April 17, 201016 yr Hey Everyone, While I'm fairly computer savvy, I've worked almost solely with Macs my entire life, with limited unix/linux experience during my college years (running and processing physics experiments/data). I have no experience with unraid and no experience building PCs. I'm looking to have a modest priced server that is expandable to ~15 drives. I primarily intend to use the unraid server as a media server for my Mac Mini running Plex. I might also use it for backing up other machines to. I was hoping that some of you folks wouldn't mind critiquing my proposed build list--telling me what works together, what doesn't, which components I need to improve and from which I can 'trim the fat'. Case: Lian Li PC-A17B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112164 If I understand correctly, using 3 5-in-3 backplanes, I'd be able to use 15 drive with this case. I realize that the same can be accomplished for cheaper, but I don't mind spending a bit more on a good-looking case that's easy to use. MLB: BIOSTAR A760G http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138138 I know little of this MLB, but have seen it recommended several times on the forums. Am I going to be able to eventually use 15 drives with it? (I realize i'll need some expansion cards). PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 Backplane: Icy Dock MB455 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994028 I'll be starting with one of these, and plan on buying more as I need to add drives. CPU: AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698 Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139045 Is 4GB 'too much'? Will there be a noticeable performance difference with only 2GB? I'm planning on starting off with two of these: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136514), one as a parity and one as a data drive, to use in combination with three 1TB drives that I already have. Lastly, how difficult is it to actually build one of these things and get it up and running? I'm quite capable/technical (I've repaired Macs, built custom lab-equipment, etc), but I don't have much experience here so I wouldn't know how to start troubleshooting it if it didn't "just work". Thank you.
April 19, 201016 yr I can't offer a huge amount of technical insight, but can offer encouragement. I was in a similar position to you in February: Mac user who'd never built a PC and had never playing with the command line. Now I have a happily running unRAID server, and am starting to experiment with linux commands. The construction was a lot more straightforward than I expected: the components seem very standardised, and screwholes are in the places one expects. At least with the parts I got! Your components differ a little from mine: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5351.0 Only a few comments, based on my experiences Case Didn't see a price on the Lian Li, as it was currently unavailable on NewEgg, but given it's Lian Li I suspect it's a rather more elegant and better built than my Coolermaster 590. These big cases are nice and roomy, and easy to move about in and connect all the parts. Motherboard Don't know much about motherboards, only that getting one with 6 SATA slots was a good plan (as yours has). But - and here I show my ignorance - the Biostar says that it's for AM2+/AM2 CPU sockets, while the AMD Sempron 140 says that it's an AM3. Don't know the difference (didn't know different sockets existed before February), nor whether it's a problem. Power Looks fine, as far as I know. Single rail is a good thing apparently. I went for 550W, as I'll probably top out at 12 discs, if that. Backplane I'm researching these at the moment, as I've filled the 4-in-3 module that came with my case. (and your case looks as though it comes with one too). I probably won't bother with hotswap, as the discs won't be moving in and out much at all. If you're going for 15 drives, the IcyDock looks a very nice, if pricey, solution. CPU Same as mine. Works fine. Don't think I'm stretching it at all. Memory 4Gb is probably overkill; 2 Gb should be fine Disks These should be fine. I've got 2 of these WD20EARS, working fine. With these EARS drives, add a little jumper on connections 7 and 8 at the back, or performance can suffer. (I didn't know this before I fired up my initial 2x WD15EARS; I may retrofit). Also worth reading up on the preclear script; very easy to use. And add a sticker on the front/back of each drive with type and serial number - saves taking them out to identify. One last thing to add - use a PC to set up the Flash disc (I got a PC-using colleague to do it for me) Hope this helps. Good luck!
