dandirk Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 I have decided to start making the switch from DVD to Bluray with my HTPC. With this change obviously I will require much more storage space then my current 3TB nas can provide (75% full). My plan is to build an unraid server and migrate my existing 2.7TB of data from my Thecus NAS (5x 750GB RAID 5) then after the unraid is stable, migrate the 5 750GB disks from my NAS to expand the unraid server... The one problem I am seeing currently is support for large port # sata controllers... Most are raid cards and the linux drivers are not included in the unraid distro (correct me if I am wrong). So this makes selecting a motherboard the most important and difficult task... I am limited to a workstation type board, because I already have a intel core2duo that can be used in the server, I know pci-x has some good 8 port sata options but I most of these boards only support xeon and other intel chips but no mention of core2duo which uses the same 775 socket hmmmm.... I have been seriously looking into the Asus P5Q series... Seems to have a fair number of onboard SATA and plenty of pci-e slots for expansion of more sata controller cards... I am sort of split between the P5Q-E and P5Q Pro boards... P5Q-E P5Q-E]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131296 P5Q Pro P5Q Pro]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299 From what I have read, though this board says it has 8 sata ports, 2 of which are on a xpert controller which only supports 1 drive if used in JBOD mode. Even this drive did not show up in Unraid.... So that mean only 6 onboard can be counted on... Since I will require a minimum of 8 drives to start (3 new 1.5TB drives to migrate data, then the 5 750GB once data has been migrated), I figure I will need at least 1 4 port Sata card... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816103058 I have read this works out of the box with unraid... its a PCI-E x4 lane card.... Now the P5Q-E is more expensive and includes a pci-e x4 slot (replacing a pci-e x1 slot in the P5Q Pro).... My question is this, can I use a x4 lane sata card in the x16 slots since this motherboard has 2 of them? I was hoping to use a pci video card.... Not a huge deal since if I get a x4 pci-e card I could use the specific slot, but the -E board is more expensive and I would loose a x1 slot (if I can use the adaptec in 1 of the x16 slots) for additional 2 port controllers as I expand my array... My second question is what kind of PCI video card should I look for, are there specific chipsets that are supported by Unraid? Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 My question is this, can I use a x4 lane sata card in the x16 slots since this motherboard has 2 of them? I was hoping to use a pci video card.... Not a huge deal since if I get a x4 pci-e card I could use the specific slot, but the -E board is more expensive and I would loose a x1 slot (if I can use the adaptec in 1 of the x16 slots) for additional 2 port controllers as I expand my array... My second question is what kind of PCI video card should I look for, are there specific chipsets that are supported by Unraid? You should be able to use a 4X card in a 16X slot, I would recommend downloading the manual. If there is going to be an issue, it will say the 16X is for video only. Chances are this won't be the case, but check anyway. The 4X card will surely work in at least one of the 16X slots. If there are any 1X slots left over then the masscool 1X 2 Sata card works with unRAID. As far as core 2 duo and workstation board with PCI-X, suipermicro has them. They are not cheap, but they are workstation/server class boards and will accept a 775 processor along with PCI-X. For example http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182144 http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/3210/X7SBA.cfm http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182144 http://www.tyan.com/product_board_detail.aspx?pid=591 Note there are others, but this gives you an idea of choices. Link to comment
ilovejedd Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 Instead of the $250 X7SBA, you also have the option of going AMD. ASUS M2N-LR $160 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131134 AMD Athlon 4850e $60 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103255 That's what I'm currently planning on + 2 Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8. Hopefully, the board will be supported on unRAID. Link to comment
dandirk Posted November 19, 2008 Author Share Posted November 19, 2008 Interesting.... While I wanted to save some cash and reuse an intel chip I have... The AMD system may be the way to go... Considering the 8 port pci-x card costs as much as a 4 port pcie right now. There is another thread where there is a supermicro 8 port pcie card but it does not currently work with unraid.... Here I was pretty sure what to do... now I have to rethink the AMD setup... Any info on what PCI vid card I should use:? Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Any info on what PCI vid card I should use:? It does not matter. Choose one with the least amount of ram unless you plan to use extended VGA modes such as 43 lines or 50 lines. The more ram that is on the video card, the less that is available to the operating system. I think people have been using this with success. http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ATI-RAGEXL-8M&cpc=SCH The Supermicroboard has an embedded video adapter. Also, if you elect to go with the IPMI adapter, you can have KVM over IP. This would give you console access to the machine from a windows machine with some software. It also lets you monitor the hardware aspects (CPU fan , temp) remotely. I have not used it, but this is supposedly how it works. Link to comment
ilovejedd Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 Interesting.... While I wanted to save some cash and reuse an intel chip I have... The AMD system may be the way to go... Considering the 8 port pci-x card costs as much as a 4 port pcie right now. There is another thread where there is a supermicro 8 port pcie card but it does not currently work with unraid.... Here I was pretty sure what to do... now I have to rethink the AMD setup... Any info on what PCI vid card I should use:? The ASUS M2N-LR has onboard video (ATI ES1000). Not exactly cutting edge, but since all you'll likely be needing it for is BIOS display, it should suffice. Question is if it's supported in unRAID. Oh well, you don't need unRAID for BIOS and unless the Broadcom LAN doesn't work with unRAID, you can easily use telnet or the web interface for unRAID maintenance. Link to comment
WeeboTech Posted November 19, 2008 Share Posted November 19, 2008 The ASUS M2N-LR... Chances are you may be able to underclock/undervolt this board. (check the manual). Link to comment
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