AVS-10/4 Now Available to Order

[harmser]

We are please to announce that our latest server, the AVS-10/4 Digital Mass Storage Server, can now be ordered -- and, for a limited time, you can receive a $50 discount on the shipping.

 

While the AVS-10/4 was designed around the needs of AV enthusiasts and professional AV installers, it's also a great solution for photographers, videographers, and others who need the benefits of unRAID – the most power-efficient, reliable, truly mass storage for your money.  You can read more about the AVS-10/4 features here.

 

Options:

The AVS-10/4 is available in two configurations:

1. An Atom-based motherboard version for basic media server applications that uses very low power; and

2. A more powerful Xeon/Core-i3 motherboard version for those interested in transcoding or running multiple virtual machines that has more performance and uses slightly more power.

 

Shipping Information:

- To take advantage of the $50 discount on shipping,  just use coupon code: SHIP50.  This results in free ground shipping for almost all U.S. addresses.

- We will be shipping in batches every two weeks, starting on June 3.  You can read more about the shipment batches here.

 

unRAID OS Version:

- The new server uses unRAID OS v5.0.

- unRAID v5.0-rc13 will be available for download later this week, and the final 5.0 will be available the week of June 3.

[garycase]

Excellent -- good to get some solid status info.

 

One question:  In your first public post on this forum (a couple weeks ago), you indicated that the new server case would be available independently.    Do you know WHEN that will be on the web site for ordering?  ... and what it's going to cost?  [i guess that's actually two questions  ]

[garycase]

- unRAID v5.0-rc13 will be available for download later this week, and the final 5.0 will be available the week of June 3.

 

Based on what the web site promises for the new server, it's fairly obvious that the long-promised btrfs cache pool is going to be included in v5.0.    Can you confirm that this will be in RC13?  [i presume that's the reason for the intervening RC before "final" -- to get some quick feedback on that feature (and perhaps confirm that various fixes work okay) ]

 

[madburg]

Can you provide the spec's for the Xeon motherboard version and in what capacity are virtual machince's supported? Example is this motherboard VMWare/Citrix/Hyper-V certified? Is unRAID supported running as a VM by LimeTech? Does the MB support passing the unRaid USB stick to the unRAID VM for licensing. I have never seen Tom meantion support of a virtualized unRAID configuration or how to go about setting one up, e.g. Release Notes.

 

Or is this some type of Virtualization plugin being provided by unRAID  to run VM's under unRAID?

 

Please elaborate on this interesting offer.

[Dougy]

We are please to announce that our latest server, the AVS-10/4 Digital Mass Storage Server, can now be ordered -- and, for a limited time, you can receive a $50 discount on the shipping.

 

While the AVS-10/4 was designed around the needs of AV enthusiasts and professional AV installers, it's also a great solution for photographers, videographers, and others who need the benefits of unRAID – the most power-efficient, reliable, truly mass storage for your money.  You can read more about the AVS-10/4 features here.

 

Options:

The AVS-10/4 is available in two configurations:

1. An Atom-based motherboard version for basic media server applications that uses very low power; and

2. A more powerful Xeon/Core-i3 motherboard version for those interested in transcoding or running multiple virtual machines that has more performance and uses slightly more power.

 

Shipping Information:

- To take advantage of the $50 discount on shipping,  just use coupon code: SHIP50.  This results in free ground shipping for almost all U.S. addresses.

- We will be shipping in batches every two weeks, starting on June 3.  You can read more about the shipment batches here.

 

unRAID OS Version:

- The new server uses unRAID OS v5.0.

- unRAID v5.0-rc13 will be available for download later this week, and the final 5.0 will be available the week of June 3.

 

If RC13 is being released latter this week then how can you possibly know that 5.0 final will be released the week of June 3?    The reason that a RC is released is so that it can be tested for faults.  How can we possibly know what faults will be reported in RC13 and that it will be able to rectify them by the week of June 3?

