Hi everyone,

 

I've been been reading a lot in here for the past couple days and am now ready to build my own unRAID server but I am still unsure of what I need. Hopefully you guys can help me out. I've built an unRAID server in the past (few years ago) but got annoyed of the slow transfer speeds. This was before the cache drive. I switched to windows home server and then the system hard drive (seagate barracuda 7200.11) went out and lost the data on there. I was looking into qnap and synology NAS systems but came across unRAID. After doing some reading on how much it has progressed, I want to come back. Right now I have no existing backup for a majority of my files so I would like to get something up and running ASAP. I've been putting this task off for way too long. I plan on buying a whole new system and eventually use my old one to backup this new one.

 

After some research I was set on getting the intel xeon e3-1220v3 haswell with the asrock E3C226D2I in a pc-q25b because I was intrigued by all the things it could do with virtualization. After some more reading, I am not sure if this route will be overkill for me or not and is what I'm here to ask. I also want to build a new desktop at the moment so I want to get some advise on what kind of unRAID server I need based on how I use my desktop. I am not sure yet what my desktop build will be yet but most likely a watercooled i7 haswell. What I really want to ask is if with a powerful desktop, would I still have use for a powerful server? I plan on setting up a plex media server. Would I be able to run that on my desktop? I have an HTPC in the living room that I would like to be able to stream media from. Also, from various android tablets and phones. I usually have my desktop on 24/7, game occasionally, download/unrar files, and whatever else I need to do. Would it be more beneficial for me to build a powerful desktop or a powerful server? Would an unRAID build with an i3 or i5 more suitable for me instead?

 

Sorry if this info has been went over already. I was not able to find anything specific to my situation during my reading and I'm trying start buying parts ASAP. Thanks for taking you time to read my post. Any help and advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

You need to decide where you want to host Plex, etc. ... but FWIW the motherboard/CPU combo you listed will make a VERY nice UnRAID server, regardless of whether you choose to run any virtual machines.    ECC memory support and IPMI are two excellent features you wont' get in a desktop class motherboard.

 

In fact (as I've noted in a couple other threads) that combination is exactly what I plan to use in my next UnRAID server (which will also be in a PC-Q25B case). 

 

I'd build with that regardless of where you plan to host your other utilities (Plex, etc.).    Even if you just use it as a NAS, that chipset/CPU combo will be very low-power when you're not demanding a lot of CPU power -- but will also have plenty of CPU power available in case you want to run some demanding add-ins and/or a hypervisor and some VM's.

 

Thanks for your response garycase. I actually came up with the build from reading your posts on a few other people's threads. The more i read the more i want to go ahead with this build and hold off on my desktop build. Is it recommended to buy the same brand of hard drive? On the faq it says its good to mix and match, but on everyone's builds i see they usually buy only 1 brand and model. I understand specs of the hard drives should match to be able to keep up with each other. But what about brands? I want to go with the wd 4tb reds. There is a sale going on right now for the HGST 4tb deskstar coolspin which are also 5400rpm with 4 platters. Should i pick up one of those to throw in the mix or is it best to get 3 wd 4tb reds?

You can run PMS on your desktop build as you say, but I think most here run it on the unRAID server and just run the Plex clients on the desktop machines if they want to use it there.

 

Maybe getting a bit ahead of the curve here, but unRAID is headed toward being a complete virtual host, so instead of asking if you would need unRAID, maybe a better question would be do you need a separate desktop system?

I used to run downloads, torrents etc on my desktop and, hence, left it running 24/7.  Since the unRAID server was also on 24/7, I concluded that it would be more efficient to migrate all the download etc activity to the server.  I'm still running unRAID (currently v5.0.5) with several plugins handling all the 24/7 tasks, including Transmission.  The one app which couldn't, easily, run in this way was jdownloader so, for the time being, I've abandoned it.

 

Once I have confidence in V6, I will migrate many of the apps (including jdownloader) to VMs on the unRAID host.

 

Perhaps you will consider following a similar path, allowing your desktop machine to 'rest' sometimes.

 

I have no knowledge of, or experience with, the mobo you're proposing.  However, with regard to the cpu - the 1220 doesn't include hyperthreading so only offers the four physical cores.  If you upgrade to the 1230, you will then have eight logical (still four physical) cores to play with.  This may afford a little more flexibility when implementing VMs.

Agree the 1230 has more CPU "horsepower" than a 1220, but the 1220 is plenty for the likely uses of the system.  Just a matter of how much extra "headroom" you want.  The PassMark for a 1220v3 is 7022 ... essentially the same as a high-end Core-i5 desktop CPU (An i5-4570 scores 7058).    The 1230v3 is 9555, roughly the same as a Core-i7 (An i7-4770 scores 9963).

 

Certainly wouldn't hurt to bump up to the 1230v3, but it's also certainly not needed 

 

r.e. disk drives => the Hitachi's you're looking at are very good drives, as are the WD Reds.  I'd just pick one and buy all the same -- there's no real reason to mix them.  Buy all the same ensures the same areal density and rpm for all your drives, so no individual drive is limiting your performance.

