Please comment on HW for first time build

[gregy1]

Hi - First post but have been pouring over the forum and wiki for a couple of days now.  Am building a media server for a friend and neighbor as a first step into a potential PC/AV consulting business, and because we're both media junkies.  Haven't touched *nix in years but am experienced in OSX and Windows server and desktop variations, have built lots of systems, and fortunately a housemate is an experienced Linux guy, so potential help there.  Goal is to have a server that starts out with 8TB capacity and enough throughput to support up to 5 HD video Windows HTPC clients on 1GB LAN, and can build up to 18 storage drives + parity & cache as our libraries expand.  We will also use this for nighttime backups of our desktops and notebook data.

 

At first we will start off with 5 Seagate LP 2TB drives as storage + another one for parity.  We have these already in hand.  Here's the rest of the proposed hardware:

 

Case: NORCO RPC-4220 4U Rackmount Server Chassis http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219033&cm_re=norco_4u-_-11-219-033-_-Product

Mobo: SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182142&Tpk=x7sbe 2x PCI-X 64 slots, 6 SATA, Dual LAN, onboard VGA

CPU: Intel Xeon E3110 Wolfdale 3.0GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115206

Memory: Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR2 800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134113

SATA Controllers: (2) SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 64-bit PCI-X133MHz SATA Controller Card for an additional 16 ports (yes we will have 2 ports to spare...) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815121009&Tpk=SAT2-MV8

Reverse breakout cables (SATA to SAS for the 4220 backplanes (5) NORCO C-SFF8087-4S Discrete to SFF-8087 (Reverse breakout) Cable http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133033&cm_re=SFF-8087_cable-_-16-133-033-_-Product

Cache drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

 

It appears that everything here has been tested and is supported.

 

I already have 6TB of media amassed on a Win 7 machine running a 3Ware 9650SE RAID card with 8 Seagate 2TB drives in RAID6, with an i7 CPU and 12G RAM.  It's my primary machine and travels with me as I live in a bus and do video productions at various events around the country from time to time... The system we are building will back this up and when we are at home base connected to it and allow our media collections to grow.  I thought about using similar hardware for the new media server, but really like the unRAID concept for what appears to be a good balance of robustness, expansion capability, Linux stability and end user simplicity. 

 

Comments, please?

 

Thanks, Greg

[gregy1]

Oops - Forgot the power supply:

ZALMAN ZM1000-HP 1000W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379009

This is a "6 rail" PS with 10 molex connectors. I'm a little concerned with power on draw as the Supermicro SATA controllers don't support staggered spin up.  I'm using it on my present machine.

-g

[PhilH]

Oops - Forgot the power supply:

ZALMAN ZM1000-HP 1000W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379009

This is a "6 rail" PS with 10 molex connectors. I'm a little concerned with power on draw as the Supermicro SATA controllers don't support staggered spin up.  I'm using it on my present machine.

-g

 

I would change the power supply. Go with a good name like Corsair & get a single 12v rail supply. The problem with multiple rails is that you will probably overload one of the rails & big problems can happen. You will not have a chance of that happening with a single rail supply..

[Joe L.]

Oops - Forgot the power supply:

ZALMAN ZM1000-HP 1000W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379009

This is a "6 rail" PS with 10 molex connectors. I'm a little concerned with power on draw as the Supermicro SATA controllers don't support staggered spin up.  I'm using it on my present machine.

-g

 

I would change the power supply. Go with a good name like Corsair & get a single 12v rail supply. The problem with multiple rails is that you will probably overload one of the rails & big problems can happen. You will not have a chance of that happening with a single rail supply..

That power supply looks plenty good enough for the task... Just don't use only one of the 12 volt rails... spread the disks among the rails to distribute the load and you'll be fine.

 

Joe L.

[prostuff1]

Oops - Forgot the power supply:

ZALMAN ZM1000-HP 1000W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379009

This is a "6 rail" PS with 10 molex connectors. I'm a little concerned with power on draw as the Supermicro SATA controllers don't support staggered spin up.  I'm using it on my present machine.

-g

 

I would change the power supply. Go with a good name like Corsair & get a single 12v rail supply. The problem with multiple rails is that you will probably overload one of the rails & big problems can happen. You will not have a chance of that happening with a single rail supply..

That power supply looks plenty good enough for the task... Just don't use only one of the 12 volt rails... spread the disks among the rails to distribute the load and you'll be fine.

 

Joe L.

 

I agree, but I think what PhilH was trying to get at was that by getting a PSU with only one rail then you don't have to worry about moving/balancing drive configurations.  There are some good tests done on PSU's that are quiet over at Silent PC Review.  If you don't feel like reading through that stuff the jist of it is that you should be looking for Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax, and Antec (especially there new line).

