August 11, 201411 yr Hi guys, my name is Frank and I am from The Netherlands. This is a very nice and active forum and it seems Wheaton's Law is actually being respected here - thanks for all the helpful advice you provided to me unknowingly. So here's the deal: I am preparing to build my first unRAID server for a photographer friend, and I have been reading the Wiki and forum quite a lot to get the plans right. To be honest, I am running into some outdated Wiki build advice and also availability in Europe of the suggested hardware. I am looking for some genuine advice to make this first build a success, and would love to build more units with more powerful hardware. Hoping you guys can provide some feedback - I am here to learn. Build basics it needs to be low budget, but we are looking to use all new parts. we are aiming for a green build, but it doesn't have to be ultra-green low startup cost with future expandability in mind durability and reliability are, of course, important starting with 3-4 HDDs, we will be needing 10-12 drives in the future mainly archive usage for photography and video looking for a mostly hassle-free build, I am not a hardware or Linux expert First hardware selection PSU: Corsair Builder CX430 Bronze - http://www.corsair.com/en/cx430-80-plus-bronze-certified-power-supply MOBO: Biostar NM70I-1037U (Celeron 1037U onboard) - http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/introduction.php?S_ID=654 CASE: Sharkoon T9 Value black - http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/content/t9-value RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws F3-10666CL8D-4GBRM - http://www.gskill.com/en/product/f3-10666cl8d-4gbrm HDD: WD Red WD30EFRX / Seagate ST3000VN000 NAS HDD Hardware comments PSU: The CX430 seems to have enough single rail power (32A) to support 12 green drives, but would be insufficient when adding non-green drives. MOBO: I mainly selected this one on budget, good reviews and it has a low-power CPU onboard. It seems member flixxx is using this one and Ford approves: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=33784.msg311750#msg311750 CASE: The Sharkoon T9 Value seem good value for money, offering plenty of space for the future expansion (using 4-in-3 drive bays) up to 12 HDDs. Also, includes 3 casefans. An alternative might be the cheaper MS-TECH CA-0210 Rev. B (http://www.ms-tech.de/eng/index.php/product/detail/pdcid/65/pdid/280), but this doesn't include the fans. RAM: The G.Skill Ripjaws F3 simply are one of the few still available RAMs that are on the MOBO's compatibility list. I have also found some 2GB Kingston DDR3-1333 which might be fine, or even better. HDD: both the WDD and Seagate get good recommendations on the forum, and fit the bill when it comes to power usage and price. Questions What are your general thoughts on the build? Can you suggest better configurations within a similar budget? PSU: I know the 430 is a single rail, but with 32 amps it might not be enough to accommodate the future max. 12 disk build. Should I go with a CX500? MOBO: the Biostar NM70I-1037U is cheap, has good reviews, CPU onboard and has fairly low power usage. Will it be too weak to accommodate the 12 drives in the future? Do you guys know of good (current) alternatives to this board? I would love to use the Supermicro X7SPA-HF-O which seems highly recommended, but it's simply a bit off budget. CASE: I can find cheaper cases like the MS-TECH CA-0210 Rev. B (http://www.ms-tech.de/eng/index.php/product/detail/pdcid/65/pdid/280), but it doesn't include the casefans, so it might set me back more than the Sharkoon in the end. Any good alternatives for the case? RAM: I need to digg more into this. I simply chose one that is available in NL which is on the (non-exhaustive) compatible list of the Biostar motherboard. Any 'cannot go wrong with this cheap RAM'-suggestions are welcome. HDD: I think my selection is good from what I learned from reading other forum posts. I will be using a combination of these drives to minimize the chance of batch failures. Would it be useful to select a 7200RPM drive to use as parity? Flash drive: I am having some difficulty finding the Limetech recommended flash drives still available over here. What should I buy? Would a Sandisk Cruzer Fit (http://www.sandisk.nl/products/usb/drives/cruzer-fit/) be ok? This would be perfect as the MOBO doesn't have onboard USB and this thing is really tiny. I think this covers most of the basics, but I am eager to hear any suggestions you might have of which I didn't think or mention. I really want to make this a good build, and am hoping you guys can provide some good insight from your personal experience. Thanks so much!! Frank