[garycase]

If RC13 is being released latter this week then how can you possibly know that 5.0 final will be released the week of June 3?    The reason that a RC is released is so that it can be tested for faults.  How can we possibly know what faults will be reported in RC13 and that it will be able to rectify them by the week of June 3?

 

I'm sure a lot of us had the same thought 

... it clearly reflects optimism on Tom's part that he's got everything resolved and has thoroughly tested it.    I suspect the only reason for RC13 is to let a few folks "wring out" the new RAID-1 btrfs cache pool.  Of course if bugs are found in it ....

 

[JackBauer]

I'm sure a lot of us had the same thought 

... it clearly reflects optimism on Tom's part that he's got everything resolved and has thoroughly tested it.    I suspect the only reason for RC13 is to let a few folks "wring out" the new RAID-1 btrfs cache pool.  Of course if bugs are found in it ....

 

I too was skeptical thinking it was a bad move to predict a release - we have seen that before.

 

But Gary may be right...

[garycase]

I'm sure a lot of us had the same thought 

... it clearly reflects optimism on Tom's part that he's got everything resolved and has thoroughly tested it.    I suspect the only reason for RC13 is to let a few folks "wring out" the new RAID-1 btrfs cache pool.  Of course if bugs are found in it ....

 

I too was skeptical thinking it was a bad move to predict a release - we have seen that before.

 

But Gary may be right...

 

But as I noted, there's always the "what if" that I noted in my last line 

[i.e., regarding the cache pool:  "Of course if bugs are found in it .... "]

 

Never underestimate the power of the UnRAID forum to discover the bugs => and probably everyone who's had a problem with RCxx and reverted to RCyy (plug in your favorite numbers for xx and yy) is likely to (a) install RC13, and immediately (b) check that THEIR problem was resolved !!    The only way to avoid this is to include a "Known Bugs" document with the release which is another way of saying "Things that aren't going to be fixed in v5.0"

 

I am, however, hopeful that v5 will indeed be "Final" by the end of next week !!

 

[Dougy]

I'm sure a lot of us had the same thought 

... it clearly reflects optimism on Tom's part that he's got everything resolved and has thoroughly tested it.    I suspect the only reason for RC13 is to let a few folks "wring out" the new RAID-1 btrfs cache pool.  Of course if bugs are found in it ....

 

I too was skeptical thinking it was a bad move to predict a release - we have seen that before.

 

But Gary may be right...

 

the problem is not that the date might come and final is not ready and not released....  it is that the date will come and that it it will be released despite the fact that it may not be ready simply because this is required to profit from the sale of the new hardware....

 

months ago a pole was taken as to whether 5 should be released final as is or if we should wait until the last of the problems are fixed.  We never really got an answer to what the outcome was but considering we have waited and waited and waited for the occasional RC to be released since then, I think it's fair to say that the decision was that 5 should not be released as final until the problems are resolved....

 

now months later with most of the problems still existing we are being told the date of the next RC and also 5 final.......    So after all that waiting, working on solving the problems is being abandoned and another feature is being thrown in it is going to be released as 5 final just so servers can be sold with 5 final........

 

am I the only one that is a little bit angry?

[garycase]

am I the only one that is a little bit angry?

 

You MAY ... or MAY NOT ... have a point ==> it really depends on just what HAS and HAS NOT been fixed for the final release.    One side-effect of the virtually complete lack of status updates from Tom is that we really don't know what issues are on which side of that divide.

 

I DO think he really needs to include a "Known Issues" list for the release that documents anything that has not been resolved ... for example, if the > 4GB memory issue for certain boards isn't resolved, that should be documented.    HOPEFULLY (and I am admittedly a bit skeptical) that will be a SHORT list 

 

I'd say reserve your right to be angry -- but don't actually get mad until you have RC13 and can see just what issues that impact you have or have not been resolved 

 

 

FWIW, the public results of that poll  [You climb a pole; you solicit feedback with a poll  ] showed over 75% of the respondents wanted v5 released:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=25306.0

 

 

[WeeboTech]

So after all that waiting, working on solving the problems is being abandoned and another feature is being thrown in it is going to be released as 5 final just so servers can be sold with 5 final........

