hey all,

      I found this great community and the unRAID product through a macworld article that was written recently and I'm really excited about it!

 

I do video editing for a local non-profit (www.unifiedforunifat.com) that basically has no budget to operate on. Currently I am using Final Cut Express and have 8 drives in a firewire box that hooks up to my iMac. I need more expansion and a more expandable solution. I edit HD video and also use the drives for a scratch disk writing to it for rendering. I attempted to find the answers to my questions but I had no luck, so hopefully these aren't repeats!

 

My questions:

 

1) If my organization invests in an unRAID solution, will the throughput speed be enough to capture and edit HD video?

 

- this is the main question that I think I need to be reassured of before a purchase is made, but if the answer if yes, then I'm stoked! There are other following questions as far as setup goes, but I don't want to clutter this post with too much. I do already have a router (N-draft) that I assume I would use to hook directly with ethernet to my iMac (I use wireless so ethernet is free).....

 

 

thanks so much for your time!

 

 

Peace

~Will-i-am~

I edit fine with standard Def DV Footage.  Haven't tried HD yet.

 

When I upgrade later this summer to a HD camera, etc., I will probably edit locally on a 500GB drive and then just transfer my completed/edited footage, BR images, and original HD files to my unraid server for long term storage.

 

Definitely make sure you have at least a gigabit connection to your server.

 

I use a PC, not a MAC, not that it matters.

I am not an expert, but I am currently editing with FCP 7 and use unRAID as the storage for DV and HDV video. Most of the HDV is encoded in HDV 1080i60. I have not had any significant issues. There is some lag sometimes, but not excessive. I do not connect wirelessly all the time, and sometimes even over T-100. Some jacks in my house are not Gig-wired, so T100 is the best I can do. Streaming HDV wirelessly to my laptop has not been a problem ether.

 

I capture locally, on my Mac Book Pro, dump the video to unRAID and then link to it.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Lev

 

hey

   thanks guys....sounds good i think i'll make the plunge!

 

do you have your setups (mac) directly tied to the mac with a direct ethernet cord or do you have it going through a router. i use wireless on my iMac so this would be an option that would be open to me

 

let me know! thanks!

 

 

 

Thanks

~Will-i-am~

do you have your setups (mac) directly tied to the mac with a direct ethernet cord or do you have it going through a router. i use wireless on my iMac so this would be an option that would be open to me

 

You could hook up your unRAID server directly to your mac if you want to.

But if you need more computers to have access to that server then you hook it up to a switch.

 

As I said before, my Mac is mostly connected via T-100 through a switch or even wireless (N) and have no major problems. My Mac is just one PC that is pulling/pushing info to/from the unRAID box. At times several other machines are also using it, including streaming high-def movies to media players.

hey

    thanks guys....looks like this will work then....

 

since i do the video editing for a non-profit....i'm on a tight tight budget

 

i already have all the drives (2TBs) but i'd like to build it from scratch.....

 

levster....care to post your setup?

 

i think i'll be hooking directly in because i'm the only editor...

 

this ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145525&cm_re=1_gb_ddr2_240-pin-_-20-145-525-_-Product

 

power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171037&Tpk=17-171-037

 

motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128395&Tpk=13-128-395

 

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698&Tpk=19-103-698

 

flash disk: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171374&cm_re=sandisk_cruzer_micro-_-20-171-374-_-Product

 

can anyone make recommendations on cases...i need it to hold 15 drives like the ones Lime sells

 

*be kind i'm new

 

thanks guys!

Your components all look good, though your PSU seems like it might be a bit overkill.  Use a PSU Calculator to check.  I would also recommend either Corsair or Antec Earthwatts as brands for your PSU (Antec is cheaper).

 

As for a case, the Cooler Master CM-590 is the most popular case on these forums.  LimeTech's new RB-1200 is based off of this case as well.

 

The case comes with a single internal 4-in-3 drive cage.  If you want to keep costs down, you'll want to fill the rest of the 5.25" bays with these Cooler Master 4-in-3 internal drive cages.  You should be able to fit two of those units in the case, giving you a total capacity of 12 drives.