August 11, 201411 yr ...the H7SPA is also quite outdated...you will find the Biostar having more grunt and running on less power when idle. ...the CX430 PSU is some kind of low end, but will do for that board...it will, however - most likely - not power a modern haswell platform....even for 12 Disks "non-green" this PSU is good enough. You won't need more than 2A per disk, when going for newer modern ones...check the data sheets...so 24A for disks and approx 2-4A for the board leaves some headroom. You will need to add a 8+ port HBA in the future to support the additional disks. Case: ...consider using a noise damped case...your photographer friend will thank you for that.....check these (7 disk internal withg side access, 1x-5in3 in front): http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=gehatx&xf=535_schallged%E4mmt%7E536_7%7E539_3#xf_top RAM: is this a set of two (kit)?....the Biostar and 1037u will support dual-channel so going for a kit is beneficial... UseCase: photographers forge...does it need to support Apple gear and protocols?...I don't know of the state of netatalk support in unRAID stable release....just be aware of that
August 11, 201411 yr Flash drive: I am having some difficulty finding the Limetech recommended flash drives still available over here. What should I buy? Would a Sandisk Cruzer Fit (http://www.sandisk.nl/products/usb/drives/cruzer-fit/) be ok? This would be perfect as the MOBO doesn't have onboard USB and this thing is really tiny. ...I understand that the Biostar has internal headers...use one of these: http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=kabusb&xf=3257_USB+2.0~3256_interner+Adapter#xf_top
August 12, 201411 yr Author Ford, thanks for the comments, very useful! ...the H7SPA is also quite outdated...you will find the Biostar having more grunt and running on less power when idle. Good to know - I'll take the H7SPA off the list. Do you, or anyone else, know of more current (cheap) low power models with an onboard processor which have been double or triple tested with unRAID? ...the CX430 PSU is some kind of low end, but will do for that board...it will, however - most likely - not power a modern haswell platform....even for 12 Disks "non-green" this PSU is good enough. You won't need more than 2A per disk, when going for newer modern ones...check the data sheets...so 24A for disks and approx 2-4A for the board leaves some headroom. I have been reading the PSU wiki and threads, and was assuming to take at least 3A startup power into account for older drives. So let's say in the end we might end up with 6 green disks and 6 non-green disks (older, 7200RPM). This would mean the system might require 12 + 18 + 4 (board) = 34 amps. Would it be safer to go with the CX500 which provides 38 amps? You will need to add a 8+ port HBA in the future to support the additional disks. Yes, I am aware. I need to go through the forum and wiki to find some good and affordable controllers. Any come to mind? Case: ...consider using a noise damped case...your photographer friend will thank you for that.....check these (7 disk internal withg side access, 1x-5in3 in front): http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=gehatx&xf=535_schallged%E4mmt%7E536_7%7E539_3#xf_top Great advice! I am now considering the BitFenix Shinobi Core, NZXT Source 210 Elite or Cooler Master Silencio 550. These would all be better, more quiet cases than the Sharkoon I selected earlier? RAM: is this a set of two (kit)?....the Biostar and 1037u will support dual-channel so going for a kit is beneficial... Yes, it is. I am also considering 2x 2GB Kingston DDR3-1333. Do you think there would be any real (performance, durability) difference between the Kingstons and the Ripjaws? UseCase: photographers forge...does it need to support Apple gear and protocols?...I don't know of the state of netatalk support in unRAID stable release....just be aware of that Forge? Yes, it does need to support Apple and protocols. I had encountered built-in Avahi, AFP and TimeMachine support on v5 unRAID, and user comments about 'rock solid' from V5.0.3 onwards so I did not worry about it (also checked the Mac basics thread: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=19743). Do I need to digg more into this, are there issues with Mac support? ...I understand that the Biostar has internal headers...use one of these: http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=kabusb&xf=3257_USB+2.0~3256_interner+Adapter#xf_top Great stuff! Will definitely use an onboard adapter with the Biostar, thanks!
