Please double check this new build parts list

[TooManyMovies]

Been lurking for a year or more and I am finally taking the plunge and building me a server.  I have a few items in my shopping cart over at Newegg and I need to make sure everything will work together and I know I am in need of things that aren't on the list yet so any advice would be greatly appreciated.  I have read a ton on the forum and over at AVSForum (I'm member tsha222) but this is my first computer build of any kind. 

 

My goals: Serve BluRay, DVD and HD-DVD rips to TVs around the house.  Will use Plex and my clients are a couple of smart TVs and a few Roku boxes.  I don't imagine I will ever get more than 4 1080p streams going at once so I am shooting for at least 4 stream transcoding ability.  I also have a home theater room and I am going to buy a media player or use the actual server as my HTPC if this is even possible.  Main thing in the theater is to not transcode the video and have all lossless audio formats work.  Although I don't watch a ton of 3D I would like 3D compatibility.  If not, I will use my Oppo for those few 3D blurays I have.

 

In addition to movies, I am going to be using the server for family photos and pics.  I haven't given much thought on music but I'm sure this can be rolled into the server pretty easily.  I have a lot of reading to do on virtual machine and apps because that is all 100% gibberish to me at the moment. 

 

Build List: EDITED (third times the charm?)

***SWITCHMAN MADE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS TO MEMBER CHRIS SOLO WHO IS ALSO USING THE 4220 AND ULDICE & GARYCASE MADE SOME RECOMMENDATION ON MY BUILD***

 

I will be using Unraid 6

 

CASE: Norco RPC-4220  ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219033&cm_re=norco_4220-_-11-219-033-_-Product )

 

THUMB DRIVE: decided to get a preconfigured thumb drive from LT

 

MOBO: SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SLM+-F-O uATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C224 DDR3 1600

          ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182823 )

 

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 v3

          ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117316&cm_re=E3_1231-_-19-117-316-_-Product )

 

SATA EXPANSION: Qty of (2) SUPERMICRO AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 PCI-Express 2.0 x8 SATA / SAS 8-Port Controller Card

            ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101792 )

 

MEMORY: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

          ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148770&cm_re=ecc_memory-_-20-148-770-_-Product )

 

VIDEO CARD: MSI Radeon R5 230 R5 230 2GD3H LP 2GB 64-Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Low Profile Video Card

            ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127802 )

 

POWER SUPPLY: EVGA 110-B2-0750-VR 80 PLUS Bronze 750 W 5 yr Warranty Semi-Modular NVIDIA SLI Ready and Crossfire Support

              ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817438028 )

 

CACHE: Qty of (2) SAMSUNG 850 EVO MZ-75E500B/AM 2.5" 500GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

              ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147373 )

 

HDDs: Using a combination of 2TB - 4TB drives I already have which total 8 drives.  Purchasing a QTY of (2) Seagate 8TB Internal Hard Drive with one for Parity and one to begin my monster storage capacity.  I actually had 3 8TB in my cart but there is a limit of 2 per order.  Mentioned before I will be using Plex for whole house video streaming.  I have no idea if I can use something more elegant for the home theater like XBMC since they have a ton of skins available.  Plex might work perfectly but I am totally lost on VM and Docker, etc.  Apps in addition to Plex that I would want to run are Sickbeard, Couch Potato and I'm sure one or two more that I will discover as I begin really getting into this build.  So obvious questions are, will the parts I have listed all play nice together.  Is there anything in particular you would change?  What am I missing besides cabling?  I also have a UPS that I will use and I have a video card in the list so that I can use the server as my HTPC unless this is not even possible.

 

I will calmly sit back and wait for any and all comments, suggestions, ridicule and scorn

 

Thanks tremendously,

 

CW

[uldise]

i'm wondering why you choose an older SAS controller, this is very similar and will provide more bandwidth to you: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101792

[garycase]

A few thoughts ...

