First build - Mid build w/ Plex - Aussie - $650

[Tyler]

Hi guys

 

I've been using a Drobo for a while now, but need something more suited to media storage.

So I've been lurking for a while reading up on unRAID, as well as hunting around for other solutions.

After a bit of time I've come to the conclusion that unRAID is the best solution for my needs.

I really like the storage with parity concept along with the cache drive. And the add-on system has all the apps I already run.

The community also seems active and really passionate about the product which also adds to the appeal.

 

Anyway, enough of the congratulation 

 

Like many before me, I'm here to ask about a hardware build.  I've never used unRAID before, and don't know anyone personally who does.

So I'd appreciate some help getting started. On with the details...

 

 

General build questions

 

What is your budget?

Aussie dollars, I'm Looking to spend around $650 for hardware, plus $450 for drives, plus the unRAID licence.

 

How many drives do you want your server to be able to support and how much capacity do you need? Is expandability important to you?  If so, what's your long term goal?

I've currently got ~7TB of data that I'm looking to migrate to unRAID.

I'd like to make this build a base to take me to ~20TB, with future hardware upgrades (SATA card).

 

Are you interested in running any unRAID Add Ons (see here)?

SAB/SB/CP & torrent clients

Plex Media Server - max of 2 transcode clients at any time, but I want to run Plex Sync to copy transcoded files to devices.

Probably other add-ons that aid in the management/maintenance of the device, e.g. unMenu

 

Do you want to run green/low power drives or faster 7200 rpm drives?

I'm using the box pretty much purely for media storage, so don't think 7200rpm is a must.

Generally I use WD drives, but after a number of Green drive failures I'm looking to move to their Red series. Open to suggestions though.

 

Do you have any spare parts laying around that you would like to apply towards your build?

I've already got 4 3TB drives with data on them (1x WD 3TB Red and 3x WD 3TB Green) plus a spare WD 3TB Green (in process of being RMA'd)

 

 

Proposed hardware

 

I've tried to give 2 options for each item in my order of preference, so #1 is what I'm leaning toward, and #2 the alternative.

I'll likely buy all the gear from an Australian store MSY. Their online presence is pretty poor, this is the PDF price list http://msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf.

I'm of course open to other suggestions, but just need to be able to easily source the parts in Australia.

 

Motherboard:

1. ASUS P8H77-M PRO - $109

http://www.asus.com.au/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8H77M_PRO/#specifications

2. ASRock Z77 Pro4-M - $99

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Pro4-M/?cat=Specifications

 

The ASUS has an extra SATA 3 6Gb controller with 1xSATA and 1xeSATA

And on the network side the ASRock uses a Realtek 8111E, while the ASUS a 8111F. But i believe both of these have been proven to work with current v5 RCs.

 

 

CPU:

1. Intel i5 3570 - $205

2. Intel i5 3330 - $180

The transcoding with Plex is the big driver here, while I won't have lots of sessions at once, the more power for PlexSync the better.

 

 

RAM:

1. Corsair Vengeance 1600 16GB (2x8GB) - $95

http://www.corsair.com/en/memory-by-product-family/vengeance/vengeancer-16gb-dual-channel-ddr3-memory-kit-cmz16gx3m2a1600c10b.html

2. Corsair Vengeance 1600 8GB (2x4GB) - $51

http://www.corsair.com/en/memory-by-product-family/vengeance/vengeance-8gb-dual-channel-ddr3-memory-kit-cmz8gx3m2a1600c9.html

Not sure if 16GB this is overkill, personally I never like skimping on RAM.

Can unRAID and various add-ons I want to use (i.e. Plex) take advantage of 16GB? Or is this just a waste?

 

 

PSU:

1. Corsair TX-650 - $112

http://www.corsair.com/tx650w.html/

2. Corsair HX-650 v2 - $147

http://www.corsair.com/professional-series-hx650-80-plus-bronze-certified-modular-power-supply.html

Both single rail, and 80+ rated. I think either of these should allow me to expand to 12 drives  down the road.

