Is it worth staying with a D510MO board?

[DaveSt]

I built my unraid box around what was originally a custom built WHS solution.  The system board is an Intel D510MO.  When I first moved to unraid I simply had two data drives (no parity).  As I decided that unraid was the solution for me I then added a parity drive.  Because the D510MO has only two built in SATA ports I just used an old SATA RAID card (slow speed) to give me an extra couple of ports.  Now I am planning on purchasing a license so I can add another data drive and perhaps a cache drive.

 

The problem here is a lack of SATA ports.  I can buy a 4X SATA card but this motherboard only has one PCI (not express) slot and I am wondering if I should be concerned about performance.  I really like the lower power consumption and the parallel port header on this board but I don't have a good feel for how a lack of PCIe is going to affect my performance going forward.  Is it worth sticking with this board or should I be thinking about a move to something like a low power i3?

[Ford Prefect]

That is a nice & small Atom Board based on the 2nd. Gen chipset, but very limited in its features.

For the purpose of serving as a NAS it has reached its EOL, I think.

 

...as you already mentioned, an i3 buid with the right motherboard will get you a lot further down the line.

 

Maybe you can recycle/convert your old mobo to become a HTPC (ZoTac built a PCI based GT430 passive gfx card, I think)...

 

Edit: ...don't know what S-ATA controller you have in that PCI, but a Promise 300 TX4 can buy you some time. Some have it working with unRAID.

[DaveSt]

Thanks for the information.  I thought about going with a better PCI SATA card (I have an old SI raid card in there now) but I am thinking that rather than throwing more money at my current setup I will probably be better served making a full upgrade.  I need a new case as well, so looking at motherboards at this time makes sense too I suppose!

 

 

[Ford Prefect]

Well, not really as your old mITX will also fit in your new case 

It does make sense though, when finding a new purpose for your old mobo including old case, doesn't it?

The PCI card will probably cost you approx 70USD...you almost can get an AMD based mobo+CPU for that.

An i3  or rather PentiumG combo will start around 150 I'd say...

 

Edit: ...oups...maybe I should add some more headroom to my exchange rate from where I live ;-)

        Sorry, mate...these prices are not for USD...maybe 30-35% off

[DaveSt]

That's OK.  I see an i3 + MB is probably going to be at least $200 USD.  I am almost tempted to take the i5-750 I am running in my desktop and use it for my unraid machine.  Then I get two upgrades out of the process.  Too bad those old i5 chips don't have integrated video.

[Ford Prefect]

...That'll be an 1156 socket then....the i5 will idle at low energy. What mobo are you going to re-use with it?

 

BTW: You no not need video with unRAID...maybe just during install.

If your mobo will post and boot without gfx card, you can remove it later once everything is set-up ;-)

 

[DaveSt]

Good call on the video.  My i5 is a socket 1155 and the motherboard is a Gigabyte P55A-USB3.  I need to read up on exactly what the HPA issue is all about before I go down that road though.

[Ford Prefect]

Hmmm...that board and i5 are both 1156 ;-)

A mobo with a Realtec NIC though.

....seems to have 8x S-ATA .. 6x on P55 that should do fine and 2x on Gigabyte chip, where I don't know if these are supported.

[DaveSt]

I swore it was 1155 ... I am so out of the loop when it comes to hardware these days it is almost embarrassing.  I might be over thinking this too.  There is probably a cheap AMD solution out there that would work as well but my last AMD system was back in the Athlon XP days.  I take it sticking with an Intel nic is a better option?

[Ford Prefect]

no worries, juts don't get confused when you start mixing your options of used and new parts ;-)

 

Yes,.Intel NICs are fist choice but if you can wait until Unraid V5 is out, support for Realtec NICs will improve by then.

You can also put an intel NIC into a x1 PCIe slot of that mobo with ease and for little money.

[DaveSt]

After a night's worth of research I am starting to think the Intel G630T looks like a real contender as well.  It goes for about half the price of an i3, has pretty decent power consumption (35W) and will probably still run circles around my Atom processor.  As much as I would like to roll two upgrades into one, I'm not too keen on having to move my server to a full tower case to accomodate my old i5 equipment.  I keep trying to go smaller not bigger!

 

 

[Ford Prefect]

That is not a bad choice at all, if you do not plan to go with ESXi in the future (no vt-d).

The G630(T) is LGA1155 and comes with IGP....although the TDP is lower than that of the "standard" G630, both will idle at the same energy consumption.

The non-T version is cheaper (20% around my place) and has a bit more headroom.

Most likely, your server will idle more than it will run under full steam....therefore the "full" version G630 is more economical, I think.

 

 

What board do you consider to go with it for unraid?

[DaveSt]

Well I would like to stay in the mATX form factor.  Unfortunately, almost every (if not all) 1155 mATX B75 boards including those made by Intel seem to have Realtec NIC units.  I like the MSI B75MA-P45 because it comes with 5 SATA ports which is about perfect for my needs right now.  It does have UEFI BIOS which I am not sure about in regards to unRAID however.

[Ford Prefect]

...there are in fact a lot of boards with intel NICs, but not on the cheaper side (Here's the list, although not in english: http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=mbp4_1155&sort=p&bpmax=&filter=+Liste+aktualisieren+&asuch=%22LAN+%28Intel%22&asd=on&v=e&plz=&dist=&xf=)

 

Here's one mobo with 6x SATA and Intel NIC: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121514

...and here's the unRAID built with it: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=20762.msg184250#msg184250

 

If you are going that range, consider the Supermicro X9SCM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182254 (EDIT: also available as a -F version with IPMI, but maybe not for a CPU with IGP).