 

 

I don't think that solving the problems was abandoned. Tom mentioned looking into the slow speed issue on the X9SCM.

Let's see what the next release notes say.

[Ford Prefect]

While the AVS-10/4 was designed around the needs of AV enthusiasts and professional AV installers, it's also a great solution for photographers, videographers, and others who need the benefits of unRAID – the most power-efficient, reliable, truly mass storage for your money.  You can read more about the AVS-10/4 features here.

 

...back to topic 

I really love that case....what about shipment to international destinations?

 

Also from the pics, the only fans I see are behind the 3.5" cages....the 2.5" cage appears to have none?...is this OK for use with spinners?

[mrow]

While the AVS-10/4 was designed around the needs of AV enthusiasts and professional AV installers, it's also a great solution for photographers, videographers, and others who need the benefits of unRAID – the most power-efficient, reliable, truly mass storage for your money.  You can read more about the AVS-10/4 features here.

 

...back to topic 

I really love that case....what about shipment to international destinations?

 

Also from the pics, the only fans I see are behind the 3.5" cages....the 2.5" cage appears to have none?...is this OK for use with spinners?

 

 

Laptop drives are designed to be able to operate in tightly enclosed spaces with no airflow what so ever, so even if there are no fans for the 2.5 inch bays spinners would still be ok.

[Ford Prefect]

Laptop drives are designed to be able to operate in tightly enclosed spaces with no airflow what so ever, so even if there are no fans for the 2.5 inch bays spinners would still be ok.

 

...nice. Thanks for the info!

[garycase]

Laptop drives are not, however, designed to be tightly stacked without airflow -- as the 4 drives in the case are.  However, the rear of the 2.5" cage has a fair amount of open space, and there are 2 rear fans on the case itself, so there WILL be some airflow through the 2.5" cage => in fact, almost certainly more than you'd get in a typical laptop mounting arrangement ... so I'm sure it's fine.

 

One note, however:  If you mix spinners with SSDs in that arrangement, put the SSDs on the bottom, so they're not absorbing heat from the spinners.

 

[c3]

months ago a pole was taken as to whether 5 should be released final as is or if we should wait until the last of the problems are fixed.  We never really got an answer to what the outcome was but considering we have waited and waited and waited for the occasional RC to be released since then, I think it's fair to say that the decision was that 5 should not be released as final until the problems are resolved....

 

now months later with most of the problems still existing we are being told the date of the next RC and also 5 final.......    So after all that waiting, working on solving the problems is being abandoned and another feature is being thrown in it is going to be released as 5 final just so servers can be sold with 5 final........

 

am I the only one that is a little bit angry?

 

Most software products ship with known defects, some are well known and covered in README or errata, sometimes just in a developer's heart.

 

And then there are the unknown defects which the customers find and report after release.

 

unRAID v5.0 will be the same.

 

I'm not angry , but you are not alone.

 

It seems no one wants to wait any longer, so the schedule is set. unRAID v5.0 will be done.

 

There is a phrase of note, done is better than perfect.

[piotrasd]

@harmser

- unRAID v5.0-rc13 will be available for download later this week, and the final 5.0 will be available the week of June 3.

 

rc13 still is on slackware 13.1 ? or slackware 14.0 ? and 32bit or 64bit ??

and what about final ?

[spylex]

Would be lovely to see a tower based unit for us that don't have a rack casually sitting at home!

[theone]

Would be lovely to see a tower based unit for us that don't have a rack casually sitting at home!

 

tower units can be easily built by yourself or a local PC store.

Just by a 9 or 12 5.25" slot tower and 3 or 4 5in3 or 4in3 and basically there you have it.

 

[JonathanM]

Would be lovely to see a tower based unit for us that don't have a rack casually sitting at home!

