Which parts should I use?

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I am thinking of trying unRAID for myself. To start, I'd like to build a box from all the spare parts I have lying around.

 

One of the main suggestions I need is which motherboard I should use. I have these 3 motherboards:

    MSI K8NGM2-FID

    Foxcon NF4SK8AA-8KRS

    Asus A8N-SLI Premium

 

From the reading I've done so far, I should probably go with either the Foxcon or the Asus since the MSI doesn't have a compatible ethernet controller. The Asus mobo seems like overkill, so I'm thinking I should probably use the Foxcon.

 

The rest of the hardware will be as follows:

    AMD Opteron 175 (overkill, but is an extra laying around)

    1 or 2 sticks of 1GB Patriot RAM (I know it only supports 1GB, but it can't hurt to throw 2 sticks in does it?)

    Nvidia Geforce 7600GT (only spare PCI-E video card available)

    3x200GB SATA HDD

    XClio GoodPower 500W power supply

    PQI Intelligent Stick 2.0 512MB

 

All of this will be in a Thermaltake MozartTx, which has 6 internal hard drive bays and 5 external 5 1/4" bays for future expandability. (Not to mention tons and tons of room to work in.)

 

If unRAID works for me, this probably won't be the final hardware layout of course. This would be to try it out for now and see how it works for me. I would be using the unRAID box to store DVD images, music files (mp3, flac, and wma), and video files (avi, wmv, mov, and mkv).

 

With all this, are there any suggestions or comments? I am definately open to what you all think.

[NLS]

I don't know the specifics of those mobos but things to note:

 

1) (personal feeling) Linux and AMD seems to me a bit risky (note that many people here DO use AMD CPU for unRAID)

 

2) since some betas, unRAID does support 4GB

 

3) the 7600GT is an overkill definitely

 

4) using 3 200 disks will give you a 400GB array - the system shows its abilities better when using more disks (just because you have much better ratio of real GB vs. usable GB) - you DO know you can use any size disks right? (don't have to be the same)

 

5) select the board with the most IDE/SATA buses - they will come on handy in the future (except if you plan to move to other hardware anyway, after testing)

 

6) DEFINITELY select a board with the (working) GbE NIC

 

 

[WeeboTech]

If they are all spare parts to test with you should be OK

I'm laughing that you have a mozartTX as a spare part lying around LOL! I love that case. always wanted one.

 

One for the workstation and to mount a lil mini itx machine internally for an unraid array! 

 

I think eventually you'll have to swap out that video card to something a lil less power hungry.

I just bought a PCIe ati passive cooled video card for the task. ($14.00)

 

Linux and AMD should be OK, but the kernel is not optimized for it, nor will you benefit from any power/cpu speed management without recompiling the kernel.

 

If you do plan to move to other hardware, look into the Abit AB9 PRO.

You can have 9 internal SATA drives on the motherboard alone.

3 of the internal ports will support port multipliers yielding a possibility of 5+5+5+6 internal ports + 1 external port (port multiplier capable too).

[RobJ]

I believe the MSI network chipset (Vitesse) is probably supported (forcedeth driver), but I would like to add a caution as to those boards, all nForce 4 series motherboards.  See this post for my thoughts about nForce4:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=1771.msg12402#msg12402.  Hopefully, you will have better success than I did.

 

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I've seen it mentioned many times that AMD based boards aren't the ideal solution for unRAID. I'm just using one of these motherboards just for experimental testing. I did a quick build on Newegg and was quite surprised at how cheap an unRAID solution would be to build. A whole system, including case, motherboard, cpu, memory, video card, and even 4x750GB drives comes to about 850 shipped. Not bad at all for over 2TB storage with parity.

 

The MozartTX isn't actually a spare case. I'm using it right now as my main computer. The main reason I got it was I wanted the room for all the hard drives I have. Overall, I have 1x500GB, 4x320GB, 1x300GB, 2x250GB, and 3x200GB hard drives between my main computer and my HTPC. This is why unRAID is so attractive for me. I can just put 1 or 2 drives in each computer and throw the rest in the unRAID server.

 

I do have another question that Weebotech got me thinking about. Since the MozartTX also has the capability to have both an ATX board and an ITX board, how well would an ITX board work with unRAID? Would I be quite limited in drives? Are there any good ITX boards that work well with unRAID? Other than being limited in drives, I would think that would be a great low power solution.

 

Unfortunately, I have a concert tomorrow night and its going to basically shoot my whole day for Sunday. I'm hoping that through the week, I have some spare time to get this built and let you guys know how it works for me. Thanx for all the help so far.

[JorgeB]

Just for reference, and because this is the hardware I had spare, I’m in the process of building my 4th unraid tower and all are working perfect with AMD boards.

 

Tower 1

Asus M2N-MX

Sempron 3200

10 disks

 

Tower 2

Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe

AMD 64 3000

14 disks

 

Tower 3

Asus K8N4-E SE

AMD 64 3700

9 disks

 

Tower 4

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum

AMD 64 3700

3 disks for now

 

[WeeboTech]

Are there any good ITX boards that work well with unRAID?

I've built two.

One with a jetway AMD Geode.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813153052

 

With the Jetway, I had to get the 1GB daughter card.

 

One with an MSI

http://www.logicsupply.com/products/ms_7265

 

With each of these I needed a PCI card for the addiional ports.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816102065

 

This was recommended to me, but I never went this route.

http://www.logicsupply.com/products/kino_690s1

 

ITX is not the cheapest solution.

I had considered a via, but just never dove in. I've always heard how the via's are

Although, I bet they will be fast enough for a small unraid server.

 

If I were going ITX route with a lot more disks, I would choose a SIL3124 PCI card so I could use port multipliers.

I built it in the Chenbro NAS case. It's cute and does what I wanted it to do.

http://www.logicsupply.com/products/es34069

 

Right now I have the MSI and a core 2 duo 2.33ghz chip in there.

I had planned to do other additional things with the machine which is why it's beefy.

 

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I did a little searching on my own and found this ITX board. Looking at the specifications, this could make for a pretty good board for unRAID.

 

http://www.portwell.com/products/detail.asp?CUSTCHAR1=WADE-8656

 

 

[WeeboTech]

SWEET!! Now.. where can you find one to purchase at a decent price.

I saw one place at $350 for the motherboard alone.

 

I would consider it, however I think with the MSI board + mobile CPU + card you would hit the same price point.

Also consider the jetway comes with a CPU already.

The only issue is handling the extra ports with a Promise card or something similar.

How much room does your case have for the ITX configuration?

 

Keep in mind, you do not need a very powerful CPU to run unRAID on.

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So far, from what I've researched so far, I will probably use a full ATX board like the Abit AB9-Pro to start and build from there. It also helps that I just purchased the Abit IP35 Pro for my HTPC along with an E3110 Xeon (basically the same as the E8400) and I've been really happy with the features and stability on the Abit board.

 

Thanx again for all the comments. I think it is now time for me to dive in and actually get my unRAID going. Wish me luck.