Ive been reading through the forum for the past few weeks after learning about unraid from the xbmc forums. I am far from fully knowledgeable about it but I believe I have a basic understanding, enough that is to put my money where my mouth is 

The fact that my 2tb NAS is full is also a big reason.

 

I've decided to go for a 12 HDD Capable unRAID Server as 3 x 4-in-3 Drive Cages will keep things nice and neat and easily up-gradable if needs be. All it will be used for is storage for my media and running a few scripts - sick,sab,couch

 

Below is my proposed list of parts, please critique and scream at me if there rubbish or overkill!

CPU: AMD A6-3500

Motherboard: ASUS F1A75-V, FM1, ATX

RAM: 4GB-Kit Kingston ValueRAM PC3-10667U CL9

Case: Revoltec Fifty 3, ATX

Drive Cage(s): ICY BOX IB-554SK for 4 HDD's they are pretty expensive though, im considering Cooler Master 4 in 3 HDD Module Device

The ICY Box is 110 euro where as the Cooler Master is only 28 euro. Nearly 1/4 of the price. But is the difference worth it?

Power Supply: Corsair Builder Series CX430 V2, 430 Watt

SATA Expansion Card(s): I dont have a clue which one to get. Im ordering from here

Cables: Good Connections® SATA 6Gb/s Will these do?

Fans: I dont think I need anymore do I?

 

For HDD im going to get 4 first. 4 x 2tb. 1 for parity, 1 for cache, 2 for storage.

 

Ive read not to buy HDD together as they could be a bad batch but what about buying 2 at a time. Is that considered safe/unsafe. As I was going to get 2 EARS and 2 EARX.

 

Also between these two is there any in particular that would be better for cache and parity or are they all the same?

 

To complete the build (12 HDDs in place) I was told I would need 11 x SATA-II cables,  a Molex To 2-Molex Power Connector Cables, 2 x Molex To 4-SATA Power Connector cables, 2 x 2 Port PCI-Express x1 Sata-II Cards and a 2 Port PCI Sata Card.

I am really lost about the cables,connectors and sata card. I dont know what ones to get. Any help in this area is greatly appreciated. Keeping in mind that if possible I want to order from here

 

So my biggest concern is the 4-in-3 Drive Cages, as the price difference between the two is HUGE.

 

Overall without the drive cages it comes to $632. Pricey enough already and that's without HDDs.

With the 3 ICY BOX cages it would add another $360 to it and it I got the Cooler Master it would add another $90. Its hard to justify that kind of difference.

 

This being my first time building anything cpu related and Im a bit worried about the level of skill required to complete the build

so please bear with my with my n00b questions.

 

Im giving 2 hours a day to studying the hardware and software so hopefully I wont be dumb for long.

 

Again thanks for reading and all help is greatly appreciated

The difference between the two drive mount options is hot swap. The ICY Box allows you to hot swap individual drives. The Cooler Master does not. Since unRAID does not support hot swap (the OS does, but the array has to be stopped and started), you could power down the server for drive swaps. The time and work involved for drive replacement is very different between the two options.

 

You should buy the cheapest drives ($/TB) and not worry about models EARS vs EARX (SATA2 vs SATA3).

 

SATA3 is "better" but of very limited value.

 

You can start with 3 drives (no cache) and build up from there. The expansion card and cables need to work together, so no answer on one without the other.

Aah ok. I get you now. I think ill go with the hot swap anyway. The last thing a computer needs is me fiddling with it  :'(

 

As for the hard drives I only meant to use  EARS and EARX of examples of drives, I didn't mean to be specific about models just wondering do people buy 2 of the same model at once?.

 

The expansion card and cables need to work together, so no answer on one without the other.

 

Ya that makes sense, only problem is I dont know what 2 Port PCI-Express x1 Sata-II Cards and 2 Port PCI Sata Card to get. Im sure I can work out the wires but im at a loss what cards to get.

 

Would this do for 2 Port PCI-Express x1 Sata-II Card

and this for 2 Port PCI Sata Card

 

Thanks for responding

Welcome to the Lime-Tech forums (and unRAID), you have come to the right place. This is a fairly active forum so if you have any issues don't be afraid to ask, we're more than happy to help and most topics get a reply within 24hrs

 

WD Model# Confusion: See this thread

 

For your build I would recommend an AthlonII-2XX (250, 255, 260.. Anything with an e after if you can get your hands on it is even better, such as a 245e) over an AMD APU as the graphics processor will likely be unused and only chew extra power and $. The APU would be better if you are planning on doing any transcoding (such as Plex). This would also mean a change of motherboard as they use an AM3 socket vs the A6's FM1. Brand wise I would personally go for a Gigabyte or MSI motherboard and Kingmax for generic RAM but Kingston is fine too if that is what's available. I would steer clear of ASUS boards at the moment as their quality has really gone downhill in the last few years.

 

Is there any reason you are looking at two different controller cards as opposed to a single 4-Port PCI-E 4x controller card? E.g. Adaptec 1430SA