Hi All,

 

I'm looking at building a low cost / low power unraid system to hold my movie collection and would like some advice on the hardware.

 

It would be for streaming (via gigabit lan) to my 4 xbmc systems and i'd like to run my xbmc mysql database, maraschino, sickbeard and sabnzb on it.

 

Is this motherboard up to the job??? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/zotac-nm10-f-e-intel-nm10-intel-atom-ddr2-sata-ii-3gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-%28x16%29-graphics-on-board-mini- It's a Zotac NM-10 F-E with Intel Atom D525 1.8 ghz or will i need something with a bit more grunt? Like an intel i3 2100T?

 

It'll have 4gb of ram and run 6x 2tb and 1x 3tb WD caviar green HDD's (i already have the ram, hard drives and a 2 port pci-e sata controller card lying around).

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Andi

For the motherboard, a bit will depend on how many drives you wish to have in the future as with the atom there is going to be a limit. With what you are proposing you can only add one more drive. (If you change the PCI-e 2 port card you could probably get an 8 port one but you still won't max out the number of drives the license allows) With the i3 if you get a larger motherboard you can add more drives, so that I guess that is more motherboard specific.

 

as to i3 vs atom I've read that the power draw between the two is fairly close but the i3 has a lot more grunt. A search of this forum may find the posts. I'd go with the i3. I believe parity is faster with the i3.

 

Josh

...as mentioned in the earlier response above, the mobo is limited in terms of expandability.

Yes, the i3 will have more headroom and can idle as low as an Atom.

As far as streaming is concerned, the Atom should do fine.

When streaming (reading) data from an intact array, parity calculation is not needed. 

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

I'm aware with the chosen mobo that i'll be limited to the number of drives - the case i have in mind will only take 8 max anyway, so expandability isn't too much of a concern atm.

 

I'll have a think and see if i can find an ITX board for the i3 chip that'll suit my needs. The i3 may be the way to go for longevity of the build.

 

Cheers,

 

Andi

An atom is more then fine for a server as long as nothing taxing like on the fly transcoding is taking place.

I have an Atom D510 with 14 drives on it and an Atom D525 with 4x 3TB drives. Both transfer data at full GiB wire speed.

 

The one concern i might have with that zotac board.

it has 6 sata ports on a chipset (intel NM10) that only has 2 native SATA ports.

It has been pointed out that zotac sometimes uses Port Replicators on these boards instead of a second sata controller.

If this is the case, the other 4 ports are most likely on port replicators.

If that is so, your parity checks  would be VERY slow with 6 drives.

 

I would check before buying.

I am also building a new system with pretty much the same usage as the OP. I was thinking of an Atom D510 or D525 board from Supermicro, but I am also considering a Core i3 System using the Supermicro X9SCL+-F. I found the D510 for ~ $163, the D525 for ~ $195 and the Core i3 for ~ $160. Now or course the Atom boards include the CPU where the other board does not, so I'd have to also buy a Core i3 2120T 35w CPU for another ~ $135.

 

So that means:

• Atom D510 mobo + CPU = $163
  
• Atom D525 mobo + CPU = $195
  
• Core i3 mobo + CPU      = $295
  

 

I will not be moving to more than 6 drives anytime soon. I am at 3 now with plenty of space. I will not do any transcoding. So even though the Core i3 can run using low power, is it worth it for almost double the price? The Core i3 mobo also has SATA 6.0GB ports whereas the other 2 mobos only have SATA 3.0GB. Will that make any significant difference in unRAID?

I am also building a new system with pretty much the same usage as the OP. I was thinking of an Atom D510 or D525 board from Supermicro, but I am also considering a Core i3 System using the Supermicro X9SCL+-F. I found the D510 for ~ $163, the D525 for ~ $195 and the Core i3 for ~ $160. Now or course the Atom boards include the CPU where the other board does not, so I'd have to also buy a Core i3 2120T 35w CPU for another ~ $135.

 

So that means:

• Atom D510 mobo + CPU = $163
  
• Atom D525 mobo + CPU = $195
  
• Core i3 mobo + CPU      = $295
  

 

I will not be moving to more than 6 drives anytime soon. I am at 3 now with plenty of space. I will not do any transcoding. So even though the Core i3 can run using low power, is it worth it for almost double the price? The Core i3 mobo also has SATA 6.0GB ports whereas the other 2 mobos only have SATA 3.0GB. Will that make any significant difference in unRAID?

 

for straight file sever, all will work exactly the same..

 

last i looked the d525 was cheaper then the d510 for no apparent reason. make sure your comparison models have ipmi (F in the name). that is assuming you want ipmi. the D525 is a better atom board, faster, lower power and DDR3. also while it is not documented.. the D525 will take 8 gigs of ram.

 

the i3 board does offer more expandability for the future.. you could always get a xeon and 16 gigs of ram.

