After stumbling on this site this weekend (troubleshooting streaming to my wdtv live 2 boxes) and reading quite a bit i am contemplating setting up a unRAID box. I have looked at the MD-1510/LL box on the site but found some recommendations on some more updated configs and am thinking about future upgrades/performance so i put together this config.

 

my goal is to have 15 2tb drives in the system and stream sd and bd movies (48Mbs highest bitrate movies currently) to a couple of dune 3.0 boxes.

 

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP

Power: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX

Motherboard: SUPERMICRO MBD-X7SBE

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz

Memory: 4 x Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800

Sata Controllers: 2 x SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8

Sata Enclosures: 3 x SUPERMICRO CSE-M35T-1B

 

all this totals $1124.87

 

will i have problems with compatibility or functionality?

 

thanks

James

 

 

anyone?

 

I want to order from newegg soon to take advantage of some of the instant rebates 

 

thanks

James

The only issue I see at the current moment is you will need to bend or nibble out the tabs on the centurion case.

 

The setup you are selecting will handle 22 drives total.  6 internal + 8 pci-x + 8 pci-x.

The case you are selecting will handle 15 drives total.

 

You could go with the norco case to support more drives and save on the supermicro CSE-M35T-1B or go with An Antec 1200 and possibly grow to 20 drives with external access and 2 drives internally mounted.

 

Like a 2.5" drive on a scythe pci slot rafter. (only mounts 2.5" drives and 80 mm fans).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817984008

 

fwiw, I'm building a 20 drive server with the same board and Supermicro re movables and an older cooler master stacker.

 

 

 

I would consider a motherboard with multiple PCIe x4 x8 or x16 slots and Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 expansion cards. Now that this PCIe x4 to 8-SATA card is supported it does not make sense to go with old PCI-X hardware.

 

Peter

 

Patience, my friend.  First of all, it helps us to evaluate your parts list if you provide links to Newegg or wherever you plan on buying your parts.

 

At first glance, your parts list looks fine.  Unless you will be using your server for something CPU intensive (like video encoding or VMs), then I would suggest using this Intel Celeron 430 instead.  At 35 W, it is one of the lowest power CPUs on the market, but plenty fast enough for unRAID.  The unRAID specs suggest a minimum CPU speed of 2 Ghz, but I have run my server on a single core 1.6 Ghz in the past.  The single core 1.8 Ghz Celeron 430 will work fine.

 

Again, depending on your intended usage, your RAM is most likely overkill.  1 or 2 GBs is plenty.  4 GB of RAM will only start to help you if you are doing something fancy with your server, such as VMs or torrents.  I recommend starting with a single 2 GB stick of RAM - this will allow you to upgrade more easily in the future.  Crucial is fine, I also like Kingston.

 

While the SATA controller you listed will work, I would recommend the newly supported Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 instead, simply because it is faster and your cabling will be neater.  Keep in mind that you will need to buy SAS to SATA breakout cables separately.  You'll need two cables per card, so four total cables if you buy two cards.

 

Your PSU is likely overkill as well.  As long as you use all or mostly green drives, a 450W PSU will suffice.  Corsair is the brand of choice, however.

Three of these enclosures (SUPERMICRO CSE-M35T-1B) plus the CM590 case will cost you a tiny bit more than the Norco 4220 itself and will limit you to only 15 drives.

 

Right now the 20-case Norco 4220 is on sale for $349 with a free shipping and they will throw an extra 1TB Hitachi HD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219033&Tpk=norco%204220

 

 

Again, depending on your intended usage, your RAM is most likely overkill.  1 or 2 GBs is plenty.  4 GB of RAM will only start to help you if you are doing something fancy with your server, such as VMs or torrents.  I recommend starting with a single 2 GB stick of RAM - this will allow you to upgrade more easily in the future.  Crucial is fine, I also like Kingston.

 

Size is likely overkill, but if you are going for 4gb,  which I do recommend for a large amount of drives, then go with 2x2gb so you can expand to 8gb later without sacrifice.

