So I am looking for a Mini-ITX MB with 6 or more SATA.  I want to build a system around Lian Li Q25B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112339).  I want to virtualize unRaid on an ArchLinux host os.  I would also like to use the PCI slot for a tv tuner.  So I was hoping to be able to run all my hard drives straight from the  MB and not need a SATA card.

 

What I have found so far is this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157374.  It looks like it has what I want and even has an mSATA that I can use for the host os.  I don't however know if it can do the virtualization. 

 

Is this okay?

Any other suggestions?

 

With this build I was think 4 GB ram and a dual core processor.  I want to be able to do some server like tasks with the host os and also encode video periodically.  Is dual core enough for that?

 

Thank you for the help.

Since you're going to run some VM's, I'd install a pair of 8GB modules (16GB total).    In addition, I'd use a quad-core CPU, but be sure you choose one that supports vt-d.

 

I am not, however, sure whether or not you can pass through the onboard controller -- I assume you can, but it's not clear.

 

I'd also reconsider virtualizing UnRAID => why not run v6 and use the built-in virtualization features it has to run your other OS's as VMs?

 

Thanks for the help with the RAM and CPU.  I wasn't really sure how much was needed when virtualizing.

 

After thinking about it more it may be a better option to use unraid as the host.  Do the vm images go on the shared drives or on an app or chache drive?

The vm's go on a cache or drive mounted outside the array. I wouldn't run them from shared drives for performance reasons.