 

 

Case:

Fractal Design Arc Mid - $125

http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=product∏=57

Has 8 3.5" bays, plus 2x5.25" for another 2 drives + SSD. Haven't used one before but reviews seem very positive.

Is there a consensus just to get a case that has 5.25" bays, and put 3.5" conversion cages in instead?

 

 

USB:

1. Patriot 8GB Supersonic Pulse USB 3 - $8

http://www.patriotmemory.com/product/detail.jsp?prodline=7&catid=92&prodgroupid=220&id=1139&type=23

2. Sandisk 4GB Cruzer USB 2 - $5

http://www.sandisk.com.au/products/usb/drives/cruzer/

To be honest I've got no idea here.

 

 

Drives:

 

Parity:

WD 3TB Red - $178

Not sure if I'd be better with a 7200rpm drive here

 

Storage:

1x WD 3TB Red - $178

 

Plus I already have

1x WD 3TB Green

With existing data to migrate from 1x WD 3TB Red and 3x WD 3TB Green.

 

Cache:

1. Samsung 840 120G - $99

2. WD 1TB Black - $99

At most I'd have 60GB in cache waiting to be copied to storage. So the SSD seems like the optimal choice.

 

 

Totals (assuming option 1)

Base hardware - $653

Disks - $456

Grand Total - $1,109

 

 

Thanks for any help guys.

 

 

Edit - I should have made the budget more clear in title & post

[Frank1940]

It looks like a reasonable build.  I think you would be safe with the cheaper i5 processor to save a few dollars.  You might also read this thread. 

 

      http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=25480.0

 

I don't know if you were screening for 6Gb/sec SATA ports or if that is the way things just worked out.  But you really don't need them unless you plan on using SSD drives.  You seem to indicate that 7200rpm drives are not really a part of your plan.  You might get a better fit by including 3Gb/sec ports in your selection criterion. 

[Tyler]

I don't know if you were screening for 6Gb/sec SATA ports or if that is the way things just worked out.

 

It wasn't a specific reason for choosing the board.  Just works out that way because I plan on using an Intel Ivy Bridge CPU I picked a board with a 77-series chipset, so that chipset includes support for 2 SATA3 ports. The extra 2 is just a bonus.

 

 

I've been having more of a look at things today, and have made a few changes to what I'd previously posted.  Here's the full list now:

 

Motherboard: ASUS P8H77-M PRO - $109

CPU: Intel i5 3470 - $187

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 1600 8GB (2x4GB) - $51 - Don't think 16GB is necessary.

PSU: Antec Neo Eco 520C - $69 - Single rail, and 80+ rated. Think the Corsairs were overkill for 5400rpm drives.

Case: Antec Three Hundred 2 - $77 - Has 6x 3.5" bays, 2x 2.5", and 3x5.25" so should be better for expansion when using a cage.

USB: Sandisk 4GB Cruzer USB 2/ - $5

Parity drive: WD 3TB Red - $178

Cache drive: Samsung 840 120G - $99

Storage drives:

New: 1x WD 3TB Red - $178

Already have: 1x WD 3TB Red and 4x WD 3TB Green

 

Totals

Base hardware - $493

Disks - $455

Grand Total - $948

[mcs]

I'm also using an Antec 300, now with 10 disks.

Overall its a nice case, only problem is that changing/adding disks can be a pain. If your looking towards growing your array it may be worthwhile getting a case that is easier to work with up front.

[Tyler]

Overall its a nice case, only problem is that changing/adding disks can be a pain.

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

Assume you mean putting drives into the 5.25" bays.  What sort of cage are you using?

As the case uses "tool-less" drive bays I was wondering how well a cage would fit.

 

[Frank1940]

It is better if you can change the drives without having to open the case.  I have the Antec 300 case for my Win7 Computer and it is a very nice case.  However, if you load it with drives, you will find you have move a lot of wires and stuff to replace a drive.  This opens up the possibility that you will dislodge a cable on another drive while doing it.  (These SATA connectors are very, very easy to accidentally disconnect from the drives--- way too easy in my opinion.) 

