Hi all,

 

first off let me say any feedback appreciated.

 

I'd like to think I'm not wasting anyones time by having done some research before posting.

(including, 'Read this before posting a 'new build' thread', and spending a fair bit of time trolling this forum, the lime tech wiki, Raj's prototype builds at http://www.greenleaf-technology.com/blogs/prototypes/index.php,  and the internets

 

I reside in Australia so I was looking to put together a system using components that I could fairly easily get my hands on locally.

 

My end goal is going to be a 15 disk system, primarily for media streaming.

(With respect to capacity - it will all get used eventually I would anticipate stocking the system with 3TB drives, but the start will be 1's, and 2's (maybe lead off with a 3TB parity drive) - all green

 

I'm not looking to blow the bank on this system but by the same token willing to aim higher than bargain basement.

 

I'll be looking to use addons - none particularly picked out at the moment other than sabnzbd, sickbeard, and couch potato

 

 

Without further ado, these are the parts that I am looking to purchase

 

 

Case: ANTEC 902 http://store.antec.com/Product/enclosure-gear_for_gamers/nine-hundred-two/0-761345-15920-3.aspx

PSU: Corsair CX600 V2 http://www.corsair.com/power-supply-units/builder-series/builder-series-cx600-v2-80plus-certified-power-supply.html

 

Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V LX 1155 http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z68V_LX/

RAM : 2X Kingston 2GB DDR3-1333MHZ

 

I haven't looked in to cables yet (I've assumed they will be pretty straight forward - you know what they say about assumption

 

The components below I wasn't planning on buying up front - I think that starting with 3 or 4 drives (with the Antec 902 up to 6) I won't need them initially.

 

SATA Expansion card: Adaptec Raid 1430SA PCI-Express 4 Port SATA 3GBS http://www.adaptec.com/en-us/products/controllers/hardware/sata/entry/aar-1430sa/

 

Drive Bays : Coolermaster 4-in-3 Device Module http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=2542

(I'd actually like a 5-in-3, I can probably use something like www.priceusa.com.au to find a supplier for these down the track)

 

All of these components I have found in the forum and/or wiki and/or Green Leaf http://greenleaf-technology.com - just not in the one system.

 

Anyone care to do a sanity check before I outlay any hard earned?

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

In general your parts look good.  The 600W PSU is a bit of overkill for a 15 Green drive system, the CX500 V2 will do just as nicely (and it may be a bit cheaper).  The motherboard does use the Realtek 8111E NIC which is incompatible with unRAID 4.7, so you'll have to use one of the 5.0 betas.  LimeTech plans to release 5.0 stable by the end of February, so let's hope that happens.

 

The cables for this system will be straight-forward, just standard SATA cables will do.  The Adaptec card also takes standard SATA cables.  However, if you source a Supermicro card from the US then you'll need miniSAS breakout cables as described in my prototypes blog.  I would recommend a 5-in-3 as well, as they make maintenance so much easier.  If you do go for a 5-in-3, be careful not to buy locking SATA cables as they often do not work with 5-in-3s.

Thanks for coming back so quickly Raj.

 

Local suppliers have a CX500 but until I can call them today wasn't sure if it was a V2 or not - maybe it doesn't matter too much, but it was only a $10 jump to the CX600 so I wasn't concerned about that.

 

I forgot to mention that I was planning on throwing an Intel based NIC in and running 4.7 - but I have people talking about b14 being stable, and if the stable 5.0 comes out in a couple of days (potentially) I don't think I'd bother.

 

Kind regards,

Delaney

V1 versus V2 isn't all that big of a change.  Having an overpowered PSU will cause your server to run a bit less efficiently, which will cost more in power over time.  So I would go with the 500W if possible.

 

I too have had pretty good luck with beta 14.  I would suggest starting with that and running some data transfer tests to make sure it is all stable.  If it is, stick with it until the 5.0 stable comes out.  If not, then 4.7 and an Intel NIC is the way to go.

Thanks Raj - turns out it was a V2 - all parts acquired, let the assembly begin, then b14 it is

Just in case anyone was playing along @ home, grabbed these parts today, system assembled and unRAID 5b14 up and running with no problems at all.

 

Just zeroing disks, and setting up parity drive at the moment - will start transfer tests when done.

 

I'll report back just in case anyone was interested in the result.

and if anyone was still playing along at home - everything just worked out of the box

 

(FWIW I have been using a Lexar Firefly 4Gb - went to set up a backup today using a Kingston data traveller (DT101 G2) and no matter what I did - including a mobo bios upgrade, could not get the kingston to boot.)

I'll join the game late...

 

Those asus P8 boards have issues with LSI cards in the PCIe slots.

I am not sure about Adaptec cards.. the supermico's should work though.

Is there any word from Limetech about the release of 5.0 stable/final, that was mentioned before?

Thanks for the heads up JohnM - haven't accumulated enough disks to require expansion cards yet but it is not far away and has always been the plan

 

When you say issues - just curious - do mean getting the LSI cards recognised, or do you mean stability / performance issues during operation?

 

 

@dikkiedirk - Not specifically as part of this conversation (is that what you meant?) - I've just been keeping an eye out for announcements.

 

Apart from a small problem with using unRAID to mount other samba shares (so I can put files on the array - /user/sbin/mount.cifs is missing; I saw I a post from limetech that makes me think it is fixed in the next beta / release) 5b14 has been rock solid in my (limited) experience.

 

Is there any word from Limetech about the release of 5.0 stable/final, that was mentioned before?

 

Nothing since his last 'more news' announcement.

Thanks for the heads up JohnM - haven't accumulated enough disks to require expansion cards yet but it is not far away and has always been the plan

 

When you say issues - just curious - do mean getting the LSI cards recognised, or do you mean stability / performance issues during operation?

 

I believe they do not even power up. there is something in the way the socket is wired.

Yikes 

Yikes 

I ran a pro v3 of this board for a few weeks while I was building Goliath. It was pretty stable on v5beta. Just avoid the lsi cards and you'll be fine.

 

As I recall. The nic card did not run in 4,7 due to lack of drivers and to run a memtest you needed to edit the version in the flash image.

 

Good luck on your build.

 

 

 

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