I plan to upgrade my main Unraid box and repurpose the old parts into a remote backup server. I would appreciate a sanity check on my upgrade plan before pulling the trigger to buy new parts. My budget max is around $800.

 

I use my server to store video editing projects/media and run Plex, Immich, and Paperless. Soon, I would like to use it as a security camera NVR and an alarm system through Home Assistant. Home Assistant will also be driving all of the smart devices in my home.

 

This is my current build:

 

• Case: Fractal Design Define 7 XL
• Motherboard: Supermicro X9SCM-F
• CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 v2
• Heatsink: Artic Freezer 12
• RAM: 4x Micron DDR3 1600 ECC 8GB (32GB total)
• Main Array: 13 HDDs with dual parity - 2x12TB, 7x6TB, 4x4TB (58TB total)
• Cache: 8x2TB SSDs in RAID-Z2 (12TB total)
• HBA: 2x LSI 9201-8i
• 10Gbe NIC: AQC107S
• GPU: GeForce GTX 980 (doesn't do H265 transcodes)
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x

 

First, I will move the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and one of the HBAs into a remote backup box with this build:

 

• Additional lifetime Unraid license [$250]
• Case: Saggitarius 8-bay case [~$165 new] 
• Motherboard: Supermicro X9SCM-F [already own]
• CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 v2 [already own]
• Heatsink: Artic Freezer 12 [already own]
• RAM: 4x Micron DDR3 1600 ECC 8GB (32GB total) [already own]
• Main array: 8 HDDs with single parity - 8x4TB (28TB total) [already own]
• Cache: Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB [already own]
• HBA: LSI 9201-8i [already own]
• GPU: None
• 10Gbe NIC: None
• Power Supply: Corsair RM650 [already own]

 

Finally, the main machine upgrade. I'm torn between building around an Intel Xeon E5-2600 v1, v2, v3, or v4 with a preference for v2. I have been avoiding the AM4 socket because I can't find a cheap motherboard with ECC, IPMI, and at least 3 PCIe slots. I am struggling with which CPU to choose. Here's a comparison chart for the v2s and one for the v4s.

 

This is what I'm leaning towards:

 

• Case: Fractal Design Define 7 XL (fits up to EATX) [already own]
• Motherboard: Supermicro X9SRL-F [~$100 used]
• CPU: Intel Xeon e5-2680 v2 [~$10 used]
• Heatsink: Noctua ND-D15 [~$50 used]
• RAM: 2x Samsung DDR3 1600 ECC 32GB (64GB total) [~$24 used]
• Main Array: 13 HDDs with dual parity - 2x12TB, 7x6TB, 4x4TB (58TB total) [already own]
• Cache: 8x2TB SSDs in RAID-Z2 (12TB total) [already own]
• HBA: LSI 9201-16i [~$100 used]
  • The case supports 18 HDDs, which I plan to eventually fill. With those 18 drives and my cache (8 drives), I need to support 26 SATA3 drives in total. With the motherboard's 10 onboard SATA3 ports + this HBA, I'll have exactly 26.
• 10Gbe NIC: AQC107S [already own]
• GPU: Nvidia Quadro P400 [~$30 used]
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x [already own]

 

Total cost (including backup server expenses):  $734

 

Given the above, I'm wondering how much RAM I really need, so I just assumed 2 sticks of 32GB for a total of 64GB. I also don't know if I'm short-changing myself on the GPU and should upgrade to a P2000. My Plex library consists mainly of H264 1080p files, but I'd like to watch certain content in 4K in the future.

 

Here's an alternate build that is $100 more and has higher power usage but better performance.

 

• Case: Fractal Design Define 7 XL (fits up to EATX) [already own]
• Motherboard: Supermicro X10SRi-F [~$100 used]
• CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2660 v4 [~$20 used]
• Heatsink: Noctua ND-D15 [~$50 used]
• RAM: 2x Crucial DDR4 2400 ECC 32GB (64GB total) [~$60 used]
• Main Array: 13 HDDs with dual parity - 2x12TB, 7x6TB, 4x4TB (58TB total) [already own]
• Cache: 8x2TB SSDs in RAID-Z2 (12TB total) [already own]
• HBA: LSI 9201-16i [~$100 used]
• 10Gbe NIC: AQC107S [already own]
• GPU: Nvidia Quadro P2000 [~$50 used]
• Power Supply: Corsair RM850x [already own]

 

Total cost (including backup server expenses): $830

 

Now that I'm writing this all out, it seems like I shouldn't cheap out and just build around the v4 CPU. But my questions remain:

 

• Which CPU should I choose given my use case with video editing and a handful of dockers?
• How much RAM do I realistically need? Should I buy a different configuration instead of just 2 sticks?
• It seems silly not to spend $20 more for the Quadro P2000, right?

 

Thank you for any input!

There are also an option to build something as a disk shelf, when you need doing backup, just power it on and after all disk detect then mount it by UD. When backup finish, then unmount those disk and power off the shelf. I notice you use two HBA in Unraid, you may consider use expander to provide necessary fanout of SATA port.

 

The pons are you don't need extra licence and more power green and may got best backup speed.

Edited January 25, 20251 yr by Vr2Io

Are you talking about replacing the backup server with a disk shelf? If so, the backup server will be placed at my friend's home.

What does this mean?

Quote

mount it by UD

What does this mean?

Quote

use expander to provide necessary fanout of SATA port

Thanks!

If Unrad and backup locate in different location or far away each other, then you need both are standalone server.