I am toying with the following hardware for my first unRAID build and would welcome any suggestions/advise.

 

Case - Lian Li PC-Q08

 

Motherboard + cpu - Asus E35M1-I  http://www.kikatek.com/P197036/90-MIBFQ1-G0UBY0DZ-Asus-E35M1-I-Motherboard?source=froogle

 

Memory - 4GB (2+2) of whatever looks nicest

 

PSU - Silverstone Strider Plus 500W (SST-ST50F-P)  http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-229-SV&campaign=pcm/googleshopping

 

Misc. - NZXT Sentry 2 (mostly to cover the unsightly 5.25" bay)  http://www.scan.co.uk/products/nzxt-sentry-ii-525-touch-screen-fancontroller-meter?utm_source=google+shopping&utm_medium=google+shopping

 

 

Initially I will be using just 3 green HDD's (1 parity, 2 data, no cache). The server will be running SAB, couchpotato, sickbeard and squeeze centre (or whatever it is called now), otherwise it will be a glorified NAS serving to a revo running XBMC. The main objectives here are to build a low power server based on the Lian-Li PC-Q08 (which I already have) for under £500 including drives (2x2TB, as I already have one somewhere).

 

The main concerns I have are the mobo and cpu. Firstly can anyone confirm that the problems with the Realtek 8111E have been fixed in 5.0 as there seem to be some conflicting reports? Will the E-350 (more or less the same as atom d525) be sufficient or should I be looking at something slightly beefier? I have also been looking at the Zotac H67-ITX (some concerns about reliability and rubbish BIOS) and Asrock  H67M-ITX (with pcie sata card) with a pentium G620t or similar, would these be more suitable? Eventually the system will have 6 3TB drives.

 

I am also aware that the PSU is overkill but modular PSU's ?140mm seem to be a niche market. Any recommendations would be very welcome.

Cute case, but might be a bit bothersome when changing drives: looks like you'll have to disconnect all the drive cables and then remove the drive box so that you can get at the drive screws.

 

I ran into the same issue with power supplies and ended up using a standard sized power supply (Corsair 430W)  for my mini-ITX motherboard because:

 

1. it was less expensive than the little supply

 

2. I know I can get a replacement in a hurry if I ever need one

 

3. it had more drive power connectors

 

In the end (after looking at various compact cases) I put my mini-ITX motherboard into a medium sized tower case, once you take the side panel off it looks pretty ridiculous but it's easy to work on with all that space.

 

Regards,

 

Stephen

 

I know you say you have bit but have you looked at N40L microserver from HP. If you are in the UK you can get this for £240 but you get £100 cash back so £140 for a neat fully functional server - and they are good ! with £120 per drive you can get a full server with 3 * 2TB drives for £480 ! I have mine modded to hold 6 drives so that 10TB of storage plus parity - they are so good i got a second one to do exactly the kind of stuff you want to do.

 

Just an otion .......