I've read the stickies, done some searches and have decided to make my very own "Help my build a server" type of posts.

 

Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish with my unRAID server.

 

1. Before hard drives, my budget will cap around $500-$600.

 

2. I'd like to start with about 4-8 TB of storage space.

 

3. Being able to expand up storage is important, in regards to # of drives and drive capacity.  I'd like to be able to keep this unit for a while and upgrade rather than replace.

 

4. The server will store all media, from 1080p movies, to images and music.  I will likely be ripping and downloading my data on a client PC, so I don't think it's necessary to have this server be able to perform any tasks besides storing and serving (unless people recommend otherwise....)

 

5. I'll be buying all new as I don't think any of my old parts will hack it outside of some old RAM maybe which is only a few bucks anyway.

 

6. The types of hard drives I'd like to buy would be whichever are most practical to store and serve media to at least 2 clients simultaneously.  From what I read this would be green drives.

 

Hopefully this post has been clear and thorough at what it is I'm looking for.  Can't wait to place an order and start putting this together!

 

EDIT: I'd like to mention that the whole HTPC idea is becoming a big hobby of mine.  I'd really like to build everything from scratch, including the unRAID server.  It's fun to pick people's brains and get their knowledge from experience so I can begin to piece together my own ideal HTPC and NAS.

Well, what I gather from your requirements is that you need a basic setup.

Serving files "raw" to a HTPC is not a big task and any low power setup will do fine.

You'll be employing some plugins, but these will eat memory, not CPU.

Maybe you'll need to serve to music players by employing a dlna server..as long as there is no transcoding involved, you'll be fine too.

You should go for 4GB RAM to be quite safe, I'd say.

 

A cheap, low power solution for up to 4-6 disks is the HP N40/N54L Microserver....a real bargain for what is inside the box.

If you want to build it yourself, with mobo, CPU, case and all,  I'd probably start with a small Celeron-847 based mobo.

This comes with CPU on-board and is more powerful than an Atom or a N40/N54....like the MSI C847-MS-E33 @ 17W idle....good for a start with 4 disks.

hey LL :-)

read my reply on your other thread, but I might have a good sugestion here.

if you plan to run unRaid AsIs, meaning no VM stuff.

check out servers at TAM solutions.

just  just shoot email to "[email protected]" and ask to be put on the list.

 

they sell refurbished servers. you can get a full working server capable of running unRaid as is right from the box. (I have an example of the hardware just click the link for my new build in the sig.)

this are great, business grade hardware.

the only issues with this machines are they are loud, very loud.

they are designed for server room where noise is not important. so some mods are needed.

BUT for $300+shipping (so let say $400)  you get a top quality case with 24!!  hot-swap  hard drives cages.

server grade dual socket  MB  (can put 2 CPUs)  with dual core AMD opteron CPU or dual core Intel Xenon CPU

8GB ECC RAM and MB can support up-to 64GB per CPU.

3 SAS cards to support 24 hard drives

 

all already setup and ready to be plugged in .

add your hard drives and usb stick with unraid and you are done.

 

:-) even though I am having some issues with my new server I am an avid advertiser for TAMs :-)

(the issues I am having have nothing to do with the hardware it self but what I am trying to do with it.).

 

the mods you will need are preaty much swap the fans for quiet one. and replace the PSU with regular ATX, again to remove the noise.

 

you might even be able to sell the PSUs on eBay for like $50-$40 each to get some money back.(my plan for the future)

 

 

 

if you have questions post here or PM me.

 

Well, what I gather from your requirements is that you need a basic setup.

Serving files "raw" to a HTPC is not a big task and any low power setup will do fine.

You'll be employing some plugins, but these will eat memory, not CPU.

Maybe you'll need to serve to music players by employing a dlna server..as long as there is no transcoding involved, you'll be fine too.

You should go for 4GB RAM to be quite safe, I'd say.

 

A cheap, low power solution for up to 4-6 disks is the HP N40/N54L Microserver....a real bargain for what is inside the box.

If you want to build it yourself, with mobo, CPU, case and all,  I'd probably start with a small Celeron-847 based mobo.

This comes with CPU on-board and is more powerful than an Atom or a N40/N54....like the MSI C847-MS-E33 @ 17W idle....good for a start with 4 disks.

 

Ultimately I'd like to be able to expand HD capacity without having to purchase parts beyond the new HDs.  Is this possible with this mobo or is this recommendation configured for only 4 disks?

hey LL :-)

read my reply on your other thread, but I might have a good sugestion here.

if you plan to run unRaid AsIs, meaning no VM stuff.

check out servers at TAM solutions.

just  just shoot email to "[email protected]" and ask to be put on the list.

 

they sell refurbished servers. you can get a full working server capable of running unRaid as is right from the box. (I have an example of the hardware just click the link for my new build in the sig.)

this are great, business grade hardware.

the only issues with this machines are they are loud, very loud.

they are designed for server room where noise is not important. so some mods are needed.

