Recommendation wanted for 1st Unraid Server for Win VM & Docker & Backup for about 500€.

[bluecat]

Hello,
I would like to build my first UNRAID server. What I want to do with it:

- Docker containers for Adguard, Homeassistant, Paperless. Possibly Nextcloud and other things I don't have on my mind at the moment.
- Win10 VM (possibly Win 11 as well) for Office use (no games).
- As backup destination for Windows PC and Mac.

 

Bonus (nice to have):
- Linux VM
- Plex server, but that's more of a nice to have and it wouldn't have to transcode anything then.
- kasm Docker

 

As a parity hard disk I wanted to get a new 18 GB Toshiba Enterprise Capacity MG08 to be able to use bigger disks later on.

Currently I have the following disks available (if it makes sense, I would like to continue using them for now):

- WD 12 TB
- WD 3 TB
- WD 3 TB
SATA SSD:
- Crucial MX500 - 1 TB

 

Later, I would possibly upgrade 2x 18 TB, or if there aren't enough SATA ports, exchange it for the WD 3 TB.

As a cache would probably be a NVME recommendable?

 

I still have a free case and a power supply. I would like to use the case:
- Case: Fractal Define R5 insulated Midi
- PSU: PSU 300 Watt be quiet! Pure Power L8 1 41,84 41,84 Non-Modular 80+ Bronze

 

Budget I would like to stay around 500 € (without the big archive hard drives), if that is possible. The whole thing should of course also be as power efficient as possible.

 

I would be happy as a beginner about your recommendations and then build the system :-).

 

Many thanks in advance.

[Lolight]

Welcome!

 

You can start with

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/

 

I'd recommend a 12-13th gen Intel (non-F SKU) with 6 cores.

You will only be able to run one VM at the time without a discrete GPU.

 

Get a compatible ATX motherboard with 8 SATA ports e.g. ASRock Z690 PG Riptide.

it comes with three .M2 sockets that you could use for NVMe cache drives.

I've mentioned that board as just an example. You will find other ATX boards with similar configurations.

 

It's probably OK for 4 HDDs but when expanding to 8 you will need to replace your PSU (especially if it's been used for a while) with a more powerful unit.

8 HDDs will draw quite a bit of power during a simultaneous spin-up.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Lolight

[Bladefire999]

Do you want new? I'm not much of an expert but:

 

-the i5 13600/13400 is a beast and has a heap of cores for vms and good for plex- if you want ZFS maybe the 7700 amd because of error correcting ram.

-get 32gig of ram probably min for vms

-a motherboard with expansion slots

 

-18tb is kinda overkill, 8tb seems to be the sweet spot at the moment. depending on how much parity you want and the size, a big drive can be very expensive. in your case use the 12 as parity as its the biggest and you end up with 6gb(2x 3tb drives) of space. then you can get 1  8tb drives for an extra 8 then add it when you need. In my opinion this can be safer as if the drive is failing you don't have to empty 18tb and you only need to buy 8 as you need.

 

300w is probably ok but borderline if you do something intense in a vm.

 

im fairly new to this tho so with a grain of salt.

 

Edit: something else to think of you can buy old servers off ebay that have everything and a rack mount case for that price, eventually you might want to rack mount your home lab if your like me. they are cheap can have 24 cores and 128gb ram with 10 hot swap hdd bays, but they can be noisy/use power and are a few years old.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Bladefire999

[bluecat]

Thank you for your recommendations. I created a build with an i3-13100:

https://geizhals.de/wishlists/3199352

WIll this build worK?

 

Do you guys have a recommendation for a power supply or could I start with my current 300W be quiet?

Edited June 2, 2023 by bluecat

[Lolight]

11 hours ago, bluecat said:

Thank you for your recommendations. I created a build with an i3-13100:

https://geizhals.de/wishlists/3199352

WIll this build worK?

 

Do you guys have a recommendation for a power supply or could I start with my current 300W be quiet?

The selected motherboard has only 6 SATA ports and on top of that 4 of those are connected to the chipset while the remaining 2 are on the ASMedia controller.

Your current PSU should be enough if it's still in a good working condition and you're willing to take some chances.

Otherwise look into upgrading to a proven Tier A, High-End single rail or the very least Tier B, Mid-Range single rail PSU:

 

https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/

Edited June 3, 2023 by Lolight

[Bladefire999]

You could get a gen 3 m.2 for half that price and likely not notice a difference.

intel stock fans are fine for that cpu if it has one. probably dont need the noctua.

usually you can get ddr4 3200 or 3600 for nearly the same price as 2666.

if you drop the ssd and noctua you might be able to get a i5 13400 for a similar total.

[Lolight]

31 minutes ago, Bladefire999 said:

intel stock fans are fine for that cpu if it has one. probably dont need the noctua.

If he won't be stressing his 12100 for any significant length of time then the stock cooler might be sufficient, though potentially noisy on higher CPU workloads.

 

If looking for aftermarket coolers: