I've been reading a lot about unRAID, and it sounds very appealing. I'm looking to have mainly a storage, plex (1-2 users), deluge, other dockers, etc. box with the possibility of 1 vm (although that isn't a must have feature).

 

Budget wise, I'm looking to minimize costs while not sacrificing too much. I am interested in expanding drives as needed in the future.

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Here is what I'm thinking so far:

 

Processor: AMD FX-6300

Processor: AMD FX-6300

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3

RAM: Crucial 8GB ECC

Power Supply: Corsair SF450:80+

Case: Fractal Node 804

Cache Drive: SanDisk Ultra II 240GB

Storage Drives: 2x WD Red 4TB

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Is there anything else I need? I know this motherboard has 6 SATA ports, but my understanding is that I could buy a SAS/SATA Controller if i get to the point of expansion? Is there additional cabling and fans that I would need?

 

Thanks for the help!

The node 804 is currently on sale at Newegg for $70, so if that is the case you want I would recommend buying it today.

 

The 804 allows for full size PSUs, so you can cut some cost there instead of getting the SFX one.  While I am not the best to speak on this, I don't think ECC memory is really necessary and a lot of people are using non-ECC, so you could save a bit there.

 

Also note that you will need a parity drive, so if you buy 2 4TB drives, one will be the parity drive and you will have 4TB of storage.

 

I think if you want to use the VM out of your box over VGA/HDMI you may need a dedicated GPU in addition to the onboard one, but I am not certain about that.

Hi -

 

To pick up on what jargo said, I don't think that motherboard supports ECC memory and a full size PSU is fine in the 804.

 

8GB is fine for unRAID and several Dockers but could be light depending on what you want to do with VMs.  VMs are something you can play with easily enough, but something you should plan carefully for if there is something specific you want to do.

 

At 6300 Passmarks the FX-6300 should be a nice processor for what you want to do, but I've heard people complaining that it can struggle with full bit rate BD rips which surprises me.  I'm an Intel person so I can't say more than that, but I've read enough about people feeling the need to upgrade to wonder.  I'm sure it would be fine for basic NAS use and lightweight transcoding, though (i.e. encoded material).

 

Yes, you can easily add a SATA controller if you need more disks in the future.  You could add a couple of disks on the x1 slot on that motherboard, or several on the x16 slot - provided you haven't put a video card in the x16 slot for VMs, as jargo mentioned.

Thanks for the info. I'll plan on a full size PSU and non-ECC RAM. I may buy another 8GB stick as well. How easily is it to upgrade RAM later on?

 

As far as VM's go, it'd be mostly used for web development.

Upgrading RAM simply involves popping the old sticks out and the new sticks in, and going into the BIOS to make sure it is recognized.  A long MemTest afterwards is a good idea.  Two things to consider, though - most boards these days support a dual channel memory architecture and work better with two sticks.  Also, every time you crack open the box something can go wrong.  So if you are thinking about 16GB and VMs and can afford it now, it's probably a good idea.  It's generally a good idea to have two identical sticks of RAM as well.