unRaid Setup ? v2

[Yros]

Hello,

 

So I'm finally getting ready for my unRaid build as the parts for my new config' have started to arrive this week (and more will come next week). Please beware the long post as I have a few questions and multiple details to review as this is by far my most advanced setup so far and although I've already spent the past 6 months learning many things both related to hardware and software and unRaid I'd still prefer to cross my T's and dot my I's considering that this project literally emptied the money I had saved for it (almost 3k€). So before we start, here's the planned build:
 

 

• Mobo: Asus Crosshair VI Hero (Wi-fi)
• CPU: Ryzen 2700 (with manual OC)
• GPU: GTX 1080 Ti (with manual OC)
• RAM: 2x8gb ECC, 2400mhz CL17 Samsung (Model: M391A1G43EB1-CRC) (with manual OC)
• Case: Phanteks Evolv X

Drives:

• 2x Samsung 970 Pro 512gb onto an Asrock Ultra Quad M.2 card for cache pool
• 1x Samsung 970 Evo 512gb onto the motherboard slot, unassigned for Windows 10 VM
• 2x WD 6To Gold for parity
• 6x WD 4To Gold/Green/black for data

Usage planned: Main Computer (Windows 10 config) for gaming, video and image editing. Media Server (Plex) as well as features like network firewall, web hosting, ...

The whole build will also be fully watercooled on a custom loop (which is the first challenge I have to tackle due to limited space inside that case but that's what makes it so interesting). I'll take pictures along the way and share the completed build later on btw \o/ Anyway, here are the questions I have:

1] unRaid has to be installed on a separate USB-drive. How much space do you recommand for those to be on the safe side ? I've decided to go with a small-factor 16gb USB3.1 drive (actually bought 2, to have one backup). Is this fine ?

2] The RAM was a very big question. At first I wanted to go with some high-performance modules (3600 CL15 Samsung B-dies) considering the huge performance boost available on the Ryzen platform with proper RAM however at the end of the day I still decided to go for ECC module (and can only lament on the fact that vendors are limited to 2666mhz modules, which is illogical, at best, but that's another topic...). So I had the choice between a 2666mhz CL19 1-rank 8gb module (M391A1K43BB2-CTD) and 2400mhz CL17 2-rank 8gb module (see ref above). Actually there is a 1-rank version of that one as well but since everyone says 2-rank is better... Well, you have it. I ended up going for the 2400mhz one because in the end what matters is the actual latency and 2400mhz CL17 has actually a slightly slower latenty than the 2666mhz CL19, hence my choice. Any comment on that ? Also I have a few other questions regarding the RAM:
How much RAM do I need to save up for unRaid itself ? How much RAM should I save up for the Plex Media server ? (I already have over 12Tb space used on my current NAS, in case this matters). I have currently 2x8gb of RAM however 16gb of RAM seems truly on the low-end side and might not be enough with my usage. Even now on my current computer I always have around 10gb of RAM used in average so I was kinda thinking of buying another 2 modules of 8gb to reach 32gb of RAM and keep at least 4gb of ram dedicated to unRaid, and 4gb of ram dedicated to the Plex media server. Potentially also another 4gb of RAM dedicated for the web server. Then it leaves me with 16gb dedicated to the Windows VM and 4gb of margin. What are your opinions on this ?
 

3] My final thoughts are regarding the unRaid setup itself (meaning the drives). I'll have 2 512gb Samsung 970 Pro on the Asrock Quad card to serve as the permanent cache pool (I chose the Pro version over the Evo version there to ensure stable transfer rates over time, since the Evo version usually don't do too well on sustained writes). As for the Samsung 512gb 970 Evo SSD, I plan to leave it unassigned and partition it so that I have one partition for my Windows VM (system and software only, around 200 - 250gb max), another partition to serve as the Plex media center (because I've read many topics saying that it worked much better with the Plex server on an unassigned SSD in terms of performances), and potentially a third one (TBD) as I don't think I'll need like 200gb of space for the Plex media server (I just need enough space to put the installation and config on it, as the media files themselves will be on the HDDs, right ?). The HDDs themselves will be without much surprises as described above with 2 6Tb drives for parity and 6Tb drives for storage. So, now, question:
With all these informations, do you have any further advises or things I should be careful to look for ? (I'm already planning on using checksum to go in hand with the ECC memory to make sure my files don't get corrupted). I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out the hardware and software required for my setup and now spent a lot of money into getting this hardware so I admit I'm a little bit anxious at making some silly mistake and ruining it all (well, I'm also a little bit excited... first fully-watercooled build as well, gonna be fun, as long as I don't spill it XD).

