Hello all,

 

I'm soon to be a new user of unRAID. I plan on building a NAS that will serve two main purposes: Music and movies. Before placing my order on hardware I'm hoping to get some experienced eyes on my parts list to see if any issues can be spotted before I spend the money. Any tips, advice, etc. are greatly appreciated!

 

Purpose of NAS:

• Music (Mostly FLAC) streaming to my Squeezebox and other PC's in the house
  
• Movie streaming (480-1080p) via XBMC boxes -- AVI, MKV, ...
  
• Some general data storage
  

 

Hardware (new):

• Case: Cooler Master Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119152)
  
• PSU: Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16817139003)
  
• MB: Biostar TA760G M2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD 760G (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138137)
  
• RAM: Kingston HyperX 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104072)
  
• USB Stick: SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820171374)
  
• WD Caviar Green WD15EARS 1.5 TB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136513)
  
• Case: LIAN LI PC-Q08B (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112265)
  
• MB: Supermicro MBD-X7SPA-HF-O Mini ITX Atom D510 (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182234)
  
• RAM: Rendition 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148236)
  

 

Hardware (existing):

• Seagate Barracuda sT3750640AS 750GB 7200 SATA (Data)
  
• WD 350 GB (Data; I forget the exact model)
  

 

The WD15EARS 1.5TB will be my parity drive. I'll probably get a small adapter so I can keep the USB/Flash internal to the case.

 

POST UPDATE:

I've swapped out some of the hardware and basically put together the budget box more or less. The Biostar A760G M2+ is currently sold out on Newegg, so I opted for a slightly upgraded model -- it's basically the same price and allows me to continue in a bulk order

 

Please (re)review... unless there are red flags, I'm going to place my order in the next day so I can start building this thing

 

Thanks!!

How many disks do you plan on, maximum? If no more than 6, great. That board only has PCI for expansion for more than 6 disks, which is not desirable. The case you selected is small, though, so I suspect that you won't exceed that.

 

The onboard USB-A should be fine.

 

Yes, your parity disk must be >= the largest disk you want to protect.

 

I too started on the free version of unRAID. Upgrading to Pro is as simple as placing your license on the flash and rebooting.

 

I can't speak for the streaming to 2+ players, as I only have two players, but I can (on a gig network) stream to both of my 1080p players simultaneously with no issues at all.

I'm trying to stick to a fairly small case/build. I think when I decide to go greater than 6 drives, I'll build a full tower monster. For this build however, 6 drives should be plenty.

 

If 1080p streams find to two boxes, I think I'll be a happy camper. If I can do 3 or more, I'll count that as a bonus

 

When you say >= than the largest disk I want to protect, does that only protect ONE disk for each parity drive?

The single parity disk protects ALL of the disks in the array.

Taking just a quick look at the hardware and I noticed that the ram looks to be for a desktop.  You might want to take a second look at you MB and see what kind of ram it needs

Are you limited in space?  If not, why not just get a machine and motherboard that will meet your needs for the foreseeable future ?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119152&Tpk=coolermaster%20590

 

Well priced case and it can hold 12 HDD ( 9 as is and 3 more with drive cages also made by Coolmaster ).

 

The server doesn't need to even be in the room your TV is, although you will need the cabling to link to the other room and a front-end device for playback.

My reason for the MiniITX MB is mostly power consumption related. $219 for a MB/CPU isn't bad either. As for the mATX case, it's just plain sexy ;-)

 

I have a Ikea rack I keep my main routers, firewall, modem, etc. on. I suppose as long as I could keep the NAS on the bottom shelf (I have 16" height x 1" deep to play with) AND go with semi-low power, I'd be happy. The idea of 12 HDD's is inviting...

Taking just a quick look at the hardware and I noticed that the ram looks to be for a desktop.  You might want to take a second look at you MB and see what kind of ram it needs

 

Correct.

 

According to the specs for this MB:

 

    *  Two 200-pin SO-DIMM sockets

    * Supports up to 4 GB of unbuffered, non-ECC DDR2 667MHz SO-DIMM (Single Channel)

 

Not sure how I managed to muck up the RAM, but noted. Now you guys have me pondering going with larger setup more like the recommended budget build in the Wiki. Not as sexy, and won't fit on my shelf, but it can be next to it 

If you were going to be happy with the smaller setup, I wouldn't hesitate to do so. There's always bigger and better. That's exactly how I ended up with a 20-drive capable server sitting behind me...

Original post updated as per suggestions about the larger case/etc. Please check it out and if there are no issues, I'm placing my order in the next day or so. Thanks again!

No CPU listed, apart from that looks fine. Memory is not on supporterd CPU list which might mean you need to manually set it up in the bios if SPD doesnt detect it. Memory is a good price/spec so I'd stick with it.

 

Good choice on the case, you will use the extra bays soon enough. 

 

 

Oops, thought I had the CPU listed. It's the exact from the US wiki budget build: AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz Socket AM3 45W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698)

If 1080p streams find to two boxes, I think I'll be a happy camper. If I can do 3 or more, I'll count that as a bonus

I can personally vouch for the server being able to stream 3 1080p streams (2 Dune players, 1 pc) while pushing files to a USB drive at 20Mb/s.  It's all about how good your switches are, and the NIC on your server.

One potential problem: the current batch of the Corsair 450VX PSU has squealing problems under load (as does the Corsair HX series).  See this thread for details.  I would recommend using the Corsair 400CX instead.  I have purchased two of these PSUs recently, and they are both dead silent and perfectly reliable.  They should also support up to 15 drives, which is about the max of the Cooler Master 590 anyway.  Plus it's a bit cheaper.

 

There's also no reason to use DDR2-1066 RAM in unRAID, but it won't hurt anything.  Since it is about the same price as DDR2-800 RAM, I guess there's no reason not to.

 

Other than that, everything looks good to me.

One potential problem: the current batch of the Corsair 450VX PSU has squealing problems under load (as does the Corsair HX series).

 

Thanks for the pointer about the PSU -- had I received a loud PSU... ugg. I've updated my Newegg wish list with the 400W and will place the order in just a bit.

When I said that the Corsair 400 W will support 15 drives, I meant 15 green/low power drives.  This means that you may have to replace your current 7200 RPM drives as the number of drives in your array increases.  You should be safe using up to around 12 drives if you have a mixture of green and 7200 RPM drives.