Newb questions- using my old Asus P5WD2 Premium for Unraid. Issues???

[FACP]

Hello all, I just upgraded my old music DAW with an Asus P5WD2 Premium mobo and I was wondering if anybody here has any experience in using this old board for Unraid.  Any issues encountered?  Will it boot via USB?  As of now, I have a Pentium D 2.80 Ghz installed with 4 gigs of RAM on it.  My main concern would be adding more SATA connections.  The board has 4 SATA connections and i'm planning to add 8 more for a total of 12 WD EADS 1tb SATA drives.  I'd appreciate it if anybody could recommend a good and stable SATA controller (the board has 3 PCI slots, one of each PCI express 16X slot and one PCI express x1 slot).  I have my eye on the Adaptec 1430SA's or the Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 (cheaper) as they are in the hardware compatibility list.  Thanks in advance.

[NAS]

Try the free version thats the way to tell for sure.

 

The best PCI controller IMO is the Supermicro one. 8 ports and rick solid stable. you can install more than one and yeah it will be slow cause its PCI but tis stable.

 

Stable is where it is at for me.

[SSD]

Normally when people start talking about using "their old motherboard" for unRAID they're talking about something much older with 2 SATA-150 ports (if they're lucky), 2 IDE ports, and a bunch of PCI slots.  unRAID will work with these but USB booting and expandability past 6 or 7 SATA drives is typically not practical.

 

The P5WD2 is definitely not OLD by comparison.  Asus motherboards tend to be good USB booters (of course you'd need to try to make sure).  The PCI-e slots will make this a good motherboard for expandability (not the very best, but good nonetheless).

 

The SuperMicro MV8 is a good choice for those that don't have (enough) PCI-e slots and must use PCI cards.  The problem with them is that they can quickly saturate the PCI bus.  This is typically only a problem during parity checks, but can also be a problem if you are using the array for multiple things at one time.  I have one of these controllers that I used for about 8 months.  I never had more than 5 drives on it, and that's about the max I would go for anything like reasonable parity check speed.  The board is actually a PCI-X board, and with the right motherboard doesn't have these issues.  But PCI-X motherboards are few and far between, and very pricy.  PCI-e is taking over.  I would not use an MV8 until I had used up all of my PCI-e slots first.

 

The 1430SA is a great controller IMO.  I have 2 of them now (the MV8 is on the sidelines) and they are very fast.  You could use one of them in the PCI-e x16 slot.  They require at least an x4 slot, so would not work in your x1 slot.  (You would need to invest in a cheap - $10 - $20 PCI-based video card, as using the 1430SA would take over the PCI-e video card slot.)  These controllers are used in Limetech's newest servers, and I have never heard anyone complain about them.  You should be able to find a 1430-SA in the $100 - $120 price range.

 

There are a number of options for your x1 slot, but they will only net you 2 ports.  Do an advanced search of the forum for the word "3132" and look for cards based on the SIL 3132 chipset that have 2 ports.  They are cheap -- in the $20 - $30 price range.

 

With 4 on the motherboard, 4 on a 1430-SA, and 2 on a SiL 3132, you'll 8 very fast ports.  If you need more, you could buy a 4-port Promise controller, an MV8, or you might have something in your old components that works.  (I have a couple of 2-port PCI SATA cards that came with older drives I bought).

 

I agree with NAS that a stable board is very important, but if you read the forums you won't find many people complaining of "unstable" controllers.  Problems usually turn out to be memory errors, cabling errors, incompatible motherboards, or (infrequently) failing drives.  All of the controllers I've mentioned are compatible and STABLE for many users. Of course YMMV.

 

There is one other controller that you might consider that will give you 8 ports from your x16 slot at something approaching reasonable cost ($250 - $300 + cost of special cable).  Problem is it is NOT supported yet, but Limetech is working to add support for it.  If your initial needs are more modest and would consider waiting to purchase one of these once it is fully supported, I would hold off on the 1430-SA and monitor this thread.  Once this board is fully-supported, it might be a good option for you.  With it you could get to 12 very fast ports, and have a 16 drive array (with 4 on the PCI bus) and still have reasonable parity check speeds.

