July 28, 201114 yr Im getting ready to order the suggested specs for the 20 drive beast. This will stream primarily HD contect to multiple XBMC machines. I also use SABNZBd, Couch Potato, Sick Beard, and Squeezebox Server. Any words of wisdom or suggested changes are welcome. NORCO RPC-4220 4U Rackmount Server Chassis w/ 20 Hot-Swappable SATA/SAS 6G Drive Bays (Mini SAS Connector) - OEM Item #: N82E16811219033 SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-F-O Xeon X3400 / L3400 / Core i3 series Dual LAN Micro ATX Server Board w/ Remote Management Item #: N82E16813182211 2x - SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 PCI Express x4 Low Profile SAS RAID Controller Item #: N82E16816101358 1x - 3ware CBL-SFF8087OCR-06M 0.6m Multi-lane Internal SFF-8087 Serial ATA Reverse Breakout Cable Item #: N82E16816116101 4x - NORCO C-SFF8087-D SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Internal Multilane SAS Cable - OEM Item #: N82E16816133034 CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible ... Item #: N82E16817139005 Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3540 Item #: N82E16819115221 Kingston 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ECC Unbuffered Server Memory Model KVR1333D3E9SK2/4G Item #: N82E16820139040 2x - Western Digital AV-GP WD20EURS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822136783 I already have several 500gb 7200 rpm drives, 2x 1.5 drives 7200 rpm, and 2 other 2.0tb (one green) drives.
July 28, 201114 yr You will overpay if you order everything from Newegg. SAS cables and the MV8 controller cards are cheaper elsewhere. My prototypes thread has links to the best source for each individual part. Nothing wrong with the Newegg parts, some of them are just overpriced. I would suggest the Corsair 650W V2 as it has a variable speed fan. The 'AV' model green drives offer no benefits over the standard green drives in an unRAID environment. If you want WD drives, go for the standard WD Greens. However, I recommend these Hitachi 5K3000 drives over the WDs. The WD drives require that you alter their head-parking rates or else you will run into this problem. The Hitachis are plug-n-play, and have the lowest failure rates of all 2 TB green drives available today.
August 4, 201114 yr Author Thanks for the info. I have made the suggested changes, purchased, and currently building. VERY EXCITED!
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