Plex Media Server

[furby]

Hello.

 

I've currently got an OSx86 Mac(pro type) machine to run Plex but it's not ideal. Having checked out Raj's Design thread and it's wetted my appetite for storage and I want to go unRAID.

 

I feel a little lost though so I was hoping for some gentle guidance.

 

I think 5 drives is ok for now but I feel I should maybe make room for expansion so the

Xigmatek Utgard Original CPC-T90DB-U01 case and

Norco SS-500 5 Bay look like a good start. I can manage to pick the PSU and RAM myself but it's the most important bit I'm struggling with.

 

The boards in the design thread seem hard to track down in the UK and I'd need it to at exceed the minimum requirements for the 1080p transcoding which is 2.4Ghz Dual Core.

 

I think I decent i3 or i5 should more than do it but I'm at a loss for the motherboard  Help please.

 

[Rajahal]

I agree, you are off to a good start.  An i3 is also a good choice (an i5 is overkill).  I highly recommend the Supermicro X8SIL-F-O if you can find it (which I know can be a challenge outside of the US).  If you can't, then you might consider a second gen i3 and an Asus board.  Look for a board with the H55 chipset so that you can take advantage of the i3's power saving features as well as onboard gigabit LAN and a onboard video.  Try to avoid the Realtek 8111E NIC and Atheros NICs if possible.  If you have to choose one of those, then you might also need to buy an Intel PCI NIC.

[furby]

Thanks for the reply. Yes I think the i5 is overkill and the added cost isn't worth it. So just the motherboard.

With a bit more looking there seem to be places that have one, albeit with a bit of a lead time so depends on patience there.

 

All the Asus H55's have got the realtek NIC but the Intel pci cards look easy to get hold off and cheap enough.

 

Tempted by the P7H55-M PRO as I saw it for a good price and it doesn't have a NIC built in.

 

 

[furby]

Ok, my current shopping list (I put manufacturer and then shop links just as they are likely to last longer.)

 

Motherboard - Asus P7H55-M -Kikatek £71:09

CPU - Intel Core i3 550 (3.2Ghz) - -Amazon £83.32

Case - Xigmatek CPC-T90DB-U01 Utgard Chassis - Amazon £63:75

PSU - Corsair Builder Series CMPSU-430CX 430W - Scan £37.52

RAM - Crosair 2GB 1333mhz - Scan £11:04

 

Total: £266.72  

 

Possible :

NIC - Intel Gbit CT - Scan £24:36

Drive Cage - Norco SS-500 5 Bay SATA £90 (with delivery included)

 

If I don't need the Intel NIC I won't get it and I just want to try and get the drive cage cheaper. Maybe I don't need it to start off.                                                         

Had to go for the M and not the pro as the cheap deal I saw on Amazon turned out to be unavailable. Boo.

 

 

[Rajahal]

Looks like a good kit.  I'm sure you know that the Realtek 8111E NIC doesn't work with unRAID 4.7, but some people are having success with unRAID 5.0beta12a.  You might want to give that a try before buying the PCI NIC.  If you don't want to use the beta version of unRAID (and deal with all the other potential problems and extra maintenance that go along with running beta software), then you'll be better off just buying the PCI NIC straight away and forgetting about the onboard one.  Remember that you'll have to disable the onboard NIC in the motherboard's BIOS in order to force unRAID to use the other one (unRAID always uses the first NIC it finds, which is usually the onboard one).

 

It is true that you don't absolutely need the Norco drive cages right away, but after spending some time mucking about with internal drives you'll quickly realize why I'm such a proponent of the hot swap cages.  If it isn't in your budget yet, nothing wrong with waiting.  If it is, I say go for it.  You won't regret it.

 

There's nothing wrong with the i3-550, but the i3-540 and i3-530 will work just as well.

 

By the way, your RAM link leads to the wrong RAM (a 4 GB DDR3 1600 kit).

 

If you think you may some day expand to 15 drives, then you'll want the Corsair 500W PSU instead.  If you will stick to 12 drives or fewer than the 430W is fine.

 

[furby]

It's taken way too long but drives finally came down enough for me to do this, and I ran out of space on my current system. Also I'm weak Couldn't afford the cage but I got all the stuff listed above.

 

Anyway, after making some mistakes it works and it is awesome! So glad I made the switch to unraid. I'll make a post about someone considering doing the same but thought I would post in the meantime to say how please I am.

[1stRaven]

if you're still looking for the cage - these are in the UK and cheaper then shipping them in.

 

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