hardware for my future Unraid server

[Punisher]

Hi guys,

Hope you are all doing well. In approxametly 2 months or so, i will be creating my first unraid server. Just wanted to know if the hardware i will pick is Ok or not :

Intel i9 9900kf

Asus rog strix z390 gaming-e

32Gb Corsair ddr4 3600 mhz (the plateform will be taken out of my actual pc)

3 Seagate Ironwolf Nas 8Tb

2 Seagate Ironwolf Nas 4Tb

1 Samsung 970 evo plus 500Gb for cache

1000w PSU Corsair 80+ Titanium (taken out of my actual rig)

Maybe a 3080 or 3070 for GPU (for hardware transcoding on Plex and Jellyfin)

And some air cooling for the processor

pc case Cooler Master Storm Stryker or something like that.

 

Also later on can you easily change the plateform ? when a HDD dies is it easy to replace ? even if it is a parity drive ?

 

Thanks to all.

[ConnerVT]

More than solid enough for most uses (there is always someone who wants to run a whole city with their server...).

 

Only observation is that it's unfortunate that the 9900KF you have doesn't have an iGPU.  Intel QuickSync is typically more than enough for transcoding Plex/Jellyfin streams.  Two ideas to think of - Instead of dropping money on a 3070/3080 GPU (way overkill for only transcoding and a lot of wasted wattage), invest that $$ in a compatible CPU with an iGPU or get yourself a Quadro T400 GPU (less power, single slot, and transcodes as well as the gaming GPUs you spoke of).

[Punisher]

Thank you so much for your reply. Something i will have to consider.  Would you know if in the future i would like to have a new plateform with xeon processors, if it is easy to replace ? Any issues ? 

when a HDD dies is it easy to replace ? even if it is a parity drive ?

 

thanks,

[Hoopster]

1 hour ago, Punisher said:

Maybe a 3080 or 3070 for GPU (for hardware transcoding on Plex and Jellyfin)

Is there some reason you want to use a discrete GPU rather than going with the non-F version of the CPU and using the iGPU/Quicksync for transcoding? 

 

I have the Xeon equivalent of the i9-9900K (Xeon E-2288G) and the iGPU/Quicksync is more than enough for 4-5 simultaneous 1080P transcodes.

Edited July 15 by Hoopster

[itimpi]

Swapping to new hardware is normally an easy process as Unraid is largely hardware agnostic.

 

Replacing failed drives is easy as well.   For more detail you may want to look at this part of the online documentation accessible via the ‘Manual’ link at the bottom of the GUI or the DOCS link at the top of each forum page. 

[Punisher]

Ah ok. I thought i needed a lot of power for transcoding.

[Punisher]

Thank you itimpi for the info.

[Hoopster]

2 minutes ago, Punisher said:

Ah ok. I thought i needed a lot of power for transcoding.

Only if you really want to do 4K transcoding and I recommend against that.  it is better to have a 4K/UHD library for local play and 1080P library for remote streaming if you have a lot of 4K content.

 

The iGPU in the 9th generation CPUs is plenty powerful enough for multiple 1080p transcoding streams (and most will just direct play locally) and it will save you a lot of power, money and heat vs. a  3070 or 3080 GPU .  The only time I really see Plex transcoding is when a remote user is streaming or I am streaming to a phone.  Most of the time it is just direct play (often even remotely because I and remote users have plenty of Internet bandwidth).

[Punisher]

got it !!! thank you all for your precious advice.

[bmartino1]

Some specs per your chipset:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/133293/intel-z390-chipset/compatible.html

 

Just wanted to chime in here. I have been running Unraid and plex for more then 10 years now. I have a fairly big growing content library and multiple users who come in from time to time to watch. With 5 steams at once I was able to host all of them without transcoding (direct play) as it was mentioned earlier.
20 simultaneous connections was the max with my hardware...(More ISP)

When hosting older formats such as AVI transcode was required. I have a mixed format of content from mp4/mkv/mpg/etc... and almost all direct play with my setup. I host 1080p and better connect for the stream.

a nvidia p1000- from ebay can easily be added to plex docker / unraid to help transcode needs when they arrive.
https://www.nvidia.com/content/dam/en-zz/Solutions/design-visualization/productspage/quadro/quadro-desktop/quadro-pascal-p1000-data-sheet-us-nv-704475-r1.pdf

Per my signature:
My Main Recommended to all build: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/D8XCxH

Edited July 15 by bmartino1

[Punisher]

wow that's awsome and impressive that you don't need that much for transcoding