Hi.

 

**** Boring backstory skip if you like ****

 

I have been running unraid for some years now on an ASUS P5EVM HDMI board with an Intel Q6600 CPU and  Basically an old HTPC with 13 discs attached via PCie contollers.

 

Over the years it seems the performance of the server has slowed considerably. I think this has happened as i have added more disks. It generally runs fine serving films to my DuneHD players but when encoding any video to tablets or phone on Airplay etc. it can pause and judder quite a lot on some file types.

 

I also notice when I am moving files to the server it has a big impact on the PC I am using and often crashes explorer. I get the impression the server is just not up to the job. The server also contains family photos, home video and all of my work from the last 17 years (although this is backed up on Dropbox). I really want a stable, reliable and fairly quick server to keep my stuff safe and accessible for years to come.

 

I don't currently do any virtualization (although I may dabble at some point) but do host Plex and want a bit of performance overhead for the future.

 

**** /Boring backstory skip if you like ****

 

 

 

**** Check out my proposed build and tell me where I am going wrong ****

 

I have never had a server board before and don't even know what some of the features are so am struggling a bit to know where to start, but I do want the following:

 

Xeon Processor that supports onboard Video

At least 3 PCie slots for my disc controllers, 4 is ideal

6, preferably 8 Sata ports

Onboard video, VGA will suffice as i can add a GFX card later as long as I have a 4th PCie slot

ECC Memory

ATX or smaller motherboard for my Antec tower case

 

Here is what i am looking at:

 

ASUS P9D-E/4L

https://www.asus.com/us/Commercial-Servers-Workstations/P9DE4L/specifications/

 

Xeon E3-1231 V3

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-xeon-e3-1231-v3-lga-1150-haswell-quad-core-34ghz-base-36ghz-turbo-80w-cpu-retail

 

2 X Crucial 8GB DDR3L 1600 MHz Server RAM

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-crucial-ddr3l-server-memory-pc3-12800-(1600)-ecc-registered-cas-11-135v

 

EDIT: Just noticed that memory was registered which i don't need so maybe this:

 

2 x Kingston 8GB DDR3 ECC Server

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(1x8gb)-kingston-valueram-server-premier-memory-ddr3-pc3-12800-(1600)-240-pins-ecc-unbuffered-ca

 

If you think it is worth getting an SSD for cache drive or for virtualization later on, let me know.

 

Thanks very much!

 

Adam

 

How did your build go?  Do you have an SSD or a hard drive for your cache drive now?

Hi,

 

I ended up changing the hardware in the end and am having problems getting unraid to see my PCIe sata controllers so unfortunately haven't gotten that far. See here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=52807.0

 

I did purchase a Samsung MZ-M5E500BW 850 EVO mSATA toying with using it for cahce or HDD for a Virtual machine, but I am completely new to virtualization. For now I just want to get my server up and running again