Hi all, I have a 6 year old server that I use primarily as a NAS backup + Plex box.  I do need the ability to transcoded 1080 and 4k.

 

Specs:

3U Server Tyan S7012

2x Intel Xeon X5570 Quad Core

24GB

ASR-5805 RAID 9 HD JBOD

 

I have three main issues I'd like to solve:

-the asr-5805 has been a problem for me and I have been unable to expand beyond the 3 onboard data ports

-the server is not energy efficient.  I'd like to spend less money on electricity

-the server is in a closet and the CPUs need better cooling

 

I'm looking to get a micro/mini form factor single processor motherboard with onboard raid and an energy efficient CPU.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Much thanks,

Rob

Hi -

 

You mention onboard raid.  That's commonly available, but not normally used with unRAID.  Do you plan to use it?

 

I'd be looking at ASRock and Supermicro.  You'll probably max out at 8 SATA ports on a mini-ITX board unless you go with a Xeon-D.  You can find options with more SATA ports on a micro-ATX board.  Do you want to stay with just the motherboard ports for your 9 HDs, or are you ok adding a SATA controller?

 

Also, do you have a budget established?  And how many simultaneous Plex streams would you like to be able handle?  You've got a decent amount of horsepower with a pair of X5570's, it will take a high end E3 to match them.