ryryonline Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 Here is my current setup: Server: FUJITSU Server PRIMERGY TX100 S3p Tower Server (http://www.fujitsu.com/tw/Images/ds-py-tx100-s3-en.pdf) Board: D 3009 Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-3220 processor (no hardware passthru) Memory: 8GB ECC PC3-1280 Unbuffered Hard Drives: 1 TB parity, 1 TB & 750 GB Storage Other: Board has 6 SATA slots and Dual Lan (which has been nice to control transfers around my internal network). Software: Running ESXI 5.5, UnRaid 6 as a VM as well as 8 other VMs (Win 7, a couple Linux boxes) each running various apps such as Sickbeard, MySQL, Plex etc I've considered either upgrading this machine to a: Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1240v2 ($230) (I don't think this board can take anything newer) Max out to 32 GB Ram ($150-$200) I've run out of storage space so I'm definitely going to upgrade the drives - most likely 4TB WD Reds. Would it be worth the money to do this or should I start fresh? At this point, I won't need more than 16 TB of storage (it will take me years to fill that), so I don't need a mega server. However, I've been thinking about building something around a DS380. Also, I want to redo everything and make UnRaid the main OS and run all my virtual OSes (Windows, etc) through UnRaid. Then I want to use dockers for my apps. Would the current configuration (with upgrades) make more sense than building something new? Or are there benefits to a newer board, chipset, etc? Thanks so much for help! EDIT: I'm looking to pinch pennies here if I can - I want to keep the build under $800 and put any additional dollars towards drives.
ryryonline Posted November 10, 2015 Author Posted November 10, 2015 I want to expand upon this a little bit to see if I can get some help from the experts out there. I've done more research and found that: The best processor in my price range that is still available is the Xeon E3-1220 (SR00G). The fastest RAM this will take is 1333 MHZ (ECC though). I plan on running: Dockers for Plex (with transcoding for possibly 2 streams), CouchPotato, SickBeard, NZB stuff, MySQL At least one Windows 7 (or 10) virtual environment to use for basic things (probably no gaming) since I am on a Mac UnRaid is the root software. Currently, UnRaid is installed in a VM in ESXI as well as the above mentioned items. Would this box be powerful enough to handle this or should I look at doing an upgrade? Thanks!
garycase Posted November 10, 2015 Posted November 10, 2015 I'd just upgrade to an E3-1240v2 and max out the memory. This will give you pass-thru support (vt-d); a very large increase in CPU "horsepower"; and plenty of memory to support your VM's and Dockers. A newer system would be slightly more power-efficient, but wouldn't appreciably increase the processing power.
ryryonline Posted November 10, 2015 Author Posted November 10, 2015 I have been leaning towards that, but I just realized that I posted the wrong link to my server. I have an S3 not an S3P. The S3 only allows the V1 of the Xeon (Sandy Bridge). I don't believe it allows the V2. I haven't been able to find any literature showing otherwise. http://sp.ts.fujitsu.com/dmsp/Publications/public/ds-py-tx100-s3-rh.pdf Would that still make a difference? Best
garycase Posted November 10, 2015 Posted November 10, 2015 Not a lot of difference ... still supports vt-d. Primary difference is slightly less "horsepower" => the v1 version scores 7977 on Passmark vs. 9286 for the v2 chip ... about 14% less performance. I'd still be inclined to just do that rather than a complete system overhaul. However, I'd also check with Fujitsu to confirm it won't work with the Ivy Bridge chip. I also can't find any documentation on that -- nor can I find a BIOS update that might have added support ... but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
garycase Posted November 10, 2015 Posted November 10, 2015 One minor advantage => the v1 chip is a bit less expensive ... several available for ~ $190 on e-bay
ryryonline Posted November 10, 2015 Author Posted November 10, 2015 I just ordered the 1240 for $190 (used). It is the max processor my motherboard will support, plus it has 4c/8t (instead of the 4c/4t the 1220 has). The 1220 I found was $120 so I figured the extra 70 was worth it for the extra cores in case I want to create some extra VMs. Now, on to memory! Should I max it at 32 GB or go from 8 to 16 GB and put in an SSD for my cache? As for hard drives, I have a 250GB 7200 RPM for the cache. Would it be worth swapping this out for an SSD? Would I see significant speed improvements? For storage and parity, I plan on going all WD Reds. Best
garycase Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 I just ordered the 1240 for $190 (used). It is the max processor my motherboard will support, plus it has 4c/8t (instead of the 4c/4t the 1220 has). The 1220 I found was $120 so I figured the extra 70 was worth it for the extra cores in case I want to create some extra VMs. I presume you know it's still just a 4-core processor ... there are NOT any "extra cores." Hyperthreading simply adds extra register sets so that context-switching between threads is faster (since there aren't any register saves/restores involved). It does give a small performance boost, but it's nothing like having actual extra cores. Nevertheless, the 1240 does have a bit more than 30% more "horsepower" than the 1220, so it's a good choice. Now, on to memory! Should I max it at 32 GB or go from 8 to 16 GB ... Neither I gather from this question that you must have a pair of 4GB modules and are debating whether to replace them or not. I'd keep them -- but add a pair of 8GB modules, giving you 24GB total. [There's no need for all modules to be the same size -- you just want to use them in pairs, so you'll retain the optimal dual channel performance.] As for hard drives, I have a 250GB 7200 RPM for the cache. Would it be worth swapping this out for an SSD? Would I see significant speed improvements? For actual caching of writes, it won't make much difference. A 250GB drive likely has relatively low areal density, so it probably can't keep up with your Gb network, so an SSD would provide some gains ... but with the limit imposed by the network, not a lot (without knowing the exact model of your 250GB drive I can't say just how much). But if you're basically using the cache drive as an application drive then an SSD would be a significant performance enhancement. ... For storage and parity, I plan on going all WD Reds. Good choice.
