french_guy Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Hello What would be a good and cheap mini ITX card to build a new Unraid server (I already have one with a micro ATX card)? Thanks Quote Link to comment
vca Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 The main issues with going with an ITX motherboard tend to be: 1. the number of SATA ports 2. lack of PCI-e 4x slots (which are the best way to add more SATA ports) 3. local availability 4. sometimes they need odd power supplies so replacement can be a problem in the future If you are happy with a maximum of 4 hard drives then there are some options, take a look at www.newegg.com and search their motherboards section for "ITX" to see what's out there. Regards, Stephen Quote Link to comment
trurl Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I have a mini-ITX in my system, with 4 SATA on mobo and 4 SATA on 1430SA. No hardware issues since I built it about a year ago. I don't expect to ever need more. Quote Link to comment
S80_UK Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 I have used Gigabyte GA-D510UD (dual core Atom) and Asrock H67M-ITX which I use with an i3-2125 processor. They both have four SATA ports on board. The Gigabyte has standard PCI. I did use it with a four port SIL3114 based card and it was very reliable as a basic file server. The Asrock card has PCI-e x16 and so works with PCI-e x4 or x8 PCI-e cards such as the Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 which I am currently using. Gigabyte also have the GA-D525UD (similar to the GA-D510UD but supports DDR3 RAM) and they have socket 1155 boards if you need a bit more processing power. Quote Link to comment
Rajahal Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 I'm a big fan of the ZOTAC GF6100-E-E. It goes on sale for as low as $15 sometimes. The Supermicro Atom boards are also very nice, but pricey. Quote Link to comment
Queball Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 I'm a bit fan of the ZOTAC GF6100-E-E. It goes on sale for as low as $15 sometimes. The Supermicro Atom boards are also very nice, but pricey. What/is there recommended HD controller to use 7-8 HDs on this board? I have my eye on this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112339 Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment
Rajahal Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 I use these extremely inexpensive PCIe x1 SATA cards: SATA2 Serial ATA II PCI-Express RAID Controller Card (Silicon Image SIL3132) They work perfectly with the Zotac board, but they will only give you 2 more SATA ports for a total of 6. To get to 7 or 8 you'll need to either use a 4 port PCIe x1 card or a port multiplier, both of which will be a bottleneck in your system and slow down your parity checks. If you want to get to 7 or 8 HDDs without bottlenecks, then you'll need to use a more expensive board, such as the Supermicro X7SPA-HF, which sells for about $220 on Newegg. Quite the price jump, I know... Quote Link to comment
S80_UK Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 There are PCI-e versions of the SIL3124 controller based cards which would give four ports on a PCI-e x1 connection... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-0Gbps-SATA-II-4-PORTS-PCIe-RAID-Control-Card-SIL3124C-/221005017548 The SIL3124 chip is supported by unRAID but I have only ever used the slower PCI versions. The PCI-e version looks like it may use a couple of port-multipliers for some reason - has anyone tried one of these..? Quote Link to comment
chickensoup Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I'm a big fan of the ZOTAC GF6100-E-E. It goes on sale for as low as $15 sometimes. The Supermicro Atom boards are also very nice, but pricey. There's a really old topic where Raj was involved in the testing for this board if you want to check it out: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7250.15 Note: The topic says that it is not recommended by the wiki however if you read through it seems any apparent issues were resolved. I would be a little cautious of Zotac motherboards though as I haven't had an overly positive experience with them. They make absolutely fantastic video cards however their motherboards appear to be a little bit hit & miss. Quote Link to comment
Rajahal Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 I have two of the Zotac boards and have had no issues with them. I paid between $15 and $30 for each of them. Can't beat that! Quote Link to comment
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