August 12, 201411 yr ...the H7SPA is also quite outdated...you will find the Biostar having more grunt and running on less power when idle. Good to know - I'll take the H7SPA off the list. Do you, or anyone else, know of more current (cheap) low power models with an onboard processor which have been double or triple tested with unRAID? Well..the SM Atoms are real Server Boards...not cheap when compared to the Biostar but much more sturdy and with two intel NICs and IPMI.....they are still good, but buying them new I would not. I still have two of these lying around. It will come down to your definition of "cheap"...I assumed the Biostar was within the desired range You can get a S1150 board (B85) for 50EUR and a small Celeron for 30EUR...it will outperform the 10137u many times and idle lower. But when going for a server board, you won't get away much below EUR200-250 for mobo, CPU and RAM. I have been reading the PSU wiki and threads, and was assuming to take at least 3A startup power into account for older drives. So let's say in the end we might end up with 6 green disks and 6 non-green disks (older, 7200RPM). This would mean the system might require 12 + 18 + 4 (board) = 34 amps. Would it be safer to go with the CX500 which provides 38 amps? Well, that is true If you have old or used 7.2k Disks...even the two year old Barracudas 7.2 only use 2A during startup. The CX Series in itself is not very advanced..seasonic PSUs are a save bet..when buying for compatibility, make sure the PSU supports Haswell CPU low power states and an 8-Pin-EPS connector. Maybe life has passed and the wiki didn't catch up Yes, I am aware. I need to go through the forum and wiki to find some good and affordable controllers. Any come to mind? I'd prefer LSI based ones...a 9211-8i will still be perfect or an IBM M1015 (which you'll need to cross flash). Great advice! I am now considering the BitFenix Shinobi Core, NZXT Source 210 Elite or Cooler Master Silencio 550. These would all be better, more quiet cases than the Sharkoon I selected earlier? The cases I listed are marked as sound-damped, so I believe they are more quiet than the non-damped ones. Yes, it is. I am also considering 2x 2GB Kingston DDR3-1333. Do you think there would be any real (performance, durability) difference between the Kingstons and the Ripjaws? All the major brand will do for a desktop board. Using 1066 or 1333 or even 1600 will depend if the CPU/Mem-Controller can make use of it...also CAS Latency matters. A module with 1333-CL9 is not slower than a 1600-CL11..not in a way that you would notice it in real life, IMHO. Forge? Yes, it does need to support Apple and protocols. I had encountered built-in Avahi, AFP and TimeMachine support on v5 unRAID, and user comments about 'rock solid' from V5.0.3 onwards so I did not worry about it (also checked the Mac basics thread: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=19743). Do I need to digg more into this, are there issues with Mac support? Well...I simply assumed the box will not only be used for storing photographs but also being used when working with them. As said I don't know what is required for seamless intregration with apple products and what the status of unRAID is to this regard. If your photographer friend uses it for work and relies on Apple gear, then better make sure it'll work or he will be very unhappy...that's what is behind my thoughts.
August 12, 201411 yr ...the Dell PowerEdge T20 is currently on the cheap in Germany: -> 181EUR incl. VAT and shippment to NL: http://www.cyberport.de/dell-poweredge-t20---pentium-g3220-mini-tower-server-plus-2-jahre-vor-ort-service-1517-023_548.html?&APID=20 Nice all-in-one...just add 4 disks (don't know if case will hold more...the PSU won't support more than 6 disks, I'd say)....but with 4GB of ECC RAM included, this is a good, green and sturdy starter kit Edit: If you want to upgrade this kit with a larger case and PSU, you will need a PSU-mod as Dell is using non-ATX connectors for powering the board...not easy but do-able.