 

If you absolutely need 15 drives, then you can instead use three of these Icy Dock 5-in-3 Hot Swap drive cages.  Those won't exactly keep your costs down, but they will give you a 15 drive capacity.

 

Or you can take the middle ground and use either some Icy Dock 4-in-3 Hot Swap drive cages or Icy Dock 3-in-2 Hot Swap drive cages.  I believe LimeTech's RB-1200 uses the 4-in-3's.

 

Keep in mind that unRAID itself is not hot swap compatible, so you will still need to shut down the server to add or swap out disks.

hey

    thanks so much Rajahal...i've tweaked things a little:

 

i have gathered my components and tried to base it off of one of lime's configurations....

 

i guess can you tell me if this will work and if i can swap out any components to make it cheaper (but i'm not one to buy cheap, pay twice or pay later)

 

i really appreciate your help

motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182161

hard drive enclosures: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994028

power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171037

thermal compound: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134812

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115056

Case: http://www.sundialmicro.com/lianli-mid-tower-pck12b_1927_1465.html

 

*also the lime built system includes some PCI cards...do i need those? i can't find any reference to what the use if for those in building the sysetm

 

 

does this list look like it includes everything i need, including cables and screws? i'm a totally newbie but am confident in my abilities (i've repaired computers before just not put one together from scratch)

 

also will this system handle expansion up to 15 drives (which i want to build for) (power supply enough, case, motherboad, etc.)

 

thanks guys for your time i really appreciate it!!!

 

Thanks

~Will-i-am~

My curent setup was put together a couple of years ago from what ever parts I had available at the time, so please do not look at it as a well though-out system.

 

The motherboard is an Abit AB9 Pro running a Core 2 Quad 6600 G0 CPU, 2 GB RAM, 500 W PSU, passive ATI video card (this mobo does not run headless and the passive VGA card uses the least amount of power and is silent). I have 2 - 5.25" cages, one is 3-2 Addonics and the 5-3 I do not remember of hand. I have a mix and match of HDs, totaling 7.5 TB + parity + cache. The case is nothing specific and I do not even remember the model. I think it is Chieftec.

 

The point is - it did not really matter to me much of what was going into the server when I was putting it together, and yet it still all worked out. I agree with Rajahal. Think a little ahead about how much space you are going to need and plan accordingly. A little larger case may serve you better in the long run when you may need more HD space. Don't skimp on PSU. Get a good quality one. Get a battery backup, as I am sure you already do. My CPU is an overkill, but that is all I had at the moment. I do not think that you need a very powerful CPU, and you may save a little $$$ in the long run as this PC is going to be on most of the time. I am sure someone else can comment on the CPU and the need for more power vs. heat and $$$.

 

I think that your components are OK.

 

My unRAID is hooked in to my home through a Gig switch and I have several others through out the home. My speeds are approximately 50MB writing to the server (according to Win 7) through a cache disc. I am not sure about reading.

 

If I can post something more specific please ask, but there is really not that much more that I can add. Good luck.

 

Lev

 

hey

    thanks guys....looks like this will work then....

 

since i do the video editing for a non-profit....i'm on a tight tight budget

 

i already have all the drives (2TBs) but i'd like to build it from scratch.....

 

levster....care to post your setup?

 

i think i'll be hooking directly in because i'm the only editor...

 

this ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145525&cm_re=1_gb_ddr2_240-pin-_-20-145-525-_-Product

 

power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171037&Tpk=17-171-037

 

motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128395&Tpk=13-128-395

 

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698&Tpk=19-103-698

 

flash disk: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171374&cm_re=sandisk_cruzer_micro-_-20-171-374-_-Product

 

can anyone make recommendations on cases...i need it to hold 15 drives like the ones Lime sells

 

*be kind i'm new

 

thanks guys!

The components look like they should work just fine.

 

The process is overkill unless you plan to do most things with the server then just unRAID related stuff.  I run a 1.6GHz dual core processor in my server and it does just fine.

 

If you are planning to edit directly from the unRAID server you will benefit more from a lot of RAM.

