Intel D101GGC MB-based unRaid server - works fine

[HaH2]

Here is a combo that seems to work well (It's only been running for 36 hours, so YMMV):

 

MB: Intel D101GGC (on-board video, 100Mb NIC, no BIOS reconfiguration required)

CPU: P4 3.6MHz

2x512 Crucial RAM

1x Promise SATA300 controller

3x 500MB Western Digital SATA drives

1 Gig Kingston DataTraveler U3

unRaid 4.0

 

The speed appears to be better than the IDE-based dual P3 900MHZ PC with XPpro that used to store the data. Data migration went well except for some user errors:  Don't reconfigure the unRaid server while copying data.  Reloading the unRaid OS interrupts data transfer.  In full x-fer mode to both disks the temp rises to c. 50 degrees C.  At rest they run about 35 degrees C.  I'll post an update if any interesting problems pop up.

[limetech]

Thank you for the report!

[Joe L.]

  In full x-fer mode to both disks the temp rises to c. 50 degrees C.  At rest they run about 35 degrees C.  I'll post an update if any interesting problems pop up.

Just an FYI...

My unRaid array currently has 9 drives in the original Coolermaster Stacker case with the drives trays as originally supplied by Tom.

(a mixture of Hitachi, Seagate, and Maxtor drives). 

 

My drives, after a full parity calc, run about 32 to 37 degrees C. 

When idle, (initially upon spin up) they range from 18 to 24 degrees C.

In fact, one 250Gig Maxtor drive starts off at 13 degrees C and within minute or two gets up to 20 degrees C.

 

Your drives are running considerably hotter than mine.  Although you are probably well within their recommended operating temperature range, you might want to add a fan or two, if you can fit them into your case, to cool them down from 50 degrees C.  It couldn't hurt and may extend their life even more.

 

Good luck with your array.  I've had mine running since Oct 2005. The ability to incrementally grow the array as disk prices dropped is *really nice*

 

Joe L.

[Billped]

A word of caution when discussion drive temps.

 

Temperatures should be reported relative to ambient temps.  No matter how many fans you blow on a drive in a 25C room, it won't get any cooler than ~30C and certainly can't go below 25C.

 

Given the warm summer months in the northern hemisphere, many folks (including me) are running their UnRaid in very warm rooms w/o AC.  My room temps don't get scalding hot,  but they can easily be 25C or warmer.  13C is a dream during the day, though at night it gets down to about that.

 

Of course, if someone is running peltier or other phase-change cooling, that's different.

 

 

Bill

[Joe L.]

A word of caution when discussion drive temps.

 

Temperatures should be reported relative to ambient temps.  No matter how many fans you blow on a drive in a 25C room, it won't get any cooler than ~30C and certainly can't go below 25C.

Very true... excellent point, and one I did not think of.

 

My server is in an air-conditioned basement room.  Therefore, it will be cooler than many. It is probably about 70 - 72 degrees F.  That would be roughly 22 - 23 degrees C.  It is easy to see why my drive idle temperatures are in that range.

 

Clearly, the drive that is reporting 13 degrees C when idle is not too accurate, as that would translate to 55.6 degrees F, and there is NO WAY, as you pointed out, for it to be that cold when the ambient temperature is somewhere near 70 degrees F.

 

In any case, if his drives are idling at 35 degrees C ( ~95 degrees F) and under load getting to 50 degrees C ( ~122 degrees F ) it might warrant thinking about an additional fan or two in the case.

[HaH2]

Good points on temperatures.  The 50C temperature was when loading data and building parity simultaneously.  While playing music, the temp of the one drive running is stable at 35C.  Room temperature is 24C, in part due to the three other computers running within one meter of the unRaid machine.  Right now the outside temperature is about 16C.  I'd like to lower the temperatures of the computers, but don't have A/C.  The powersupply I am using also controls fan speed and does not seem to think that the fans should be running very quickly.  I can barely feel the PSU fan exhaust though it is clearly there.

 

It might be useful for unRaid to be able to report the Motherboard temperature as both an indicator of case temp and the added heat generated by the drives.

 

After one week the system has run flawlessly and continuously.  The only bug I dealt with was user-induced.  Itunes could not find the music after the drives were spun down.  I believe I fixed it by mapping the drive with the music instead of making Itunes find it on the network.

 

I'm very pleased with the unRaid functionality and ease of installation.  Kudos to the team.

[Billped]

If you are getting 15C deltas between parity and read, you don't have enough air movement around the drives.  In my ~25C room, my read temps are 32-33 and my parity kicks up it up to 40-42.  A PSU fan won't cut it, you need a fan blowing over the drives.  I suggest a 120mm fan running slow - even the slightest movement of air will do the trick.  The other cause could be drives sitting too close together.

 

 

Bill