August 12, 201411 yr Author You can get a S1150 board (B85) for 50EUR and a small Celeron for 30EUR...it will outperform the 10137u many times and idle lower. That's definitely something to look into. I am going to check if I can find something along those lines within that budget. The CX Series in itself is not very advanced..seasonic PSUs are a save bet.. I don't know why, but I had a hard time finding the Seasonics over here. But I probably made a typo before, because they do seem to be widely available in NL I think I will go for something like the Seasonic S12II-Bronze 430W or 520W instead of the Corsair. If your photographer friend uses it for work and relies on Apple gear, then better make sure it'll work or he will be very unhappy...that's what is behind my thoughts. Absolutely true. I might have jumped to the conclusion that unRAID would work nicely for her. I think I'll assemble a testing system first to see how it works with Apple. ..the Dell PowerEdge T20 is currently on the cheap in Germany Wow that is incredibly cheap, good tip! This might be a very nice system to start out and test with, although out of the box it won't allow future expandability without indeed changing to another case and PSU with mod. If that's the main focus, I might be better of buying a S1150 B85 board with a cheap Celeron as you mentioned. This would be both a good starting point if I have 6 SATA onboard as well as a good foundation for future expansion. I will go do some more homework on this now Thanks for the advice so far!
August 12, 201411 yr ...no worries. The S12II is not advertised as haswell compatible...check the G-Series instead. Don't get confused...the Dell T20 is a real server with ECC RAM...most likely triple cost for such a mobo when compared with a desktop B85 chipset. Make sure the NIC chipset is supported with unraid..many desktop boards on S1150 have qualcomm/atheros which will be a pain/no-go. These should be fine: http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=mbp4_1150&xf=4771_Realtek~2962_6~4771_Intel#xf_top
August 12, 201411 yr Instead of 3TB drives, why don't you use 6TB drives. Yes they are a little bit of a premium now, but only get what you need. That way your cost will be minimized as you may be able to defer expanding the system until required and pricing should stabilize.
August 13, 201411 yr Author The S12II is not advertised as haswell compatible...check the G-Series instead. Ah, thanks. I didn't to a final compatibility check yet. I have found the Seasonic G-Serie 360Watt which provides 30A single rail and is also quite affordable, so this should fit my requirements for now. Make sure the NIC chipset is supported with unraid..many desktop boards on S1150 have qualcomm/atheros which will be a pain/no-go. These should be fine: http://geizhals.at/de/?cat=mbp4_1150&xf=4771_Realtek~2962_6~4771_Intel#xf_top Thanks for the URL, that's a perfect starting point. I already encountered the ASRock B85M Pro4 (90-MXGQ20-A0UAYZ) and this seems to be good value for money. Good to know the NIC chipset on this is OK. Don't get confused...the Dell T20 is a real server with ECC RAM...most likely triple cost for such a mobo when compared with a desktop B85 chipset. Man now I am really inclined to simply buy this all-in-one server. At that price, it seems you simply can't beat the value for money. And seeing as HDDs only get larger and larger, I might be better off looking for the expandability in future drive replacements (from 3 or 4 TB to 6 TB) than simply in drive quantity. At 6TB, this little box could end up with a pretty impressive 18TB which should be more than enough for quite a few years. Instead of 3TB drives, why don't you use 6TB drives. Yes they are a little bit of a premium now, but only get what you need. That way your cost will be minimized as you may be able to defer expanding the system until required and pricing should stabilize. That is a good suggestion, especially if I decide going with the PowerEdge which would only suit 4 drives. I read somewhere that the manufacturers expect to be on a whopping 12TB per disk by 2016. However, I am always a bit reluctant to buy the newest drives out there - I prefer the proven stability of the WD and Seagate 3 and 4 TB drives. It just feels more... safe But if I use the 4TB x 3, I will already be starting out with 8TB which is very good for now. Choices, choices, choices... But the Dell is feeling more appealing each minute.
