March 16, 20188 yr So my current machine has lost it's video somehow and only has 4 cores in its ancient CPU. It was built as a cheap whitebox ESX server that hosted unRAID before I put unRAID on bare metal to try KVM and Docker. It's a pretty old build that's showing its age compared to some of the newer thoroughbreads. The ESX went to a used G6 DL360 with dual 6core CPU stuffed full of memory that's actually really quiet. I have slowly begun to play with KVM more with the 6.4 release and Spaceinvader's videos are spurring me to ever more interesting uses of my hardware. Yeah, time to upgrade the old beast I think! As such I went on a small Ebay buying spree tonight :-O 2x E5-2650 8core 16thread CPU that will replace my single E3-1220 4core CPU, 2x 32Gig kits of DDR3 ECC RAM, 1x Supermicro X9DRi-LN4F+ motherboard. I have 32Gig of DDR3 in my existing box that I think will work in this system too so 96Gigs? Hopefully the powersupply in the box is up to snuff for this, it's running 17 HDD right now and these CPU will be adding 100watts more. Hmm, maybe when it's open I can take a look and see what it's rated for? 750watts is what I'm guessing, I'm hoping I bought bigger. I REALLY don't want to have to replace it as I've got hours in customizing the stupid wiring harness to remove about 6inches of extra wire it had. I've already got SAS RAID cards with SATA breakout cables in a NORCO 24bay chassis so that's covered but the link below mentions some interesting chassis ideas that others might like. I have a fan wall with larger fans that "should" be quieter and move more air I'll put in while the system is down, it's been in a box for a year+ w/fans. This is all for my big unRAID box that runs 1 Win10 VM on it and a few containers but I intend to build a High Sierra VM to play with too and probably lots more. I'll have the horsepower for it! I did hold back from buying dual 10core CPU, the added cost just didn't seem worth it but is an option in the future perhaps My ESX server could use some love too, how well does unRAID serve an ESX machine with NFS? Upgrading the 1U ESX machine with some consumer grade SSD is something I'm pondering since supposedly some SSD work fine and don't freak out the RAID controller or temp sensors. I'm nervous about doing that though I could sure use the space and IOPS. Using the storage on my unRAID is tempting! A third machine I've got could run FreeNAS to provide fast(er) storage off retired drives but it sounds like a jet plane when powered up Using my existing NAS could be worth a shot and I'd love to hear from others who have tried it else I'll just give it a shot and see lol. BTW before I grabbed this used hardware for the upgrade I'm about to do I looked seriously into buying newer hardware as this stuff is still a generation or three behind current (Sandybridge era). However the newer Intel hardware uses DDR4 memory which is INSANELY priced and the CPU cost cubic dollars too. I also seriously looked at AMD Threadripper and Ryzen stuff too but you guys running unRAID on AMD are having issues that scare the crap out of me, I like my uptime! Drama like that I sure don't need on a stable box but I'm open to doing it in the future and perhaps on a test box one day. I blame this guy for giving me evil ideas!
March 22, 20188 yr I feel your conundrum, however, MicroCenter is selling the 1950X TR for $729 right now with $30 off a mobo bundle. I pulled the trigger and build it Saturday.
March 29, 20188 yr I'm in a similar boat, my unaid tower has been gradually crashing more and more over the past few years. It's perfectly usable but crashes far too often for my liking (3-5 times a week), my wife is beyond annoyed at it as well. I've done all the usual checks, replaced some drives, asked for help, poked around, reseated cables etc. I've decided, it's either the PSU or simply it's showing it's age and dying when under load. I've not been able to pinpoint anything else that might be it, it used to be able to run a parity and stream at least 1 feed. Now it slows down, buffers etc... ...my solution. It's upgrade time!! Your post is exactly what I was looking for in info, so thank you. I did the while barebones thing when I built it for a couple of hundred maybe 7 years ago, it's been through drives and I'm running my extra drives through a PCi card. The more i type the more I think an upgrade is the right idea. I'm blaming you when the wife tells me off...
March 30, 20188 yr Author My parts are all awaiting a good downtime window, likely Sunday! I’m somewhat concerned about heatsink cooling as I’ve not got s formed duct that I think these fanless heatsinks want. If I could find a 60mm 4wire somewhere I’d add a couple. I may have to do some CAD (cardboard aided design) or perhaps 3D print something. I’m trying to avoid spending much more on CPU coolers lol. Pretty sure those Supermicro chassis he’s linked have the proper ducting BTW so you wouldn’t have these issues using them. I REALLY like the Norco chassis I have and it uses standard PSU too. I bought some expander cards but probably won’t use them. I’ll be interested to see if my parity syncs speeds up, one of my expansion cards may not be getting full bandwidth right now but I’m not sure. The increase in CPU horsepower will certainly be noticeable but I’m not sure it’s needed for the current workloads. I’m sure I can fix that :-) Stay tuned!
March 31, 20188 yr Author Okay a BIG heads up! The Norco will no way no how fit this board nor cool it without dual active sinks :-( I’m going to have to spring for a Supermicro chassis to fit and cool it - $$! Still figuring it out and seeking help but wanted folks to know about the fitment issue, hubris got me! Looks like I need something with a SAS2 backplane, I’ll upgrade fans, reuse my SAS cards, and potentially retire the Norco maybe. I have REALLY liked this chassis too and experienced no issues, love the trays! Supermicro I’m less thrilled with but it’s closer to a real industrial server, heaven help me...
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