Hi,

 

I am currently looking at options to provide more space for my media collection and for a better ability to provide 24x7 access to my media.

 

My current setup is :

 

Main PC : 1 x 64Gb SSD, 8 X 1Tb 7200rpm Seagate drives (in raid 5 on a Dell Perc 6/i controller), 2 x 2Tb drives (no Raid)

Buffalo TeraStation : 4 x WD 1Tb 7200rpm drives in raid 5.

 

Issues I currently have is that my main machine is a tad full with it backing up data to both the 2 x 2Tb drives and the TeraStation  (both required to do a full backup). I also need to leave my machine on when we want to stream media on the network to the xbox or other computers and it is quite power hungry (2600k overclocked to 4.5ghz).

 

My collection of 'spare' parts include the following which I was hoping would be suitable to build an unRaid server out of.

 

Case : Antec 900 or Antec 1200 (used as my main pc but with the reduction in drives, I could move back to the 900)

Motherboard : Asus P5Q Pro (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_775/P5Q_PRO/) - Installed in Antec 900 at the moment

CPU : E8400 (overclocked to 3.6Ghz) - Installed on P5Q pro at the moment

CPU Cooler : Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

RAM : 4Gb GeIL Black Dragon PC2-8500C5

Sata Controller : Dell Perc 6/i with battery. Already has 2 x 4 sata breakout cables. (would not be used to provide any raid functions in this unit)

PSU - Nothing available and would need to purchase.

USB Drive : Would need to purchase as well as a header.

Drive Caddys - Nothing available but am looking at X-Case caddies - http://www.xcase.co.uk/hotswap-stoarge-kit-p/hddkit-xx-500.htm

 

On the hard drive front, I need to be careful in which ones I install first as I need to have at least one copy of the data available to copy over but am thinking on installing 1 of the 2Tb drives as the parity drive and then the 8 x 1Tb drives from my main pc as a starter and once the data has finished copying, moving the 2nd 2Tb drive and the other 4 x 1Tb drives from the TeraStation into the unRaid box . I also need to upgrade my SSD as the 64gb is no longer big enough so could possible use that as a cache drive if its suitable. Its an OCZ Vertex 2 if that helps.

 

My main aims are to use this as a media server and backup area. I do use newsgroups and sickbeard as well but guess this would need to remain on my current machine and let it copy the files over.  Hopefully everything is suitable but if you can confirm that, it would put my mind at risk.

 

Thanks for your help.

Your motherboard does not have built-in video.  Do you have a PCI video card laying around?  If so, use that.  If not, you may be able to find one for cheap on eBay.  A PCIe video card will work as well, but try to keep as many of your PCIe slots available for SATA controllers as possible.

 

Either Antec case will work well for a server.  I personally would use the 1200 for a server and the 900 for a desktop.

 

I have no experience with the Dell Perc 6/i, so I don't know if it will work.  No reason not to just try it out.  However, if you already have a RAID 5 running on it, won't you need to copy all of that data off of those drives before proceeding with any of this?

 

Once you get your server up and running, you can run Twonky on it to stream your media to your Xbox 360 without having to leave your main computer on all the time.  We at Greenleaf are currently in the final stages of developing a Twonky unMenu package.

 

This thread will help you choose a PSU.  I recommend Corsair and Seasonic as being the best brands.  You have a lot of 7200 RPM drives, so you will need a beefier PSU than most.

 

The X-case caddy (called the Norco SS-500 here in the states) is a great choice.  Keep in mind that you will have to flatten the tabs separating the 5.25" bays in your case before you can install this unit.  I highly recommend that you do this BEFORE installing any electronics or other stuff into the case.  You can use a deep c-clamp to accomplish this, or some people prefer to grind them off.

 

Your CPU will do fine.  If it has been overclocked stabling for quite some time now, then it is probably fine to leave it.  However, in general I would not recommend overclocking a CPU in a server - you want stability and reliability above speed.  If you do end up transcoding with Twonky, then the extra bit of CPU power may help.

 

Your RAM is fine.  Most USB flash drives will work, but I recommend either the Verbatim Clip-It or the Kingston MobileLiteG2 with an SD card installed.  The latter will allow you to swap out or upgrade the flash memory without losing your unRAID key.  Pretty much any USB header will work also, but that part is technically optional.

 

You can run SABnzbd, couchpotato, and sickbeard on your server if you wish.  Kyle (prostuff1) wrote packages for all three.

 

The 64 GB SSD as a cache drive isn't a bad idea if you want to run any of the add-ons I've mentioned thus far.  A small (500 GB or less) HDD will work just as well.

 

Your data migration is going to be tricky as it sounds like both your desktop RAID 5 and your Buffalo TeraStation RAID 5 are full.  Is that true?  If not, how much free space on each drive or RAID do you have to play with?

 

I can find a pci card somewhere - think I had one at work from memory. Good point as I hadn't thought of that.

 

I do have raid 5 running on the perc controller but that data is backed up to the two 2tb drives and the nas box so was thinking of moving the raid drives over to the unraid box, then copying the data back over from the nas and 2Tb drives. Once that is done, then installing them into unraid box to bring it up to its full total. Free space on the perc raid is down to 400Gb hence the thoughts of merging the lot together. It will mean I will lose the full backup of dual copies that I have now but unraid means that the loss of the entire array is not so much of an issue as it is currently.

 

Cpu has been overclocked for around 2 years so tempted to leave it as is and use the extra speed.

 

PSU - I have an HX850 in the desktop at the moment so might get another of these as they are decent quality.

 

From looking at the dell Perc 6/i a bit more online, it appears that there is no option to use it in a jbod mode but instead, you have to run raid 0 on each drive in order for the OS to see it. A bit of an issue with that in terms on using it so it would appear that I need a different sata controller as well. Something like this (http://www.scan.co.uk/products/supermicro-aoc-saslp-mv8-8-port-sas-sata-300mb-s-pci-e-controller-card) with 2 of these (http://www.scan.co.uk/products/supermicro-cbl-0097l-02-1-x-36-pin-4i-mini-multilane-sas-(sff-8087)-to-4-x-7-pin-serial-ata) I guess.

 

Thanks for your help.