 

=>  As suggested above, you should use the newer SAS2LP vs. the SASLP card you listed

 

=>  You don't need a video card unless you're going to be passing it through to a VM.    And if you're planning on doing that, you may want to choose a board with a better complement of expansions slots.    The board you listed only has one x8 slot (with an x16 connector) and one x4 slot (with an x8 connector).    If you use the x8 slot for a video card, you'd have to put your add-on controller in the other slot, which only operates at x4 speed.

 

A full-size ATX board like this would give you far better expansion card options:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G3435488

 

 

=>  Excellent choice on the CPU and memory.  Some will perhaps say you're buying "too much" CPU ... but extra headroom is always a good idea; and the 1276 gives you plenty of "horsepower" for 4 simultaneous streams.

 

=>  Finally, consider carefully what case you want.    The Norco is a nice unit, but it's a large rack-mount case, so be sure you have an appropriate location for it [A small rack is clearly the ideal solution ... but even if you have one, it's likely in your home theatre room, and the Norco is a fairly noisy case unless you do a few mods].    There are several nice tower cases that can support 14-16 drives, and if you're going to move towards 8TB drives, that may very well be plenty.

 

On the other hand, if you have a good location for it, you can always add feet and build an appropriate size shelf for the Norco, which some have done on this forum.

 

 

[TooManyMovies]

This is exactly the kind of feedback I wanted.  Thanks! 

 

@uldice I am putting this list together by looking over everyone else's builds   Thank you for pointing out what could have been a hindrance on performance.

 

@garycase, (1) Regarding the video card, I am guessing that what I will be doing is passing it through to a VM.  I am very sketchy on this aspect of the build and operation but I am learning as much as I can.  My reason for specifying a video card to begin with is that I read another member mention it was spec'd in a quote he received on a LT build and that he would be running XBMC in his home theater room from the server.  I may be misunderstanding some things (may be??? who am I kidding?)  So noted on that.  I don't mind having a card even if I don't run HDMI out to my projector from the server since I could always add a monitor.

 

(2) Regarding the board, it definitely looks like you have suggested a better option for me.  I want to not be kicking myself for not not getting exactly what I need.

 

(3) The CPU and memory was suggested to member Chris Solo, who is looking at doing something very very similar to me, by member switchman so I'm happy to have a second thumbs up for that.

 

(4) Finally regarding the case, it will not be in the home theater room proper.  In my current home theater, I have my equipment rack in separate projection booth at the back of the room so the only thing we hear in the theater is the sound system.  We are in the planning stages of a new home and with that a new home theater.  I will probably opt for the same approach only this time, the projection booth will also be the distribution hub for the entire property and will be the head end for all of the wiring, cat5/6, coax, 16/4 speaker wire, etc.

 

If my math is correct The Mobo and Sata Expansion card will give me 18 ports.  What would you suggest to get the last two working, another 8 port?  I read that it's possible to squeeze a couple of SSDs in the case.  Speaking of which, what would the recommendations be for SSDs vs mechanical drives for cache and how many do I need?  I can't really say price is no object on this build BUT I have 12 months interest free at Newegg and that makes this so much easier.

 

Thanks again for looking this over for me and for the comments guys.

 

CW

 

[uldise]

18 ports is plenty.. if you wanna more, then add second SAS card, but you can add it later when your 18 ports are all full

 

and for a cache drive - no need for SSD imho.. cos gigabit Ethernet will be a bottleneck for network reads/writes. i have two HDDs in RAID1 for Cache.

if you wanna use cache drive for VMs, that's a different case. if i remember correctly, you can use separate SSD for VM's with Unassigned Devices plugin.. search forums for such config, i have no experience with this, cos my unRAID is running at top of esxi.