April 19, 201016 yr Case: Lian Li PC-A17B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112164 If I understand correctly, using 3 5-in-3 backplanes, I'd be able to use 15 drive with this case. I realize that the same can be accomplished for cheaper, but I don't mind spending a bit more on a good-looking case that's easy to use. A more expensive case but it should work just fine MLB: BIOSTAR A760G http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138138 I know little of this MLB, but have seen it recommended several times on the forums. Am I going to be able to eventually use 15 drives with it? (I realize i'll need some expansion cards). With expansion cards yes, but you may not be able to keep all of them on the PCI-e bus. Some motherboards will not allow you to use the x16 slot for anything other than a video card. For unRAID purposes that serves no benefit. If that is the case with this board then you have 2 PCI and 1 PCI-e x1 slot to work with. Getting to 15 drives and keeping the parity sync times low is going to be near impossible. Also check that the CPU will actually work in this board. PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 Should work just fine Backplane: Icy Dock MB455 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994028 I'll be starting with one of these, and plan on buying more as I need to add drives. Should work just fine CPU: AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698 Should work just fine Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139045 Is 4GB 'too much'? Will there be a noticeable performance difference with only 2GB? Unless you plan on doing transcoding or the like (which i don't suggest with that CPU anyway) then 2GB should be enough. 4GB will work fine but will only be needed if you are running things like rtorrent from the server. I'm planning on starting off with two of these: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136514), one as a parity and one as a data drive, to use in combination with three 1TB drives that I already have. Make sure to install the jumper on those 2TB drives before using them or you will see some serious performance hits. Lastly, how difficult is it to actually build one of these things and get it up and running? I'm quite capable/technical (I've repaired Macs, built custom lab-equipment, etc), but I don't have much experience here so I wouldn't know how to start troubleshooting it if it didn't "just work". Thank you. I found it pretty easy to do when i was first putting mine together. I have put one other machine together at that time but this was the first "linux" server i had built from scratch.
April 19, 201016 yr Hey Everyone, While I'm fairly computer savvy, I've worked almost solely with Macs my entire life, with limited unix/linux experience during my college years (running and processing physics experiments/data). I have no experience with unraid and no experience building PCs. I'm looking to have a modest priced server that is expandable to ~15 drives. I primarily intend to use the unraid server as a media server for my Mac Mini running Plex. I might also use it for backing up other machines to. I was hoping that some of you folks wouldn't mind critiquing my proposed build list--telling me what works together, what doesn't, which components I need to improve and from which I can 'trim the fat'. Case: Lian Li PC-A17B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112164 If I understand correctly, using 3 5-in-3 backplanes, I'd be able to use 15 drive with this case. I realize that the same can be accomplished for cheaper, but I don't mind spending a bit more on a good-looking case that's easy to use. MLB: BIOSTAR A760G http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138138 I know little of this MLB, but have seen it recommended several times on the forums. Am I going to be able to eventually use 15 drives with it? (I realize i'll need some expansion cards). PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005 Backplane: Icy Dock MB455 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817994028 I'll be starting with one of these, and plan on buying more as I need to add drives. CPU: AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698 Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139045 Is 4GB 'too much'? Will there be a noticeable performance difference with only 2GB? I'm planning on starting off with two of these: Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136514), one as a parity and one as a data drive, to use in combination with three 1TB drives that I already have. Lastly, how difficult is it to actually build one of these things and get it up and running? I'm quite capable/technical (I've repaired Macs, built custom lab-equipment, etc), but I don't have much experience here so I wouldn't know how to start troubleshooting it if it didn't "just work". Thank you. Same here a Mac person.. The Biostar A760G works well with the AMD SEMPRON 140. The socket specs are a bit misleading since the 140 is compatible with the socket on the A760G.. I have the same system but with a smaller case and the Corsair 400w psu and Seagate drives. The most difficult part was installing the SW on the Flash Drive from a PC.. Not user friendly like Macs. But once figured out it was easy. XP is the best to use, I had nightmares with Vista. You can format the flash on the Mac in FAT 32 and I've read that the Mac actually does a better job. It took me about 1.5 hours to put the hardware together having never built a system with PC hardware. It was just easy, just common sense. When you get the board there is a note about saving the socket guard if you need to return it for service. But there was no guard with mine so I e-mailed tech Support and they said it was a misprint and not to worry about it. I'm using mine with EyeTV recording 2 1080P programs while watching a 3rd at times. Once you get it together you will want to install Avahi for faster file transfer with AFP. Look for the HOW TO in the USER CUSTOMIZATION forum