 

Good luck.

[WeeboTech]

There are a number of options for your x1 slot, but they will only net you 2 ports.  Do an advanced search of the forum for the word "3132" and look for cards based on the SIL 3132 chipset that have 2 ports.  They are cheap -- in the $20 - $30 price range.

 

From what I read on the ASUS site, The premium mother board has a 3132 on the board also... For a total of 6 ports.

You may need a special cable to re-route the external port internally.

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=493&l1=3&l2=11&l3=0&l4=0

 

Also.

 

 

The 1430SA is a great controller IMO.  I have 2 of them now (the MV8 is on the sidelines) and they are very fast.  You could use one of them in the PCI-e x16 slot.  They require at least an x4 slot, so would not work in your x1 slot.  (You would need to invest in a cheap - $10 - $20 PCI-based video card, as using the 1430SA would take over the PCI-e video card slot.)

 

I think this should be tested before investing in two 1430sa cards.

The specifications say "1 x PCI Express x16 slot for discrete graphics card"

 

[SSD]

You could use one of them in the PCI-e x16 slot.

 

I think this should be tested before investing in two 1430sa cards.

The specifications say "1 x PCI Express x16 slot for discrete graphics card"

 

What I tried to say is that I have two of these, but that his motherboard could support only one.  Sorry if my wording was confusing. 

 

Do you think it is possible that his x16 slot would not accept a SATA controller?  Never heard of a PCI-e slot that was that picky!  The only thing I HAVE heard is that sometimes if there is onboard video and you put a card in the x16 slot (even a SATA controller), the onboard video gets disabled.  If he bought from newegg, he'd have 30 days to try it out.

[FACP]

First of all, thanks to bjp999 and weebotech for the very informative replies.

 

After reading up a little bit more on the P5WD2 manual, found out that the board has actually 5 SATA ports.  4 of those controlled by the Southbridge ICH7R and one controlled by Silicon Image 3132 controller.  The manual indicated that the latter supports "Serial ATA device with Port Multiplier function.  Hmmmm... does this mean I could connect a Addonics 5X1 port multiplier?

http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad5sapm.asphttp://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad5sapm.asp

 

Also, there are 2 PCI Express X16 slots.  It indicated the primary one is "for discreet graphics card" and the 2nd one is a universal one which is X4 mode.  Then it goes on to say "We recommend that you install a VGA card on the primary PCI Express slot, and install any other PCI Express device on the universal PCI Express slot."  So it is safe to say that the primary PCIE slot is for a graphics card only.  I currently have a Geforce 6600GT on that slot.  I might just go ahead and get the Adaptec 1430SA and test both slots.  If it doesn't work on the primary one, then i'll stick it in the universal and try the port multiplier option.

[SSD]

First of all, thanks to bjp999 and weebotech for the very informative replies.

 

After reading up a little bit more on the P5WD2 manual, found out that the board has actually 5 SATA ports.  4 of those controlled by the Southbridge ICH7R and one controlled by Silicon Image 3132 controller.  The manual indicated that the latter supports "Serial ATA device with Port Multiplier function.  Hmmmm... does this mean I could connect a Addonics 5X1 port multiplier?

http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad5sapm.asphttp://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad5sapm.asp

 

Also, there are 2 PCI Express X16 slots.  It indicated the primary one is "for discreet graphics card" and the 2nd one is a universal one which is X4 mode.  Then it goes on to say "We recommend that you install a VGA card on the primary PCI Express slot, and install any other PCI Express device on the universal PCI Express slot."  So it is safe to say that the primary PCIE slot is for a graphics card only.  I currently have a Geforce 6600GT on that slot.  I might just go ahead and get the Adaptec 1430SA and test both slots.  If it doesn't work on the primary one, then i'll stick it in the universal and try the port multiplier option.

 

My guess is that a 1430SA is going to work in any PCI-E that is x4 or faster.  I have never heard of a "video card only" PCI-E slot.  You'll have to confirm.

 

If so, you could use two of them.

