does anyone know of a server-type mobo that fits into the Lian-Li case and has as many of the unRaid requirements as possible? i do have a Asus P5B-VM DO on order, but i'd like to build a dual-boot monster that can server some transcoding/rendering applications that i also need to do (DivX to h.264, m2t to h.264, AAC lossless to MP3 VBR, etc.).

 

i was looking at something like this ASUS DSBV-D Dual 771 Intel 5000V SSI CEB 1.1 Server Motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131152R

 

but have no idea whether it fits or even would work? i don't mind having to add a PCIe Gbit card if necessary, or even a PCIe X16 graphics card, but if it doesn't work with unRaid, then i'd rather stick with a Q6600 and call it a day...the mobo i linked to above i like because it has 3 PCI-X slots that would make a nice home for the SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 8-port SATA cards.

 

yeah, i know...it's a bit out there, but you know it goes sometime.

 

if i must let go of the Dual Quad-Proc. idea, what would be the most "modern" (non-discontinued) mobo that works with a Q6600 and still fulfills all/most unRaid requirements? i have read through most threads, but most of the time i am not sure whether they pertain to mobos that people had laying around and are happy to see them actually work, or whether they are particularly well working mobos that are still within their life-cycle.

 

any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

According to the ASUS page this is the Ethernet Specs (in case anyone knows)

 

LAN: Intel® 6321ESB I/O Controller Hub+ Intel® 82563EB Network Connection (Dual-Port)

 

 

Here are the IDE Specs

IDE Controller

Intel® 6321ESB I/O Controller Hub:

1 * Single Channel Bus Master IDE support UltraATA 33 / 66 / 100

 

SATA Controller

Intel® 6321ESB I/O Controller Hub:

6 SATAII 300MB/s ports

Intel® Matrix Storage(Windows) support RAID 0, 1, 0+1, RAID 5 (S/W)

LSI® MegaRAID (Linux/Windows) support RAID 0, 1, 0+1

 

 

That's a nice board. I happen to have 2 supermicro Dual Xeon setups.

A dual core 3ghz (2CPU) and

A diual core 2.4 LV (2CPU).

 

Quite frankly, they can draw allot of power.

 

My dual 3gz pulls 300 watts from the wall. (But it's something I must have due to my career).

 

How much simultaneous trans coding do you really plan to do?

The xeons themselves can be pretty expensive.

I was lucky enough to score a pair of used 3ghz xeons on eBay for $900.

 

After a while, I elected to move my unraid setup to a smaller low powered ITX machine to offload the dependency.

 

A point to consider is no matter how big of a processing machine you buid, the current kernel will not take advantage of it.

Currently only supports 1 cpu and 1gb of ram.

 

I would suppose the rest of the hardware would work without a problem.

 

 

 

>> How much simultaneous trans coding do you really plan to do?

 

well, of course there is only so much to do, and it won't be a continuous need, but when i do need it, i need it quickly and without tying up my work machine(s) for hours or days...my career is in visual productions, so i do a lot of rendering and transcoding...one of the first tasks would be to convert about 500 DivX movies to h.264...i know Elgato has a hardware-based USB rendering stick, but the quality is not all that great.

 

back to the unRaid topic, though, i can see why you went back to offloading the unRaid machine onto something small and manageable (ITX)...my exprience is that one cannot expect to do everything on one machine and ado it well...that's why i have a half-dozen machines/notebooks in my studio that do single-tasks like DTP/Design, another one FCP editing, another one for surfing/dicking-around, etc...

 

maybe the Lian-Li case with a decent mobo like the Asus P5B-VM DO and a dual-core proc (support for the second core will likely happen this year, i guess) is a good stand-alone solution with nothing else needed.

 

the main reason, really, why i am partial to the thought of a dual-boot into Linux or Windows 2003 Server is an even more pragmatic one: i have about 10TB of data residing on a RAID5 in my Powermac G5 right now, which also houses a U320 SCSI card hooked up to a DELL 124T tape-library...the thing backs up once a day, and for LTO-2 tape to not have to wait for the computer, you have to be able to feed it data at about 40-60MB/sec...from what i am reading, the unRaid can read at maybe 10-20MB/sec, which means i won't be able to back up from it to the tape-library...if i were able to be able to dual-boot, i could at least boot into Linux/Win once a week and do the backups.

 

in case you are wondering why i don't just stay with the Powermac G5 RAID5 solution: i am running out of space...all the disks require me to use a second external power-supply (feels too hackintosh-ish)...the OSX backup software and tape-library support isn't as elegant as some of the Linux/Win solutions...i wouldn't mind getting my Powermac G5 back as a FCP editing workstation...yada yada.

 

well, thx for responding...

> maybe the Lian-Li case with a decent mobo like the Asus P5B-VM DO and a dual-core proc (support for the second core will likely happen this year, i guess) is a good stand-alone solution with nothing else needed.

 

For unraid, I find this to be a good approach.

 

For your transcoding workstation, I find the server motherboard to be a good approach.

 

Keep in mind, that board is wider then the standard ATX board. 10.5 vs 9.6.

So check if you have extra room.

 

Also keep in mind, if you really wanted, you could set up linux with VMware and have windows underneath it.

This is what I do. (and why my workstation is so hefty).

In fact I have 4 different windows installations + solaris x86 on the same machine.

 

I've read here on the board that people have gotten unraid to run under vmware.

(Only 4 disks though).

 

I may embark on getting vmware server to run on unraid instead.

Then I won't be limited to 4 disks.