[TooManyMovies]

Thanks for that.  I have been readin a few places and I get confused lol but I think the explanation by LT for SSDs was (1) increase read/write speeds and (2) running VM for XBMC for exampe.  They had spec'd 4 512GB SSDs and I was going to add two but I have some more reading to do.  So if I am reading you correctly, would you recommend a mechanical drive for cache, say 1 or 2TB and an SSD for VM?  Can these be parity protected with the same 8TB parity drive I am using in the build?  I need this to be as simple as possible.  I am mainly talking as simple as possible in configuration

[uldise]

Thanks for that.  I have been readin a few places and I get confused lol but I think the explanation by LT for SSDs was (1) increase read/write speeds and (2) running VM for XBMC for exampe.  They had spec'd 4 512GB SSDs and I was going to add two but I have some more reading to do.  So if I am reading you correctly, would you recommend a mechanical drive for cache, say 1 or 2TB and an SSD for VM?  Can these be parity protected with the same 8TB parity drive I am using in the build?  I need this to be as simple as possible.  I am mainly talking as simple as possible in configuration

by default, cache drive is not a part of an unRAID array and is not protected by unRAID parity drive.

if you wanna protected cache drive, then you can create BTRFS cache pool.. - you can use SSDs or HDDs for that. keep in mind that BTRFS is relative new file system, search forums for other's experience with that.

 

if i were you, i would use mechanical HDD for cache and separate SSD for VM's and schedule mover to run more often than once a day for cache and create backups of VMs every day..

but you always have an option to use hardware RAID for additional protection. see you board specs, as i see, you can create RAID1 array for cache.

so, decisions decisions..

[uldise]

looked at your MB again - it's wrong and won't fit with your CPU/RAM..

look at this one: http://www.supermicro.nl/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SAT.cfm

[TooManyMovies]

Wow thanks for catching that.  I'm not pulling the trigger until I know everything is good to go.  Newegg has interest free financing through Aug 31 so I have a couple of weeks to nail things down.  Looks like I have even more reading to do

 

CW

[TooManyMovies]

Took a look at the board but they are out of stock at newegg.  I'm trying to research what cpu and ram IS compatible with the first MOBO you suggested as it is in stock and I am itching to get this system ordered because I know it's going to be a challenge to get it all working.

 

[switchman]

One thing I see is the MB MBD-X10SRL-F  is specked for a E5 series proc.

 

From the manual. "Single Intel® E5-2600/1600 Series processor in an LGA2011 R3 socket."

 

Now that I see uldise's post, if you go with the X10SAT, I would drop the video card and go with a processor with the graphics capable like the E3-1265L v3.  This is assuming that you only wanted the video card for local system use and not video pass through.

[uldise]

Took a look at the board but they are out of stock at newegg.  I'm trying to research what cpu and ram IS compatible with the first MOBO you suggested as it is in stock and I am itching to get this system ordered because I know it's going to be a challenge to get it all working.

 

you can choose any of these series: http://www.supermicro.nl/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/#1150

next variant is http://www.supermicro.nl/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SLM_-F.cfm (and respective newegg link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182823&cm_re=X10SLM-_-13-182-823-_-Product)

this board have 3 PCIe ports, so room for GPU and two SAS cards (one with x8, one with x4 bandwith)

 

 

 

[uldise]

Took a look at the board but they are out of stock at newegg.  I'm trying to research what cpu and ram IS compatible with the first MOBO you suggested as it is in stock and I am itching to get this system ordered because I know it's going to be a challenge to get it all working.

 

you can choose any of these series: http://www.supermicro.nl/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/#1150

next variant is http://www.supermicro.nl/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SLM_-F.cfm (and respective newegg link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182823&cm_re=X10SLM-_-13-182-823-_-Product)

this board have 3 PCIe ports, so room for GPU and two SAS cards (one with x8, one with x4 bandwith)

 

one more option

my production server worked with this (http://www.supermicro.nl/products/motherboard/Xeon/C202_C204/X9SCM-iiF.cfm) board for two years without any clues until i went for dual CPU board.. i still have this board in my test server now, and it works great.. ok, it uses second gen. Xeon, but a big advantage over X10 series is 4 PCIe slots - two x8 two x4. if you plan to use non x16 GPU then you can go this way too.. if you will choose this board, you should change CPU, RAM must fit i think..

[garycase]

My mistake on the updated motherboard => I was looking at the slots and thought I'd restricted the choices to Socket 1150 boards on Newegg's site, but clearly I had not.    The Socket 2011 board is indeed a better board, but to use it you'd also have to switch to an E5 series Xeon and registered RAM ... a better system, but notably pricier.