 

I used the Antec 900 case in my build.  It is a very nice case and has 5.25 to 3.5 converters if you want to start out using internally mounted drives.  You can easily remove these converters to install 5.25 drive cages.  I am using these monoprice bays:

 

  http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10824&cs_id=1082402&p_id=3857&seq=1&format=2

 

(You can change a drive in one of these bays in less then twenty seconds.)  You may have trouble getting these in Australia but there are a lot of other options listed in this thread on drive cages when you get to that point:

 

    http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12405.0

 

 

[mcs]

The compact case becomes difficult to manage with ten disks as there is little room to work with the cables. It's difficult to add/change a disk without needing to remove the connectors on adjacent drives.

 

I have a Lian Li EX-34NB 4 x 3.5in HDD Extension Cage to get the case up to ten disks.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25_30_395&products_id=11161

 

This cage needs to be removed to work on the disks it holds which is rather painful. Maybe in a larger case which allows more play with cables it would be easier to use.

 

My next server will be using drive cages that allows drives to be changed without opening the case (see the link Frank1940 provided below).

 

You will probably be adding/upgrading drives more often than you are currently expecting, and the 300 will not make it a pleasant experience.

[Tyler]

Thanks for the info guys. You've convinced me to go with the Antec Nine Hundred v3 ($128)

 

I've been looking as cages, and narrowed it down to the following 5x3 cages:

 

Norco SS-500

TechBuy - $135 (appears to be the v2, as it's got SATA3) - 2x $135 + $18 shipping = $288

 

Icy Dock MB455SPF-B

TechBuy for $175 - 2x $175 + $18 shipping = $368

or

eBay for $US127.21 - 2x $127.21 + ~$25 shipping = $US280 = $AU268

 

The reviews seem pretty similar, so cost vs. hassle (import/returns) I think I'll go with the Norco.

 

And the cage and case combo seems to just require a little modding to flatten out the tabs in the 5.25" bays, threads 1, 2, and 3.

[redlaws]

this ASUS P8H77-M PRO has anybody use this m/b for unraid with success,

I have tried to boot unraid basic usb on this m/b or very similar at the istore/stone computers with no luck.

I am looking getting a spare cpu 1155 m/b or even a amd m/b & cpu.

motherboard compatability doesn't have much newer stuff.

 

I have 2 pro licences with both on 1156 i3cpu 4gb ram on a 1156m/b ASUS P7H55-M m/b,

each server has 6 sata onboard & AOC-SASLP-MV8 pcie x4 8way sata & leads (Alfa $200).

tower 1 is in athermalake m9 9 way 5.25 bay case (10 hdd in my own 5 way vert icy dock taking up 5 bays with 2 fans),

and a cooler master 4-3 holds 4 hdd {12 + parity hdd}.

tower 2 is in a 13 5.25 drive bay duplicator case ($109) modified had to add a m/b tray from an old pc case, add a 3.5bay 5.25 drive cage to the rear & mounted above 750w psu to hold a 4-3 drive cage ($25 at blacktea).

it presently has 4 cooler master 4-3 drive cages & a Zalman hr1 3-3 drive dock, bottom drive cages stick out 50mm to leave gap to m/b {13 + parity hdd}.

[Tyler]

From searching trough the forums others have mentioned that they run variants of the P8H77

 

I haven't purchased the gear for my build yet, but I'm actually thinking of going with the  ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M.

It's $5 more ($114 vs $109), but has 8 SATA ports (4x 6Gb and 4x 3Gb, with one shared with eSATA), and can run two 8x PCIe cards at full speed for potential future expansion.

[redlaws]

Good luck with that,

I have found no 1155 m/b on the compatibility motherboard list.

thats why I asked a computer store if they could hook a 1155 up to there test bench.

I could not get  it to boot usb past the bios.

I played with heaps of settings.

[trurl]

Good luck with that,

I have found no 1155 m/b on the compatibility motherboard list.

thats why I asked a computer store if they could hook a 1155 up to there test bench.