ryryonline Posted November 11, 2015 Author Posted November 11, 2015 Aaaaaaand I'm broke... However, I am now (going to be after a few days of shipping) the proud owner of: 16 more GB of ECC RAM (2x8) 250 GB Samsung EVO 850 SSD for my VMs and apps 2 x 8TB Seagate Archive drives (got from Jet.com at $178 a piece). The Xeon 1240 processor. One more question regarding this: I have hardware RAID in this box. Would it make sense to use one of these 8TB drives as the parity or would it be better to put 2 4TB drives in a RAID array (hardware) and use that as the parity? I've been reading up on the topic but haven't found too much information on performance. Thanks!
garycase Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 Wow => GREAT price on the Seagate 8TB's !! I saw that in the "Good Deals" section as well and also ordered one "just because" -- I have no idea where I'll put it, but it was too good a price to pass up. If I actually NEEDED one I'd have bought 2 or 3 I don't know which is better r.e. the parity drive => I suspect it depends on how "actively" you use your server. i.e. if you do a lot of random writes, it may be best to have the RAID'ed pair of 4TB drives to ensure you never "hit the wall" (i.e. a full persistent cache) with the shingled performance of the SMR drives .. but if you primarily just write large media files I suspect the SMR drive is fine. You may want to review what I wrote about these drives here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=39526.0 The "safe" thing to do is to use the RAID'ed 2 x 4TB parity "drive".
JonathanM Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 I have hardware RAID in this box. Would it make sense to use one of these 8TB drives as the parity or would it be better to put 2 4TB drives in a RAID array (hardware) and use that as the parity? I've been reading up on the topic but haven't found too much information on performance. Thanks! Speed of parity drive effects all writes to the parity protected array, and writing to multiple disks in the array at the same time is where a hardware RAID0 volume as the parity drive should shine. Parity volume speed doesn't help at all on reads. So, how much writing to the parity protected array do you actually do? Some people write rarely, read constantly, others read and write in proportion, others add (hoard ) data for later consumption and rarely read.
garycase Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 ... 250 GB Samsung EVO 850 SSD for my VMs and apps BTW, I presume (hope) you saw the Newegg special for this ... it's only $74.99
ryryonline Posted November 12, 2015 Author Posted November 12, 2015 The server is primarily used to store all of my old DVD and new BluRay rips. Plus, my wife uses it to store all photos. Those photos also get stored to the cloud from the server (2 points of backup). The only time writes happen is when I'm ripping a disc or the wife is storing photos. Otherwise, most of the time the server is being read from (streaming to various Plex, Kodi boxes in an outside the house). I think I'll start with the Seagate as the 8TB parity and look at upgrading if I'm not happy with the performance. Interestingly enough, I'm running an unlicensed beta copy of UnRaid 6. Part of this server upgrade is to buy a license. I may only purchase the basic (6 drives). Do you know off-hand if the 6 drives include all parity and cache drives or is the 6 just the data drives? And, yep, I got the Evo 850 off NewEgg for $75 - exactly the reason I bought it. I love early Black Friday deals!
Squid Posted November 12, 2015 Posted November 12, 2015 Interestingly enough, I'm running an unlicensed beta copy of UnRaid 6. Part of this server upgrade is to buy a license. I may only purchase the basic (6 drives). Do you know off-hand if the 6 drives include all parity and cache drives or is the 6 just the data drives? Any combination of parity, data, and cache drives adding up to 6
ryryonline Posted November 12, 2015 Author Posted November 12, 2015 Any combination of parity, data, and cache drives adding up to 6 Thanks, Squid!
ryryonline Posted November 16, 2015 Author Posted November 16, 2015 The upgrade is going smoothly! I have upgraded the processor to a Xeon (from the i3), upgraded the memory to 24 GB, installed an eSata card (for a 4-port external Digital Sans box I had laying around), put the newest version of UnRaid on a 32GB USB, and installed the two 8TB drives and the 250G SSD drive. Before I wipe everything and start from scratch I realize that I need to do this carefully as not to lose any data. Currently, the box is booting into ESXI 5.5 and hosting UnRAID as a VM. I want to make UnRAID the primary OS and use it for my VMs plus Dockers. I also, currently, have 3 HDs running in UnRAID (1TB parity, 1TB data, 750G data). I also only have about 30G free across this array. These drives were added to ESXI and passed through (using software since the i3 didn't have VT-d) to the UnRAID VM. I can't add another drive to this array since it's an unlicensed copy. I'm thinking about formatting the 8TB on an external computer. Copying my entire server contents (~1.5TB) to the 8TB. Then, redo the entire array from scratch making the other 8TB the parity, put the 3 other drives into the array as data, copy the 8TB back to the array, then put the 8TB in as a data. Am I overthinking this? Would the existing drives work in a new array even they were coming through an ESXI? I guess I could also test this out and just boot directly into the new USB of UnRAID instead of ESXI. (I also need to figure out what I need to save on my other VM boxes. I will be sad to lose them since it tooks many months of tinkering to get it just right).
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