August 13, 201411 yr Don't get confused...the Dell T20 is a real server with ECC RAM...most likely triple cost for such a mobo when compared with a desktop B85 chipset. Man now I am really inclined to simply buy this all-in-one server. At that price, it seems you simply can't beat the value for money. And seeing as HDDs only get larger and larger, I might be better off looking for the expandability in future drive replacements (from 3 or 4 TB to 6 TB) than simply in drive quantity. At 6TB, this little box could end up with a pretty impressive 18TB which should be more than enough for quite a few years. The T20 will accomodate 4x 3.5" and 2x 2.5" (but needs a 2-port s-ata card) -> You could add a SSD as cache drive when upgrading the license to the 4th data disk...will be beneficial to the overall experience of a photographer's usecase (should you happen to know one ) Also, the CPU is in a socket...you can upgrade to a XEON if need be.
August 13, 201411 yr Author I was just investigating the T20's specs further and came to the same conclusion of max. 6 drives The SSD cache is a really good thought. I didn't really read up on cache drives usage with unRAID yet but will digg into it. I assume this makes daily operations, .ie using Lightroom to edit the RAW files directly on the server, a lot more comfortable and quicker? I think the 6 disk space definitely seals the deal for me. Alltogether, it just seems incredible value for that price. Edit: I went ahead and ordered the T20 from Cyberport along with the first Seagate 4TB NAS HDD, came in about 325 EUR incl. VAT and shipping ;D Now that's value for money. Will order another Seagate or WD from Holland, and will start testing together with a used 1TB drive I have lying around somewhere. Thanks a lot for the help - I will update this thread when I have it up and running.
August 19, 201411 yr Author Hardware setup and preclearing 2 x 4TB at appr. 150 MB/s now with Joe L.'s script. To be continued after preclearing, but very happy so far. Might have to start a new 'Happy Newbie' thread Thanks for the help!
August 21, 201411 yr ..no worries....keep us posted how things are going for you. Here is a link to a german forum thread discussing the T20...recently a member measured idle power consumption (win8.1pro, single SDD) with just below 11W..impressive. -> http://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f101/dell-poweredge-t20-1031138.html
August 21, 201411 yr Author That is indeed impressive. I will see later if I can get my hands on something similar like a Kill-A-Watt to see how it does in idle and active modes with 3 drives in it. Pretty curious to see how that works out - if this is a succesful build (although it's not quite a 'build' anymore with the fully prepped T20, but hey, I love good value for money if the specs fit the bill) I will probably make a few more for some friends who are already interested. I seem to have gotten the unRAID basics down for the most part, although I cannot seem to get the powerbutton to trigger Weebotech's powerdown script yet (it does work on Ctrl-Alt-Del). It's a minor thing, but would like it to work to so I'll dive into it later. One thing which is a high priority right now is drive temps. I have finished 1 preclear-cycle on two 4TB Seagate disks simultaneously and the temps ran as high as 45C, even topped 46 The BIOS states it is optimizing fan speed based on 'environmental data' (I assume this is SMART data from the disks) but it doesn't seem to be doing a very good job at it. I have now started another preclear with the fan on full speed just to check if it makes any difference in the drivetemps. If it does, I will see if I can achieve better temps using one of the fan speed control scripts here on the forum. If it doesn't, I will need to look into other solutions. Maybe change the fan, turn it around or add drivefans somehow. Will keep it posted here.
August 22, 201411 yr What BIOS version is yours shipped with? I read in the other forum that there is a new version "A04" available....yes, here: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=223WN&fileId=3389900091&osCode=NAA&productCode=poweredge-t20&languageCode=EN&categoryId=BI These drive temps are quite high...AFAIK, fan speeds are not controlled by SMART data, but by CPU and motherboard temp sensors. A parity check or preclear will generate a lot of heat, as the drive will be in use all time....but it should not go way over 40C as a common ground. What was your ambient temp at that time...we have summer season and running a peclear with ambient temp at 30C will be quite different than a run at 20C. However, these values are still within specs. I would not turn the fan round, altering the flow as designed by Dell...maybe an exchange or adding additional fans is a better option. Does it offer to add a fan in front of the drive bays? That would be my first move...if there is one already , then replacing it with a more powerful but even quieter one would be the mod option. Edit: the "enviornmental data" the BIOS will rely on would be the thermal sensor located at the front, above the lower drive cage. Intake for the upper dives will be through the PSU, mainly, I think. The rest will be done by the system fan. I would think that Dell did a decent job on thermal design...replacing the system fan could be an option though. Just make sure the thermal sensor is connected and that a drive is in the bottom cage to actually dissipate some heat, so the sensor "kicks in". If drives are only mounted in the top cage, heat will never reach the sensor below..