I could not get  it to boot usb past the bios.

I played with heaps of settings.

Unfortunately the compatibility list is not very complete and what is there is often discontinued.

 

There are people successfully using 1155 on this forum though. Here is one and I have just ordered the same mobo for my upgrade. It is mini-ITX though so may not be what you had in mind.

 

Go to the forum home page and search for 1155 to see others.

[Johnm]

Good luck with that,

I have found no 1155 m/b on the compatibility motherboard list.

thats why I asked a computer store if they could hook a 1155 up to there test bench.

I could not get  it to boot usb past the bios.

I played with heaps of settings.

 

I'm not sure where you think there are no 1155 motherboards that work. I'm running 3x 1155 unraid systems. as are a lot of there people. You will most likely need to be on 5x for several of the 1155 features to work, like the NIC.

 

 

From searching trough the forums others have mentioned that they run variants of the P8H77

 

I haven't purchased the gear for my build yet, but I'm actually thinking of going with the  ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M.

It's $5 more ($114 vs $109), but has 8 SATA ports (4x 6Gb and 4x 3Gb, with one shared with eSATA), and can run two 8x PCIe cards at full speed for potential future expansion.

I have been using an ASrock H77M-ITX with an i7 3770k for a preclearing station for my new drives for the last week or so. I have seen no issues other then it is ITX and to small for your needs.

 

it is a bit overkill for unraid. it is a spare workstation that was free for the task. not a full time unraid box.

 

 

[Tyler]

I finally got around to putting together my unRAID box today. I'd been waiting on a few parts to be delivered.

 

Here's my final build:

 

MB: ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M

CPU: Intel i5 3570

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 1600 8GB (2x4GB)

USB: Lexar Echo Zx

HBA: IBM M1015 cross flashed to SQS2008 IT mode (so it's effectively a LSI 9211-8i)

PSU: Antec Neo Eco 620C, 80+ bronze certified

Case: Antec 902 v3

HD Cage: 2x Norco SS-500

Parity drive: WD 3TB Red

Cache drive: WD 1TB Black

Storage drives:

Already have: 1x WD 3TB Red and 4x WD 3TB Green

 

 

 

I made a couple of component changes:

CPU: They didn't have the 3470 in stock when I went to buy a bunch of components, so I upped it to the 3570 because I wanted all the parts on the spot. Yes, it' probably total overkill.

Case, HD cages, & HBA: Stepped the build up a bit with these. With the amount of disk failures I've had lately I don't want the hassle of pulling the thing apart every time I need to swap a disk.

Cache disk: I dropped the SSD in favour of a 7200RPM cache disk, cost was exactly the same, but I did this for a few reasons. (1) speed - as many people suggest on here a 7200RPM HD will saturate GigE. (2) capacity - I plan on running Plex Media Server and transcode files with Plex Sync on it, so they'll be stored on the cache drive, so total storage space I need on the drive could go over the 120GB of the SSD. (3) reliability - I'm still sceptical of SSDs in this scenario, garbage collection and TRIM, as well as general wear-out of the NAND. So thought I'd play it safe.

 

 

There's a minor issue with the build.  I knew this going in, as there's a video on YouTube of the case/cage combo.

The HD cages needs to be mounted a fraction forward of the normal position, as they'd make contact the MB in the normal position.

It'd also be better if the SATA ports on this MB were oriented facing out of the board, rather than toward the front of the case. As cables can't be plugged into them with the HD cage in place.

It'd be perfect if the case was ~40mm deeper.

 

Only other thing to note, and I knew this going in too, flashing the M1015 on this MB requires you to use a UEFI method, rather than the usual DOS method. But still relatively simple for someone who isn't afraid to get in and muck about in the terminal/command line.

 

Other than that, it all went pretty smoothly. Everything worked first time. Now I just need to get to learning the ropes of unRAID, configuring it, and migrating my data.

 

Thanks again to those who helped me out with the build suggestions.