Hello unRAIDers

 

So it's been almost 3 years now since my first build "My711" (link: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=21470.0)

 

I couldn't be happier about my build, worked like a charm, even though I had few hickups during the build, but that's part of the experience.

 

I never had a problem honestly, neither with my build nor with unRAID.  Selecting unRAID paid off (reliable, great community and people always helping you..thank you!).

 

If you go through my first build, you'll see at that time, I made a big investment at that time, to build a multi-purpose system, not just for unRAID.  It was the smartest decision honestly, because I oversized my rig, and as time went by, I was able to accommodate many new technologies (such as Plex media server, SickBeard, SAB....etc.)

 

Most thing I benefited from oversizing my rig (CPU, memory) was  being to able run Plex server.

 

The virtualization was a good decision I made.

Today, my array holds a total of 40+TB of data, mostly media.

 

So now, after the release of unRAID 6, with so many great features its offering, I'm just thinking, maybe I need to update my rig.

 

First, before thinking of building a new system and spending money, What possible upgrades is possible to my system to keep it up-to-date and ready for full fledge usage with unRAID 6, docker...etc.? I'm thinking the following

 

- I could upgrade the board and get a dual socket board, and add a new CPU. no?

- add more memory of course.

 

Beside all the pretty things unRAID 6 brings, I'm really interested in centralizing all my workloads on this box, so basically running all my machines, and simply use a basic laptop (MacBook) to remotely run the virtual machines and all.  So for this, would adding a good graphics card to my current system or the new build help? If so, what are your thoughts on this?

 

One of the lessons learned from my first build, was choosing the Norco 4224 case.  It's a rackmount case, which is not ideal for a home/apartment, unless you have the place for it. I decided to go with it, as I was planning to get a rack for it and i was tempted by the 24 slots.  This is a huge case.  So if you don't have the space for it, it could look bulky in your living room.  Now, with the 6TB drives and even 8TB becoming popular, you can achieve the total disk space with a normal, smaller tower case.

 

Your thoughts and ideas will definitely be useful, i'm sure....

 

awaiting your feedback

Beside all the pretty things unRAID 6 brings, I'm really interested in centralizing all my workloads on this box, so basically running all my machines, and simply use a basic laptop (MacBook) to remotely run the virtual machines and all.  So for this, would adding a good graphics card to my current system or the new build help? If so, what are your thoughts on this?

You would only need to add a graphics card if you need bare metal performance for graphics.  If you are running remotely (e.g. via RDP) then I do not think the graphics card gets you anything.

One of the lessons learned from my first build, was choosing the Norco 4224 case.  It's a rackmount case, which is not ideal for a home/apartment, unless you have the place for it. I decided to go with it, as I was planning to get a rack for it and i was tempted by the 24 slots.  This is a huge case.  So if you don't have the space for it, it could look bulky in your living room.  Now, with the 6TB drives and even 8TB becoming popular, you can achieve the total disk space with a normal, smaller tower case.

 

Norco 4224 is a full on server case. What were you expecting?  I can see if you don't have room, you really have no business buying it. I have mine in my basement and never even see it.  One of the main reasons I bought it is it allows me to use the cheaper drives in it.  I mainly use all 4tb drives in it now.  Those 6 & 8TB drives are still too spendy for me.

One of the lessons learned from my first build, was choosing the Norco 4224 case.  It's a rackmount case, which is not ideal for a home/apartment, unless you have the place for it. I decided to go with it, as I was planning to get a rack for it and i was tempted by the 24 slots.  This is a huge case.  So if you don't have the space for it, it could look bulky in your living room.  Now, with the 6TB drives and even 8TB becoming popular, you can achieve the total disk space with a normal, smaller tower case.

 

Norco 4224 is a full on server case. What were you expecting?  I can see if you don't have room, you really have no business buying it. I have mine in my basement and never even see it.  One of the main reasons I bought it is it allows me to use the cheaper drives in it.  I mainly use all 4tb drives in it now.  Those 6 & 8TB drives are still too spendy for me.

 

I had a place for it in my old apartment, now I don't.

 

I created a custom cabinet for it, it's in my living room, but would need to remove it every time I need to open the case.

 

 

One of the lessons learned from my first build, was choosing the Norco 4224 case.  It's a rackmount case, which is not ideal for a home/apartment, unless you have the place for it. I decided to go with it, as I was planning to get a rack for it and i was tempted by the 24 slots.  This is a huge case.  So if you don't have the space for it, it could look bulky in your living room.  Now, with the 6TB drives and even 8TB becoming popular, you can achieve the total disk space with a normal, smaller tower case.

 

Norco 4224 is a full on server case. What were you expecting?  I can see if you don't have room, you really have no business buying it. I have mine in my basement and never even see it.  One of the main reasons I bought it is it allows me to use the cheaper drives in it.  I mainly use all 4tb drives in it now.  Those 6 & 8TB drives are still too spendy for me.

 

I had a place for it in my old apartment, now I don't.

 

I created a custom cabinet for it, it's in my living room, but would need to remove it every time I need to open the case.

 

Gotcha  yeah, maybe try selling it locally and buying a smaller mid tower case and add in some hot swapable bays. Hopefully others will have some ideas.  There are lots of case threads in the hardware section that would probably give you some ideas of what to get.

Looking over your build, I don't see ANY reason to upgrade, except possibly to boost your memory a bit => it's not clear exactly what you ended up with, but I'd replace any smaller modules with 8GB modules.  Either 2 of them (16GB total) or 4 if you want to max it out at 32GB.

 

It would then still be a very good build for v6.    [The E3-1240v2 scores 9241 on PassMark -- you'd get a very nominal gain (5-10% if you updated to a new Haswell-based board and a v3 processor ... not at all worth the $$)

 

Since you DO want to replace your case, you can simply find a nice micro-ATX case (or even an ATX tower if you want more drive space)  and simply move the system to that case.  It's NOT small, but the Fractal R4 is an excellent case that runs VERY quiet (exceptionally well insulated) has excellent airflow; and can hold up to about 14 drives very easily

One potential issue with your board => if you want to add a high-performance video card for a VM, you don't have any x16 slots.      If any of the x4 slots are open-ended, you could install an x16 card, but it would run at x4, so you'd compromise the potential performance.  [if they're not open-ended, a Dremel tool can easily rectify that if you're CAREFUL  ]

 

One potential issue with your board => if you want to add a high-performance video card for a VM, you don't have any x16 slots.      If any of the x4 slots are open-ended, you could install an x16 card, but it would run at x4, so you'd compromise the potential performance.  [if they're not open-ended, a Dremel tool can easily rectify that if you're CAREFUL  ]

 

Thanks

 

see, building a rig is tricky, they make you change your whole system with all these limited configs. lol If I change my motherboard, i might as well change the cards, memory, cpu...etc.

 

One question I have in regards to CrashPlan.  CrashPlan, by standard, doesn't allow to backup a mapped drive (network drive), but with v6, will I be able to backup my entire array?

...  If I change my motherboard, i might as well change the cards, memory, cpu...etc.

 

Yes, it can be a nuisance.    But as I noted, your system is VERY good as is => and even if you want to add a discrete graphics card, I'd see how well it performs at x4 speed before replacing the motherboard.  Unless you're turning into a serious gamer, it's not likely you'll even notice the difference.