Building first unRAID server - HW check (last post)

[Vaseer]

Greetings!

I am new to unRAID and I am about to build my first unRAID server.

I am looking for components for server and I need some help/advice.

 

Main purpose for server will be data storage, download (torrent) and media streaming. Media streaming will be done only on LAN to RPi/NUC/PC with XBMC/Kodi so all transcoding will be done by “STB”.

 

I am also looking in some plugins and I will definitely use: XBMC SaLUd, Transmission, MySQL, Sick Beard, Couch Potato; and maybe use: SABnzbd, BitTorrent Sync.

For plugins I was looking on http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/UnRAID5_Plugins - is this all?

 

I read, that unRAID 6 supports Docker. How much difference would it make, if I would run mentioned plugins in Docker?

 

For now unRAID will have 5 HDDs (3TB parity, 3x 3TB for data, 300GB for active torrents (I already have 1x 3TB and 1x 300GB HDD)). In my build I would like to have space for up to 15 HDDs.

 

How much “horsepower” will I need for mentioned configuration?

Would Atom based processor do the job? I was looking at ASRock C2550D4I http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=C2550D4I or ASRock C2750D4I http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=C2750D4I - are they ok for mentioned configuration/usage of server?

I read, that there was some problems with SATA ports on mentioned motherboards. Are they solved (I read, that some users don’t have problems any more, but I didn’t find any conclusion on SATA problems)?

 

For case I am thinking about case with 9x external 5.25’’ (I am not decided which one, but I think I will probably get Sharkoon T9 Economy). With that I will use 3x 5-in-3 SATA enclosure (for start I will get 1 and expand when needed).

 

I am open for any opinions and suggestions.

 

Thanks!

[trurl]

Since you are just starting you might as well go to v6 and docker. It is sufficiently mature that the learning curve for getting dockers going is probably at least as easy as that for v5 and plugins.

 

v6 is beta so if you would rather go with v5 stable then the current version of the plugins you need are here.

[SSD]

Sounds like a solid plan. I really like the drive enclosures. They will make swapping disks easy. I consider them required equipment for a with more than 3-4 drives. Otherwise, every case opening becomes an adventure (and not a good one)! Can't tell you how many people knock something slightly loose swapping a disk and wind up spending days on rebuilds and parity checks trying to get things right again.

 

With 9 slots and 3 5in3s you'll be able to support 15 drives. 1 is parity, 1 is cache, 1 should be unassigned for preclears and diagnostics, that leaves 12 data drives. If you use an SSD for cache/dockers (which I recommend), you can bury it in the case and free up a 13th slot for data. 13 drives @ 4T = 52T. With 6T, 8T and even 10T on the way, this seems a good number. People that pick small servers with 5 or 6 slots ignore the fact that upgrading a disk from say 4T to 6T is a tremendously expensive operation, unless you have a market to sell the old ones. I, for one, wouldn't buy a used drive! But once you fill the slots, you need to do a major upgrade or replace a smaller capacity disk with a larger one. If a 6T goes for $250, and your smallest data disk is 4T, you are paying $125 / T to upgrade. Ouch! Having more slots is better. What you want is that by the time you need to upgrade a drive, it is near its useful life (~5 years) and you can economically buy a drive at 3x to 4x the capacity to replace it with. This paragraph is more for others reading than the OP - I  think 15 drives is a good number.

 

My first thought is "no" on the Atom if you are running Dockers. Plex (doing transcoding) is the main CPU hog, so it would be a firm "no" for an Atom. But I'd go with a desktop or server processor for a new build where you are looking to run a number of Dockers. Even if an Atom would work, this leaves your options open for new Dockers or to possibly run VMs.

[Squid]

My first thought is "no" on the Atom if you are running Dockers. Plex (doing transcoding) is the main CPU hog, so it would be a firm "no" for an Atom. But I'd go with a desktop or server processor for a new build where you are looking to run a number of Dockers. Even if an Atom would work, this leaves your options open for new Dockers or to possibly run VMs.

I'm not so sure about that...  I run a triple core A6-3500 (8 gig ram) which the C2750 at least on the benchmark comparisons beats in every category, and I run 5 Dockers with no noticeable speed degradation, and can also transcode via Plex at least 1 stream with no problems.  And, the OP states that he's not going to be using Plex.

 

That being said, when my I start to build my 3rd server, it will have much higher specs than my current setup's, because as v6 evolves I'm discovering far more that I would like to do with the system currently

[Vaseer]

What would be yours recommendation on processor and motherboard for mentioned configuration?

[Squid]

What would be yours recommendation on processor and motherboard for mentioned configuration?

For your usage, the processor should be fine. 

