Hardware for my first unraid server (in a rack)

[r13s]

Hello,

I currently use 2 Synology RS815+ (one as local data storage and the other runs in a DMZ and is accessible from outside).

I would like to upgrade my hardware in the next few weeks and replace both Synologys as well as my network hardware if necessary. All my devices for the network are from Unifi (if relevant: gateway, 24 port PoE switch, 3 AP, 3 eight port switches, also with PoE).

 

Unfortunately, I'm not that deep into the "hardware topic" and would like to select / configure a system with you professionals that I will have a lot of fun with in the long term. It is only important to me that it fits into my current 19" rack which unfortunately only has a depth of 45cm.

 

I have also filled out the form in accordance with the guidelines:

 

What is your budget?  Even if you don't have a strict budget set out, at least give us an idea if you are pinching pennies or splurging on your build.

I don't want to spend more than 1000 euros. I already have four hard disks. However, it is very important to me that I have a good price/performance ratio and low power consumption. 

 

How many drives do you want your server to be able to support and how much capacity do you need?

Six hard disks (5 HDDs and 1 SSD)

*I don't know if it makes sense - I would also like your feedback here, but my idea was to install four 6TB hard disks, a parity disk (also 6TB) and a 1TB SSD.

 

Is expandability important to you?  If so, what's your long term goal?

I don't want to expand the system. The system should simply serve as fast storage in the network. With the (planned) 24 TB I have more than enough storage and can't imagine any expansion. 

 

Are you interested in running additional apps?  If so, which ones?  Be specific.

I am generally interested in IT and like to try things out. So it can also be that I create a VM with Linux just to test it or start other "tinkering projects". Recently, for example, I installed GitLab in Docker just to see how such an installation works and what you have to consider / configure

 

My current plan is to set up a server with unraid, which will be used purely as a fast data storage. I would like to use a proxmox server in parallel for all other apps. I have looked into the topic of "unraid vs proxmox" and think that I simply want to test both. Also to "get to know" the differences between the two systems better. I would therefore keep a strict separation between data storage (unraid) and apps (proxmox). To briefly address the question of budget again. It might make sense to put together a weaker configuration for unraid, as this system only takes care of the data, and then use more powerful hardware for proxmox.

 

*I would also be interested in your opinion here if I am completely wrong

 

Planned apps at the moment are

PiHole

RaspberryMatic

HomeAssistant

Nextcloud / or another tool to synchronize data

Jellyfin

Docker

A backup solution (I have not yet decided on this)

 

Do you want to run green/low power drives or faster 7200 rpm drives?  If you don't have a specific need for 7200 rpm drives, then choose green drives.

-

 

What do you plan to run for hard drives?

I have already four HDDs

 

hgst hdn726060ALE614

Size: 6 Tb

RPM: 7200

SATA: 6 Gb/s

 

My plan is to use another 6 Tb as parity HDD and a 1 Tb SSD as cache (no specific model planned until now)

 

 

Do you have any spare parts laying around that you would like to apply towards your build?  This includes drives.

I already have a rack at home. It is a Digitus brand cabinet with 9U. Unfortunately, the space in the depth is limited. I can just about get my current Synologys RS815+ into the rack with a depth of 457.5 mm and a flattened connector. However, I would very much like to place the unraid server here too. Due to the U restriction, I would like a housing that requires no more than 2 U.

 

I still have an HP EliteDesk 800 G4 with the following specifications:

Core i5-8500 3,00GHz 

256 SSD 

64Gb RAM

The hardware has hardly been used and if necessary I could put it in the rack. My idea was to use this computer as the Proxmox server. 

 

 

If you already have parts in mind, please oh pretty please post links to them so that we don't have to look them up.

Due to the "problem" described above, I have only found this case so far. What do you think?

https://www.logic-case.com/products/rackmount-chassis/2u/2u-short-depth-chassis-ideal-for-wall-rackappliance-servers-sc-2400/

 

I have seen that there are few boards that are cheap and have many SATA ports. Is it logical (especially given the price/performance ratio) to buy a PCI Express card with SATA ports and thus get the 6 ports?

 

I'm also considering whether I should upgrade my switches as part of this project. If I did, it would be a Unifi "USW-Pro-24-POE" (https://techspecs.ui.com/unifi/switching/usw-pro-24-poe). This has 2 10G SFP+ Ethernet ports. Does it make sense to connect the server via this port, or is it just "unnecessarily" expensive?

 

 

 

Okay, that was a bit more text than expected, but I hope I have described my individual use case as well as possible.

Now I'm looking forward to your recommendations 🙂
Many thanks in advance!

Cheers

[_cjd_]

Some slightly rambling thoughts this morning...

SFP+ via copper DAC is more power efficient than Ethernet, typically. That said, I'd consider whether the 8 port aggregation switch might fit into your network stack well. -unless you need the Poe++ the switch update you mention doesn't make sense for the SFP+. On my main Unraid I run a 2 port SFP+ plus 1gbe on different networks... Home assistant Aligned with IoT network, some in a DMZ clan, samba shares only bound to the "internal" network etc. My backup unraid is also 10gbe which helps transfer speed, now limited by drives. My 8 port agg switch is stuffed full.

As this sounds like a set and forget array, dual parity may be worth considering. But maybe that's just me... I run a 5x16tb array, dual parity. 4x ssd in raid 10 cache and active filesshare (filesshare backed up to the array but not moved). Nvme for Dockers.

If power consumption will matter peruse the powertop thread, lots of hardware choice info there.

[r13s]

Hello
What do you think of this configuration?

https://geizhals.de/wishlists/3796647
What do you think about the processor cooling? Is boxed enough or should it be better to use a cooler like that one: https://noctua.at/de/nh-l9i?

 

Cheers

Edited March 31 by r13s