April 19, 201016 yr I'm also using a very similar setup (see my sig). I can also confirm that the Sempron 140 will work with that motherboard. Another user called Biostar support, and they confirmed that the PCIe x16 slot will work with non-video cards. So the AOC-SASLP-MV8 card should work. That means 6 onboard + 8 AOC-SASLP-MV8 = 14 drives. You could then throw in a generic 2-port PCIe x1 card and get up to 15 or 16 drives, all without touching the PCI bus. As others have said, you can save money on the case by switching to a Cooler Master 590 if you wish. I would also recommend saving money on your RAM by getting non-ECC RAM. Just get the basic budget stuff. ECC RAM is generally recommended if you are going to run your server 24/7. I first built my server with the intention of turning it off every night, so I got budget RAM. Now-a-days I run my server 24/7, but the non-ECC budget RAM is still holding up just fine. As others said, 4 GBs is unnecessary for stock unRAID use, though it will be useful if you plan to run torrents from your server. I recommend buying a single 2 GB stick of RAM now, then you can always add more sticks later if you start doing more with your server. I expect that you could get by with a 550W PSU, but I'm not 100% sure. You can use a PSU calculator to figure it out. Just pretend your drives are 'high speed 7200 rpm SATA' even if you are using green drives, that way you'll have enough buffer to cover the extra spike in power used during boot. Make sure to install those jumpers on your EARS drives before installing them in unRAID! By the way, 'motherboard' can be shortened to 'mobo' or 'mb,' but not 'mlb' (as far as I know). The one gotcha that I kept hitting during my first few builds was that I would always forget to remove the plastic cover that protects the thermal paste during transit. The thermal paste (a small grey patch of gooey stuff) is pre-applied to the heatsink/cpu fan by the manufacturer. They put a piece of plastic over it to protect it during shipping. Remove this plastic before installing it onto your CPU. You can put a computer together in pretty much any order you wish, but here's an order that keeps things nice a simple: 1) Open case 2) Install PSU 3) Install backplanes/hard drives 4) With mobo outside of case, install CPU, CPU fan/heatsink, and RAM 5) Install mobo into case (with CPU, heatsink, and RAM already installed) 6) Connect all wires and cables, do a bit of cable management (w/ zip ties, velcro, or scotch tape) to help airflow 7) Close case, plug in pre-configured USB flash drive, boot into unRAID Also, tighten screws on the mobo as you would tighten lug-nuts on a car tire - in a star pattern, little by little. You do not want to completely tighten one screw before putting in any others. I also agree that the most complicated part of the process is using a Windows computer to configure the USB flash drive.
April 20, 201016 yr Author Thank you all for the input! Great to have such a knowledgeable community for support. I'm glad to hear there have been several people who have succeeded in my shoes. I'll definitely be taking a look at AFP as soon as I get the server up and running. I'll do a little more looking as far as possible alternative cases (since the Lian-Li seems to be unavailable now), RAM, and PSUs. I'll definitely drop it down to two GB of RAM, since I won't do any torrenting on the server, that's done by the Mac Mini. Rajahal, I'm sure you're right with the abbreviations regarding the motherboard, however, I call them MLBs out of habit since in the Mac world they're called main logic boards. Though I'm sure I'll just go through that windows/flash nightmare, am I correct in assuming I can bypass that by ordering a preconfigured stick from Lime Tech?
April 20, 201016 yr Though I'm sure I'll just go through that windows/flash nightmare, am I correct in assuming I can bypass that by ordering a preconfigured stick from Lime Tech? Yes, that is correct. It really isn't that big of a deal, though, despite what we've said. It is easiest if you have a WinXP computer available...in Vista or Win7 you have to run in Administrator mode. As long as you follow the directions exactly, it will work.
April 21, 201016 yr You don't have to have windows to prepare the flash key. It can be done equally well on Linux. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=USB_Flash_Drive_Preparation
April 21, 201016 yr Though I'm sure I'll just go through that windows/flash nightmare Shout if you got stuck - I had a similar problem on my build (only finished it 2 weeks ago) and solved it. I did a more detailed post on how to setup the USB stick from Win 7; I'll find the link later (I'm late for work now!! )
April 21, 201016 yr You don't have to have windows to prepare the flash key. It can be done equally well on Linux. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=USB_Flash_Drive_Preparation Good point. I should have said 'you can't do it on MacOS'.
