So I still have my 1.x unRaid server clinking away with the old USB keys they used to send out.  Coolermaster Stacker case with the 2 PSUs, the Intel D865GLCLK with a Celeron processor, and a whole mess of IDE hard drives.  It's worked fine but the time has come to retire it after the 4 years or so I've had it.  I want to keep the case.  Ideally I guess I'm looking at swapping out the motherboard and processor to one with SATA and PCIX channels so I expand my SATA array over time.  I'm starting with 4 of the 2TB Spinpoints.  I'll likely use 4in3 bay enclosures to get good density.  If I remember right that gets me 16 drives.  I want something relatively inexpensive in a motherboard/cpu.  It needs to be beefy enough to handle multiple HD reads/writes with my SageTV setup but thats it.  No other programs running on it.  Suggestions?  Am I nuts to want to keep using the CM case and the PSUs I have?  Recommendations for a good 4in3 enclosure to get started with?

 

Thanks!

I don't think you're crazy for wanting to reuse your CM Stacker case. It's able to easily handle 3 5-in-3 drive cages(15 drives). With a little work it can fit a 4th 5-in-3 drive cage to provide 20 drive support. It can handle 3 4-in-3 drive cages (12 drives), and with a little work it can fit a 4th to provide 16 drive support.

 

It's substantially easier to find motherboards with PCI-Express slots than PCI-X slots. Do not confuse the two. They are not the same.

 

As for new motherboard and cpu with planned expansion... My current favorite build is an Intel H55-chipset based motherboard paired with an Intel i3 530 CPU. The CPU has built in graphics and is able to be used when paired with the H55 chipset. All that's needed is some DDR3 memory and you're set.

 

Most H55 motherboards have 6 onboard SATA ports and some come with 2 16x PCI-Express slots, which is perfect for using the SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 which provides 8 SATA ports per card when used with SAS-to-SATA forward breakout cables. When you use 2 cards in 2 PCI-Express slots, you have (6+8+ 22 SATA ports ready to be used.

 

Here's some NewEgg Links for the suggested hardware to give you more specs and general price ranges. I currently use this MB+CPU in my unRAID server:

$110 - SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 SATA Controller Card

$85 - MSI H55M-ED55 LGA 1156 Intel H55 motherboard

$115 - Intel i3 530 CPU

 

Thanks BRiT, appreciate the advice!  I like the i3 a lot myself, it's what I am using in my Sage server.  Looks like I'd be able to get away with a decent upgrade for around $350 or so.  Any advice on a good 5in3 cage?

If you aren't on a tight budget, I'll second everything BRiT suggested.

 

Also, here's the breakout cable you'll need to hook up the SuperMicro card to the SATA drives (or drive cages).  You will need four of these (two per SuperMicro card):

 

3ware CBL-SFF8087OCF-05M 1 unit of 0.5m Multi-lane Internal (SFF-8087) Serial ATA breakout cable, forward

 

You might want to shop around or look for open box deals, though, I've seen them much cheaper (under $20 each including shipping).

Thanks, I ended up with the MB and CPU.  I also bought a single SuperMicro 5-in-1 enclosure for now.  That will get me started with the on board SATA, and then I can buy the cards, cables, andmore enclosures as I expand.  Should all be here Monday.  I'll make sure to dump everything off my old system this weekend to some of my other systems.

If you aren't on a tight budget, I'll second everything BRiT suggested.

 

Also, here's the breakout cable you'll need to hook up the SuperMicro card to the SATA drives (or drive cages).  You will need four of these (two per SuperMicro card):

 

3ware CBL-SFF8087OCF-05M 1 unit of 0.5m Multi-lane Internal (SFF-8087) Serial ATA breakout cable, forward

 

You might want to shop around or look for open box deals, though, I've seen them much cheaper (under $20 each including shipping).

 

I bought mine off E-Bay for a little under $14 shipped.

That is a good deal off eBay. I usually forget to check there before just grabbing blindly from NewEgg/eWiz-eBiz/Amazon.

 

As for the 5-in-3 enclosures, I don't have any first hand experience with them. I'm still using the CM Stacker 4-in-3s. I'm sure this isn't the only thread about it, but it's the first one that showed up in a quick browse. There's some good discussions in there on various cages. I don't think there's a general consensus on a definitive cage, but there does seem to a handful of good ones to choose from. How-swap drive cages discussion.

Most H55 motherboards have 6 onboard SATA ports and some come with 2 16x PCI-Express slots, which is perfect for using the SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 which provides 8 SATA ports per card when used with SAS-to-SATA forward breakout cables. When you use 2 cards in 2 PCI-Express slots, you have (6+8+ 22 SATA ports ready to be used.

 

Here's some NewEgg Links for the suggested hardware to give you more specs and general price ranges. I currently use this MB+CPU in my unRAID server:

$110 - SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 SATA Controller Card

$85 - MSI H55M-ED55 LGA 1156 Intel H55 motherboard

$115 - Intel i3 530 CPU

 

How does the bandwidth per drive/port break down with a setup like this?  8 drives on one PCI-E x4 controller seems like a lot.

