I've been looking around for a stable system to run my media storage and server applications on and finally decided on unRAID as the platform. I'm still learning all of the unRAID stuff, but I know Linux well enough (I think), can read, and learn quickly to make this process not too painful. I want to make sure that everything is compatible and enough\more than what I need.

 

To start, I plan on running the following; SABnzbd, Sickbeard, Couchpotato, Headphones, Maraschino, uTorrent (or some other torrent client), 3 Calibre libraries, and Plex.

 

I'm trying to go a bit big and make it really easy to expand in the future without having to build a whole new system.

 

I know I'm going to need to run a VM for Calibre since there's no unRAID build, but that's not really a big deal. Since I'm already going to be running this VM would it be better to run the other applications on this VM or run them through unRAID if I can?

 

Plex will probably have 2-3 simultaneous transcoding connections and 1 local share for another PC running XBMC. I want to make sure the processor can handle the load of the VM and all the applications, plus all this transcoding and still leave me room to add new stuff, possibly even a Windows VM.

 

I want to run the SSDs for the cache drive in RAID 1 (I've read this should work?) and run my applications from there, especially Plex since it never lets the hard drives spin down.

 

I think the E3 should be big enough, but I want to make sure I don't need to splurge for an E5 or a different socket type and chipset for possible upgrades. How long is 1150 going to be around?

 

Will it be possible to upgrade with this socket and chipset in the future? Is it likely I'll need more CPU prowess anytime soon? I went with the 1275v3 over the 1270v3 since it was only $15 more and I liked the idea of being able to hook up a monitor if needed, but the plan is to run headless using IMPI.

 

The motherboard will support up to 32GB of RAM, but I didn't think I'd really need more than 16GB for now and I'll have room to upgrade if need be.

 

I already have 1 of the 4TB Reds with data on it, so my plan is to preclear the 3 new drives (3x each) and then build the array with them, transfer the data from the other drive I have, preclear (3x) it and then add it into the array. Sound OK?

 

The case can hold 12 hard drives so I have plenty of room to add more storage.

 

The motherboard has 8 SATAIII ports on-board, is it OK to use these for now or would I be better off getting separate controllers to run the drives off of?

 

For the power supply, I think I did my math right, it should support the server fully loaded in the event I fill the whole thing up.

Is this just a waste, should I go smaller and worry about more power down the road if\when I want to expand?

 

The case is big, but it'll be tucked away somewhere out of the way and I really like that is has plenty of room for me to add to.

Size doesn't matter, looks do a bit, but I'm really not too picky.

 

I think UPS should provide enough time for the system to shut down automatically, I've never used one though, so I'm just going off what I've read about them.

 

I think I covered everything... If some of you pros could provide some feedback and make sure I'm not heading down the wrong path I would sure appreciate it! Please feel free to critique as much as you see fit!

 

Thank you!

Build:

• SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SAT-O ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 DDR3 1600/1333/1066 - $269.99
  
• Intel Intel Xeon E3-1275V3 Haswell 3.5GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150 95W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80646E31275V3 - $309.99 (-$40 w/ motherboard bundle)
  
• Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 Server Memory w/TS Model KVR16E11/8 - $181.98 ($90.99 x 2)
  
• WD Red WD40EFRX 4TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" NAS Internal Hard Drive - $554.97 ($184.99 x 3)
  
• SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series MZ-7PD128BW 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $249.98 ($124.99 x 2)
  
• SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - $79.99
  
• LIAN LI PC-A76WX Black ATX Full Tower Computer Case - $189.99
  
• APC BR1300G 1300 VA 780 Watts 10 Outlets Power Saving Back-UPS Pro 1300 - $157.99
  

Total Cost $1994.88 (less S&H, various cables, brackets and whatnot)

I know I'm going to need to run a VM for Calibre since there's no unRAID build, but that's not really a big deal. Since I'm already going to be running this VM would it be better to run the other applications on this VM or run them through unRAID if I can?

 

Plex will probably have 2-3 simultaneous transcoding connections and 1 local share for another PC running XBMC. I want to make sure the processor can handle the load of the VM and all the applications, plus all this transcoding and still leave me room to add new stuff, possibly even a Windows VM.

 

You should be able to run most/all of that in the one VM (assuming you are going to run V6 beta now). I'm not a cpu expert here, but I don't see why that CPU wouldn't be plenty to do what you want so far.

 

I want to run the SSDs for the cache drive in RAID 1 (I've read this should work?) and run my applications from there, especially Plex since it never lets the hard drives spin down.

 

I think the E3 should be big enough, but I want to make sure I don't need to splurge for an E5 or a different socket type and chipset for possible upgrades. How long is 1150 going to be around?

 

Will it be possible to upgrade with this socket and chipset in the future? Is it likely I'll need more CPU prowess anytime soon? I went with the 1275v3 over the 1270v3 since it was only $15 more and I liked the idea of being able to hook up a monitor if needed, but the plan is to run headless using IMPI.

 

The motherboard will support up to 32GB of RAM, but I didn't think I'd really need more than 16GB for now and I'll have room to upgrade if need be.

 

I'm pretty sure you can run the SSDs in a RAID1 for the cache drive, but it does seem a little overkill. It is a good idea, but you could acheive the same thing by just running an rsync and backing up the misc stuff on the cache drive to the array, should make rebuilding it a little easier. Again, nothing wrong with it, just a little extreme I think.

 

I think your E3 will be plenty, the socket 1150 is the newest intel right now, so it should be around for quite a while. No harm getting a cpu with built in video, you never know what you might retask it for down the road, but the iGPU won't be needed if you are using IMPI.

 

2x8GB ram is good as well, there are other threads around here about how using 4 ECC dimms isn't the best idea, but doing 2x8 now should be enough, and allows you to add 2x8 or 2x16 if you want to replace them down the road.

 

I already have 1 of the 4TB Reds with data on it, so my plan is to preclear the 3 new drives (3x each) and then build the array with them, transfer the data from the other drive I have, preclear (3x) it and then add it into the array. Sound OK?

 

The case can hold 12 hard drives so I have plenty of room to add more storage.

 

The motherboard has 8 SATAIII ports on-board, is it OK to use these for now or would I be better off getting separate controllers to run the drives off of?

 

For the power supply, I think I did my math right, it should support the server fully loaded in the event I fill the whole thing up.

Is this just a waste, should I go smaller and worry about more power down the road if\when I want to expand?

 

The case is big, but it'll be tucked away somewhere out of the way and I really like that is has plenty of room for me to add to.

Size doesn't matter, looks do a bit, but I'm really not too picky.

 

Adding drives to unRAID causes them to get wiped, so definitely get the data off that drive before adding it to unRAID (doesn't look like it should be an issue with your build). Just run the drives off the onboard ports. When you run out of onboard ports, you'll need to look into a separate controller.

 

Not sure about the PS, but a 550 isn't ZOMG huge, but it might not be in its sweet spot when your server is sitting idle most of the time, or in a lower power state.

 

Not sure about the UPS/etc, but otherwise, good luck with the build, looks fine!

You are awesome! Thank you for your help and advice! I can't wait to get started!