 

The PCI cards you asked about will be necessary as you add more drives.  That board only has 6 SATA ports so once you fill those you will need more space.

This case has 9 5.25" bays, so you can put 3 5-in-3 drive cages into it. However, the internal hard drive cage uses the lowest of the 3 5.25" space. So, I am not sure how you are going to fit all those HDs into this enclosure. Also, the mobo that you spec'd has 6 SATA ports. You will need an add-in card to support additional drives. If you need that much real-estate, you may want to look in to other ideas. There are Norco cases that can handle up to 20-HD's, and already come with external quick swap bays. Each one of the cages that you will need costs around $100 (at least back when I bought mine). Add two of those and the price of the case and you are already at the price point of the Norco 4220 or 4020 case. However, the Norco has all the space that you need without modification required.

 

What controller card are you looking at to have 15 SATA ports? I am by no means an export, just someone who like to tinker with these things, but am looking for a controller such as:

 

SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8  http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=AOC-SASMV8#

 

and

 

SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815121009

 

Each will support up to 8 SATA drives. These cards can be plugged into PCI x16 slots of most modern boards.

 

So, again, plan accordingly. If you do not it may cost you more in the future when you need more space.

 

Lev

 

 

 

hey

    thanks so much Rajahal...i've tweaked things a little:

 

i have gathered my components and tried to base it off of one of lime's configurations....

 

i guess can you tell me if this will work and if i can swap out any components to make it cheaper (but i'm not one to buy cheap, pay twice or pay later)

 

i really appreciate your help

motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182161

hard drive enclosures: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994028

power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171037

thermal compound: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134812

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115056

Case: http://www.sundialmicro.com/lianli-mid-tower-pck12b_1927_1465.html

 

*also the lime built system includes some PCI cards...do i need those? i can't find any reference to what the use if for those in building the sysetm

 

 

does this list look like it includes everything i need, including cables and screws? i'm a totally newbie but am confident in my abilities (i've repaired computers before just not put one together from scratch)

 

also will this system handle expansion up to 15 drives (which i want to build for) (power supply enough, case, motherboad, etc.)

 

thanks guys for your time i really appreciate it!!!

 

Thanks

~Will-i-am~

hey

    thanks levster and prostuff1....i've made the following changes based on your commendations:

 

SATA Controller: 2 x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815121009

NEW CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116039

 

let me know...is this all i will need? am i missing anything?

 

 

Thanks

~Will-i-am~

hey

    thanks levster and prostuff1....i've made the following changes based on your commendations:

 

SATA Controller: 2 x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815121009

NEW CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116039

 

let me know...is this all i will need? am i missing anything?

 

 

Thanks

~Will-i-am~

 

That controller card will not work (quite correctly in that board)  You are going to want the Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, not the one you linked above.  The difference is that yours is PCI-X and the one I gave is PCI-e.  Your board does not have any PCI-X slots on it.

I agree. Go with the SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8. It will work in PCIe x16 slot. That motherboard should be able to handle 2 of those cards, giving you a total of 16 SATA ports. There are 6 more ports on the board. The most you can connect is 20 + 1, so you should be set for expansion. This setup may cost you a little more for the get go, but in the future it may end up saving you some $ and frustration.

hey

    thanks guys....i thought the board had PCI-X...guess not...

 

ok sounds good....is that everything?

 

 

thanks guys i love these forums.....extremely helpful!

 

 

Thanks

~Will-i-am~

You probably won't need the Thermal Compound, since most modern CPUs come with it preapplied.

 

That mobo is certainly more expensive than I would choose to spend, but that is up to you.  Supermicro has a great reputation around these forums.  I prefer the budget mobos, like Biostar.

 

The new CPU will do nicely - 35 W is very low power, which is great for saving money on electricity in the long run.

 

I agree that you may want to look into the Norco cases.  They seem expensive up front, but they really offer a lot of value.

 

Other than those points, looks like you are set.  All the cables and screws should come with the components you have already chosen.

hey

    thanks everyone! i'll check back here before i lay down the bucks and let you all know how it goes

 

 

i appreciate the help and patience!

 

 

Thanks

~Will-i-am~