Need Recommendations for Parts

[W1nks]

Hello, I am looking to build my first UnRaid Server.  I am going to start with 3 drives.  I have 2 2TB Western Digital Green Drives and plan on purchasing a 3TB Western Digital Green Drive.  I am looking for 5-6 hard drives total though for future expansion.  I would also like the server to be fairly power efficient.  I would also like the computer to be able to go into sleep mode because sometimes I won't be using it for days and it seems like that would increase the longevity of the hardware.  I will be using this for mostly streaming HD media files to my XBMC PC.  I was looking at Raj's Prototype Guide a kind of following his guide but have some problems/questions.  So here is the current list:

 

Mobo: ZOTAC GF6100-E-E  Is there any boards that might be better, like having 6 sata ports onboard?

CPU: AMD Sempron 145 or AMD Athlon II X2 265 What would you recommend?  I think the dual core might be nicer just to future proof a little more and give me more flexibility.

RAM: Kingston 2GB DDR2 800 (x2, 4GB total)

PSU: CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W

This is where it gets a little more difficult.  The hot swap drive bay says it only does hard drives up to 2TB so I don't think they will work.

Case: GIGABYTE gz-ph2a3 or maybe Antec Three Hundred since that would hold all of the drives and has big front fans.  I would like a smaller case if possible though.

SATA Expansion Card: 2 port SATA2 Serial ATA II PCI-Express RAID Controller Card (Silicon Image SIL3132) (If needed)

Cables: non-locking SATA x 5 (1 included with motherboard)

Hot Swap Drive Bays: SNT SNT-SAC2131B 3x3.5" Hard drive in 2x5.25" Bay Hot Swap SAS/SATA Backplane RAID cage x 2 is the hot swap sata cage in question.

 

What are your recommendations?  I'm not quite sure what I really need in terms of power/performance so I'm open to all ideas.  Also, do those hot swap drive bays only need 2 molexes for power?  Thanks for the help!

[joshpond]

Dual core vs single core really depends on what you want to use the machine for and if you are going to run anything else on it, namely transcoding. If you want energy effiecient go with the sempron if it is just a file server and also 2GB of ram, ie one stick is enough.

With the PSU what is the max number of drives you are going to have?

 

Josh

[W1nks]

Thanks for the response.  Right now 5 or 6 is the most hard drives I plan on having in there.  Also I don't think I will be trans coding any videos on the server.

[joshpond]

I'd go with the sempron then if you aren't going to run much else on it. I've gor the 140 sempron running transmission, apc ups and unraid and cache dirs. enough horsepower and less power consumption. Going the dual core is just going to drain more power for nothing.

 

Have a look at the PSU sticky, You can work out how powerful a PSU you need. PSU's are most effiecient when the load isn't too small.

 

Case pick what you like, can't help you too much with that and the motherboard I don't know much about so you'll have to look around or wait for someone who might have tried it.

 

Josh

[mbryanr]

Here are a couple of MB to consider within the same price range

ASRock 880GM-LE vs. Biostar A880G+

 

The ASRock is level 1 tested and the Biostar 880+ is used by others successfully (4 on-board ports)

 

Here are some other cases to consider:

Newegg Product Comparison

 

[mbryanr]

Of course if you truly want a small form factor array...

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=13666.0;topicseen

[W1nks]

Thanks I really like COOLER MASTER ELITE 335.  Does anyone know if that drive bay will support 3TB drives then?  It's not sounding like it.  If not I guess I could put by 3TB HDs in the 3.5" bays but getting a couple.  Any recommendations for drive bays that will work with it?  I could probably always use 2TB HDs for now also.  I will probably go with the ASRock 880GM-LE motherboard.

[mbryanr]

No reason the drive bay shouldn't support 3TB drives..you def. want to consider some 3in2 drive cages or at least another case fan for the top bays.;  You will have to use unRAID version 5.0-Beta for 3TB support.

 

Edit:  Noticed the "Upgraded" version of the case (for the same price) has optional fans available

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119244

 

Also, you may be able to contact the forum user that used similar components:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12877.msg122099#msg122099

 

Looks like it will be a nice build!

 

 

Another case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147112

 

[W1nks]

Ok I just saw in the description of the product that it only supports 2TB so I wasn't sure if there was a limitation or that was just the largest size at the time of release.  I might go with that cooler master elite 355 upgraded version so i can purchase a 120mm front fan for it.  I would also get this RAM since my motherboard supports DD3 now.

