Noob Build, Please Help...

[lloyd4571]

Hi everyone. First time poster but long time reader. Ive got quite an ever expanding collection of media on external hard drive and internal ones that don't even have a backup. After looking at my options I purchased a Drobo but after searching the net a bit more I found this site and discovered Unraid and safe to say I cancelled my order quite quickly again. Now I have nothing against a drobo, they looked awesome but I want something that is much larger to be honest and I would like the satisfaction of my own build.  I do need a bit of help by anyone with any advice for me (good or bad - any advice could help me right now) as I have built a PC before but it was a LONG time ago and i'm a bit rusty.

 

I'm looking to build an Unraid device in the near future and even though I would love to buy a pre-built one, cost is restricting me and the fact I live in the UK also doesn't help with shipping. I love the look of Raj's prototype designs but some components are not available as I'm mainly looking for most of my parts off one website. I like to use Ebuyer.com as its really near to me, they deliver quick and prices are not that bad and even though other places might be a bit cheaper i'd prefer to do one big order from one website.

 

So basically I need help with what parts to get. My requirements are that its a 15 bay drive with the option to expand it to a twenty drive nas if i replace the case. It has to be even the slightest bit eco, be 3tb compatible. The case im looking at is the Antec 902 V3, ive found the HDD hotswap case off another website and I cant seem to find the sas expanders on Ebuyer so i'll have to bit the bullet and purchase them from the US. 

 

Now can anyone help me with the other parts and suggest what I should get that suits my criteria. Don't forget I'd like to try and buy it all if possible from Ebuyer.com. As far as I can figure out I need a..

 

Motherboard ?

RAM ?

Processor ?

PSU ?

Cables ?

Case: http://www.ebuyer.com/245777-antec-902-nine-hundred-two-v3-gaming-case-0761345-15924-1

Drive Caddy: http://www.xcase.co.uk/hotswap-stoarge-kit-p/hddkit-xx-500.htm

Sata add on card: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AOC-SASMV8&title=Supermicro-AOC-SASLP-MV8-8-Port-SAS-SATA-Add-on-Card

 

Thanks in advance! 

[B1G]

Just a quick "heads up".... I don't know if you know this... but you should.

 

If you go with the 900 two case AND that drive caddy. You will have to do a bit of work to modify the case. The drive bays on the 900 Two has slider tracks and the drive caddy you want has no slots for those tracks.

 

if you look at this caddy:

 

you can see the sides are not flat. This is what you need for the 900Two case.

[lloyd4571]

Ah ok. I will look into the other hard drive bays, although i do like the look of the norco cases in the Antec. Just a quick check before I order anything can anyone tell me if these components are compatible together or am I missing anything in the list??

 

Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, 8-Port SAS/SATA 300MB/s PCI-e Controller Card

 

AMD Sempron 145, Sargas Core, S AM3, 2.8GHz, 1MB Cache, HT 4000MHz, 45W, Retail

 

2TB Samsung HD204UI Spinpoint F4EG, SATA 3Gb/s, 5400rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9ms, NCQ (x5)

 

500W PSU, Corsair Builder Series CMPSU-500CXUK, 80% Eff', Uncertified, Quiet Fan, ATX v2.3

 

Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two V3 Mid Tower ATX Case, USB3, With Side Window w/o PSU

 

Supermicro CBL-0097L-02 1 x 36 pin 4i Mini MultiLane SAS (SFF-8087) to 4 x 7-pin Serial ATA (x3 as 2 come with motherboard?)

 

Asus AM3 AMD 760G DDR3 uATX M4A78LT-M

 

X-Case 5 Drive Storage Kit - fits in 3 x 5.25 Bays (x3)

 

Ive found most of these off the prototype page so I'm presuming they should be fine but I just want to be sure before I place an order or anything.  

 

Thanks

 

[Rajahal]

Everything looks good with one exception.

 

Supermicro CBL-0097L-02 1 x 36 pin 4i Mini MultiLane SAS (SFF-8087) to 4 x 7-pin Serial ATA (x3 as 2 come with motherboard?)

 

First of all you need to make sure that these are forward breakout cables and not reverse break out cables.  The latter won't work with your build.  Also, you only need two of these cables.  They are used to connect the Supermico SASLP cards to the hard drive cages.

 

As you have it detailed, you will have 14 drive support: 6 on the motherboard and 8 on the SASLP card.  For that 15th drive you will need a PCIe x1 controller card.  This should work (it was the cheapest one I could find on ebuyer).  It will use just a standard SATA cable.  It will also give you an eSATA port which could come in handy for mass transfers or adding a 16th drive externally.

[ibixat]

I don't know how much the shipping to the UK would be but monoprice has a very inexpensive pci express 2 port sata card.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040702&p_id=2530&seq=1&format=1#largeimage

I wonder if when shipping and whatever else is added how much that would end up costing you.

Hmm nevermind, I put in a london postal code to get an idea and shipping was kinda high, brought the total for the card + shipping to around 26pounds, it appears that the shipping doesn't go up by adding some cables too so the breakout cables you need added on brings it up to 38ish pounds for the 2 port card and 2 of those forward breakout cables.  No clue if you'd get dinged for Vat or taxes.