 

Only if you're going to get into Plex heavy transcoding in the future, or want to play with VM's with hardware passthrough would I really change anything.  Regardless, you're definitely going to want to have 8Gig memory

[Vaseer]

Couple days later... and I am thinking to go with Intel Core i3-4360T.

I am searching for motherboard. I would like to get motherboard with 8+ SATA, ECC support, 1 or 2 PCIe 3.0 for expansion and optionaly 2 LAN and IPMI.

For now I have found ASRock E3C224-4L - http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224-4L#Specifications/

Any recommendations?

Any recommendations on ECC RAM?

[Vaseer]

Hardware check - I have decided for:

Chassis: Sharkoon T9 Economy > http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/node/1843

5in3: Cremax Icy Dock FlexCage MB975SP-B (1 for now) > http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=163

CPE: Intel Core i3-4360T > http://ark.intel.com/products/77494/Intel-Core-i3-4360T-Processor-4M-Cache-3_20-GHz

MB: ASRock E3C224-4L > http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224-4L#Specifications

RAM: 8GB Crucial CT102472BD160B DDR3-1600 ECC DIMM CL11 Single > http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ct102472bd160b

PSU: Sea Sonic X-Series X-650 KM3 650W ATX 2.3 > http://www.seasonicusa.com/NEW_X-series_KM3_650-750-850.htm

HDD: Western Digital WD Red 3TB (2x; 1 parity, 1 data (already have 1 that is 70% full)) > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236344

SSD (cache): 256GB Crucial MX100 > http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ct256mx100ssd1

USB (unRAID OS): SanDisk Cruzer Fit > http://www.sandisk.com/products/usb/drives/cruzer-fit/

 

Any recommendations on changes?

PSU is OK?

[Capt.Insano]

Hardware check - I have decided for:

Chassis: Sharkoon T9 Economy > http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/node/1843

5in3: Cremax Icy Dock FlexCage MB975SP-B (1 for now) > http://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=163

CPE: Intel Core i3-4360T > http://ark.intel.com/products/77494/Intel-Core-i3-4360T-Processor-4M-Cache-3_20-GHz

MB: ASRock E3C224-4L > http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224-4L#Specifications

RAM: 8GB Crucial CT102472BD160B DDR3-1600 ECC DIMM CL11 Single > http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ct102472bd160b

PSU: Sea Sonic X-Series X-650 KM3 650W ATX 2.3 > http://www.seasonicusa.com/NEW_X-series_KM3_650-750-850.htm

HDD: Western Digital WD Red 3TB (2x; 1 parity, 1 data (already have 1 that is 70% full)) > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236344

SSD (cache): 256GB Crucial MX100 > http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/ct256mx100ssd1

USB (unRAID OS): SanDisk Cruzer Fit > http://www.sandisk.com/products/usb/drives/cruzer-fit/

 

Any recommendations on changes?

PSU is OK?

 

Out of interest, what is the total cost coming to with the above hardware?

[Vaseer]

@Capt.Insano

1.002,66€ (~1.180$) but I changed MB and ordered ASRock H87WS-DL. With new MB, total cost is 942,84€ (~1.110$)

[CHBMB]

One thing I just noticed is that with the Sharkoon case and 5in3 cages, there isn't enough clearance between the motherboard and the back of the cages.  Had to get myself a new case when I was rebuilding because of that. 

 

Ended up buying a Zalman MS800plus which is a fair bit deeper.

[SSD]

One thing I just noticed is that with the Sharkoon case and 5in3 cages, there isn't enough clearance between the motherboard and the back of the cages.  Had to get myself a new case when I was rebuilding because of that. 

 

Ended up buying a Zalman MS800plus which is a fair bit deeper.

 

I bought a Rebel12 and got 4 5in3s in there. I didn't have depth issues, just a little problem with the top slot that took some work.

 

Overall, I am happy with it.

[CHBMB]

One thing I just noticed is that with the Sharkoon case and 5in3 cages, there isn't enough clearance between the motherboard and the back of the cages.  Had to get myself a new case when I was rebuilding because of that. 

 

Ended up buying a Zalman MS800plus which is a fair bit deeper.

 

I bought a Rebel12 and got 4 5in3s in there. I didn't have depth issues, just a little problem with the top slot that took some work.

 

Overall, I am happy with it.

 

I liked the Sharkoon case, don't get me wrong, but with sata ports coming straight out of the motherboards edge towards the drive cages I couldn't fit the cables in, it was only a problem with my new motherboard, my previous supermicro board with the sata ports coming up from the motherboard in the same direction as the CPU cooler was fine.

 

I'm not sure how much sense that makes, but I know what I'm trying to say!