Alright, so I was originally going to go with Raj's 3 drive microserver, which I would immediately max out once I transferred existing media to it(well, with current size disks anyway). I figured if I'm building it I might as well build myself a little headroom in it, so I decided to change designs. The 6 drive build looks good, but a few of the parts are out of stock or unavailable.

 

I know it sounds dumb, but I'm wanting to "future proof" as well as keeping the cost as close to the 3 drive design as possible. With current rebates and discounts, I was coming in at $190 for everything I needed(minus the drives because I already have them). I am of course willing to spend more than this, say up to $300 but under if possible.

 

I am planning on making use of hotswap bays in the future, but because I don't have that many HDD's its not important now, I can get them when I need them. The Gigabyte case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233039 looks as if it will suit my needs well for now as well as the near future, as does the Apex case. Ideally I want a simple case, no UFO lighting necessary.

 

Gigabyte GZ-XSBPD-500 Black http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233039

Apex SK-386 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154088

 

For the MB, I'm still leaning towards the Zotac GF6100-E-E paired with the Sempron 145. I'm still a little uneasy about this with Sab/Sickbeard running, but since so many people seem to run with that processor and have no problems, I suppose its fine. It also may be I'm use to the unraring and repairing happening on the HTPC that slowdown worries me, where on the server I shouldn't notice it much. Another option for the MB would be the ECS A880GM-M7. On sale for 49.99 its only a few dollars more than the Zotac, has two additional sata ports and supports DDR3.

 

Zotac GF6100-E-E http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500045

ECS A880GM-M7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135278

 

For the ram, if I go with the ECS, I'll get the Crucial 8GB(2 x 4GB) Low Voltage ram.

 

Crucial Ram - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148477

 

 

So....what do ya think?

Raj has a new budget board selected that will work up with 2 hbas and AMD chip. 20 drives ain't to shabby.

 

Look here http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=11900.msg164923#msg164923

I looked at that one, but since I plan on running the latest beta, it appears the Atheros would work, and I really don't like the side mounted Sata ports. Additionally, I do plan on using this as my Unraid build for now, but when the funds are available I plan to switch this board out with my current desktop which is slightly deprecated, being an AM2 board supporting DDR2. Therefore without switching cases, Micro-ATX is my only choice.

 

Any other suggestions? I suppose I'm going to place the order, a lot of the deals I've got end today. Here is the current spec:

 

Case: Rosewill GEAR X3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147121  : Cost: $39.99 after $15 instant and $25 Promo Code (Regular $79.99)

Motherboard: ECS 880GM-M7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135278  :  Cost: $49.99 after $20 Instant and $39.99 after $10 Mail-In-Rebate

PSU: Corsair CX430V2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026  :  Cost: $28.74 after $5 instant, $6.75 promo, and $10 Mail-In-Rebate

RAM: Crucial DDR3-1600 2x4GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148477  :  Cost: $37.99 after $7 instant

CPU: AMD Sempron 145(From Recommended build) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888 $39.99 after nothing, couldn't find any sale or promos on this, but its dirt cheap as it is so who cares.

 

Total Cost: $208.19 (including the whole $1.99 Shipping)

 

After Mail-In-Rebates(if they ever come): $188.19

 

I think this(if it weren't for the fact I saved ALOT with rebates, instant and otherwise,) would qualify for a budget build for Raj.

I believe you will have issues with that board's Atheros NIC and unRAID 4.7, but it should work with the latest beta.  I'm 99% sure that is one of the boards I recently tested for my 'budget board' accolade and found the NIC to be incompatible with 4.7 and fully compatible with 5.0-beta-14, but I'm traveling at the moment and don't have access to my testing notes.

 

All of your other components look great.

That board is one the one you tested that had compatibility issues with UNraid. I do plan on running the latest beta so hopefully I will be fine, but worst case scenario I do have a compatible NIC laying around.

 

Parts are due to arrive tomorrow, but I have UNraid loaded up and currently preclearing my first drive in a spare machine. Waiting for my Pro license key to come in, which I figure will be in tomorrow.

 

The build won't be as sexy as one of your prototype builds without the hotswap bays, but since the case holds the drives I need now, I didn't want to buy them yet. When I expand I will buy the hotswap bays (two 3x2 Hotswap bays) which will raise my capacity to 12 drives, or at 2 TB a drive a 20 TB max with a cache and parity.

 

Right now I'll be at 3.25 TB (my newest drive purchase was a 2 TB, so that will go into parity and leaves me with a 1 TB, 1.5 TB, and 750 GB). I'll probably purchase another drive in the next coming weeks once everything is setup and running smoothly.