 

 

My only comment here (from a bad personal experience) is the Xeon i3 usually does not support on-board GPU, so you need a discrete card to provide video. I bought a i3-1230 v3, and ended up moving to the i7-4770 as I didn't want to use a discrete card for video and waste a PCI-Express slot for it (especially since I also wanted to virtualize my XMBC clients which will chew up slots with dedicated GPUs.

 

Whichever processor you look at getting I would validate it on http://ark.intel.com and make sure you know what features are turned on/off - some i5's don't enable hyper-threading and some don't have vt-d for hardware pass-through (which you may want down the road).

 

Similarly, make sure your motherboard supports what you may want to do in the future. ASrock is a good choice as they enable many features in their boards (unlike ASUS who don't necessarily enable vt-x or vt-d) on every board. But still good to double check.

 

I agree with garycase on the drives. I have a few family/friends that buy whatever is cheap when they need a new drive, but most of us stick with a single vendor for simplicity, and it's easier to keep track of.

Would I still need a GPU if the motherboard supports IPMI? I thought IPMI allows me to run and configure the server headless.

Great points you guys make. I haven't even thought of looking at it that way. Pass on all the work for the server to handle and maybe I won't need a new desktop after all. This is the build I have so far. Before I place the order I want to make sure everything is compatible and that I'm not missing anything.

 

CPU: Intel Intel Xeon E3-1230V3 Haswell 3.3GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150 80W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80646E31230V3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906

MB: ASRock E3C226D2I Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C226 DDR3 1600/1333 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157466

MEM: Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 Server Memory Model KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139979

CASE: LIAN LI PC-Q25B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112339

PSU: SILVERSTONE ST45SF-G 450W SFX12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256084

HD: 3x WD Red WD40EFRX 4TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" NAS Internal Hard Drive -Bulk http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236599

 

I will maybe add a 128GB SSD to use as a cache drive. Thanks for helping me with making my decision. I now can probably save some money and learn to set up VMs.

the Xeon i3 usually does not support on-board GPU

 

There's no such thing as a "Xeon i3"        If you needed integrated graphics, you should have bought one of the Xeons that had it ... E3-1225v3, E3-1245v3, E3-1265v3, etc.    Assuming you have a motherboard that has ECC support, you lost that support when you switched to an i7.

 

 

Would I still need a GPU if the motherboard supports IPMI? I thought IPMI allows me to run and configure the server headless.

 

No, that's the beauty of IPMI => you never need to connect a keyboard, mouse, or display to the system.    The motherboard DOES, however, have built-in video to support the IPMI function, so you CAN connect a monitor if you want.

 

 

This is the build I have so far. Before I place the order I want to make sure everything is compatible and that I'm not missing anything.  ...

 

Everything looks great.  That is a VERY nice system 

 

If you want an SSD for a cache, Newegg has an excellent price at the moment on the 240GB Crucial M500's => Crucial and Intel are the only two SSDs I recommend (and buy) these days.    I've used several of the M500's and they're excellent units.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148694

the Xeon i3 usually does not support on-board GPU

 

There's no such thing as a "Xeon i3"        If you needed integrated graphics, you should have bought one of the Xeons that had it ... E3-1225v3, E3-1245v3, E3-1265v3, etc.    Assuming you have a motherboard that has ECC support, you lost that support when you switched to an i7.

 

Sorry, you are correct. I meant E3, not I3

 

I didn't want to pay the premium for ECC memory, so am okay there.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

I recently built the same system (mine was probably one of the threads you were reading) and I can say it is great and I wouldn't want to give up the Xeon CPU and board as the virtual KVM is great. Sitting here in my office at work I have the remote server's console open right now via browser as I was monitoring a Pre-Clear on a new drive that was almost finished. This is MUCH better then Telnet as I don't have to worry about session interruptions. I just set a strong password on the web interface and modified the default port of the management interface before opening it in my firewall. The onboard vga also does work just fine for initial setup if you need to use it.

This build is almost identical to mine.  The main difference is I got a faster processor (E3-1240v3) and less RAM (1x8 GB).  My thinking was that I could easily add a second stick of RAM later but there is no way to incrementally add speed to the CPU, so I figured I'd start with the fastest CPU I could get.

 

I haven't decided on a cache/app/vm drive yet either.  Still trying to figure out if an SSD is big enough for VMs or if I should just get a regular drive.

I recently built the same system (mine was probably one of the threads you were reading) and I can say it is great and I wouldn't want to give up the Xeon CPU and board as the virtual KVM is great. Sitting here in my office at work I have the remote server's console open right now via browser as I was monitoring a Pre-Clear on a new drive that was almost finished. This is MUCH better then Telnet as I don't have to worry about session interruptions. I just set a strong password on the web interface and modified the default port of the management interface before opening it in my firewall. The onboard vga also does work just fine for initial setup if you need to use it.

