ok so i need to get a backup server for my home network for storing DVDs, music, pictures and lots of business documents.  i have been looking into unRAID and it seems very appealing.  i have a couple questions though that i am hoping someone can answer.

 

1) can I easily get a stable system if i buy the parts and build it myself or am i better off just getting he preconfigured tower from lime tech?

 

2) if i can easily get a stable system by building it myself, can someone suggest all the SPECIFIC parts i would need?  can they easily be had from newegg or would i have to hunt for them?

 

3) i would be leaning more toward the SATA version, does the SATA version spin down the drives when not in use or is that just for the IDE version?

 

4) is it possible to have both IDE ans SATA drives in the system?

 

 

All of these answers are pretty easily found in the forums but here ya go:

1. Yes, the system can be bought from newegg or mwave but I am sure limetech wouldnt mind the business either.

2. The main thing is the motherboard, ASUS P5PE-VM is what everyone pretty much uses here. The case that is popular is the Cooler Master stackers, besides that you will need the hard drives, memory, power supply, memory, and a usb key.

3. Yes, they spin down as well.

4. You can use any combination of SATA/PATA that you would like.

hey thanks for the info - that is quite helpful.  one more question though - which hard drive trays are they using in the MD-1200 from limetech?

are these the correct drives?

 

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817994020

 

 

also if i go with the ASUS P5PE-VM, it has 2 sata ports on the mobo, so cn i make use of those?  or is it best to only use the prts on the promose cards?

bdee1,

 

Yes, you can use the two SATA ports on the Asus P5PE-VM motherboard.

 

Make sure to set up the MB BIOS for Enhanced HD operation. Better yet, use the suggested BIOS setup for the Asus P5PE-VM MB found elswhere on this forum.

 

Regards,

TCIII

ok so a couple more questions - i just want to make sure i am doing this right.

 

1) the mobo has 2 SATA ports and 2 IDE ports.  so technically i should be able to use 4 PATA drives and 2 SATA drives before i need to get the promise controllers right?  so if i used one of the SATA slots for the parity, the other SATA slot for data and then the 4 PATA slots for 4 randomly sized IDE drives that i have lying around, that should work?

 

and lastly. here is the config i am thinking about - is there anything here that throws up a red flag?

 

case: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811119042

mobo: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131029

SATA card: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16816102062

Power supply (just one for now until i get more drives): http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817182006

drive trays: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817994020

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16819116230

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820141437

Flash Drive: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820234013

Parity Drive: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822147007

 

 

Nice parts list, just a couple comments:

 

1. The ICYDOCK mobile rack you linked to is for SATA drives only.  If you are going to use any PATA drives you can either mount them directly in the case or use the PATA version of the mobile rack:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817186004

 

2. I would not use that power supply.  It might be just fine, but power supplies are low-tech, and their price is very much directly proportional to the quality of their components, i.e., you "get what you pay for".  Also, power supply problems can be EXTREMELY difficult to identify.

 

For an unRAID application what you look for in a power supply is:

a) single +12V rails

b) highest amperage rating as possible on +12V.  Why? Hard drives draw most of their current from +12V.

 

Here are 2 possibilities:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104931

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103486

 

But this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103455

provides 26A on the +12V rail (wow!).

 

 

hey thanks for the info - i decided to go with one of your suggested power supplies, and decided to get some pata trays.  one more question though... is this the recommended promise pata controller:

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16816102007

 

and if it is, then the pata promise card allows up to 4 drives, the sata promise card allows up to 4 drives.  thats 8 total.  then on my mobo, i have 2 sata ports so thats 10.  and there are 2 ide ports on the mobo which coudl support up to 4 drived so thats 14.  I knwo that unRAID supports up to 12 drives, so what would be the best config?

 

fill up the promise cards (, use the 2 on sata on the mobo (10) and then one each on the mobo pata's?

Yep that's the card.

 

In your config I'd probably try to limit the number of disks on a PCI bus to 6, which would result in:

 

2 - onboard SATA

4 - onboard PATA

4 - PCI SATA controller

2 - PCI PATA controller (see note)

 

This gives you 6 SATA and 6 PATA disks.

 

Note: use both ports on the PATA controller but only the master connector, or use cables with just two connectors.