BUT for $300+shipping (so let say $400)  you get a top quality case with 24!!  hot-swap  hard drives cages.

server grade dual socket  MB  (can put 2 CPUs)  with dual core AMD opteron CPU or dual core Intel Xenon CPU

8GB ECC RAM and MB can support up-to 64GB per CPU.

3 SAS cards to support 24 hard drives

 

all already setup and ready to be plugged in .

add your hard drives and usb stick with unraid and you are done.

 

:-) even though I am having some issues with my new server I am an avid advertiser for TAMs :-)

(the issues I am having have nothing to do with the hardware it self but what I am trying to do with it.).

 

the mods you will need are preaty much swap the fans for quiet one. and replace the PSU with regular ATX, again to remove the noise.

 

you might even be able to sell the PSUs on eBay for like $50-$40 each to get some money back.(my plan for the future)

 

 

 

if you have questions post here or PM me.

 

Great recommendation!  I was excited at the prospect of building my own unRAID server from scratch but something like this should definitely be a consideration. 

HP can not be update past 4 drives I believe.

this setup is the best if you want a small low noise low heat machine

and will not use more than 4 HDD.

but I also think it is limited to 3TB HDDs check the specks.

 

The whole HTPC concept is quickly becoming a hobby of mine, so building something from the ground up, including a dedicated NAS from scratch is ultimately what I'm aiming for.  I will see if I can edit my first post to reflect this.

 

Ultimately I'd like to be able to expand HD capacity without having to purchase parts beyond the new HDs.  Is this possible with this mobo or is this recommendation configured for only 4 disks?

 

What i've read is that your intention wasn't to max out what is technically possible with unRAID, no. of disks wise.

 

...well, 4 disks with up to 4TB each will serve 3x4TB + 1x4TB Parity.....12TB...you'll need to expand, but you can add an additional controller easily.

 

If you want a more "complete" setup, go for a board with 8 ports, like the ASROCK B75-Pro3-M...7x4TB for data is a LOT...you can add a controller easily after....use this board with the lowest IvyBridge Celeron, like a G1610 and you're good to go.

hey LL :-)

read my reply on your other thread, but I might have a good sugestion here.

if you plan to run unRaid AsIs, meaning no VM stuff.

check out servers at TAM solutions.

just  just shoot email to "[email protected]" and ask to be put on the list.

 

they sell refurbished servers. you can get a full working server capable of running unRaid as is right from the box. (I have an example of the hardware just click the link for my new build in the sig.)

this are great, business grade hardware.

the only issues with this machines are they are loud, very loud.

they are designed for server room where noise is not important. so some mods are needed.

BUT for $300+shipping (so let say $400)  you get a top quality case with 24!!  hot-swap  hard drives cages.

server grade dual socket  MB  (can put 2 CPUs)  with dual core AMD opteron CPU or dual core Intel Xenon CPU

8GB ECC RAM and MB can support up-to 64GB per CPU.

3 SAS cards to support 24 hard drives

 

all already setup and ready to be plugged in .

add your hard drives and usb stick with unraid and you are done.

 

:-) even though I am having some issues with my new server I am an avid advertiser for TAMs :-)

(the issues I am having have nothing to do with the hardware it self but what I am trying to do with it.).

 

the mods you will need are preaty much swap the fans for quiet one. and replace the PSU with regular ATX, again to remove the noise.

 

you might even be able to sell the PSUs on eBay for like $50-$40 each to get some money back.(my plan for the future)

 

 

 

if you have questions post here or PM me.

 

Great recommendation!  I was excited at the prospect of building my own unRAID server from scratch but something like this should definitely be a consideration.

 

building stuff from scratch is highly overrated :-).

I build my first unraid from scratch knowing that I will rebuild it later.

 

and like I said , if you are not planning to virtualise anything the TAMs servers are very good.

and even if you do think about it. the case alone is worth the money.

a good 24 bay capable case will cost you at least $200 plus you need to buy all other things to make it work.

you can get this setup , gut it out, sell the innards

like MB/RAM/CPU PSU, fans and back wall.

the SAS cards are at least $60 each. tey are currently on newegg @ $94 (you can not use them as they are PCI-X cards)

(I have seen people selling the parts from this servers for a good $200 alone.)

 

 

Ultimately I'd like to be able to expand HD capacity without having to purchase parts beyond the new HDs.  Is this possible with this mobo or is this recommendation configured for only 4 disks?

 

What i've read is that your intention wasn't to max out what is technically possible with unRAID, no. of disks wise.

 

...well, 4 disks with up to 4TB each will serve 3x4TB + 1x4TB Parity.....12TB...you'll need to expand, but you can add an additional controller easily.

