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Need Guidance on New Unraid 5 Budget Build - 7 Drives

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Hi There,

 

I've been wading through some of the posts in the UCD section of the forum and I'm a little overwhelmed. I haven't built a computer in several years, so I feel a little outdated in knowledge. I'm currently running Unraid 4 on the machine in my signature, which is not 64 bit, so I can't upgrade to unraid 5.

 

Here is my storage:

4x 3tb

2x 1tb

1x 750gb cache

 

What I want to do with my server:

Fileserver (obviously)

Subsonic Server

SABnzbd

Sickbeard

Couchpotato

 

 

Prebuilt servers I've been contemplating:

 

TS140 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkServer-TS140-70A4-Core-i3-4330-3-5-GHz-4-GB-0-GB-70A4000FUX/301528584683?customid=73f6da895b3440d19a24e75f92f2ea29&pub=5574652453&afepn=5337259887&campid=5337259887&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46348111eb&afepn=5337259887&rmvSB=true But this probably can't squeeze 7 drives into it, so I'd need a new case.

 

TS440 http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkServer-70AQ0009UX-E3-1225-Computer/dp/B00ILH15DA?tag=slickdeals&ascsubtag=32ac8397a4f74fc2982edd8c3c11185e Maybe overkill and loud?

 

Building a server:

I'd like to stay somewhere under the $400 range like the servers above, but I don't know where to start. I'd also really like hotswap bays.

 

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Ben

You can upgrade to R5.  It is 32 bit.  R6 is 64 bit.

TS440 is basically a TS140 in a bigger box.  I don't think it's much louder.

 

Do you have to go prebuilt?  There's plenty of decent cases out there that'll take lots of drives, and then just add an AMD board and CPU.  Something like a FX6300 on a M5A78L-M/USB and 2x4GB ECC DIMMs makes a very fast, safe unRAID box.  Add in a cheap HBA and you've got a great machine for less than $400.

  • Author

You can upgrade to R5.  It is 32 bit.  R6 is 64 bit.

 

My mistake, I'm currently on R5 but I'd like to go to R6.

  • Author

TS440 is basically a TS140 in a bigger box.  I don't think it's much louder.

 

Do you have to go prebuilt?  There's plenty of decent cases out there that'll take lots of drives, and then just add an AMD board and CPU.  Something like a FX6300 on a M5A78L-M/USB and 2x4GB ECC DIMMs makes a very fast, safe unRAID box.  Add in a cheap HBA and you've got a great machine for less than $400.

 

No I definitely don't have to go pre built. I'm just a little unsure of myself choosing the right components. I'd be open to more of your recommendations!

There's a few AMD FM2+ boards that have 8x SATA6 connections on the board.  Slap in an APU, job jobbed.

  • Author

Or do I need to go with server memory?

  • Author

PC Part Picker is a good website to help you pick parts and make sure they will work together.

 

That site is really awesome!

 

Here's what I came up with. Didn't find a hotswap case, but it still looks good.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($78.78 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($64.88 @ OutletPC)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($68.98 @ OutletPC)

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.75 @ Directron)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($52.52 @ Micro Center)

Total: $393.89

 

 

My questions are:

 

Do I need server ram with ECC?

Is that processor adequate?

Good enough PSU?

Few points.

 

You need a A4/A6/A8A10 APU on FM2 for integrated graphics.  The FM2 Athlons don't have a built in GPU.

 

ECC only works on AMD on the AM3+ platform, and only on certain boards.  Asus tend to work OK.

 

Edit: Check out this thread - http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=38361.0

To translate HellDiverUK's very petinent points:

 

1) Don't get the X4 860K, get the A8-5500 processor.  That, or drop a graphics card in the PCIe slot.

 

2) No, you don't need ECC.  To have ECC you need a CPU, RAM, and motherboard that all take advantage of that feature, and that's a completely different spec than what you have outlined.

 

Bonus advice) The Gigabyte motherboard supports up to 2133 MHz RAM, and the system will perform better with faster RAM.  Granted, vanilla unRAID probably won't see a difference but your plugins might.  Considering the cost is trivial to up the RAM speed I would buy the faster RAM.

  • Author

Thanks for the advice, guys. That helps a lot!  Here's what I'm going with now.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

 

CPU: AMD A8-5500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($88.98 @ OutletPC)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.98 @ OutletPC)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-D3H Micro ATX FM2+ Motherboard  ($64.88 @ OutletPC)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory  ($71.85 @ OutletPC)

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.75 @ Directron)

Power Supply: Corsair CX 430W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($52.52 @ Micro Center)

Total: $406.96

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-02 15:23 EST-0500

 

 

What I want to do is install a fresh copy of Unraid 6 beta on a new thumb drive. Then I want to move my old unraid array over to the new system.  Is that even possible? Or do I have to use the old unraid installation and then upgrade in order to not lose my array. Also, how do I tell which sata plugs on the mother board go with my current configuration.

 

This seems like I could really screw something up easily.

What I want to do is install a fresh copy of Unraid 6 beta on a new thumb drive. Then I want to move my old unraid array over to the new system.  Is that even possible? Or do I have to use the old unraid installation and then upgrade in order to not lose my array. Also, how do I tell which sata plugs on the mother board go with my current configuration.

 

This seems like I could really screw something up easily.

You can transfer the disks directly to a new system. Just make sure you assign the parity disk correctly, you don't want unRAID to write parity to one of your data disks. It should recognize the existing data disks as having valid filesystems and just use them with their data intact. If it wants to format anything don't let it. Check back for further guidance.
  • Author

Thanks!

Another alternative for a case is something like this ZALMAN MS800 @ $102 would give you hot swap capability.  It looks like you can get 9 5.25 drives in it if you take the 3.5 adapters out.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G28M5375

 

Then a couple of 5in3 at $65

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133030&cm_re=norco_ss500-_-16-133-030-_-Product

 

Another alternative is the iStar 4in3 @ $99 each.  The 4in3 has the advantage that you do not have to bend the rails.  You could also defer getting the extras if you dont need them yet.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816215244&cm_re=istar_usa-_-16-215-244-_-Product

  • Author

All great suggestions. Thanks guys. I almost forgot about the SATA adapter.

 

I wish I had a Microcenter close to me.

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