[Solved] Another first timer with first build / first post


ashaneil

Recommended Posts

Hi Guys,

I am thinking about building an unRAID server ever since I built my XBMC box 6 months. Damn I wish I had started earlier. Would have saved a bundle on hard drives.

 

I have been looking at the various builds, including Raj's prototype builds. Here is what I am thinking:

 

Case: Xigmatek Utgard ($60) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815007) or Nexus Prominent 9 ($99) (http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-Prominent-9/dp/B0057JAJT6/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323193985&sr=8-1-spell)

RAM: 4GB (already have it)

PSU: CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC ($60) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027)

 

Mobo / CPU: I am an original Intel fanboy so I don't know anything about AMD. Here is what is available at Frys right now:

 

CPU:

AMD Sempron 140 ($37) http://www.frys.com/product/6006428

AMD Sempron 145 ($40) (http://www.frys.com/product/6755365?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG)

AMD Atholon II 250 ($16) (http://www.frys.com/product/5942414)

AMD Phenom II 555 Black ($50) (http://www.frys.com/product/6149919)

 

Mobo:

MSI 880GM-P51 AMD 880G AM3 Motherboard ($68) (http://www.frys.com/product/6677884?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG)

MSI 760GM-P23 (FX) AMD 760G AM3+ Motherboard ($60) (http://www.frys.com/product/6820426?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG)

 

Any suggestions / recommendations regarding the case and Mobo/CPU? My main goal is to get to 15 HDD unRAID box. I already have 6 hard drives so will probably be going with 5+1 2 TB system.

 

Thanks for your help. Cheers!

 

Link to comment

You are on the right track.  All of the CPUs you listed will work.  I would recommend either of the Semprons for a low power server that stores your files and runs light add-ons, such as unMenu and cache_dirs.  If you want to run heavy add-ons such as Handbrake and Airvideo, then go for the Athlon.  I think the Phenom will be overkill in any scenario.

 

Actually, since the Athlon is so cheap, it might be better just to go for that one anyway.

 

Both the motherboards you listed are fine except for their NICs.  One is an Atheros, the other is a Realtek 8111E.  Atheros NICs are notoriously flaky with unRAID, though you might get lucky.  The Realtek 8111E is known to be incompatible with unRAID 4.7, but it does work in the latest betas.  If you want a stable server running unRAID 4.7, then you will need to add on an Intel PCI NIC (~$20-$30) or find a different motherboard.

 

If you care about having a near-silent server, then the Nexus case can't be beat.  If noise isn't as important, then the Xigmatek is fine.

Link to comment

Thanks for your response Rajahal.

 

That AMD Athalon is not in stock ;(.

 

So right now, I am torn between building a 15-drive box and 20 Drive box. Since I will be spending $100 for Nexus case, another $60 will get me Antec 1200 assuming I am not being greedy. Here is what I have so far:

 

15-drive build:

Mobo - ASUS M4A88T-M LE (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131673)

CPU - AMD Athlon II X2 Regor 3.1 GHz Socket AM3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103896)

Case - Nexus Prominent 9

PSU - CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027)

RAM - 4Gb / 8 Gb (if i get a good deal)

5-in-3s - SuperMicro x3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405)

SATA Expansion Cards - Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 x1, SATA2 Serial ATA II PCI-Express RAID Controller Card (Silicon Image SIL3132) x1

 

 

20-drive build:

Mobo - ECS A885GM-A2 V1.1 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135272)

CPU - AMD Athlon II X2 Regor 3.1 GHz Socket AM3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103896)

Case - ANTEC 1200 V3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129100)

PSU - CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027)

RAM - 8 Gb (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311)

5-in-3s - SuperMicro x4 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405)

SATA Expansion Cards - Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 x 2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101358)

 

FYI, PHENOM II X4 840 Boxed Processor is available at local MicroCenter for $60 (http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0371961).

 

I have the following drives:

ST31500341AS -- x1 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337) --> use as cache drive (maybe????)

WD20EURS -- x4 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136783)

ST320005N4A1AS -- x1 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148487)

 

Since I am going to start w/ about 5+1 drives for now (that's all the drives I have now), the ECS mobo's price almost offsets ANTEC's price difference. I am definitely leaning towards the 20-drive build for now.

 

So here are my questions:

1. PSU - Will 500W will be enough, assuming I eventually get to 20 drives?

2. If I put the ECS mobo in Antec case, will there be enough space after putting in the SuperMicro cages or will it be cramped? Should I go with Asus uATX mobo?