 

tower units can be easily built by yourself or a local PC store.

Just by a 9 or 12 5.25" slot tower and 3 or 4 5in3 or 4in3 and basically there you have it.

Rack units can be built just as easily. I suspect the request comes from a position of not wanting to build it themselves, instead just purchasing a fully configured unit from a single vendor. There is a lot to be said for having a single point of contact in case of trouble. I build and service PCs for a living, so I understand where the OP is coming from.

[theone]

Would be lovely to see a tower based unit for us that don't have a rack casually sitting at home!

 

tower units can be easily built by yourself or a local PC store.

Just by a 9 or 12 5.25" slot tower and 3 or 4 5in3 or 4in3 and basically there you have it.

Rack units can be built just as easily. I suspect the request comes from a position of not wanting to build it themselves, instead just purchasing a fully configured unit from a single vendor. There is a lot to be said for having a single point of contact in case of trouble. I build and service PCs for a living, so I understand where the OP is coming from.

 

I didn't suggest he build it himself but rather at a local PC store that does custom builds.

Where I live these are the main type of computer stores and it is difficult or even impossible to get rack mount cases but towers are easily available.

 

[JonathanM]

tower units can be easily built by yourself or a local PC store.

 

I didn't suggest he build it himself but rather at a local PC store that does custom builds.

Where I live these are the main type of computer stores and it is difficult or even impossible to get rack mount cases but towers are easily available.

Yes, but that still leaves 2 people to point fingers at each other if something doesn't work right. The PC store says "It's not our problem, our hardware is fine, it's the software." Limetech says, "Our software works fine on other machines just like yours, so it must be the hardware."

 

If you buy a prebuilt tower from Limetech, it's Limetech's problem if something is wrong.

[prostuff1]

If anyone wants a tower build running unRAID we (Greenleaf) have been building and selling unRAID servers for quite a while now.

 

The link to our website is in my signature.

[garycase]

I can definitely understand the desire to have a "ready to run" system that doesn't require anything from the user except perhaps adding the drives.

 

The new server looks VERY nice -- and with the protected cache plus 10 drives has up to 36TB capacity with today's 4TB, or 45TB with the forthcoming 5TB units => so should last most users for a long time.

 

I suspect the focus on that was to provide storage for A/V systems, which are often rack-mounted.  But for those without racks, a rack-mount chassis can be a PITA, so clearly a nice tower unit (or two) would be a nice addition to the choices.

 

I'd like to see a mini-unit based on the SuperMicro X7SPA-HF-D525 board in a Lian-Li PC-Q25B case -- this is a nearly "perfect" case for a Plus system, holding 7 drives, with 5 of them in hot-swap cages.  Adding a new drive is trivial ... no screwdriver or anything else needed ... just pull off the side; release the cage lock; screw 4 thumbscrews on the new drive; plug it in; relock the cage; and pop the side back on.  In addition a 12 drive tower unit would be nice.    And then, of course, a "max" unit that holds 24 drives -- possibly in both rack and tower configs; although at this size you probably have ... or SHOULD have ... a rack 

 

Added:  As I went to post that, I got a "there's been another post" note, so I read it before posting, and note that ProStuff put in a plug for his company.  They do have some nicely configured units that come close to what I just noted.    Their "Cleverbox Mini 6" is almost what I outlined above .. it's not clear which motherboard it uses, but if it's the SuperMicro Atom then it's identical to what I listed except it uses the Lian-Li PC-Q08B case ... also a nice case, but not as nice as the Q25B (I've used both).

 

Note, by the way, that what I suggested for a mini-build is EXACTLY the same as the new server uses in the Atom configuration, except it doesn't have the add-in controller card 

[Ice_Black]

unRAID v5.0-rc13 will be available for download later this week, and the final 5.0 will be available the week of June 3.

 

How can unRAID v5.0-rc13 be later this week when it is only a few days left to June 3.