 

If you want a more "complete" setup, go for a board with 8 ports, like the ASROCK B75-Pro3-M...7x4TB for data is a LOT...you can add a controller easily after....use this board with the lowest IvyBridge Celeron, like a G1610 and you're good to go.

 

I modified the OP to make sure it more clearly reflects what I'm looking for.  I'd like to create a system that I can not only expand the capacity of each hard drive, (swap 2 TB HD to 4 TB hard drives), but it'd also be nice to be able to expand the total number of hard drives as well.

Hey VL, did you get my PM?  Maybe because I'm a new member they're not going through because I don't see anything in my sent folder either.

got it,check my reply,  did not see the message indicator :-)

I modified the OP to make sure it more clearly reflects what I'm looking for.  I'd like to create a system that I can not only expand the capacity of each hard drive, (swap 2 TB HD to 4 TB hard drives), but it'd also be nice to be able to expand the total number of hard drives as well.

 

...understood, but you need to start somewhere.

Ultimately, you can go for a case with up to 24 disks...but you won't find a mobo that will drive these without adding at least one controller.

 

...not to mention, that you will, most likely not meet your budget 

 

The Raid concept of unRAID will let you expand and add drives as you go....no need to rush.

If you really want to start small and the 4-8TB will last for some time, the small Celeron-847 will do fine...it will make a nice HTPC too after you maybe decide to swap it for a more powerful one.

I'd probably start with that and get a LARGE case, like a norco 12, 16 or 24 bay....this will stress your budget already....if you can press it, go for the ASROCK...4 disks more without the need to

add another controller.

I modified the OP to make sure it more clearly reflects what I'm looking for.  I'd like to create a system that I can not only expand the capacity of each hard drive, (swap 2 TB HD to 4 TB hard drives), but it'd also be nice to be able to expand the total number of hard drives as well.

 

...understood, but you need to start somewhere.

Ultimately, you can go for a case with up to 24 disks...but you won't find a mobo that will drive these without adding at least one controller.

 

...not to mention, that you will, most likely not meet your budget 

 

The Raid concept of unRAID will let you expand and add drives as you go....no need to rush.

If you really want to start small and the 4-8TB will last for some time, the small Celeron-847 will do fine...it will make a nice HTPC too after you maybe decide to swap it for a more powerful one.

I'd probably start with that and get a LARGE case, like a norco 12, 16 or 24 bay....this will stress your budget already....if you can press it, go for the ASROCK...4 disks more without the need to

add another controller.

 

Which type of ASROCK is suitable for these purposes?

Which type of ASROCK is suitable for these purposes?

 

...pointed you towards it before: ASROCK B75-Pro3-M ... 8 onbaord SATA that will work fine with unRAID....add a IvyBridge Celeron CPU, like the G1610 and 4-or-8GB of RAM.

Which type of ASROCK is suitable for these purposes?

 

...pointed you towards it before: ASROCK B75-Pro3-M ... 8 onbaord SATA that will work fine with unRAID....add a IvyBridge Celeron CPU, like the G1610 and 4-or-8GB of RAM.

 

Ah yes, juggling a few threads now.  I'll be more diligent next time.

no worries...take your time.

Don't get confused on what feature should be hosted on what component.

 

If you're on a budget, get your priorities right.

 

You need:

- case

- PSU

- mobo

- CPU (maybe with cooler fan)

- RAM

- unRAID Stick

- unRAID license

- cables (disks and power)

- fans

- optional disk cages for mounting inside the case

- more cables, more fans 

- optional one or more controllers or controller + expander and even more cables, if you're up to building a box that is up to the task of "just adding drives until it is filled".

Ford is right, but like I said earlier, unless you want virtualisation, you can get one of the TAMs. Setup, start with free unriad licence (3 drives total) 2 data 1 parity.  Add 3 x 3tb drive . You will end up with a nice 6tb server capable of going to 24 drives any time. Just get a pro license and add drives at will.

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

And even if you do want virtualisatiin, I am still working on it and not entirely sure if it not possible.

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

...also, think about noise level and power consumption.

 

You are right Ford. The noise is an issue with this hardware but with simple mod it can be addressed. As for power , well anything with 24 drives will be a hog to an extent. And I am sure you will end up with a psu mod as well. But over all the price will still be with in op budget.i have calculated that with fans replacment and psu mode the server will be about 500$. Any setup capable of this will be more.

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

I also have purchased a server from TAMS although I have swapped out the hardware with newer components recently. I would agree completely that you should start with a big case. My original build was only going to be 6 hard drives and now I have 13 in my big server. I'm not saying that a 24 server is the best option for everyone but with a few modifications for noise and power usage I am extremely happy with this unit. You could also take a look at the lian li cases. They have some really awesome cases that will hold 20 hard drives with lots of space and they have wheels. Picking out the actual hardware is relatively simple. I would focus on deciding on a case adlnd really considering how many hard drives you will ultimately want.