First unRAID Build: Configuration Questions and Wisdom Request Thread

[BMGfan]

Hi guys and gals!

I'm totally new to server building (but not new to computing), I'd rate myself a power user. I'm building an unRAID file server/media server/plex server with a windows 7 or 10 VM on it that can act as an HTPC/light gaming PC (think rocket league, geometry wars, emulators, etc.). I have a few specific questions, but would love any advice and words of wisdom you may have.

So in order to keep this brief I'm going to bullet point the post, I'll try to be as brief as possible:

 

I have the hardware incoming tomorrow consisting of:

FX-8320 CPU

Gigabyte GA-970A-D3P Mobo

Hyper 212 Evo cooler

Silverstone GD08 case

16gb gskill 1866 DDR3

Geforce 210 for unraid gui

GTX 550 ti for the VM

A bunch of random drives I have laying around: 3TB parity drive (new WD blue), a few 2.5" 500gb drives, a couple 3.5" 1TB drives

Also they won't be here tomorrow but a friend is also sending me a 64gb, and a 128gb SSD

 

 

The general plan The loose plan is to use unraid with the plex docker for the media pc/file share side of things. I'll also configure an automatic backup service at some point to backup irreplaceable data to the cloud or another server somewhere off site. The unraid side looks relatively straight forward to me. Pre clear drives, configure drives, parity check, migrate data, etc.

Where I'm having issues is understanding how best to configure the windows VM and unraid to optimise where they meet in the unraid OS.

For example, I want to be able to transcode two 1080p streams from the plex docker, so should I configure the windows VM to have 2 or 4 cores? How much memory should I assign to the windows side of things? Is it best to configure my SSD cache drives for the VM only or how is it best to configure them. I imagine we'll be copying small amounts to the server in general likely a few gig a day at most, maybe make the 64gb ssd a cache drive?

 

I'd love any advice you folks would be willing to share, Thank you.

[METDeath]

It looks like you will need three to four cores for Plex transcoding (assume ~2000 passmark per transcoding, 8320 gets 1397 per core, three to four cores required). Check out docker CPU pinning so you can limit Plex to the desired cores.

You will probably want two to three cores for the Windows VM since it will be gaming, which leaves you at maybe one or two cores for unRAID itself.

 

You won't have to parity check as preclearing the drives and starting with a parity drive negates that need... I think... Windows will want 4-6 GB to run well so might as well go ahead and give it 6 since you have the RAM.

 

[BMGfan]

Thanks!  I'm glad to hear I'm on the right track and nothing seems obviously wrong with my build!  I'm looking forward to building it tonight, I'll report back with pictures

[trurl]

You forgot to mention your power supply. A wrong choice can cause you problems.

[METDeath]

You forgot to mention your power supply. A wrong choice can cause you problems.

 

Solid point! Case in point I had a PSU with several 12V rails it worked fine when I had 10 drives... but when I went to 14 it started causing me issues. The reason this was an issue is that some of the 12V rails were dedicated for a GPU and couldn't power generic devices.

Upgraded to a PSU with more wattage AND a single 12V rail and it's been a lucky buy since I'm going dual CPU and can use the same PSU as it has two CPU plugs!

[BMGfan]

That is a good point guys!

 

I'm using an old Thermaltake Toughpower 600W unit I had lying around.  It's a split 12V rail but I will probably only be running about 5-6 drives at most in the short term, most in the 1TB size.  I'll probably replace them with larger drives before I go for more drives.  Storage on this thing in the short term is going to consist mostly of random drives I have lying around from upgrades and such.