 

But there are several nice socket 1150 boards with C series chipsets that have at least 2 PCIe x16 sockets that run at x8 or better, e.g. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G3435457  or  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157409

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TooManyMovies]

No worries.  I'm learning a lot of stuff.  My son and I unboxed the 4220 and it is sitting on the dining room table.  My wife is elated  You guys are an incredible wealth of knowledge.  I hope the feedback is as great when i start configuring things on the software side lol

 

CW

[trurl]

Surprised nobody has mentioned pcpartpicker. That will help you keep things compatible.

[TooManyMovies]

I think I have made my final choices based on all the great info you guys provided.  I re-edited my first post to reflect this.  If no one sees any issues with the components selected I am going to pull the trigger.  Thanks!!!

 

CW

[TooManyMovies]

@trurl I actually went there and didn't find the mobo listed.  I may have been searching in the wrong section?  Hopefully everything on my build list is compatible now and will let me do all I want to do with the server.

 

CW

[switchman]

The SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O has the extra 8 SATA ports on the board and is slightly cheaper overall than the combo SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SLM+-F-O and AOC-SAS2LP-MV8.  Either one would be a fine board.

 

This here is why I like the X10SL7.  It is the same board LT uses in their server and does development on.

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/UnRAID_Manual_6#Lime_Technology_Tested_Components

 

I did not see your breakout cables listed for the AOC-SAS2LP-MV8.  Make sure you get the correct ones.  Does your case have the SAS ports on the cages or the normal sata ports.  I believe the 4220 is available in both versions.

 

As you are investing the amount of money you are, I would suggest you add the extra controller now.  That way your system is complete and built.  Also, make sure you test every slot in the 4220.  You want to find any bad slots now.

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G36F9435&cm_re=X10SL7-F-_-13-182-821-_-Product

[TooManyMovies]

Much appreciated.  I have not added breakout cables and I'm not sure which version of the 4220 I have.  I don't know enough but I promise by the time I am finished I will be much more server savy.

[TooManyMovies]

I have this Norco version: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NO7THO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

[TooManyMovies]

Trigger has been pulled.  I went with everything listed on the first post except for changing parity drives and cpu.

 

I went with the E3-1231v3 rather than the E2-1276 just because I found more users with that model.  I also decided to go with 6TB for parity and added a couple of 6TB drives for the array.  I haven't ordered any cabling but I was close to my credit limit at newegg so I got everything 12 mos interest free.  I will research and order cables separately.  I will post pics of my progress and I want to thank you guys for the patience and great advice.  If I shot myself in the foot on anything let me know

 

CW

[garycase]

Good choices.  The 1231 is a good choice, and has nearly the same "horsepower" as the 1276 you were looking at (it's PassMark score is 92% of the 1276's)

 

Be sure you order the correct breakout cables for your case ... since you already have the case you simply need to look and see whether you need a breakout cable for SATA connectors or single combined cable with mini-SAS connectors on both ends.

 

Also, as already suggested, be sure you test ALL of the Norco drive slots and connections ... you don't want to find out later that you have a bad one.    Since you can freely move drives around, all you need to do is set everything up and get it running;  then move a few drives to the "other" slots (and cable them if they're not all cabled initially) and confirm all is still well.

 

[TooManyMovies]

Thanks @garycase!  I am going to take a look at the 4020 and see what type of connectors are in use.  I went ahead and ordered 2 expansion cards so once everything is all buttoned up, THORETICALLY all of the bays will be powered and ready to work.  I'll order the cables tomorrow.  I read Monoprice was a good choice.  I know their A/V cables are good since that's all I use in my home theater save for a few Monster Cables from when I was in the HT install business.  I really do appreciate all the schooling from everyone.

 

CW

[TooManyMovies]

Here is a pic of my backplane.  Since there are twenty connectors I am assuming, and I'm embarrassed to not know this, that each of these correspond to a drive bay so therefore I need 20 sata cables to go from each connector on the backplane to sata connectors on the mobo and expansion cards.