Hi all,

 

I've been looking into NAS systems for a while now, and I think unRaid is the way to go for me. I'm looking to build a NAS to store my media (movies, tv-shows, music, photos). I would start with 2 of 3 drives, and a parity drive, however, I'd like to be able to expand my NAS to about 8-9 drives. Besides storing data, I'd also like to use a couple of plug-ins. The main ones would be SABnzbd/CouchPotato/SickBeard, Plex Media Server and maybe a Torrent plug-in. Plex would have to be able to stream to my iPad, so the NAS needs to be strong enough to transcode 1080P streams.

 

I'm an absolute beginner regarding NAS-drives, and I don't know any Linux commands, but I do know how to use Google Would I be right in stating it would be easier to install plug-ins on unRaid 5(beta), rather than 4.7?

Also, is it necessary to have a cache-drive to use those plug-ins? Particularly SABnzbd.

 

I don't have any parts laying around, so I'd have to buy everything new. (Mac user)

So far I've found these parts, but I'm wondering if there are any cheaper solutions for what I need. Budget would be around €700 tops (without HDD's), but I'd like it to be less.

What is important to me, besides the speed for Plex, is that it has to be as silent as possible, while using the least amount of power. During the first year, the NAS would be in my bedroom, a bit of a hum isn't a problem, but it shouldn't be too loud.

 

Motherboard: SuperMicro X9SCM-F - http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/xeon/c202_c204/x9scm-f.cfm - €165

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220L - http://ark.intel.com/nl/products/53401/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1220L-(3M-Cache-2_20-GHz) - €186,46

 

PSU: Seasonic X-400 Fanless - http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/259804/seasonic-x-400-fanless.html - €122,90

 

Case: Sharkoon Rebel9 Economy - http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/node/1042 - €37,10

 

SSD as scratch disc: http://www.alternate.be/html/product/Solid_State_Disk_2,5_inch_SATA/OCZ/AGT3-25SAT3-120G/554707/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Harddisks&l2=SSD&l3=SATAp

 

5in3: Supermicro CSE-M35T-1 - €126,14

 

I haven't looked into the RAM yet, that will probably be 4 or 8Gb, but it's cheap enough so it's not a big deal.

 

The prices are very rough, and will probably be a bit lower than the actual price. They are taken from www.tweakers.net, which is a Dutch site and I'm located in Belgium.

As you can see, the CPU and Motherboard take up quite a chunk of the budget, and I'm not really sold on the case either. The server would be on 24/7, so if you guys think this motherboard/CPU will hold up beter than a cheaper alternative, feel free to advise me, that's why I ask!

 

Finally, another question that hasn't got anything to do with hardware, but since I'm here... I'd be looking to buy the NAS in June through August. Is there any chance unRaid 5 will be out of beta by then? Since I'm looking to use the server as smooth as possible.

 

Thanks for reading and hopefully you guys can advise me!

 

EDIT: come to think of it, another option would be to get a cheaper (and slower) unRaid server, and buy a Mac Mini to handle Plex, SABnzbd, Sickbeard, CouchPotato,... I already got that stuff running on my Macbook, so chances of running into software issues are smaller.

That board is a rock solid solid board made for 24x7 enterprise level use.

The IPMI feature is nice. You can remote control it and don't need to have a keyboard, monitor or mouse on it.

 

That chip is a bit of an oddity. that is an I3 chip no video card and VT-d on it..

It is a nice base for a low power ESXi server.. It is sort of hard to find in the US at a reasonable price.

(they are made for Dell and HP for Low power ESXi or file servers)

 

I actually do like that case. i wish they were available in the US.

 

The SSD would make the cache/app drive fast. that's for sure.

 

Seasonic PSUs are worth every penny... solid.

 

It sounds like a very nice build made with top of the line parts.

 

As far as the mac mini idea, you could put ESXi on that server. then put unRAID and LION on top of that for a pretty good performance.

You would have to do some minor hacking to get the MAC part working.

You would also want to pick up an HBA card to make the unraid part easier to use.

this makes it a little more difficult than beginner in a way, but still not that difficult with some google-fu

 

I've done some more reading and I think I'll change the Xeon I3 to an Core I3 2100T. It's cheaper and it has a graphics chip.

 

I'm not set at the SSD at the moment, I'm looking at the Crucial M4 64Gb. It gets decent reviews online and I wouldn't write that much data every day (except when I transfer everything the first time).

 

Now all that's left for me to do is save a bit of money, I don't think this build can get much better to be honest.

you wont need the CPU's graphics chip with that board. it has a built in matrox video card.

But cheaper is always better.

 

Keep in mind, you do loose the option to run ESXi on the system if you go I3. if thats something you're considering in the future.

If you ever do go SSD down the road, consider the new marvel based SSD'd they have advanced garbage collection on them for systems like unraid.

 

the ssd is one of those things, the longer you wait. the cheaper and faster it becomes..