc 'feel' much faster as transfer speeds will be at the full speed of the cache drive (limited by your network of course if transferring over the network).

 

A fast cache drive like an NVME (or to a lesser extent SSD) will also make your docker apps perform quicker, especially if they do a lot of IO intensive work.

[idscomm]

So you configure Unraid to install Docker directly on the cache drive which are shared with the cache function? Probably backup these dockers to your Array as well? I read that Plex run smoother with the metadata on the cache drive.. basically the entire Plex install will be on the cache except the media right?

 

Just making sure I get it lol!  Sorry for the annoying questions! 🤔

[DoeBoye]

1 minute ago, idscomm said:

So you configure Unraid to install Docker directly on the cache drive which are shared with the cache function? Probably backup these dockers to your Array as well? I read that Plex run smoother with the metadata on the cache drive.. basically the entire Plex install will be on the cache except the media right?

 

Just making sure I get it lol!  Sorry for the annoying questions! 🤔

Exactly! Cache drive can host your dockers as well as serve as the cache drive for your array. In theory you could even put VMs on there if you wanted (though I wouldn't recommend it. VMs perform best with their own dedicated drive).

 

The docker image and the associated docker files live on the cache drive, while the media lives on the array drives.

 

You could backup the docker files to the array if you like (I believe there is a plugin that does that... though it may have been deprecated... poke around Community Apps - install the plugin if you haven't yet. Makes finding/installing dockers/plugins much easier). Certainly wouldn't hurt and would save them if the cache drive ever failed.

 

No worries. We all start somewhere!

 

 

[idscomm]

Awesome!!  Thanks for your help, greatly appreciated. I will switch from QNAP to Unraid within the next few weeks... Just a few more parts to buy 😊

[Frank1940]

14 minutes ago, idscomm said:

 I read that Plex run smoother with the metadata on the cache drive..

 

I do not use Plex but I would suggest that you read the support thread for the Plex Docker that you decide to use.  I think you would want to set up to use a 'cache only' share for that metadata and make double sure not put it in the docker.img file.  Docker does create a 'cache-only' appdata share and I would assume that might be appropriate spot for it.   But double check on the support forum...

[idscomm]

Thanks for the tip. I will definitively research this thread before installing my Plex docker. Better doing it right the first time …  

[DoeBoye]

19 minutes ago, idscomm said:

Awesome!!  Thanks for your help, greatly appreciated. I will switch from QNAP to Unraid within the next few weeks... Just a few more parts to buy 😊

No problem! Good luck and welcome to Unraid!

[Toggle]

If I had to choose between upgrading CPU, which of the two would you suggest  amd-ryzen-7-5800x VS intel-core-i9-9960x? 
Compare: 

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i9-9960X-vs-AMD-Ryzen-7-5800X/m653060vs4085

https://versus.com/en/amd-ryzen-7-5800x-vs-intel-core-i9-9960x

https://rankquality.com/en/processors/

Will that provide a significant increase to the performance ?

Which parts would you recommend I should chose to upgrade ?

[idscomm]

Depends what you are looking for with your unraid box. Of your intention is running Plex, I would check the benchmark of the 2 processors first, then I know intel supports quick sync which let you do HW transcoding …. Not sure about AMD tho you’d have to check that but like I said it depends on what you are looking for. 

[Frank1940]

14 hours ago, Toggle said:

If I had to choose between upgrading CPU, which of the two would you suggest  amd-ryzen-7-5800x VS intel-core-i9-9960x? 

 

The latest AMD processors are a bit more fussy in regard to various issues and often require changes be made to the BIOS and other settings to run without problems in Unraid.  These issues are resolvable but it will take some effort on your part to do so.  If you want a sample of what these are, Google    unraid.net AMD issues

[SirReal63]

If you can get either of those 2 processors for around the same price, I would be tempted to with the Intel but only because of the core count.  The 9960X is a ridiculously expensive chip these days.  If they are not close to the same price go Ryzen, there is not enough performance difference between them to pay much extra for the Intel.  If for Plex, I don't think the 9960x has QuickSync but it also doesn't have an IGPU so it is largely irrelevant as both of those processors have more than enough power to transcode multiple streams without breaking a sweat.

 

As far as AMD compatibility, I have used an A10-6790k, a R3-2200G, R5-1600AF, R5-2600 and currently a R7-2700x and with multiple boards.  I have not had any issues with any of the them.  Make sure HVM and IOMMU are turned on in the bios and the only challenge there is finding out each motherboard maker has it labeled and/or buried in the bios.