August 22, 201411 yr Author Well this is certainly a bit baffling. I started another preclear (no pre/post read, only write) for 1 drive to test the temp, but this time using an override of the fan speed set to full from the BIOS. After an hour or so, the drives remained steady at 36C. Still not very impressive seeing the fan was running at full RPM. I now updated the BIOS to v4 (it was shipped with version 2), and I replaced one of the Seagates with a WD Red 2TB. Both drives are and were in the lower drivecage. I decided to let it run idle for a while to see what temps would be. The disks are not mounted in unRAID, but I can see them and corresponding temps using unMenu / myMain. Over the last hour, while doing absolutely nothing (or am I mistaking?), the Seagate temp has increased from a start temp of 24C to 34C. While the WD is reporting a 3 degree lower temperature, it has been increasing together with the Seagate in a linear fashion. All this is being tested in an environment with a constant temperature of 19-20C. I agree turning the fan around is a bad idea. If it were that simple, Dell would have done it themselves I reckon. But it really does surprise me, like you I assumed Dell did a pretty decent job on the thermal design. It doesn't seem to support fans in front of the drivecages, although I am not really sure (no experience with this). There is some space in front of it, but I wouldn't know how to do it. I thought I'd go ahead and see if I can confirm the MB thermal sensor is working, so I followed this: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Setting_up_CPU_and_board_temperature_sensing But it's only returning this, does that make sense? coretemp-isa-0000 Adapter: ISA adapter Physical id 0: +24.0 C (high = +80.0 C, crit = +100.0 C) Core 0: +26.0 C (high = +80.0 C, crit = +100.0 C) Core 1: +24.0 C (high = +80.0 C, crit = +100.0 C)
August 22, 201411 yr ..the temp sensors in the drives are not accurate or calibrated...seeing temps off 2-3 degrees between two disks, even when sitting alongside in the same system is normal. In my 20 disk rackmount, spun-up but not-actively used disks normally report 30-34C degress and go as high as 37-39C when under constant, heavy load (like sending some TB over to the backups or doing a scrub). I would assume the temps you gathered from the plugin are for CPU only...there should be one system-temp at least from that sensor. You could try and boot a live distro from a USB drive or even install Windoze as a test. 34C for system wide temp is not that bad. Even with the top temp at 45C, this would impose a raise off 11C from idle to operation, which is also within range (typically 20C/hr I'd guess) With unRaid only the used, active disks are spun-up and overall heat from all disks will only be generated under heavy under load, accessing/writing files on all disks, like with a parity check. I know this sounds silly, but you did re-assemble the case / side doors closed and screws back in, when doing the preclears? Replacing the system fan with a more powerful one could be an option (or one in the same throughput range but quieter). However, the seagate NAS 4TB has an operating temp range going up to 70C according to datasheet....normal desktop models I know of end up at the 55-60C range. I did not check the WD Reds but my guess is they are at least on the 60C margin.
