New Build Advice Please :-)

[RussellinSacto]

Hi Everyone,

 

I haven't visited Lime in ages...  but because of a recent issue, I found myself poking around a bit... and with version 6, it looks like I might be due for an upgrade.

 

I want to combine several machines I currently have into fewer...  but I have lots of things I use (I tried to shorten this list to only the items that I foresee might be an issue):

 

1.  Original Unraid (circa 2008; UnRaid 5.0, 20TB onboard):

a.  Runs BTSync to backup files to my Newer Unraid system

 

2.  Newer Unraid (circa 2011; UnRaid 5.0, 18TB onboard):

b.  Runs BTSync to capture backup files from my Original Unraid system

 

3.  Older desktop (circa 2005; Windows 7):

a.  Continually AV scan my Unraid boxes

b.  Scan photo prints with my old (but reliable) HP ScanJet 5c

c.  Initially test downloads/trialware/etc before purchase/adoption onto Newer desktop

 

4.  Newer desktop (circa 2010; Windows 7, 2x 120GB SD drives):

a.  Plex Server (for my Roku)

b.  Daminion (photo management software) that provides a networked database (postGRE SQL) for multiple systems to access (see www.daminion.net)

c.  CrashPlan to continually backup the most important directories of my UnRaid boxes (despite months of work, I never got the onboard CrashPlan to work - I think super large files (3.4TB Photoshop files) and 2GB of RAM were the issue).

d.  Runs my Fujitsu ScanSnap document scanner (highly recommended)

e.  Photoshop, Sketchup, GigaPan Stitcher, PTGui and a variety of other graphics applications

f.  Google Earth (OpenGL / DirectX)

g.  Visual Studio (C#, ASP.NET MVC, SQL, etc.)

h.  Webserver

i. Team Viewer (so I can remotely do some things)

j.  Corona SDK (develop mobile applications)

 

5.  Apple iMac (i7):

a.  Corona SDK (Apple required to compile for IOS)

 

I tried to reduce the above lists to the "relevant" things - items that I'm concerned about because they have specific hardware requirements, drivers, network configurations, etc.  (I didn't include things I just expect to work - like Office applications, printers, etc.).  I don't generally play video games.

 

I'm thinking I can steal one of my original UnRaid boxes (hopefully save the 12 drive case), add the two SD's from my desktop, buy a new motherboard, processor, and a pile of RAM and hopefully downsize to much less equipment.

 

As a side effect, I think array access will be faster - since the drives will be onboard the same box as the VM - is that true?  (Currently, for photo editing, I copy the files from my UnRaid to my local drives, do my editing, then copy back - just so my editing is more responsive than saving to the NAS).

 

I expect to boot to Windows with this new machine - and leave it running all the time - and access other potential VMs through Synergy (www.synergy-project.com).

 

So, how much hardware can I get rid of?  Suggestions on how to do this?  What won't work?  I'm looking for consolidation advice.  :-)

 

Thanks,

 

Russell

[RussellinSacto]

Hmmm...  Usually I get prompt assistance here...  Now I'm wondering...

 

Am I asking for Unraid 6 to do too much?  Or is it obvious that this should all work?  :-)

 

 

[RussellinSacto]

Sorry.  I believe I posted in the wrong place.

 

Reposted here: https://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=41891.0

 

Russell