3. How loud will the 20-drive build be with the Antec case, assuming I replace 5-in-3 fans compared to Nexus Prominent 9 case?

4. Should I buy the SUPERMICRO CSE-M35T-1B now or buy them as I go?

5. In one of the forum posts, someone mentioned that it would be good to hook up parity and cache drive(s) on the motherboard whereas data drives don't matter. Is that still true?

6. Should I pick up a HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 HDS5C3020ALA632 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145475)to use as a parity drive instead of using my Seagate / WD drives?

7. Last, how future-proof (looking at v5.0 and 3Tb) are the above builds?

 

With the specs above, I am looking at $561 for 15-drive (mobo + cpu + ram + case + psu + 1x 5-in-3 cage + 1x AOC-SASLP-MV8 w/ cables) and $591 for 20-drive (mobo + cpu + ram + case + psu + 1x 5-in-3 cage + 1x AOC-SASLP-MV8 w/ cables) initial layout for 6 drives without drives and S&H and taxes. Hopefully, I am not missing something very obvious.

 

I am sorry for the long list of questions. Just want to place the order so I can get the stuff before the holidays. Christmas might just come early this year :P

 

Link to comment

Sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been falling behind on the forums lately.

 

1. PSU - Will 500W will be enough, assuming I eventually get to 20 drives?

 

No, the 500W is not enough for 20 drives.  Use the Corsair 650W PSU instead.

 

2. If I put the ECS mobo in Antec case, will there be enough space after putting in the SuperMicro cages or will it be cramped? Should I go with Asus uATX mobo?

 

Yes, there will be enough space.  The area between the motherboard and drive cages will be slightly cramped since the fans on the Supermicro cages stick out so far, but it will all fit.  I recommend installing cages first, then removing the fans.  Install the motherboard next, and get all your cabling in place.  Finally, as a last step, re-install the fans.

 

3. How loud will the 20-drive build be with the Antec case, assuming I replace 5-in-3 fans compared to Nexus Prominent 9 case?

 

The Antec 1200 is not loud at all, and the stock fans do not need to be replaced.  You should be able to run the fans at low in all but the hottest environments.  The Supermicro cage fans are quite loud in my opinion, and I recommend replacing them with these Gelid fans.  Newegg has only 2 in stock at the moment, so you might need to source them elsewhere.  If you want to try to match the near-silent performance of the Nexus Prominent 9, you could glue some foam to the interior surfaces of the Antec case.  I doubt you'll really need to, though.

 

4. Should I buy the SUPERMICRO CSE-M35T-1B now or buy them as I go?

 

If your budget allows for it, buying them all at once will allow you to install them all at once, which will make the entire build much easier.  You can add more later if you need to space out the purchases, but it will be a bit more of a pain to pull off.  You can easily replace the fans on the Supermicro units after they are installed (probably the best feature of these particular cages).  I recommend powering down the server first, though technically the fans are hot swap.

 

5. In one of the forum posts, someone mentioned that it would be good to hook up parity and cache drive(s) on the motherboard whereas data drives don't matter. Is that still true?

 

Yes, that is true.  The motherboard ports have the least amount of latency, and therefore you will see the best performance out of parity/cache drives connected to those ports.  I would also recommend hooking up your largest data drives (and the ones you are less likely to swap anytime soon) both for the slightly better performance and also because of the boot priority issue.  When you swap a drive connected to one of the motherboard ports, most motherboards will try to boot from the new drive.  You then have to go into BIOS and tell the motherboard to boot from the unRAID flash drive instead.  SATA controller card ports typically don't have this problem (especially after you disable INT13 on the SASLP cards).  Therefore, I recommend placing your smallest and likely-to-be-replaced drives on the SATA controller cards whenever possible.

 

6. Should I pick up a HITACHI Deskstar 5K3000 HDS5C3020ALA632 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145475)to use as a parity drive instead of using my Seagate / WD drives?

 

No, I would use your 2 TB Seagate as your parity drive (and the 1.5 TB Seagate will make a fine cache drive, though something smaller will do as well).  The 2 TB Seagate has a faster rotational speed (5900 RPM vs 5400 RPM on all other green drives), and so you will see slightly better performance when running multiple simultaneous writes into the parity protected array.  Since you will be using a cache drive you may never see this particular scenario, but my recommendation remains the same.

 

7. Last, how future-proof (looking at v5.0 and 3Tb) are the above builds?

 

Very.  All of those components should be fully compatible with unRAID 5.0 and 3+ TB drives.

 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.