 

But of course, with new goodies on the way, tragedy had to strike. My WD 1 TB is showing signs of imminent failure in the way that it is now EXTREMELY loud and makes plenty of funny noises. Smart test shows error on read within seconds. A low-level format fixed this, so now drive passes all smart tests, but is still loud enough I know it will fail soon. RMA# is ready to go, just have to package the drive and give it to UPS when my packages arrive tomorrow. Atleast it failed before going into unraid causing a bunch of parity checks and rebuilds, haha.

Sounds like you've got a solid plan.  Sorry to hear about the 1 TB drive...I highly recommend WD's advanced replacement option.  It costs $10, but it saves you a ton of time and hassle by shipping the replacement drive first, and providing the packaging you need to return the defective drive.  They also cover return shipping, which generally costs $5-$10 anyway.

I'm not too sad about it, atleast it failed now. WD's 5 year warranty came in handy, I've had the drive for around 4 years now. As we all know, most things don't fail until a day after the warranty expires.

 

I didn't go for the advance replacement as I figured (when I did the RMA) that I'd send it off and have the drive around the same time as my server components, but I didn't forsee my negligible nature getting in the way, I kept forgetting to pick up a box and some bubble wrap. So hence now the plan is to send it off when the components arrive. Just got the bubble wrap today...

 

I've been lurking around UNraid for a while now, first time I looked at it was a couple years ago, but with only 1TB to worry about(and not even close to full at that) I wasn't ready to get onboard with a server yet. Now, with over 3 TB, I'm looking at how long it'd take me to replace anything lost, the downtime involved, and how much it is costing to run my multi-use pc 24/7, the investment to UNraid is minimal.

 

It also doesn't help I'm more comfortable with linux now than I use to be.

 

Sadly it will take some time to get "operational" as I'm having to clear drive 1, transfer from drive 2 to 1, then clear drive 2 and repeat. Luckily I did catch the WD failing in time so I was able to get everything off of it, and had the spare 750GB laying around as the first drive to clear, just get to shuffle a lot of files around to make it all work.

 

Now to just find a 250-320GB hdd for my cache drive... I believe a consignment shop in town has a few newer PC's for around $40, see what I can score there

Just got the bubble wrap today...

 

You might want to double-check WD's shipping requirements.  I don't believe a bubble wrapped drive will cut the mustard...(it might even void your warranty).

According to their shipping requirements its fine.

 

"All products require stable and sufficient packing material, needed to protect the product from ESD (Electro Static Discharge) influences and possible damage during transport. Required Packaging Steps:

A. Place drive in ESD (Electro Static Discharge) Bag (For internal drives only. Not using an ESD Bag will void the warranty on the drive.)

B. Wrap with 2 inches of bubble wrap or non-movable foam cushioning

C. Place in sturdy cardboard box. Do not use chipboard, as it is not strong enough to withstand the rigors of transit. Please make sure the corrugated carton is free from defects and is structurally sound. Note: Returning a WD hard drive in an envelope, will void the warranty."

 

Its in a helluva sturdy box that has been in transit, so I know it'll withstand the rigors, is wrapped in more than likely 3-4 inches in bubble wrap, and inside a ESD bag. Thanks for the heads up, good that I checked it, haha.

 

A little update though, first drive has passed the preclear, currently transferring content from one drive to it, but I'll have to stop until I can go get another HDD, didn't realize the two that were left are nearly full, so I can't fit all the content on the drive in the array. So in the mean time I'm moving Pictures, home videos, and music as that is what will be on the drive fulltime. Nice to see my share pop up in windows though, even if I have to redo any shares and configurations that have to do with the disk placement once I put the in their permanent home.

 

One question though, for windows 7, how do I change the workgroup? I'd like for it to be hidden under that extra "layer" so I want to change the workgroup name, but Win7 keeps denying me saying the workgroup already exists and will not let me join it.

I'm not sure what you mean by the extra layer, but to change your workgroup in Win 7, go to Control panel > System and Security > System > Change Settings > Change.  Ignore all of Win7's homegroup crap, that is a different beast.

 

It must be Seagate that doesn't allow bubble wrap.  I'm glad you checked.

By extra layer I meant every Windows PC is set by default to WORKGROUP, if I change it, anyone that is within range and actually manages to hack my network, still wouldn't see the server without A. Knowing the address or B. Being in the same workgroup. It is however, unlikely as I do have the wireless locked down by Mac address.

 

Thanks for the help, I don't know why it wouldn't let me change it before, kept telling me the workgroup was already in use...

Ah, I see.  If you want that type of security, you can set your server to export all shares as 'hidden'.  This means that you have to type in the exact address to access the share, you can't just browse for it.  On your computers, you can use either mapped drives or shortcuts so that the computer remembers the exact address each time and you don't have to type it in each time.  The other option is to use unRAID's user level security and restrict server access to certain users.  If you set your unRAID username and password exactly the same as your Windows username and password, then you'll be able to log in each time automatically.