Silent Build: Silverstone DS380 Build [DAEDALUS]


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Hi,

 

I have been running a small UnRAID setup for a couple of years to hold everything; business backups, computer backups, media etc.  But the time has come to separate the content over two boxes, I cannot afford to lose some of the data storage.

This is my current setup:

12Tb File Server:

Case: Fractal Design Array R2,

CPU & Motherboard: Intel D510MO / D510 Intel MN10,

RAM: 4 GB DDR2 800Mhz.

 

I have a lot of spare hard drives laying around my flat, so I will not be upgrading the drives at this present time, I will however use or sell what I have to effectively reduce the total cost of my new home server.  The drives I currently have are:

 

Parity Drive: 2TB

Data Drives: 17x either 1TB, 1.5TB or 2TB

Cache Drive: 1x 500GB 2.5"

Total Drive Capacity: Unknown at present.  Due to not knowing the state of the hard drives I have and if I can sell them, to help pay for required upgrades.

 

I love my current setup due as it is extremely low powered system and virtual silent!  My plan is to swap all of my hard drives that are not in use in my computer, media server and my networked attached storage (NAS for short) for a dozen for 4 or 5TB WD Red drives if the reviews of these drives prove to be positive.  I am aiming to purchase WD Red drives purely for their ultralow power draw.  This server project will enable me to downsize all of my IT equipment throughout my flat into one single machine.  I might look into integrating my computer and/or my media centre into the server.  My concern with this train of thought is reliability.  If my server goes down, I cannot do any work.  I will have to think long and hard about this before I make any purchases.

 

I am upgrading my current setup, with the view of not needing to upgrade for at least 5 or 6 years, hopefully longer.  The aim is to run a couple of virtual machines on my new server using either Hyper-V, UnRAID 6 or ESXi.  This will enable me to combine as many systems as possible into one machine.  Although I have my concerns, the main one being power hungry systems.  There are two reasons for this, the first one; environment.  I try to make my flat and my business as efficient as possible.  The second reason is electric is not cheap in the UK. 

 

The primary uses of the new server will be:

Computer backups using rsync or similar

Virtual machines (Defiantly one that I can run Windows while at university as the campus is all Macs)

- VM: Home security; IP Cameras

- VM: Home Automation, maybe?

- Blu-Ray Film/TV Episodes, Music etc Storage

- Plex streaming/content provider

- Backup server

 

Update

I’ve moved away from virtual machines at the moment and concentrated on Docker [https://www.docker.com/] which has been a steep learning curve which has been frustrating at times and has caused a lot of late nights!

 

New Parts Ordered 16/06/2014

Case: Silverstone DS380 - £107.04 PURCHASED

CPU: Intel Xeon E3 1230 v3 - £181.86 PURCHASED

MOBO: ASRock E3C226D2I LGA 1150 Mini-ITX [iPMI] - £130.99 PURCHASED

RAM: 16GB Kingston 8GB ECC KVR16E11/8 - £119.56 - PURCHASED

PSU: 450W Silverstone SST-ST45SF-G - £76.14 - PURCHASED

UPS: APC BR900GI 540 Watts /900 VA - £139.98 PURCHASED

Total Price: £755.57 – £102 Cashback

 

Let me know what you think?  Any comments, suggestions or questions are most welcome

 

Edited by Rick Sanchez
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  • 1 month later...

I have updated my original post today with my latest specification ideas etc etc.  Would they be suitable for a VM/UnRAID 6 build? 

 

Edit

 

Thank you for your post and valuable input into my latest venture.  I will investigate and report back!

 

On a side note: 14 SATA ports?  I'd buy a different case.

 

Isn't UnRAID 6 utilising VM technology?

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Unraid 6 offers virtualization via Xen, but it isn't using it in and of itself.  It still offers a non-Xen boot option as the default, and even with Xen "turned on" unraid is running as Dom0 so the domUs running under it don't really come into play as far as Unraid is concerned.  And that is kind of the point too :)

 

According to the Newegg picture it is 14 sata ports on that single board.  I also see that I was referencing the same same board Chris Pollard did. 

