Please see the below list of items I intend to purchase (and items I already have) in order to build my first unRAID system.  Here are a few considerations that went into this list:

 

(1) Clearly the case is on the "high-end" and I am buying it mostly for the optics.

(2) Should I be unhappy with unRAID (for some unforeseen reason), the below should allow me to build a fine WHS (realizing that the Mobo, CPU, RAM are clearly an overkill for unRAID)

(3) I plan on starting up without the SATA expansion and rely on the 8 SATA ports that came with the MB

(4) I see from the Wiki that the Samsung F4 is not recommended, but I unfortunately already own these drives, but will look into patching them.

 

I would greatly appreciate you feedback on the system and whether you see anything that is known not to work in an unRAID system and anything that might be missing (skews, cables, etc).

 

Many thanks!

 

 

 

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H

 

CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz

 

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM

 

PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX

 

Case: Lian Li P50

 

SATA Expansion: SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 PCI Express

 

Hot Swap Drive Bays: Super Micro  x 3

 

Cables for SATA Expansion: 3ware CBL-SFF8087OCF-05M 1 unit of 0.5m

 

Hard Drives: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB 5400 RPM (starting up with 2)

 

Just a couple of things...

 

1 - Make sure HPA is disabled on that mobo, I think it is by default now on Gigabyte, but better to check.

 

2 - The Lian Li case with the SuperMicro - keep an eye on distances. You can read my review on 3x5 cages here that talks about this. You may have an issues accessing those SATA ports depending on how things line up.

 

Otherwise looks ok.

Shawn

 

I agree with everything Whaler_99 said, and I'll add a bit more:

 

You might need a couple extra standard SATA cables.  The motherboard will likely come with 1 or 2, but they are likely to be the locking type that may or may not play nice with the motherboard's ports and those on the Supermicro cages.  Motherboards with sideways facing SATA ports like the one you've chosen often don't accomodate the locking cables very well, as the locks can block adjacent ports.  Monoprice is the best source for cables.  I would probably just pick up 8 of them to be sure, then if you don't need them you'll have a few extras (which can help with future troubleshooting).

 

8 (motherboard) + 8 (SASLP card) = 16 ports, of which you'll only use 15.  Nothing wrong with that.  However, you could also save a bit of money by choosing a cheaper motherboard with only 6 SATA slots and adding a cheap 2 port PCIe card for the 15th and 16th slots.  See my prototype builds link in my sig and check out the 15 drive build for ideas.

 

If you do stick with the Gigabyte board, another option to save you a few bucks is to add three 2 port PCIe cards and a single 2 port PCI card (of which you would only use one port).  That will give you the same 15 drive support for about $80, instead of $150 for the SASLP card and the breakout cables.

 

Also, if you do stick with your build as outlined in your post, you'll need two of the forward breakout cables.

 

Basically all I'm saying is that everything looks good, but there are cheaper options.

Whaler_99 / Rajahal,

 

Many thanks for your prompt reply – this has been a great start to my unRAID experience.

 

I will certainly just start up with one of the Super Micro hot swap bays to see how it fits (and return it should it not) and will certainly also pick up some extra SATA cables. 

 

I need do a bit more research on the MB and SATA expansions.  I am actually not planning to buy the SATA expansion right away to keep things simple at the beginning (and hence the attraction to the Mobo as it has 8 SATA ports).  Should I buy that very expansion I will remember to buy two of the forward breakout cables.

 

Thanks again for all your help.  I will likely purchase the items over the next days and keep you updated on my progress.

 

Best, Heiko

 

For anyone following this thread and interested in a similar system, you can find the components I outlined in my first post at http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15954852.  However, I made some very small changes -- I chose a slightly faster CPU (but it is still a 65W dual core) and chose 1 x 4GB RAM instead of 2 x 2GB RAM.  Best, Heiko

 

 

I built the described system this past weekend, without the SATA extension and using just one of the three drive cages.  

 

Things went smoothly and I have now four disks running.  I am sure that the hick-ups I encountered were related by my errors: (1) initially I did not format my USB stick correctly and could not boot the system, (2) the system froze on me once during an overnight copy and simultaneous build of the parity disk, and (3) after including an additional disk the system did not properly start up after a soft reboot, but came up again on the hard reboot.    

 

Re the hardware, a few items to note are:

 

(1) The SuperMicro drive cages come with SATA cables and hence there is no need to buy additional ones (I actually ordered some cables from MonoPrice, but they forgot to pack them).  

(2) While the drive cage comes very close to the motherboard, I do not foresee any issues putting three of these cages in the case.  

(3) To use the top drive cage in the Lian Li P50 case, however, I will need to file down / bend in some ledges that are in place to hold 5¼ bays.

 

Next to putting in two additional drive cages and the SATA controller, I need to deal with the noise of the system.  I have not spent any time on the latter, but hope the mobo bios can handle this.

 

Anyway, thanks again for all your help!

 

Heiko