Hi folks.  I'm looking at building a NAS with an ASUS C60M1-I mobo/CPU combo with a dual core AMD C-60 processor at 1.0 GHz with turbo boost to 1.33 GHz.  Would that be enough to support unRAID or do I need to look for a different RAID solution?  The unRAID Hardware Compatibility wiki says this:

 

"Processor

Any; 2.0GHz or higher is recommended, but many users are happy with 1.6GHz, at least one was fine with a 1.2GHz CPU"

 

... but I wanted to see if anyone here had had success with lower speeds than that? My usage will be strictly as a media server to hold HD video to play to my TV through my dlna blu ray player (and later through XBMC when I upgrade to an HTPC).  No transcoding to mobile devices, streaming to multiple TVs at the same time.  Just a really simple set up.  I've got a Fractal Design Node 304 case and 3 3TB WD Reds on the way along w/the mobo/CPU and I definitely want a linux based software RAID for it. 

 

If unRAID is not a good option then would you recommend SnapRAID instead?  Something else?  I haven't done a whole lot of research yet comparing the different options so I'm wide open to suggestions.  Thanks!

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=25052.0

 

I'm just gonna slide this in right here.

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=25052.0

 

I'm just gonna slide this in right here.

 

Oh wow.  Perfect.  Thank you!

I'm using an Althon 250u (2 x 1.6GHz) and it's overkill for simply streaming HD content.  I do use the -b -r -w options if preclearing a drive though to make sure it doesn't impact other processes.

I have a dedicated crashplan server running off an HP N40L.  unRAID does not require all that much when it comes right down to it.

Thanks for the responses.  I think I will try unRAID and see how it goes.  To be honest I've never used any kind of RAID setup before and I'm still trying to get my mind around the differences.  Is it the realtime redundancy that makes unRAID a little more CPU intensive than SnapRAID?  Because I could probably live with either and on paper SnapRAID sounds like it might actually be a better fit for me (I like the idea of some kind integrity checksum too).  I'm just thinking that unRAID's much more expansive user community and support is something I'll need more (and the established GUI too since among the other things that are new to me -- RAID and building my own rig -- will be linux and I'd like to keep my futzing around at the command line level to a minimum).

 

This is your basic dive off the deep end, in other words.  The only NAS I've ever had is the little 1TB MyBookLive that I'm upgrading from now so basically my #1 requirement is that it works and be as simple as possible to setup and maintain.  I don't expect anything to be completely brainless or else I would have coughed up the extra dough to buy a commercial NAS.  But the closer I can get to that goal the better.

I hadn't heard of SnapRaid before, but I reckon your thoughts about community support are spot on.  I put together my UnRAID server a few months ago, and it was pretty darn easy.  The walkthroughs and tutorials available at http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Getting_Started_with_unRAID made it almost plug and play.  SnapRaid may be a better technical solution but if you're new to Linux you probably want the option that has the broadest support available.

I hadn't heard of SnapRaid before, but I reckon your thoughts about community support are spot on.  I put together my UnRAID server a few months ago, and it was pretty darn easy.  The walkthroughs and tutorials available at http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Getting_Started_with_unRAID made it almost plug and play.  SnapRaid may be a better technical solution but if you're new to Linux you probably want the option that has the broadest support available.

 

Yep, I'm sold.  And thanks for the link!  This exactly what I was looking for next.