Hi all... i'm about to embark on my 1st unRaid build and i'm a little rusty..

I've been reading and searching and reading some more now time for action..

 

here's what i have planned hardware wise so far.

 

Case: 1ea NORCO RPC-4220 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219033

Controller Card: 3ea SUPERMICRO AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101792

PSU: 1ea CORSAIR TX850M - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139029

SAS Cable: 6ea NORCO C-SFF8087-D - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133034

MOBO: 1ea (unknown)

RAM:(TBD 4gb or 8gb) ?

CPU: (unknown)

120mm fan wall bracket - http://www.ipcdirect.net/servlet/Detail?no=258

120mm fans - 3ea (unknown)

80mm fans - 2ea (unknown)

Parity Drive: - 1ea 4tb (TBD)

Cache Drive: - 1ea 1tb (TBD)

 

please let me know your thoughts as well as recommendations on hardware..

 

thanks..

 

this seems to be a solid board but dont know if its overkill..

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182253&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Motherboards+-+Server-_-SuperMicro-_-13182253

 

with cpu.. do i have to get a dual core over 3.0GHz? or will something in the mid 2's work just as well

As with most questions, the answer is it depends.

 

Honestly, it's going to be difficult to provide specific recommendations without knowing what your end goal objective is. If you've been reading through the forums you've likely seen a number of comments around virtualization in the upcoming 6.0.

 

When picking hardware you are going to need to decide what you want UnRAID to do for you in the future. I.e. are you hoping to skip virtualization and just run plug-ins, or do you want to load up Xen VMs for plugins (i.e. SAB, SickBeard, Plex, etc), or do you hope to include hardware passthrough (i.e. for XBMC clients).

 

With us being on the leading edge of virtualization within UnRAID there are a lot more considerations to include when picking out new hardware. Clearly defining goals will definitely help other users provide recommendations specific to your requirements.

 

 

oh wow you opened a can of worms with that response.. lol..

 

my initial plan was for a NAS to store my files and HD movies to serve to my HTPC using XBMC..

i really wasn't looking at the plugin/visualization

 

i've been mostly looking at the hardware comparability wiki

 

didnt know there was a hardware passtrough for XBMC..

It's an exciting time for UnRAID, but it can definitely make it more challenging to pick the right hardware to meet your current and near-future needs.

 

If you have any questions, or need any clarification there are several of us who have gone through this upgrade cycle (I did last month), so you can likely get a wealth of info from people on the forums. However, you really need to have a good baseline of what you are hoping to achieve first.

 

I have an ASRock C226 WS that has been running for about 3 or 4 months and put it in the motherboard comparability wiki.

 

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Hardware_Compatibility#Motherboard

 

This forum post also shows what RAM and processor I used.

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=31050.0

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157409

 

I got this board because it supported ECC RAM and VT-d, 10 sata ports, and plenty of PCIe ports.

 

If you are not planning on doing any plugins or virtualization you could get away with an Atom processor and minimal RAM but parity checks would go slower.

sgibbers17 that a nice board..

 

bkastner i guess i'll have to educate myself on v6 because i was specking a server to run v5..

If you can afford it, it's worth going with the hardware that will support virtualization if you decide to go that way down the road, even if you don't want to do it now.

 

For you fans, how important is noise level? I'd go with these fans if you want something quiet. I use these in my 4224 and they are extremely quiet but still move a ton of air. A bit pricey but absolutely worth it.

 

80mm: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006GD30UC/

120mm: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006GDDV2E/

If you can afford it, it's worth going with the hardware that will support virtualization if you decide to go that way down the road, even if you don't want to do it now.

 

For you fans, how important is noise level? I'd go with these fans if you want something quiet. I use these in my 4224 and they are extremely quiet but still move a ton of air. A bit pricey but absolutely worth it.

 

80mm: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006GD30UC/

120mm: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006GDDV2E/

 

i guess i should look at some VT-d capable boards... i've seen those fans used on a lot of the Norco builds i guess i'll pick up some..

 

 

I'd go for either the Supermicro X9 or X10 series boards and a Xeon E3 v2 or v3 depending on which board you go with.

so i picked up these..

 

Supermicro 24bay 4U chassis

 

 

Intel (LSI) 24 channel Raid Controller

 

 

i believe i'll be using a LGA 1150 Socket CPU Quad-Core  and a supermicro server board to go with it.

 

gonna run ESXi 5.5 and virtualize unRaid.

 

 

edit: here's the board and CPU i'll be going with..

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182831

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116909

been collecting parts over the past few days/weeks... and today outside was kinda glum so i started to put together what i got soo far..

 

Forward breakout cables

Quad

SM

dual 2.5" drive brackets

SSD's for Datastore

X10SAE

USB Header Adaptor

 

the Supermicro drive mounting kit is really nice, it came with rubber bushings.

 

 

had to remove the fan wall to get to the bottom sata ports