So I just built a server using 5in3 cages and an m1015 controller card that will hold 15 drives. I only have 5 at the moment but will eventually fill up all the slots.

From reading on here I realize I best get something that can support 15 drives as something underpowered is useless..

 

I have never had one of these units. Which do you guys recommend I get that will be compatible with unraid, simple to configure and will be good for my setup?

 

Thanks in advance.

Without knowing your full hardware setup, I would suggest you visit a site like http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp that offers a PSU calculator.

It'd be quite rough but would give you an idea of what load your system will generate at 100% utilisation.

 

The neat thing about Unraid is that unless you happen to be doing a drive/array rebuild or serving content to 5+ people simultaneously, you're only going to have a small handful of those 15 drives up and spinning at the same time.

 

I would take the 80-90% of the total Watt estimate from the calculator and then visit the APC UPS site and find a UPS that can sustain that output for about 3-5mins. You only need enough time for the APC driver on Unraid to determine that mains power has been cut, shutdown the array and then power off the PC. Note: If your area suffers from the occasional brown out ( you see lights flicker for a few seconds out of the blue ) then you should configure the UPS with a delay before it sends the shutdown signal when it detects a mains failure ( false alarm in the event of a brown out ).

 

You can use other brands of UPS's, but then you'd need to find a way to install the NUT package ( not available as an Unraid plugin ATM AFAIK ) which supports quite a large number of them including all the popular ones ( APC, Eaton, etc ). Without NUT, the UPS still acts as a backup battery, but it won't shut down your system for you.

 

The neat thing about Unraid is that unless you happen to be doing a drive/array rebuild or serving content to 5+ people simultaneously, you're only going to have a small handful of those 15 drives up and spinning at the same time.

 

 

Only partially true.  I don't know about your system, but in MINE, the first thing issuing a shutdown command does- is spin up ALL the drives before unmounting them.  So any UPS had better be able to handle ALL drives simultaneously spinning UP.  Either that, or be able to carry the idle server through the entire event without asking it to shut down.

Full spinup before shutdown is indeed standard.

Here's what I use for a fourteen disk server: APC BR1000G

thanks guys. Yea, I thought that all drives would need to be spin-up before a shut down would execute.

 

Question, would sabnzbd and sickbeard automatically stop before shutdown? Because, I've had issues where I had to stop those plugin before unraid was able to unmount the discs and shut down the system...

 

I have decided to go with the recommended one here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0038ZTZ3W

 

Any thoughts on if it could handle a shutdown for 15 drives spun up?

 

*EDIT* So what do you guys think of that unit?

Also what is all this sine wave businesss? I'm a newbie to all this... Would this backup suit my needs?

This is the power supply that I have:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031

 

It says Active PFC, not sure what that is or if that makes a difference

 

And what do you guys think of this unit

http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Compatible-1500VA-Tower/dp/B00429N19W/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk/179-7555997-9452357

 

Says pure sine wave. I'm asking because one of the comments for the other one says it didn't work with his dell because of not being "sine wave?"

thanks guys. Yea, I thought that all drives would need to be spin-up before a shut down would execute.

 

Question, would sabnzbd and sickbeard automatically stop before shutdown? Because, I've had issues where I had to stop those plugin before unraid was able to unmount the discs and shut down the system...

 

I have decided to go with the recommended one here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0038ZTZ3W

 

Any thoughts on if it could handle a shutdown for 15 drives spun up?

 

*EDIT* So what do you guys think of that unit?

Also what is all this sine wave businesss? I'm a newbie to all this... Would this backup suit my needs?

 

SAB, Sick, Couch and Airvideo all close automatically with an array shutdown command from the webpage, if the APS plugin triggers that function then it will work. Do not use it myself so I could not be sure.

thanks guys. Yea, I thought that all drives would need to be spin-up before a shut down would execute.

 

Question, would sabnzbd and sickbeard automatically stop before shutdown? Because, I've had issues where I had to stop those plugin before unraid was able to unmount the discs and shut down the system...

 

I have decided to go with the recommended one here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0038ZTZ3W

 

Any thoughts on if it could handle a shutdown for 15 drives spun up?

 

*EDIT* So what do you guys think of that unit?

Also what is all this sine wave businesss? I'm a newbie to all this... Would this backup suit my needs?

 

I experienced difficulties using SAB on my server. Mainly with reboots of the server. Plus, with it running on an itty bitty processor, and the transfer times from cache to array being very long, I found it easier to just move SAB to my desktop (see its specs below). Everything is much happier now. Obviously not everyone can do that, but that was my experience.

 

All of my PSUs are active PFC. No issues with the lower cost UPSs.

So you guys think I will be okay running this:APC BR1000G Back-UPS Pro 1000 Uninterruptible Power Supply

 

Even though my power supply is an: Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

 

Even thoug it is active PFC and 620W as opposed to the 600W APC?

 

This is assumin 15 drives at its max.

So you guys think I will be okay running this:APC BR1000G Back-UPS Pro 1000 Uninterruptible Power Supply

 

Even though my power supply is an: Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

 

Even thoug it is active PFC and 620W as opposed to the 600W APC?

 

This is assumin 15 drives at its max.

 

I don't think your PSU will ever pull 600 watts. My fourteen disk server pulls ~200 watts during startup. 75 watts of that is stuff that isn't disks; fans, CPU, etc.

So you guys think I will be okay running this:APC BR1000G Back-UPS Pro 1000 Uninterruptible Power Supply

 

Even though my power supply is an: Antec NEO ECO 620C 620W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.3 / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply

 

Even thoug it is active PFC and 620W as opposed to the 600W APC?

 

This is assumin 15 drives at its max.

 

 

Yes, I use that same UPS with a 750 watt PSU with 10 disks in my array. Never draws anything close to that wattage as others have said. As for your earlier question about SAB, SB and CP, make sure you are using the latest plugins from Influencer. Never had any problems what so ever with his plugins preventing shutdown or stopping the array.

I run a 14 disk setup on a APC Power-Saving Back-UPS Pro 900

This is with my supermicro X7SPA system. It has 14 x 7200 RPM samsung 1 TB hdd's

The PSU is a 1000 Watt Cooler master.

 

I think at startup on the APC display it never goes above 325 watts

Running with all disks spun up it is like 130 watt, all disks spin down except the cache drive its like 70 watt

 

No issues whatsoever booting, running, and shutting down via the plugin.

 

 

-update, not 250 but 325 watt max peak on the display of the APC during power on of the 14 disc server.

Got it, and purchased, thanks guys. I'm just concerned about the Active PFC on the PSU.