Build recommendations

[stepmbac]

I am really new at this and have been surfing the threads looking at builds. Price is not as much of a concern as ease and reliability of build. I currently have an HP 495 Media smart server that is gobbling up 2TB hard drives because my storage needs are growing so fast. I will be using the box as a file server with some simple media server technology (running on windows 7) for right now. However I plan on adding new functionality in the future so I want to build something that will allow me to add more functionality without having to upgrade the hardware. My needs are:

 

1. Fast enough where it will allow me to grow as I add more features to the media server side and windows 7 side.

2. I want an intel based system. Looking at i3 or i5 chip.

3. Reliable and proven setup. I don't want to spend all weekend setting it up.

4. As quiet as possible.

5. Must be able to hold 20 HD. I was looking at Norco 4220

6. USB 3.0 port

7. SATA 3 6gb/sec ports.

8. HDD will be a mix of 2tb green and non-green drives.

 

My budget for the build without HDD (Storage) is limited at $1500. That must include:

 

Board/CPU:

Memory:

Parity drive:

Cache drive 2TB or 3tb:

Powersupply:

Fans:

RAID Card:

Case:

Cables:

Anything else?:

 

 

 

[prostuff1]

any particular reason you want/need the USB3 and the SATA 6GB?

 

Neither will really get you anything in regards to unRAID.  no mechanical HD will get you past SATA 3GB speed and most don't get over SATA 1.5GB speeds.  USB is pretty much pointless as unRAID boots from the USB flash drive and using 2.0 speeds loads fast enough to begin with.

 

If you are dead set on one then I would suggest looking for a supermicro board that might meet your specs.

[stepmbac]

I have about 10TB of data that I wanted to transfer to the unRaid server via USB 3.0 rather than over my network. I thought that would be a faster process. Also, I figured that USB 3.0 is the new standard and I want to build a server that is going to last me 3-5 years, why not build it with the lastest and greatest.

 

As for 6gb/sec speeds. I am not as committed because I know that the HDD I will be using will not have the horsepower to keep up. But again, I figured why not build one that is geared toward a 3-5 year timeline.

 

Can you recommend a good supermicro board that is compatible with one of the low voltage newer intel chips. I was thinking of the i3 or i5 chips?

[prostuff1]

I have about 10TB of data that I wanted to transfer to the unRaid server via USB 3.0 rather than over my network. I thought that would be a faster process. Also, I figured that USB 3.0 is the new standard and I want to build a server that is going to last me 3-5 years, why not build it with the lastest and greatest.

 

As for 6gb/sec speeds. I am not as committed because I know that the HDD I will be using will not have the horsepower to keep up. But again, I figured why not build one that is geared toward a 3-5 year timeline.

 

Can you recommend a good supermicro board that is compatible with one of the low voltage newer intel chips. I was thinking of the i3 or i5 chips?

 

I can't speak to any board except for X8SIL which is an older i3 board.  That board still works perfectly fine, it is just using a slightly older board.

 

I suggest going here and looking through the boards that meet your criteria.  If you then have a question about them post back here with the specific boards.

[stepmbac]

How about something like this? Seems to have everything I need:

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=30762

[prostuff1]

looks like it should work just fine.

[stepmbac]

How about paired with this i3 chip?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116394

[prostuff1]

How about paired with this i3 chip?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116394

 

So long as it is on the supported list you should be fine.  I suggest not using the T version.  From the reading I have done you can achieve the same power levels by tweaking the settings in the BIOS.  If you don't want to bother with that and still want the lower power than the T version is your best choice.

[Johnm]

How about something like this? Seems to have everything I need:

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=30762

 

If you are going to go with a supermicro board, I would go with a supermicro serverboard.

while the serverboards tend to be rock solid, the desktop line tend to be problematic.

 

If you're stuck on 1155 chips. I would suggest the X9SCM or X9SCL series.

the X9SCM-F-O will be cost less then what you suggested, have IPMI and sata3.

the only thing it is missing is the USB3

 

I cant think of a single serverboard with USB3. in addition, unraid probably wont copy data to the array at much faster then usb2 speeds anyways. even with usb3 is my guess.

 

if USB3 is a make or break it, you can use the saved cash to buy an inexpensive pcie 1x usb3 card.

[bman]

 

I cant think of a single serverboard with USB3. in addition, unraid probably wont copy data to the array at much faster then usb2 speeds anyways. even with usb3 is my guess.

 

if USB3 is a make or break it, you can use the saved cash to buy an inexpensive pcie 1x usb3 card.

 

Since USB2 generally maxes out around 32MB/s steady transfer rate, I'd have to think USB3 should beat that handily.  I cannot say I've tried it, but USB2 is pretty slow relative to even a low power "green" drive's capabilities.

 

I just use an internal to external SATA cable myself - seems to go at drive speed with no extra overhead of USB conversion

[Johnm]

 

I cant think of a single serverboard with USB3. in addition, unraid probably wont copy data to the array at much faster then usb2 speeds anyways. even with usb3 is my guess.

 

if USB3 is a make or break it, you can use the saved cash to buy an inexpensive pcie 1x usb3 card.

 

Since USB2 generally maxes out around 32MB/s steady transfer rate, I'd have to think USB3 should beat that handily.  I cannot say I've tried it, but USB2 is pretty slow relative to even a low power "green" drive's capabilities.

 

I just use an internal to external SATA cable myself - seems to go at drive speed with no extra overhead of USB conversion

 

Copying to the unraid protected array is ...  Well.. Slow and steady.

Many people don't get much faster then that.

 

Obviously there would be performance boost, but not a lot.

 

 

[bman]

 

Copying to the unraid protected array is ...  Well.. Slow and steady.

Many people don't get much faster then that.

 

Obviously there would be performance boost, but not a lot.

 

Hmm, true, that.  I wonder how things change with a cache drive?  I have yet to try one, but I think it's my next step as my array nears 100% capacity and copy operations timeout while the drive(s) searches for a place to write new data.

[chickensoup]

Did you mean in your original post you wanted a 2-3TB cache drive? If so, that would be a very large waste of drive space.

 

A cache drive makes a very big difference to your copy speeds but 99% of the time (depending on your copy habits) shouldn't really need to be any bigger than ~100gb. Do you copy 2-3TB worth of data every day? I've only filled up my cache drive a couple times in 12 months and it's 150GB. You can always manually run the mover if it does start to fill up. A single platter 7200rpm 500gb drive would make a noticeable difference to copy speeds and should have more than enough space to suffice.

 

Also I don't think that case you were looking at would be very quiet (correct me if i'm wrong as I haven't used one before). I would suggest something with sound-proofing such as a Fractal Define XL: http://fractal-design.com/?view=product&category=2∏=54 unless you're set on a rack-mount. With 2x 3-in-2 racks you could hold 16 drives, I'm not sure if this is enough but should last you a very long time. Long term, using all 3TB drives would still make this a 40+ TB server.

 

Sounding good though =)

[Johnm]

Kind of an old post to bump.

 

sometimes people want a cache drive that is as big as the parity drive so they have a spare in another drive fails.

 

as long as it is bumped... to the OP, If you are still looking,  Asus now has a Workstation/Server board with the C206 chipset to have more SATA3 and USB3 ports. it also has built in video..