I have all 3 boards. all are solid.  well, almost the same. i have 3 X9SCM's, not SCL+'s and a few of each of those atoms.

 

you mentioned the x9scl+. that DOES NOT have sata6, that board is based on the C202 chipset. so be careful there.

Yeah, I was looking at the F version with IPMI. It sounds like a nice feature to have. Your right about the x9scl+. I read the specs wrong. It is SATA 2.0 not 3.0.

 

I read somewhere that the D525 uses more power than the D510. It wasn't a lot more in relative terms, but it was more. I think I'm going for one of those over the Core i3 system. I don't need to spend more for something I won't use. Heck I've been using an old P4 shuttle for the last 5 years or longer for my unRaid.

 

I haven't seen the Supermicro D525 board cheaper than the D510. Where did you purchase yours from?

 

Now I need to find the right rackmount case for a mini ITX board, 6 drives and an efficient PSU.

Yeah, I was looking at the F version with IPMI. It sounds like a nice feature to have. Your right about the x9scl+. I read the specs wrong. It is SATA 2.0 not 3.0.

 

I read somewhere that the D525 uses more power than the D510. It wasn't a lot more in relative terms, but it was more. I think I'm going for one of those over the Core i3 system. I don't need to spend more for something I won't use. Heck I've been using an old P4 shuttle for the last 5 years or longer for my unRaid.

 

I haven't seen the Supermicro D525 board cheaper than the D510. Where did you purchase yours from?

 

Now I need to find the right rackmount case for a mini ITX board, 6 drives and an efficient PSU.

 

I would choose the mobo/CPU combination that you can find for the lowest initial investment.  The power consumption differences between the various versions of the Atom and the i3 are so slight that it will take years and years of constant use before the money saved on your power bill will balance out a higher initial investment.  We're talking dollars per year...

 

IPMI is a different matter, and it is definitely worth the extra investment - especially if you plan to tuck your server away in a closet or some other out-of-the-way location.  Dragging a monitor and keyboard over to your server to change the boot order after installing a new drive can be, well, a drag

 

I can't wait for the day when I can commission my own motherboard firmware that NEVER changes the boot order.

That is pretty much where I was headed. I'm going to go with either the D525 with IPMI. I think it makes the most sense for my usage. It has a little more grunt over the D510, which may come in handy for unpacking files. From what I understand mini-ITX and micro-ATX are the same for case installation. That should help in finding the proper rackmount case for it.

 

EDIT:

Hmmm. The tested memory list is a bit short for the D525. Can anyone mention the RAM they are using with this board?

I have 4 gigs of kingston on one board that i found using the kingston memory tool on their website.

 

the other board has 8 gigs of crucial that i got the part number from the "product review" on newegg's product page for the board.

if you do run 8 gigs, it will slow the ram down. many of the supermicro boards do that though.

 

Edit:

The 510 vs 525. the 525 uses less electricity but has a higher computing power then the D510. but the amount of electricity savings is only pennies per month. if even that.

 

the mITX form factor should fit in any  modern case made for mITX or larger. its mounting points are shared with most other mother motherboards.

I'm going with the D525 board with IMPI. I found it and 8GB (4GBx2) of RAM for it. I'm now trying to hunt down a good 80 plus Gold power supply. I am not having much luck finding good smaller PSUs. Anyone have any suggestions? What are you other ATOM users using as PSUs? I plan on maxing this unRAID build at 6 storage drives plus maybe a cache SSD. Using the general calculations from the PSU guides it seems my maximum power on bootup would be under 250w.

Yes, I ran a similar box using the SM 1U rackmount case with 80+ 250W PSU (5 green drives external cage plus SSD...worked flawless)

...since the box will probably idle around 40W it would not make a big difference what 80+ level PSU your're going to use.

 

The case I used is the SC503-200, here: http://www.supermicro.nl/products/chassis/1U/503/SC503-200.cfm

The PSU model inside is called PWS-201-1H...maybe you can get it as a spare part.

 

...besides that, AFAIK the smallest single-rail, 80+ gold PSU that is available on the retail market is the Seasonic X400FL, 400W fanless, here: http://www.seasonicusa.com/NEW_X-series_Fanless.htm

Great. Thanks for the info. I do want to rack it eventually. I was hoping for a 2u or 3u with some bays in the front to easily access the drives. That has proved hard to source as well. For now, I'll put it in my own Lian-Li case, which unfortunately does not play well with modular power supplies. Most are too deep once you start plugging in the cables.

I use either Chenbro ES34169 cases or Supermicro 1U chassis.. I also had one in a norco 4224 for a while

 

The mITX should fit into pretty much any case.

 

Most of the 2Us I like are too long for my custom desk rack. I have a maximum depth of just under 22.5". Subtract out room for cables and it is even less that that. I have some 18.5" deep 4Us for my workstations that fit just about right.