August 22, 201411 yr Author Indeed, 34C system wide isn't too bad, but under heavy load I am aiming for high 30s or at max low 40s, just to be on the safe side. I have been reading up on some airflow optimization strategies and have a few options I can explore which I'll be trying out this weekend. Just to be sure, I disconnected the ambient thermistor and checked in Dell's ePSA, it immediately gave an error so I guess it was working. Then I reconnected and moved it to the back of the lower drive cage and started the ePSA again - it immediately showed 24C instead of 20C so this might cause the BIOS to bump up the RPMs a bit when the disks are heating up. I am now running a preclear again simultaneously on the 2 drives in the lower cage. The Seagate has been writing for 2 hours, the WD has been reading for 30 mins. I am now at 41C with the Seagate, so it might have already paid off. Will keep it running for a while longer to see if it increases and then try out some other tactics. Oh and no it doesn't sound silly, but yes everything was fully re-assembled and closed during the preclears Also bought another system fan just now, so I have that to play with too. Will keep posting the findings here, might help others using the T20. Thanks again for all the help, Ford. I really appreciate it Edit 23/8/14 - 12:19 Dell is using flat 5 pin connectors for the fans, so I couldn't test with the other fan I bought. However, after reading a lot on this forum about airflow, fans and temperature control, I was looking at the T20 and noticed Dell has a very 'open' approach to ventilation and airflow. Not only is the T20's front open from top to bottom, it also has an air intake in the side plate ánd open squares in the backplates of non-occupied PCI slots at the back. I assumed this basically means the system fan is drawing air from all over the box, which creates a nice overall airy climate inside but provides a very minimal airflow through the drivecages which are located at the front bottom and top. Using my weak airflow foo, I imagined it might look something like this: So that would mean the fan is pulling most of its air from the rear and side vents, and most likely from the center of the front where there are not obstacles. This also means the ambient sensor at the front (in the red circle) would be sitting nice and cool most of the time enjoying the front air intake from the environment without getting a real sense of the actual temperature at the warmest spots of the box (in the unRAID scenario, definitely the drives), causing the system to rarely bump up the fan's RPMs unless it's sitting in a very warm environment. In the hope my airflow foo was at least strong enough to have found some merit in these conclusions, I started experimenting with blocking the airflow in the front middle section, the side vent and the semi-open back plates for the PCI slots to create something like this: Now the only possible air intakes are located directly in front of the drivecages. On top of that, the ambient sensor is not enjoying constant fresh air, so should get a better feel of what's actually going on inside the box by getting the warm air flowing up from the bottom drives. And what do you know? Now running 3 simultaneous preclears on two Seagate NAS 4TB in the bottom and a WD RED 2TB at the top: the Seagate are reporting a steady 34-37C and the WD remains around 30C. I have also been monitoring core temps to make sure it doesn't suffer too much from the altered airflow, but they have not exceeded 35C while doing the 3 preclears so that seems quite ok. I will do some more monitoring next week when I get to the parity checks, but I am fairly confident these temps are OK and they leave some headroom for higher environment temps in the summertime
December 14, 20169 yr That is indeed impressive. I will see later if I can get my hands on something similar like a Kill-A-Watt to see how it does in idle and active modes with 3 drives in it. Pretty curious to see how that works out - if this is a succesful build (although it's not quite a 'build' anymore with the fully prepped T20, but hey, I love good value for money if the specs fit the bill) I will probably make a few more for some friends who are already interested. I seem to have gotten the unRAID basics down for the most part, although I cannot seem to get the powerbutton to trigger Weebotech's powerdown script yet (it does work on Ctrl-Alt-Del). It's a minor thing, but would like it to work to so I'll dive into it later. One thing which is a high priority right now is drive temps. I have finished 1 preclear-cycle on two 4TB Seagate disks simultaneously and the temps ran as high as 45C, even topped 46 The BIOS states it is optimizing fan speed based on 'environmental data' (I assume this is SMART data from the disks) but it doesn't seem to be doing a very good job at it. I have now started another preclear with the fan on full speed just to check if it makes any difference in the drivetemps. If it does, I will see if I can achieve better temps using one of the fan speed control scripts here on the forum. If it doesn't, I will need to look into other solutions. Maybe change the fan, turn it around or add drivefans somehow. Will keep it posted here. Hey, could you measure if you can do the 11 Watts as well? I got one T20 for a colleague now and its not getting below 27 Watts with two WD Red 3TB. Seems a lil high to me. AHCI on, everything unnecessary in BIOS turned off and the Tips & Tweaks Plugin from Dlandon ist on "Power Saving" already. I´m doing the Parity check now and will tell again if there are any changes. Cheers Christian
December 15, 20169 yr "OLD POST" Hey, could you measure if you can do the 11 Watts as well? I seriously doubt you are going to get a reply from someone who posted a grand total of 9 times, all in a month 2 years ago and no activity here since.
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