I have some questions about my new build.


dazedash

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Hi!

I've been researching different RAID systems lately and decided to go with unRAID. I'm newbie on linux systems, but I'm hoping this will turn out well  ::) First comes the hardware. (... and yes, I did search the forum for answers )

On my hands I have 2 systems which I might reconfigure\upgrade due to an addition of another system especially for unRAID. Both are AMD+ATI based. I'm planing to use my future unRAID to add some 11TB of data (which I have right now on stand alone HDDs) + add any extra HDDs, so.. it's going to be like 15 HDD+ "tower" for storage only, no extra applications or plug-ins (i think) So,..

MB: GA-MA790FXT-UD5P for sure! Only because I already have one  ;)

RAM is unknown. I guess any DDR3 RAM would work, right? Do I need 1 or 2GB? (I have one ddr3 2gb stick. Would that be enough?)

CPU is unknown. On my hands I have Athlon II X2 250 which is probably an overkill for unRAID, so I was looking into something like Athlon II X2 250u or any other "e" AMD CPUs for lower power consumption. Would Athlon II X2 250u be enough for my needs or is it going to be too slow?

GPU is unknown, but my plan is to get any cheap (ebay works) low power consuming PCI Express x1 only card. Any suggestions?

RAID Controller card: I'm lost on that one.  :-\ I guess SASLP-MV8 would work, right? I still need to read some forum topics on that

PSU: I have a good one I think (SeaSonic X750) . I hope for a long run, as this thing has been working for 3 years now in my other system without a problem :)

HDDs: I have plenty of those. 640GB up to 2TB

Case: I already have one.

I'm also thinking on UPS unit, but I have no idea which one to pick. Our power goes out time to time and I do not want to loose any hardware or mess up with unRAID parity because of that. Any suggestions on this one?

Thanks for the help!

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UPS.

I use Apc550g    it has USB.

Everybody sells them, Staples, Walmart, Costco

$49.00 here in Canada

 

Unraid works perfect with the plugin installed

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

Depending on how many drives he's using what you recommended may not be enough. When shutting down via the plugin in the case of a power outage all the disks are going to be spun up before it shuts down. If its too much for the UPS it'll just cut power to connected devices immediately. I know because I tried to use a similar model on my home theatre setup and with my plasma turned on in a power outage it's too much. If the power goes out everything shuts off immediately and I have to reset the UPS.

 

It's a bit more pricey but I'd personally recommend the APC BR1000g. That's what I use in my 10 drive server and have never had a hiccup.

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When you are looking for a video card, be sure to consider PCI video cards IF you can find one.  unRAID requires very, very little from a video card. 

 

If you are only running a basic unRAID system without a lot of add-ons, the Sempron 145 is more than enough CPU.  Of course, if you have some other CPU laying around, I wouldn't go out and buy another one. 

 

I second the recommendation of a bit more power in the UPS.  The 550 may work at the beginning but when the battery gets a bit of age on it, the battery may not last long enough to get the server shutdown.  (I have also experienced the instantaneous shutdown of a UPS when the load was more than the rating of the UPS.  Luckily, it was on a Windows machine and all of the data files were closed...)  Remember, most UPS advertising state the VA rating and not wattage rating.  (VA rating is ALWAYS higher than the wattage rating.)  You should select a UPS based on watts and not VA!

 

 

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I agree, the bigger ups the better.

 

 

I run 9 drives with a quad core ..my total wattage when running all drives displays around 120watts..

I get around  15 mins with my current apc550 before my ups battery is at 10% which is when unraid starts to shutdown.

 

 

Joe

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

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Thank you all for answering some of my questions! I think I have decided on my CPU (I did not have any spare ones laying around for this mobo). I read the Internet on CPU's power consumption (idle stats) and considering my future demands ended up buying an Athlon II X2 235e (even though I considered both Sempron 145, Athlon 170u and Athlon 250u-270u). It did not arrived yet so I did not tested it, but I figured that I'll need a bit of extra performance in case I'll need it for plug-ins. It definitely should be enough. By the way flashing BIOS on this mobo according to google is a ricky thing (fingers crossed  ;)) As far as graphics go, I think I found a perfect one for this build. I'll update a post if I'll be able to get it.

I'm still thinking on the other parts and this project is going to progress slowly, but I'll finish it eventually :) Thanks for the tips on UPS! Since I'll be running more than 10HDDs I'll consider a bigger one. Well, that is when I'll find out how much power my system will need. (I've got an evil plan of checking out a Kill-A-Watt meter at a local library  ;D

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Thanks for the tips on UPS! Since I'll be running more than 10HDDs I'll consider a bigger one. Well, that is when I'll find out how much power my system will need. (I've got an evil plan of checking out a Kill-A-Watt meter at a local library  ;D )

 

Don't wait too long before getting the UPS.  From reading the board, it seems that power interruption is a major source of all user problems.  (I am not really sure why this should be the case.)  Plus, it will trigger a parity check on restart which limits access speed at the very least and some users report problems accessing shares until the check finishes. I consider using unRAID without a UPS like crossing an ocean in a twenty foot boat without a life raft or a life vest.  Buy one that you know will be a bit too big. 

 

A UPS that is a bit too small is a total waste of money as it will provide zero protection as it will shutdown 30 milliseconds after the power fails. 

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Thanks for the tips on UPS! Since I'll be running more than 10HDDs I'll consider a bigger one. Well, that is when I'll find out how much power my system will need. (I've got an evil plan of checking out a Kill-A-Watt meter at a local library  ;D )

 

Don't wait too long before getting the UPS.  From reading the board, it seems that power interruption is a major source of all user problems.  (I am not really sure why this should be the case.)  Plus, it will trigger a parity check on restart which limits access speed at the very least and some users report problems accessing shares until the check finishes. I consider using unRAID without a UPS like crossing an ocean in a twenty foot boat without a life raft or a life vest.  Buy one that you know will be a bit too big. 

 

A UPS that is a bit too small is a total waste of money as it will provide zero protection as it will shutdown 30 milliseconds after the power fails.

 

 

+1

 

Had the power go out during a storm before I had the UPS and it killed a hard drive. It was under warranty so it was replaced but I got my UPS right after that.

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