 

Indeed, it was your post that I read and got this build from. Glad you are happy with everything because I've already ordered everything and they're on the way. Receiving everything today except the memory. Can't wait to get started.

I haven't decided on a cache/app/vm drive yet either.  Still trying to figure out if an SSD is big enough for VMs or if I should just get a regular drive.

 

If you decide on SSD, the crucial 240gb m500 garycase recommended is currently on sale on newegg for $119.99 with promotional code EMCYTZT5636. 

I haven't decided on a cache/app/vm drive yet either.  Still trying to figure out if an SSD is big enough for VMs or if I should just get a regular drive.

 

If you decide on SSD, the crucial 240gb m500 garycase recommended is currently on sale on newegg for $119.99 with promotional code EMCYTZT5636.

 

Thanks, that is tempting But I want room for a Windows VM, a few Linux VMs, plus plenty of space for cache and Plex's internal files, and at that 240 GB starts to feel cramped.  Amazon has the 480 GB version of that drive for $259, which sounds good until I compare that to a 4 TB spinnner, and thus my dilema 

Amazon also has the 960GB version for $454.95 

 

That's much less than I paid for my first 64GB SSD !!  [and FAR less than I paid for my first 26MB hard drive in 1981  ]

 

But if you want significant capacity on the cache, I'd get a 7200rpm 1TB/platter unit like the Seagate SV35 series drives (available in 1TB, 2TB, and 3TB versions).

 

 

Thanks Gary!  Along these lines, what do you think of the Seagate hybrid drives for this use case? http://www.seagate.com/internal-hard-drives/solid-state-hybrid/desktop-solid-state-hybrid-drive/

The hybrid drives would be an excellent choice, although it wouldn't be any faster as a write cache, as any 7200rpm 1TB/platter drive is going to write at speeds well above what a Gb internet connection can achieve.

 

But the SSD cache would help with internal writes (i.e. for applications using the drive).

 

 

 

I can't really figure out any benefit to using SSD for the cache drive. The speed is no real benefit as you are still limited by the LAN port speed and also the speed of the other drives when the copy script runs.

 

If you use the same drive size that your data drives are you should get the same speed as you would effectivly get on the ssd without any of the trim related issues and with the added benefit of being able to use the drive as a hot spare.

 

I have 3 4tb drives in my system

Drive 1 - Parity Drive

Drive 2 - Data Drive

Drive 3 - Cache drive and also app install location for Plex, Sickbeard, Couchpotato, Sab.

 

I will just add additional drives as I need the space. Working great so far, handling multiple streams through plex with no issue sending to my Roku, my Son's Android phone, and my ipad all at the same time. Couch Potato and Sickbeard and chugging away for me as well and I have finally finished using MakeMKV to put all 75 of my Blurays on the NAS now I need to start on the hundreds of DVDs... ug.

I recently built the same system (mine was probably one of the threads you were reading) and I can say it is great and I wouldn't want to give up the Xeon CPU and board as the virtual KVM is great. Sitting here in my office at work I have the remote server's console open right now via browser as I was monitoring a Pre-Clear on a new drive that was almost finished. This is MUCH better then Telnet as I don't have to worry about session interruptions. I just set a strong password on the web interface and modified the default port of the management interface before opening it in my firewall. The onboard vga also does work just fine for initial setup if you need to use it.

 

Did you have any problems connecting to the kvm? I can't seem to access the kvm console. It keeps saying not able to connect to 192.168.x.xxx. I can't seem to find any solutions from searching the net. Everything else is working fine except trying to open the kvm console. I'm experiencing the same problem as the guy in this thread http://forums.tweaktown.com/asrock/56295-e3c224d2i-ip-kvm-stopped-working.html

 

I did add the server ip address to the java exeption list. Is there any other settings i'm supposed to change for to work? like maybe firewall or router settings?

Agree the 1230 has more CPU "horsepower" than a 1220, but the 1220 is plenty for the likely uses of the system.  Just a matter of how much extra "headroom" you want.  The PassMark for a 1220v3 is 7022 ... essentially the same as a high-end Core-i5 desktop CPU (An i5-4570 scores 7058).    The 1230v3 is 9555, roughly the same as a Core-i7 (An i7-4770 scores 9963).

 

Certainly wouldn't hurt to bump up to the 1230v3, but it's also certainly not needed 

 

I think that you're missing the point, Gary.  The major advantage of 1230 over 1220 isn't the 0.1 GHz, but the addition of hyperthreading, which allows more flexibility when assigning CPUs to VMs.

Hyperthreading does indeed provide for faster register switching in multi-tasking environments; and may provide a small gain in VM performance -- although I doubt it'd be noticeable.    But since it doesn't actually change the number of CPU cores, there's no real benefit in terms of actual CPU "horsepower."

 

I've experimented a bit with this ... enabling and disabling hyperthreading and then running several VMs under VMware Workstation on a Windows system.    There's NO discernible difference in the performance ... although I'm sure there's some minor gain with the faster register switching that hyperthreading provides.