Old UnRaid Server Upgrade?

[Shinyu]

Hello everyone,

 

I built my UnRaid server in February of 2011 and have added drives / cages since until now. It has been used as file storage. I use LibreElec to steam TV / Movies. Unraid has been flawless (save a few drives I have had to replace)- really amazing. I am currently running UnRaid 6.5.3 Pro. My build:

 

SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-F-O

4GB RAM

i3-540 DualCore

2 SAS raid controllers SuperMicro

650w PS

Antec Twelve Hundred Case

3 x SuperMicro Drive Cages

14 Data drives (2TB - 6TB) + 1 parity drive HGST (8 TB)

 

22.7TB Used 18.3TB Free

 

Oh, the drive cages don't fit in my case properly. The screw holes don't line up. It is very annoying!!!

 

I am worried that my build it getting too old and will fail. It takes a while for the server to wake-up when I connect on my PC / LibreElec boxes. Data transfer to and from the server are a bit slow, but works (especially slow on my Macs- I'm using SMB) I currently have 2 separate LibreElec boxes (upstairs and downstairs). The downstairs one is right beside my unraid server. I've read that with Docker I could run LibreElec / Kodi on my unraid server as well (I suppose I'd need an HDMI). I'm happy using as a file server, but think I'm probably missing something really cool!

 

I'm looking for advice on how / if /what to upgrade. I was thinking of adding another 4GB of RAM (not sure why, but it'd be cheap!).

 

Thanks for any and all help and /or suggestions.

 

Edited July 27, 2018 by Shinyu

[Frank1940]

7 hours ago, Shinyu said:

I'm happy using as a file server, but think I'm probably missing something really cool!

 

Before anyone can give you much advice, you will probably have to decide what 'cool' features you really need and would use.  (What is the purpose of building a server that has a high-end Gaming VM implemented if you don't play games?)  

 

Do you need more memory? Probably not at the present time.  Will unRAID use additional memory?  Of course.   But a quick look showed that 2GB ECC memory is hard to come by.  4GB modules are much more readily available.  But you should probably install a pair rather then just one.  

 

What exactly is the alignment problem with the mounting holes?  Did you try turning the enclosure upside down to see if they lined up better?  

 

I think you realize that an upgrade of this server will be a MB, CPU, RAM upgrade at the very minimum.  Starting costs for a system similar to your present one would be in the $250US range.  (The two system in my signature are roughly equivalent to what you have but with much more CPU power.) 

 

By the way with 14 data drives, you should probably be looking at dual parity.  See here for info and only you will know your comfort level. 

 

        https://lime-technology.com/forums/topic/50504-dual-or-single-parity-its-your-choice/

 

Dual parity does require a bit more CPU horsepower  but I would think that you i3 should have it.  (AMD sempron CPU's do NOT have enough!!!)  

 

EDIT:  Quick look online showed that your Antec 1200 case is worth more than $600US!  

Edited July 27, 2018 by Frank1940

[Shinyu]

I really appreciate your reply @Frank1940 

 

I will read more on what 'cool' features unRaid is capable of. I can tell you what I currently do as I think a lot of this could run off one box. I run Libre Elec/Kodi for streaming my content on the unRaid on separate boxes. I rsync and scp backups to my mac mini from servers in a data center as I can easily encrypt. I play PS4/Xbox/Switch games on my TV as I enjoy my recliner over my computer chair. I do play PC games on my PC - I'd rather play from my recliner. I've tried the Steam box! I really enjoy retro games. I torrent from my laptop and would like something to automatically rename my movie/tv folders (maybe SickBeard).

 

I've purchased another 4 GB (2x2GB) of RAM from eBay for $30. I found the exact same chips and I have currently installed. On your advice, I have also purchased another parity drive. I went with a WD Red 8GB 5400 RPM. Hopefully this works well with my current HGST 7200 8GB parity drive. I have 6 2TB drives smaller data drives in the array. I plan on replacing several with larger drives as they die; they are 5-7 years old and I've already lost 3 (all seagate) in the last 6 months. I am hoping to reduce the size of my array. This will take time as I won't replace drives that are working. But dual parity sounds like it is always worthwhile.

 

I read your post on Dual Parity. Are using a binomial distribution to calculate the probabilities?

 

When the RAM arrives, I will check try to put the cages in "upside down" to see if I can get screws in. Currently they just float. Two are crazy tight and one is very loose. It is weird.

 

A few more questions:

 - My system is very slow to "wake-up" it can takes a minutes or so before I can access the array via SMB

- I am also wondering about how to backup my 22.7TB. Most of it is Movies and TV shows, but it would be very time consuming to get again!

- How can I view your signature? I'd like to see your builds. 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2018 by Shinyu

[Shinyu]

@Frank1940My parity check currently takes over 22 hours.  It would be nice to improve on this. I don't think dual parity is going to help.

[Frank1940]

7 hours ago, Shinyu said:

Are using a binomial distribution to calculate the probabilities?

 

No.  If you want to see the spreadsheet that I used I can send it to you via a personal message. Remember that the actual failure for hard drives is is  extremely difficult to determine and depends on so many different factors.  Plus, if you have drives with two different model numbers even from the same manufacturer, the failure rate of one might be double that of the other under the same operating conditions.  What the tables show is what the approximate risks are and how the risk increases as the number of drives increase.  The second factor is what level of risk are you (personally) comfortable with.   Some folks have never realized/considered that physical damage to their server is a higher risk factor than disk failure! 

 

7 hours ago, Shinyu said:

- My system is very slow to "wake-up" it can takes a minutes or so before I can access the array via SMB

 

This is a function of several factors.  CPU horsepower is one of them.  Many folks (myself included) never shut their systems down, so this is not a big issue.   I assume that you are not doing this.  Remember that you are doing a complete OS installation every time unRAID boots up.  So it does take time to detect all of the hardware and get the right drivers installed.  

 

7 hours ago, Shinyu said:

- I am also wondering about how to backup my 22.7TB. Most of it is Movies and TV shows, but it would be very time consuming to get again!

 

Some folks are using a second server.  Some just copy and store their irreplaceable files (most media files are replaceable) to a an offsite cloud service.  I personally use several portable 2.5" hard drives and two of these are always in a safety deposit box in a bank.  

 

7 hours ago, Shinyu said:

- How can I view your signature? I'd like to see your builds.

 

Go to the top of this webpage.  In the top right, you will see your login name and a dropdown arrow.  Click on the arrow,  Account Settings   >>>  Signature    then push the 'View Signatures" slider to the right.