 

Where the ram comes in handy is for large arrays with many files. More directory information can be cached thereby alleviating some drive spinups.

 

Your PSU is likely overkill as well.  As long as you use all or mostly green drives, a 450W PSU will suffice.  Corsair is the brand of choice, however.

 

Power on and simultaneous spin up are of the highest power draws and concerns.

You need at least enough power to handle the spike or you will all sorts of intermittent problems.

Although 450 may suffice for 15 green drives, if you start to toss older or modern higher rpm drives, you will need the power to spare.  For example the Hitachi 2Tb drive has a great price but has 5 platters and 10 heads.  So when you start to move outside the green zone, you may have issues. I did. I have a 500watt Seasonic and after 3 high speed drives with 5 green drives, I started having issues. It may be the mobo, but I think it's the PSU because it mostly occurs when drives are in standby and spun up. (the drives tend to not be detected correctly or go offline intermittently) I know it's not the drive, because when used in an external esata case, it works fine.

 

thanks guys.. sorry if i was impatient but newegg only has the 1 year same as cash till tomorrow and instant rebates for about $75.

 

 

I also looked at the norco 4220 case but i have no room for a rackmount case (other than my garage but it would be too hot in the summertime).

 

if i decide to change the controller cards to the AOC-SASLP-MV8 versions what motherboard do you recommend?

 

i will be changing the case to the antec 1200 because newegg has a $40 instant rebate right now...

 

thanks

James

I recently detailed my favorite 'build du jour' in the wiki:

Budget Box - supports up to 12 drives

 

That would be my recommendation.  You really don't need a lot of processing power or RAM if you are just streaming video, even HD video.  Like WeeboTech suggested, buy one or two 2 GB RAM sticks now, then upgrade in the future if you need to.  My guess is that you won't.

 

WeeboTech is also correct about the power supply needs - if you plan on using non-green drives, you may need a larger power supply.

I recently detailed my favorite 'build du jour' in the wiki:

Budget Box - supports up to 12 drives

 

That would be my recommendation.  You really don't need a lot of processing power or RAM if you are just streaming video, even HD video.  Like WeeboTech suggested, buy one or two 2 GB RAM sticks now, then upgrade in the future if you need to.  My guess is that you won't.

 

WeeboTech is also correct about the power supply needs - if you plan on using non-green drives, you may need a larger power supply.

 

wow I missed that page  .. Great I think I will setup a system similar to the "20 Drive Beast"..

 

thanks again..

I am using a SuperMicro C2SEA motherboard with a AOC-SASLP-MV8. Many other boards are being used with out a problem. You just need to make sure their is a 4x PCIe slot. Last I checked newegg wasn't selling the AOC-SASLP-MV8. The rule of thumb is that you need at least 2 A. starting current on the 12 V. line for each drive.  Speed of rotation doesn't seem to make much difference on the starting current. Further you need to power your motherboard and processor while the drives are starting up. I'd allocate a minimum of 5 A. at 12 V. there, more if you use a higher powered processor.

I recently detailed my favorite 'build du jour' in the wiki:

Budget Box - supports up to 12 drives

 

That would be my recommendation.  You really don't need a lot of processing power or RAM if you are just streaming video, even HD video.  Like WeeboTech suggested, buy one or two 2 GB RAM sticks now, then upgrade in the future if you need to.  My guess is that you won't.

 

WeeboTech is also correct about the power supply needs - if you plan on using non-green drives, you may need a larger power supply.

 

wow I missed that page  .. Great I think I will setup a system similar to the "20 Drive Beast"..

 

thanks again..

 

I just created that 'recommended builds' section yesterday, so you are excused from missing it 

 

Keep in mind the '20 Drive Beast' is still very much under construction, it may not work as is.  Here's the thread about it:

[http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5843.0]20 Drive Beast[/url]

 

Give us a few days and we should have it all codified.