 

Thanks,

 

-g.

A single 1x PCI-Express slot provides for bidirectional 250 MB/s bandwidth. The 4x PCI-Express provides for 1000 MB/s in each direction. This equates to a theoretical 125 MB/s PER DRIVE if you have 8 drives on the controller in a 4x PCI-Express slot. Each PCI-Express has its own bandwidth, so running 2 or 3 cards shouldn't impose any limitations.

 

With that said, the specific implementation in the SuperMicro card may have a real world performance of around 90 MB/s. Those who have the card would better be able to provide benchmark numbers on their parity check speeds.

 

We have a ways to go before physical hard drives will be limited by a 4x PCI-Express slot.

 

While I don't have any exact numbers for you, I don't notice any difference in reads or writes between the drives connected directly to my motherboard and the drives connected to my SuperMicro cards.  PCIe x4 is plenty fast enough, as BRiT explained.

A single 1x PCI-Express slot provides for bidirectional 250 MB/s bandwidth. The 4x PCI-Express provides for 1000 MB/s in each direction. This equates to a theoretical 125 MB/s PER DRIVE if you have 8 drives on the controller in a 4x PCI-Express slot. Each PCI-Express has its own bandwidth, so running 2 or 3 cards shouldn't impose any limitations.

 

With that said, the specific implementation in the SuperMicro card may have a real world performance of around 90 MB/s. Those who have the card would better be able to provide benchmark numbers on their parity check speeds.

 

We have a ways to go before physical hard drives will be limited by a 4x PCI-Express slot.

 

I'm a bit confused after reading this and looking at the spec page for the AOC-SASLP-MV8.  According to Super Micro's web site, this card is an "8-channel SAS/SATA adapter with 300MB/s per channel" and "as a 3rd generation SAS/SATA storage card, the AOC-SASLP-MV8 offers double the data transfer rate of its 1st generation counterpart."

 

300 MB/s x 8 ports means this card would need 2400 MB/sec from the PCIe x4 slot.  1000 MB/s is far from that but abviously today's HDD aren't hitting any where near that so this is a moot point anyway.  I'm wondering what the gen 3 reference means though.  Do they mean PCIe v3 by that (in which case each lane would be 1 GB/s and that would actually be 4x the bandwidth of gen/version 1)?

I own a SASLP and a SAT2. I have 14 2T. drives with six hooked to my X7SBE and 8 to a card. I ran a parity check with those 8 drives hooked to my SASLP and it completed in 10.7 hours. I noticed it was limited at about 52MB/sec. for about the first 90% of the parity check. Next I swapped out the SASLP for my SAT2 and completed parity check in 7.5 hours. It started at about 92MB/sec and dropped to about 47MB/sec at the end. The SASLP is a bottleneck on parity checks. I was quite surprised at the magnitude of the difference. I have a hard time believing it is my motherboard.

Sorry, what is the SAT2?

Sorry, I guess we were discussing something a little off topic. The SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8 64-bit PCI-X133MHz SATA Controller Card. I was trying to show that for me the SASLP does in fact have a lower bandwidth than BRiT suggested.

 

Back on topic, I remember you back from the first unveiling of the unRAID at AVS. Good to see you are still in the "club". I would recommend switching to a single more efficient power supply. Good suggestions in       Rajahal's recommended build section.

 

http://www.lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hardware_Compatibility

 

I'm using a Corsiar 650TX (rebadged Seasonic) in the same Cooler Master Stacker case.

Thanks yeah it's unbelievable how well it has ticked on through the years.  Only 1 drive failure in all that time.

I stripped down my old unRaid and rebuilt it using parts recommended earlier.  Currently using 5 2TB HDs (1 Hitchai 7200RPM and 4 of the Samsung 5400RPMs).  I precleared them all (took around 28 hours on average) and am now formatting.  That seems to be awfully slow, but what do I know   Of course I forgot I had nothing to put in the now-empty bays in my Stacker so I had to tape some cardboard over it for the time being.  Doh! 

 

One thing I ran into was trying to fit the Supermicro 5in3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121405 in the CM correctly.  It doesn't seem to fit flush with the top when I put it in.  There's a gap there.  And if my measurements are right I'm not going to be able to get to 4 of them unless I can get it up and snug.  Anyone use that case and that enclosure?  Am I just not putting it in right?

That's actually pretty fast, most of my 2 TB drives took about 35 hours to preclear.

 

I haven't used the CM stacker case personally, but just to double check - you are installing the SuperMicro 5-in-3 so that the bays are vertical, right?  The newegg pictures show the cage on its side for some reason.

Yep, drives are verticle.  The enclosure just doesn't sit high enough.  These things do suck air through though!  It completely screwed up while formatting, so I am now re-preclearing to check and see what the heck is up.