April 21, 201016 yr Author re: Ram Does anyone know, in regards to the Biostar board, if installing RAM in matched pairs is important or not? Can I get away with throwing a single 2GB chip in there, or should I do 2x1GB?
April 21, 201016 yr Matched pair will give you a 64bit wide path (dual channel mode), however a single DIMM will work just fine.
April 21, 201016 yr You don't have to have windows to prepare the flash key. It can be done equally well on Linux. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=USB_Flash_Drive_Preparation Good point. I should have said 'you can't do it on MacOS'. Yes he can: VirtualBox with any Linux distro. Easiest: VirtualBox that boots a VM right off of the PartedMagic live .ISO file.
April 21, 201016 yr You don't have to have windows to prepare the flash key. It can be done equally well on Linux. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=USB_Flash_Drive_Preparation Good point. I should have said 'you can't do it on MacOS'. Yes he can: VirtualBox with any Linux distro. Easiest: VirtualBox that boots a VM right off of the PartedMagic live .ISO file. That's why I specifically said 'MacOS' and not just 'Mac'. It can be done with a Mac, but a different OS (Linux or Windows) is required. Looks like the universe is back to normal and we are back to our quibbling re: Ram Does anyone know, in regards to the Biostar board, if installing RAM in matched pairs is important or not? Can I get away with throwing a single 2GB chip in there, or should I do 2x1GB? I actually recommend using a single 2 GB stick instead of 2x1GB sticks. Dual Channel mode will not make a noticeable difference in the unRAID environment. Using a single RAM stick allows you more upgrade flexibility in the future.
April 21, 201016 yr You don't have to have windows to prepare the flash key. It can be done equally well on Linux. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=USB_Flash_Drive_Preparation So does that mean since I have linux running unRaid that I can make a new flash on the server with from telnet on my Mac?
April 21, 201016 yr You don't have to have windows to prepare the flash key. It can be done equally well on Linux. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=USB_Flash_Drive_Preparation Good point. I should have said 'you can't do it on MacOS'. Isn't there a way on the MacOS to drop into a console window and issue the same commands as the Linux means? I thought MacOS had a BSD-flavor provider underneath all the UI items.
April 21, 201016 yr You don't have to have windows to prepare the flash key. It can be done equally well on Linux. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=USB_Flash_Drive_Preparation Good point. I should have said 'you can't do it on MacOS'. Isn't there a way on the MacOS to drop into a console window and issue the same commands as the Linux means? I thought MacOS had a BSD-flavor provider underneath all the UI items. I think the problem is that the syslinux.exe file won't run in MacOS. Perhaps you can run the same command contained within that file in Mac's terminal, I don't know.
April 22, 201016 yr That's why I specifically said 'MacOS' and not just 'Mac'. It can be done with a Mac, but a different OS (Linux or Windows) is required. Looks like the universe is back to normal and we are back to our quibbling (I was starting to miss that! ) In MacOS you install one small (free) application called VirtualBox. Using that application you load one small (~75MB!) ISO image file. That's it! Partition and label flash disks to your heart's content.
April 22, 201016 yr Isn't there a way on the MacOS to drop into a console window and issue the same commands as the Linux means? I thought MacOS had a BSD-flavor provider underneath all the UI items. I think the problem is that the syslinux.exe file won't run in MacOS. Perhaps you can run the same command contained within that file in Mac's terminal, I don't know. Syslinux.exe won't run under Linux either. What's install as part of the Linux scope is a *nix-compiled executable. I was fairly certain all the *nix distros/flavors had a binary-compatible interface layer installed so they could run binaries from other platforms.
April 22, 201016 yr VirtualBox is the best and easiest alternative though if you don't mind the effort or already has the setup doing you could prepare the USB drive in a WinXP environment using Boot Camp for Mac. Unless you use. Virtualization option like VMware Fusion for Mac or VirtualBox for do a reboot and use Boot Camp, I'd say they would be you're only options for Mac, unless you can prepare this on a friends Windows PC it would only take five minutes.
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