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This thread is very interesting because I'm thinking of building a similar setup.  I really like that Silverstone case.  I have one question though.  The supermicro mobo, as well as a couple other boards suggested, are microATX format.  I thought that Silverstone case only supported miniITX or DTX.  Am I missing something?

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Is this suitable for an UnRAID 6.0 build?

 

Case: Silverstone DS380

CPU: Intel Xeon E3 1230 v3

MOBO: ASRock E3C226D2I LGA 1150 Mini-ITX [iPMI]

RAM: 16GB  Kingston 8GB ECC KVR16E11/8

PSU: SeaSonic SS-350M1U

 

The PSU is a 2 rail design. Is there a single rail alternative?

 

Carefully consider your data need over at least a 3 year horizon. With 8 drives, you'll likely want 1 cache, 1 parity, and 6 data. 6 data is 24T with 4T drives. Most users find their data needs substantially increase after getting a server set up. If you can see your data needs to be more than half of that consider something bigger.

 

Be cautious about thinking that 6T or larger drives allowing you to grow your array. Once you've used up all 6 slots with, say 4T drives, the only way to grow is to buy something bigger and retire an old drive. Buying a 6T for $200 or even less may be a good value for 6T, but very pricey if you're only getting 2T, and taking a bath on the 4T that you are only retiring for lack if slots.

 

I personally don't like these little servers because of this. They are sexy but too limiting for the long term. My server has room for 20 (plus 6 more if I want to mount internally). :) You might think that's a lot but I am still running some 2T drives that I bought 3 years ago and a bunch of 3T. I like to keep drives for 4 or 5 years (or until they act up) to get my money's worth and the large drive count gives me that luxury. I swapped out my old 1T drives for 3T a couple years ago. Much better than swapping 4T for 6T.

 

If you go with the smaller case you might want to buy the biggest drives you can! $299 for 6T is pricey, but not as pricey as swapping out disks two years from now IMO. 3 6T drives would give you 12T usable and expansion of 4 more drives to at least 36T before swapping stuff out.

 

$0.02 from a cost conscious storage junkie.

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With possible exception of the PSU the build looks solid. You could use a 2.5" cache drive and get one more disk, but I don't recommend it. You'll want to be able to do preclears and need an extra slot for doing certain data recovery procedures. The cache can be removed for such purposes. I would not recommend using every slot for array disks unless you have an eSATA capability.

 

My comments were asking YOU to consider the benefits and drawbacks of a smaller rig. It wouldn't fit my needs but may fit yours perfectly. I've seen some users buy huge Norco rigs and look to downsize a few months later, and others buy small rigs and look to upgrade months later due to too few drive bays. Only you can decide what is right for you.

 

Here is a link to a build on the opposite side of the spectrum. This is not a recommendation you buy this big a rig but the owners comments might be interesting to you.

 

BIG RIG

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Ok. Sorry didn't know your background with unRaid.

 

I do not have a recommendation. Multi-rail PSUs can run out of power on the rail containing your drive connectors even though the other rail (which might supply the graphics card with power) has plenty of power. You are more limited in PSU selection with the non-standard PSU configuration required for this case.

 

There is a special stickied PSU thread in the Hardware subforum where you may find more info. You might also search for the case in the forums and find PSUs that other users are using with unRaid servers.

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Is this suitable for an UnRAID 6.0 build?

 

Case: Silverstone DS380

CPU: Intel Xeon E3 1230 v3

MOBO: ASRock E3C226D2I LGA 1150 Mini-ITX [iPMI]

RAM: 16GB  Kingston 8GB ECC KVR16E11/8

PSU: SeaSonic SS-350M1U

If I didn't already have the only working Asrock C2750 that is exactly what I would buy except for the power supply.  I still might switch everything out.  I would get the the st45sf-g 450 instead. I bought the bronze version though cause it was $50 on ebay. You may be able to use one with less watts. Like 300-350 but Silverstone because of the single rail.

 

Also with that case you have to run the side fans with a fixed rpm.  I run mine with Noctuas @ 800-900rpms. Other wise the drives will run hot during parity checks/syncs. I swapped the direction so they blow out and removed the filter. And use the rear as intake with a filter.

 

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  • 1 month later...

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