[DaveSt]

Wow, that Supermicro board does not come cheap.  What is the benefit of such a board over a more budget friendly setup?

[Ford Prefect]

..it is a server board, built around a server chipset, designed for 24x7 uptime and ECC Ram.

It comes with dual NICs (well, not really supported by unRAID OOTB...more like a pre-installed cold spare in this case ;-)

and ability to run an ESXi build (vt-d is working in chipset and BIOS supports it, just upgrade CPU to one with vt-d).

The -F version comes with full on-board chipset for remote management (IPMI), although with this, the IGP of the G630(T) will be useless.

It also has quite some expansion slots for future cards to add-on, like (one or more) SAS HBAs.

 

It will work with the G630 or G630T, see: http://www.servethehome.com/intel-pentium-g630-65w-dual-core-cpu-benchmarks-review/

 

Edit: Here's another ATOM based server board with IPMI: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182237 (price in this case includes CPU).

[DaveSt]

Thanks, you have certainly provided me with a ton of good information.

 

This is a bit off topic, but what is the benefit of running unraid as an ESXi build?  Is it simply so the system can be multi-purposed with multiple operating systems? 

[Ford Prefect]

Yes, ESXi - especially with vt-d enabled components, will allow you to run multiple OSes in a single box, thus consolidating space, energy consumption and such.

For example, I am running my PVR with a 4x DVB-S2 tuner card in another VM inside my ESXi build...it records to my NAS, which is another VM and uses the ESXi internal 10GB virtual network switch for interconnection of the two).

Read the ATLAS thread, here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=14695.0 for more info on that.

 

The X9SCM, X9SCM-F or even X9SCM-IIF (here: both NICs are supported by current ESXi OOTB) will give you the possiblity to

upgrade (add more RAM, new CPU with vt-d support and a SSD for VM datastore) to an ESXi build later.

 

Side-Note: It may spring to mind, that virtualizing your HTPC as well is a good option.....ATM this can be done, but needs a lot of research and your mileage may vary (not advised for beginners).

[DaveSt]

Thanks again.

 

ATM I am planning on keeping this machine as a single purpose unraid installation, but it is interesting to see the possibilities that can be realized using virtualization.  My needs with this machine are really pretty simple actually.  I use my unraid just for client backups and a central file storage location.  I don't run any media services or anything else too fancy on it.  The only thing I still need to get working is CrashPlan, but I was holding out for the final 5.0 release before tackling that 9I have been running 5.0b12 for quite some time now).

 

I don't want to overbuy for my simple purposes, but then again I don't want to limit my future options.  that always seems to be a fine line.

[Ford Prefect]

...yes full ack, but then maybe a G630 is still overkill.

Technology will evolve over time and once you handed over your money it is just a

pile of working junk as the next generation is already waiting in the distributor's backyard ;-)

 

If you were willing to spend 60+ each on mobo + CPU, you might as well spend another 60+ for being more future proof.

If your plans for expansion into that direction are not in the near future, I'd go with the lowest option that will suit your current

requirements, like:

 

- cheapest AM3/AM3+ board with 6x onboard SATA (maybe: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130630)

- Sempron or Athlon II X2 CPU

- 4GB RAM

- one PCI or PCIe x1 additional intel NIC (really, 30USD well spent)

- make sure that the board at least has one x8 PCIe slot left to potentially add a HBA later.

 

...and then wait how your requirements will evolve ;-)

 

[DaveSt]

Well, I think I might have finally found my board.  I have decided to just upgrade for what I need rather than trying to future proof things in regards to ESX, etc.  I know that I won't have time in the next year to figure out how to virtualize everything so no sense stressing over it.

 

One reason I have been hesitant to replace my Atom board is because it actually has a parallel port on it and my printer runs perfectly through unRAID (old HP 5L laser just won't die).  Anyhow, I had pretty much decided to go with another Atom board when I stumbled across a AMD solution that looks perfect.  The board is an Asus E45M1-M-PRO based on the AMD E450 APU.  The board has 5x SATA ports, PCI Express, and parallel port!

 

I'm not sure what the NIC is, but if I need to purchase something that works I don't mind.

 

 

[Ford Prefect]

..how many drives did you want to connect in the end?

The PCIe is x16 in size but only x4 electrically.

Also using the e-sata port requires some extra cabling.

 

...maybe a FM1 based solution is more flexible?

A board with 6x S-ATA, PCIe x8+, with PCI and parallel-port (like the ASUS F1A75-M LE),

including an APU with cool&quite (like the A4-3300) will cost you only 2/3rd of the E450 package.

I doubt that it will consume much more power in idle....

[DaveSt]

Right now my current unRAID has three drives (two data, one parity).  My current plans don't really call for more than five drives.  My storage needs for now are pretty well met but I would like to perhaps add a cache drive.  I figure that leaves me room for one more decent sized data drive in the future with the E450 board.

 

I will take a look at your suggestion however.  I am always willing to spend a little less :-)

 

One thing about the E450 that has me intrigued is that it looks like it could also meet another computing requirement of mine.  I figured I could test the platform out there first and see how well it works.

 

 

[Ford Prefect]

The FM2 platform is newer than the FM1 and has some options as well...still 20% cheaper around here than the E450.

 

By the looks of it,  you've done your maths and sorted out your requirements well.

...good luck...keep us posted on how your setup will work out at the end.

[DaveSt]

Sorry .. reading failure.