 

So final build?

 

Mobo: ASRock 880GM-LE

CPU: AMD Sempron 145

RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 2GB 240-Pin DDR3

PSU: CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W

PSU Adapters: Nippon Labs SATA to Molex Power Adapter (There is only 3 molex connectors and I will need one of these)

Case: COOLER MASTER Elite 335 Upgraded

Cables: non-locking SATA x 5 (1 included with motherboard)

Hot Swap Drive Bays: SNT SNT-SAC2131B 3x3.5" Hard drive in 2x5.25" Bay Hot Swap SAS/SATA Backplane RAID cage (x2)

Flash Drive: Lexar JumpDrive FireFly 4GB

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Green WD30EZRX (Parity, I have 2 different WD HDs for the data)

 

How does this look?

[mbryanr]

You could one of these...you'll need the SATA connectors when you add drives.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10245&cs_id=1024501&p_id=1313&seq=1&format=2

 

and to mount the flash drive internally...

this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200294

or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815201028

[W1nks]

You could one of these...you'll need the SATA connectors when you add drives.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10245&cs_id=1024501&p_id=1313&seq=1&format=2

 

and to mount the flash drive internally...

this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200294

or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815201028

 

Ah I see.  I thought the Hot Swap bay only needed 2 molexes to power the whole thing.  It looks like it needs 2 molexes and 2 SATAS plus the 3 SATA to motherboard cables.  Are those splitters safe and provide enough power?  Are there short extensions you can get for SATA cables to make it easier to plug into the bay?

[mbryanr]

You could one of these...you'll need the SATA connectors when you add drives.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10245&cs_id=1024501&p_id=1313&seq=1&format=2

 

and to mount the flash drive internally...

this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200294

or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815201028

 

Ah I see.  I thought the Hot Swap bay only needed 2 molexes to power the whole thing.  It looks like it needs 2 molexes and 2 SATAS plus the 3 SATA to motherboard cables.  Are those splitters safe and provide enough power?  Are there short extensions you can get for SATA cables to make it easier to plug into the bay?

 

It is another area that can be a source of failure. They provide sufficient power, and these specific one are used by many here.

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=2920.msg24176#msg24176

While oftentimes it can't be avoided or not within a budget - the number of connectors on a PSU is a consideration for unRAID.

 

Do you mean something like this?

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=sata+female+to+female+adapter&hl=en&nord=1&qscrl=1&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.&biw=1366&bih=681&ion=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=16884892391262585018&sa=X&ei=uBV1TqP3K4q4tgfDl4XACA&ved=0CHoQ8wIwAA

 

 

[W1nks]

You could one of these...you'll need the SATA connectors when you add drives.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10245&cs_id=1024501&p_id=1313&seq=1&format=2

 

and to mount the flash drive internally...

this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200294

or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815201028

 

Ah I see.  I thought the Hot Swap bay only needed 2 molexes to power the whole thing.  It looks like it needs 2 molexes and 2 SATAS plus the 3 SATA to motherboard cables.  Are those splitters safe and provide enough power?  Are there short extensions you can get for SATA cables to make it easier to plug into the bay?

 

It is another area that can be a source of failure. They provide sufficient power, and these specific one are used by many here.

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=2920.msg24176#msg24176

While oftentimes it can't be avoided or not within a budget - the number of connectors on a PSU is a consideration for unRAID.

 

Do you mean something like this?

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=sata+female+to+female+adapter&hl=en&nord=1&qscrl=1&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.&biw=1366&bih=681&ion=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=16884892391262585018&sa=X&ei=uBV1TqP3K4q4tgfDl4XACA&ved=0CHoQ8wIwAA

 

 

 

I meant something like this but I could probably do without it.  Would this power supply be better? It has 4 molex and 5 SATA.  Not sure if the reach would be enough to get them all plugged in at the top of the case.

[mbryanr]

Gotcha. Almost everybody needs splitters/extensions at some point, some PSUs just have more connections to start. <Note the PSU you linked was a dual rail; which effectively decreases the power available to the SATA drives...stay with the single rail you have selected.>

[Compass]

I think this is a better case for a new build over an Antec 300,

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_238&products_id=17988

 

You WILL outgrow the Antec quicker than you think, it's a hassle taking the side panel off just to have to clean the fan filter, and you will be replacing the 120mm fan anyway as it's to loud. And I think the Elite 210 looks nicer.

[W1nks]

Parts have been ordered