Oh, right, I also plan on following this very nice tip from @johnnie.black to create multiple btrfs pools : (as it will probably come in handy for the multiple partitions of the 970 Evo, as well as a potential future upgrade where I'll add another 2 NVMe M.2 SSDs on the Asrock card)

So... Yep. Thanks to everyone who managed to read this wall of text 'till the end. If you have any advises/comment to make, that would be very nice. I'm still waiting for most parts of hardware (half of it is coming next week while the watercooling parts will arrive... gods knows when) but once the build fully setup and installed I'll make sure to share the final result \o/ Also if you have further advises on what plugins to install for my use or some tweaks/tips that could be helpful... \o/

[DZMM]

1 hour ago, Yros said:

1] unRaid has to be installed on a separate USB-drive. How much space do you recommand for those to be on the safe side ? I've decided to go with a small-factor 16gb USB3.1 drive (actually bought 2, to have one backup). Is this fine ?

My USB usage after two years is 747MB so 16GB will be overkill.  I think you'll be better off and will save money by getting a simple USB drive - here's a list of recommended ones https://lime-technology.com/wp/hardware-recommendations/

 

1 hour ago, Yros said:

How much RAM do I need to save up for unRaid itself ? How much RAM should I save up for the Plex Media server ?

On top of the RAM you assign your VM e.g. 8GB, there's a bit of overhead so budget for say 10GB for your VM.  Plex doesn't need a lot of RAM, but if you have extra you can transcode to RAM rather than disk - a GB or two will do.

 

UnRAID itself doesn't need a lot of RAM, but if you start using a lot of dockers (and with that system you will...) you will need RAM - I'd recommend 32GB min to start with and be prepared to put more in if you start running more concurrent VMs. I know RAM is pricey at the moment, but 16GB would be starving a good system.

1 hour ago, Yros said:

3] My final thoughts are regarding the unRaid setup itself (meaning the drives). I'll have 2 512gb Samsung 970 Pro on the Asrock Quad card to serve as the permanent cache pool (I chose the Pro version over the Evo version there to ensure stable transfer rates over time, since the Evo version usually don't do too well on sustained writes).

I'm biased here and others may disagree, but I think that's overkill for your cache drive, especially if you're going to have a fast separate UD for VMs and Plex.  The bottleneck for me with cache drives is still my array as I can only move files from my cache to my array at around 150MB/s.  Even if you've got files coming in via a 10G network or gigabit fiber, the transfer to the array will kill you.  I'd save some money and just get 2 1TB SSDs

[trurl]

1 hour ago, Yros said:

unRaid has to be installed on a separate USB-drive. How much space do you recommand for those to be on the safe side ? I've decided to go with a small-factor 16gb USB3.1 drive (actually bought 2, to have one backup). Is this fine ?

USB3 for the flash drive sometimes gives some people problems with some motherboards. It isn't always clear what the cause is. And some have no problem. USB2 is less likely to give any trouble.

 

Speed and capacity are unimportant, you are unlikely to actually use more than 2GB. Unraid only reads the flash on boot. It unpacks the OS from the archives on flash into RAM and the OS runs in RAM. It also writes config changes from the webUI to flash so it can read them again at boot.

 

[Yros]

7 hours ago, DZMM said:

 I'm biased here and others may disagree, but I think that's overkill for your cache drive, especially if you're going to have a fast separate UD for VMs and Plex.  The bottleneck for me with cache drives is still my array as I can only move files from my cache to my array at around 150MB/s.  Even if you've got files coming in via a 10G network or gigabit fiber, the transfer to the array will kill you.  I'd save some money and just get 2 1TB SSDs

The motherboard actually offers 10g network. In any case, the cache pool will also be where I'll be installing the games (since I've read that you can decide to keep certain folders in the cache pool rather than the hard drives) so it will still be useful in some ways. Thanks for the advises regarding the RAM. I was also thinking similarly so I guess I'll just have to go for 32gb then...
 

7 hours ago, trurl said:

USB3 for the flash drive sometimes gives some people problems with some motherboards. It isn't always clear what the cause is. And some have no problem. USB2 is less likely to give any trouble.

  

Speed and capacity are unimportant, you are unlikely to actually use more than 2GB. Unraid only reads the flash on boot. It unpacks the OS from the archives on flash into RAM and the OS runs in RAM. It also writes config changes from the webUI to flash so it can read them again at boot.

  

Very good to know ! I'll switch over to a USB2.0 flash drives then ! 16gb still... Since it's just as cheap (or even cheaper) than 8gb usb drives (and 4gb ones ah ah). I was actually a bit curious regarding the performances of unRaid if the system was on the usb but if it's actually hosted on the RAM then there's no issue. I wonder if in the future it will be able to be stored on non-volatile storage technologies such as Optane and the like 🤔 Well, that's another topic.

[DZMM]

7 hours ago, Yros said:

The motherboard actually offers 10g network. In any case, the cache pool will also be where I'll be installing the games (since I've read that you can decide to keep certain folders in the cache pool rather than the hard drives) so it will still be useful in some ways. Thanks for the advises regarding the RAM. I was also thinking similarly so I guess I'll just have to go for 32gb then...

Again, you'll only be able to write from array-2-cache at around 150MB/s.....