[lionelhutz]

The hardware is a little overkill but you are getting good stuff and those parts will serve you well (even if you switch to a different OS in the future).

 

Some people will put down using a PCI-X server board but I don't think you can find the parts to do a cheaper 20 drive solution with PCIe compared to what you are spec'ing anyways.

 

However, I'm on the fence about that power supply. It should be OK but you are putting quite the investment in the hands of the power supply so buying a well respected supply is just something to consider.

 

Peter

[gregy1]

Thanks everybody!  Turns out the Zalman PS gets an interesting review at Silent PC Review - http://www.silentpcreview.com/article834-page1.html.  Bottom line is they really love the PS but think it's overkill, and too long and heavy.  It's a true two rail design and all the current to the drives would be on one rail, so really not taking advantage of the extra power.  I've got the same unit in my main PC which has 12 HDs, an i7 and a couple of Radeon 4850's. So it's actually using both rails and is absolutely rock solid and silent.

 

But I did follow up on the topic and did more research both at Silent PC Review and at Extreme Outer Vision, and am going with the Corsair CMPSU-650TX, a one rail design with 52A output.  It's overkill again, but it's on sale at Newegg for $100, and I'd rather have power headroom for the spin ups.  Here's the Newegg link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=CMPSU-650TX

 

Extreme Outer Vision has a power supply calculator that might be of use to others: http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine.  It returned 405W for this system, all 20 drives running at spin up draw, and has entries for each specific CPU, video card, add-in cards and memory sticks.  So I'm pretty confident of the PS now.  They also have a review posted on the Corsair http://www.extreme.outervision.com/articles/psu/corsair/tx650/corsair_tx_650_1.jsp.  It has 8 molex connectors so I'll have to get some splitters or use a couple of SATA to molex reverse adapters if I can find em.

 

Thanks again for the thoughts.  Now on to buy the stuff and get that case modded for best cooling. It's going in a (very clean) home garage, so I'm really most concerned about cooling and not so much about noise.  I'm sure I'll be back in the other forums for software help later.

[PhilH]

Oops - Forgot the power supply:

ZALMAN ZM1000-HP 1000W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817379009

This is a "6 rail" PS with 10 molex connectors. I'm a little concerned with power on draw as the Supermicro SATA controllers don't support staggered spin up.  I'm using it on my present machine.

-g

 

I would change the power supply. Go with a good name like Corsair & get a single 12v rail supply. The problem with multiple rails is that you will probably overload one of the rails & big problems can happen. You will not have a chance of that happening with a single rail supply..

That power supply looks plenty good enough for the task... Just don't use only one of the 12 volt rails... spread the disks among the rails to distribute the load and you'll be fine.

 

Joe L.

 

I agree, but I think what PhilH was trying to get at was that by getting a PSU with only one rail then you don't have to worry about moving/balancing drive configurations.  There are some good tests done on PSU's that are quiet over at Silent PC Review.  If you don't feel like reading through that stuff the jist of it is that you should be looking for Corsair, Seasonic, Enermax, and Antec (especially there new line).

 

Yea I probably worded that last post wrong, but was just trying to say "why bother with multiple rails when single rail power supplies are out there"..

 

I'm glad & I think you will be happy with your decision with buying the Corsair.. I'm running the same exact model. They do stand behind there products.. I had a 550TX model die after a couple of years & they replaced it with no questions asked. I received it by UPS yesterday..

[Rajahal]

I live in a bus...

 

You, sir, are my hero.  I've been toying around with the idea of creating a portable unRAID server for my travels...

[yp_1]

Now we all know how the "first time build" looks like these days - just being jeslous

Seriously, very impressive setup. One thing I have always tried to avoid using in home setups is server class mobos and CPUs.

So I would not become a "best electrical company's friend".

Besides, do you really need a server class mobo/CPU for unraid at home? What are you going to use it for?

 

[bobbintb]

The hardware is a little overkill but you are getting good stuff and those parts will serve you well (even if you switch to a different OS in the future).

 

now why would he go and do a silly thing like that? 

[yp_1]

The hardware is a little overkill but you are getting good stuff and those parts will serve you well (even if you switch to a different OS in the future).

 

now why would he go and do a silly thing like that? 

 

Let me guess...

...because there are other cool OSes beside Linux and storage solutions beside unRAID?

[wholly]

Let me guess...

...because there are other cool OSes beside Linux and storage solutions beside unRAID?

 

There are?