Hey everyone I'm new to the site, unRAID, and to server stuff in general lol. I like the idea of having a nas/plex media server which is the main purpose of this build. The plan is to have up to 4-5 clients simultaneously but mostly only 2. I have done some digging and reading on the forum but am not completely sure on everything. I would like some feedback on what I've picked out. I think its a tad overkill but I like to splurge when building. ***plan is to start with 4-5 hdd but eventually have 8. Also will eventually get a SSD for cache***

 

PSU - EVGA SuperNova 550W Gold Certified

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817438095

 

Case - Fractal Design Node 804 ***already had case***

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352047&cm_re=node_804-_-11-352-047-_-Product

 

Memory - Kingston 2x8GB DDR4 ECC Unbuffed ***memory is expensive ***

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820242165

 

Motherboard - Supermicro mbd-x11ssl-o

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182998

 

CPU - Xeon e3-1225v5

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117612&ignorebbr=1

 

HBA - LSI 9211-8i ***will be getting secondhand from ebay***

 

HDD - Seagate IronWolf 3TB NAS drives

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822179006&cm_re=ironwolf_3tb-_-22-179-006-_-Product

 

One of the main reasons for going with what I've picked out is secondhand server grade stuff on ebay isn't much cheaper than buying new. I might also run a VM as well down the road once i get use to unRAID. 

 

Thanks for any help and input!

 

 

I'm not exactly sure why you have chosen to go with these components. You are only choosing a quad core Xeon and a board that forces you to go with ECC RAM. You could just as easily choose a quad core i7 build and save money by not having to go with ECC RAM and have the same amount of cores. If you want to implement some VM's further down the road, then you might want to select a CPU with some more cores, perhaps a six core or eight core CPU as VM's require at least two cores or more, depending on what you are doing. Plex can be very CPU intensive as well if you are transcoding so having a few cores for Plex isn't a bad idea either, and then unRAID itself requires at least two cores for itself. There are some deals to be found on older dual CPU boards on eBay where you can wind up with dual quad or hex core CPU's and plenty of cores to go around. Its true they are power hungry but you can get a lot for your $$ if you look.

8 minutes ago, ashman70 said:

I'm not exactly sure why you have chosen to go with these components. You are only choosing a quad core Xeon and a board that forces you to go with ECC RAM. You could just as easily choose a quad core i7 build and save money by not having to go with ECC RAM and have the same amount of cores. If you want to implement some VM's further down the road, then you might want to select a CPU with some more cores, perhaps a six core or eight core CPU as VM's require at least two cores or more, depending on what you are doing. Plex can be very CPU intensive as well if you are transcoding so having a few cores for Plex isn't a bad idea either, and then unRAID itself requires at least two cores for itself. There are some deals to be found on older dual CPU boards on eBay where you can wind up with dual quad or hex core CPU's and plenty of cores to go around. Its true they are power hungry but you can get a lot for your $$ if you look.

 

I realized I linked the wrong CPU. I was looking at going with the e3-1230v5 with HT. I know I could go without ECC RAM but I like the added protection it offers with any memory errors. I'm mainly stuck with using a mATX mobo due to using an Node 804 that I had from before. I would hate to buy another case just for a server. I've looked into getting a used E3-1240v2 and a mATX mobo but the cost savings is roughly $120. For the price difference I would rather have the piece of mind of buying new.

I still think its going to be tough for you to achieve your 4-5 plex clients with two simultaneously, along with some VM's. I think you are going to be wishing you had more cores to go around. ECC is nice to have, and I hear what you are saying, but outside of a business environment, its really a luxury, if you have the $$ to get it then sure, but personally I think its unnecessary and overkill for any home build. I have a server that came with it, but I wouldn't of bought it unless it was a deal. I also hear what you are saying about your case, but its a shame to have be dictated to by your case as to what components you can get.

 

21 minutes ago, ashman70 said:

I still think its going to be tough for you to achieve your 4-5 plex clients with two simultaneously, along with some VM's. I think you are going to be wishing you had more cores to go around. ECC is nice to have, and I hear what you are saying, but outside of a business environment, its really a luxury, if you have the $$ to get it then sure, but personally I think its unnecessary and overkill for any home build. I have a server that came with it, but I wouldn't of bought it unless it was a deal. I also hear what you are saying about your case, but its a shame to have be dictated to by your case as to what components you can get.

 

From day to day use there will only be 1-2 plex clients with the odd times of 3-4 at once. Like I originally said VM's are something I'm thinking about but unsure of yet. Do you think it would be better to buy an older machine with a hex core cpu without ECC RAM and just re-purpose it for unRAID? I figured a total budget of roughly $1k with a few HDD's but don't get me wrong I would like to save some $$ lol.

I like modern Xeon's and I think ECC RAM is a good idea.  I think the E3-1230v5 will make a good Plex server and can probably handle 4-5 streams.  That said, you could max out the CPU with that load so you aren't buying a lot of spare headroom for VMs.  If you want to play with a VM or two then you'd probably be fine.  If you want to get serious about VMs then more cores and more RAM would be a good idea.  I'm not a huge fan of the older, power hungry first and second generation Xeons but they have their place if you need lots of cores.