[FACP]

Well, finally got around to build my first unRAID server using parts from an old music DAW.  The only purchase I made was a new PSU, the Adaptec 1430SA SATA controller, and six WD EADS 1TB Green drives.  Glad to report that everything went well and then I can boot off a Lexar flash drive.  I also added a WD WD1001FALS 1TB drive for parity and run the parity-check last night.  Speed was around 58mbs and lasted the whole night.  This morning, it indicated that the parity was valid.

 

I would love to start moving 3gb of movies/videos off my main HTPC soon but since i'm new to linux speak/language, gotta spend some time reading up on the manual/FAQ and this forum before I do that.  I'm kind of confused about the whole user/share levels, allocation, and organization using non-windows language.  Or should I just go ahead and copy the files off the HTPC hard drives using windows?  Lastly, if I temporarily unassign the parity drive, would it speed up the transfer process?

[SSD]

Glad you are up and running and have successfully run a parity build and

parity check. If you could save your syslog (see troubleshooting link in my

sig for instructions) and post in the motherboard section you would

demonstrate Level 1 compatibility verification.  It may be helpful for

future users.  (See *** Motherboard Rating System *** thread in the

Motherboard section for more details).

 

In order to load your array, I would recommend not using user shares and

disabling parity.  As long as you have the data in two separate systems (the

workstation and the unRAID array) you are adequately protected IMO.  Without

parity, speed will be roughly triple (~45 MB/sec vs ~15 MB/sec).  That makes

a huge difference in moving a lot of data.

 

Disable user shares for now because then also degrade performance.  User

shares allow you to access all of the files in like-named, top level

directories across multiple hard disks.  So if 3 of your drives had movies

on them, and each had a /MOVIES directory, using user shares the contents of

all 3 would appear as one network share.  If you write to the share unRAID

makes some decisions about where it wants to put the data.  Again, for now,

keep in mind that that functionality exists and move the files to the disks

where you want them.  Later you can enable the shares and you'll be all set.

 

If you take your drives out of the existing computer and physically put them

in the unRAID box, you'd be able to copy data even faster.  I wouldn't

recommend it though.  #1 – it's a pain.  #2 – you run the risk of damaging a

drive in the process.  #3 – at 45MB/sec, the movement is likely going to be

fast enough to complete the coping in a couple days anyway.  Delays caused

by powering down, unhooking / hooking drives, etc. will likely eat up your

time savings.

 

Once you are ready to destroy your duplicate (source)  data, make sure you

enable parity, build parity, and CHECK PARITY  (The last step is easy to

forget).  Many people copy a few disks over, then add those disks to the

array  and then copy a few other disks over.  Only leave parity disabled

while you have a backup of all of the data on your array to be safest.

 

Welcome to the club.  Please take a look at the FAQ and Troubleshooting

pages.  Look at the "Best of the Forums".  Contribute if you have an

interest.  The forum is a resource for anyone having problems so please post

back if we can help you with any problems or questions.

 

[prostuff1]

Well, finally got around to build my first unRAID server using parts from an old music DAW.  The only purchase I made was a new PSU, the Adaptec 1430SA SATA controller, and six WD EADS 1TB Green drives.  Glad to report that everything went well and then I can boot off a Lexar flash drive.  I also added a WD WD1001FALS 1TB drive for parity and run the parity-check last night.  Speed was around 58mbs and lasted the whole night.  This morning, it indicated that the parity was valid.

 

I would love to start moving 3gb of movies/videos off my main HTPC soon but since i'm new to linux speak/language, gotta spend some time reading up on the manual/FAQ and this forum before I do that.  I'm kind of confused about the whole user/share levels, allocation, and organization using non-windows language.  Or should I just go ahead and copy the files off the HTPC hard drives using windows?  Lastly, if I temporarily unassign the parity drive, would it speed up the transfer process?

 

I would probably just do the transfer from the windows machine and be done with it.  Take a look at this thread for discussion and a utility to help with the transfer.  The transfer will go faster if you do not assign the parity drive.

 

 

Also, once you get everything transferred could you please take a look at these posts.  I am trying to get stuff added to the wiki and do it in a systematic approach.  Once you get stuff transferred, let it calculate parity, and then run a parity check to make sure it is working correctly.  After that if you could follow the instructions on those two posts that would be great!!