Does my build support unraid?

[Tjeu]

Hey,

 

I‘m thinking about creating my first ever unraid build.

After watching plenty videos and reading a lot from the documentation, I think I understand the main configurations and setup. 

Now is the time to really get started creating the pc.

Thats where I’m not sure, if all parts will work.

Can anybody help me out and check the list I already put together and tell me if something wouldn’t work or should be replaced performance wise?

My main usage would be running a NAS, Ubuntu 18.04 server, Development Webserver & 1 or 2 VM running windows 10

 

The list:

- Intel Core i9 9900k [ Link ]

- Asus ROG Strix z390-I Gaming [ Link ]

- 2x Seagate barracuda 2TB [ Link ]

- Corsair crystal 280x RGB [ Link ]

- Corsair h100i RGB Platinum SE [ Link ]

- 2x Corsair ll120 RGB Led white [ Link ]

- Corsair vengeance rgb pro 32gb (2x 16gb) 2666mhz [ Link ]

- Corsair rm850x (2018) [ Link ]

- Samsung 970 Evo 500gb [ Link ]

 

for the gpu, I’m not sure yet. Maybe I’ll buy a new one or take the old asus strix 1080 [ Link ] from my main configuration.

 

I hope anyone can help me with checking if everything will support unraid.

 

Thanks!

 

- Tjeu AKA Athyk

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Tjeu
Added parts screenshot

[mikeydk]

Only thing I would do different, is the cpu cooler. I prefer a good air cooler for 24/7 running unmonitored setups, just because there is less things to go wrong.

[Alexander]

I would buy WD Red NAS drives if you opt for "consumer" drives, cache is only 64 MB but they are good.

A consumer (less reliable but mainly cheaper than enterprise) NAS drive is a type of more reliable consumer drive for 24/7 use.

 

I have bad experience from Seagate "consumer" drives.

WD Red 3 TB is kind of quietest NAS drive available. 4TB some dB louder, still less loud than all other kind of NAS drives partly because of limited rpm speed. I think that is good for low temperature and possibly marginally for data reliability too.

My 3-4 year old seagate (kind of low noise green low power) has bad sectors already.

My WD green bought at same time is still 100% OK.

 

Edit: AS of Jan 2020 actually the new HGST drives seems to be the most reliable. They are the loudest too though.

Most reliable is probably "Enterprise grade" Seagate 10 TB from EXOS series. The standard model is the ST10000NM0086.

But they are noisy (and speedy) as all enterprise ones are, and they are expensive (mostly because they are "big" 10 TB Helium) and of course you pay per TB.

Still it seems Seagate has highest reliability and among the best drives in the "enterprise = most reliable and fastest" segment. So for reliability that is kind of the opposite of how it is in the consumer segment.

Also they are actually reported as less noisy than others in this segment too.

But they are fast spinning and thus still considerably much louder than consumer WD Reds (that is the simplest WD Red series not the PRO or GOLD).

 

Personally I am not a fan of Corsair cases and Corsair watercooling but if you like RGB it is for you.

 

Also I prefer ASRock motherboards over ASUS now, and I choose standard ATX because there is much more choice (compared to Mini ATX).

 

ASRock has fan settings in it's BIOS.

That to me is a lot better than buggy windows "add on" software/drivers (ASUS) even if ASUS has a lot of options (too many and buggy as I have heard).

Have to admit ASRock BIOS will reset all settings at every BIOS update. That is annoying.

Fortunately all million parameters are set to good default states. I only changed Memory OC and fan settings in mine.

CPU OC might be interesting too for some.

 

For Z390 you have

EDIT:

ASRock Taichi Ultimate  has 10 Gb + 2 x 1 Gb (and all these work in unraid now, future proofing).

Look for Motherboards or controller cards with the AQUANTIA AQC107 chip. Linux has support for it since quite a while back.

The intel 10 Gb chip that is available now has dual RJ45 ports and does NOT have linux support (at least not yet) as far as I know. Another difference is that the intel  10 Gb chip do not support standard 2.5 and 5 GHz connections to it, only standard 1 Gb, but the Aquantia AQC107 chip supports 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 Gb and adapts to the different standards.

 

EDIT2:

Note that the simple Taichi (not Ultimate) is without 10 Gb.

According to wesman reply below the Realtech 2.5 Gb does NOT seem to have Unraid support (probably without Linux kernel support) at least not yet. That is really disappointing if true.

 

But most switches are probably 1 Gb and 10Gb (and 10 Gb is kind of 10 times the price and power if copper LAN cables are used).

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by Alexander
Aha that case

[Tjeu]

@Alexander Thanks for you feedback. After getting a lot of responses from you guys on multiple posts I changed the build a little bit.

The latest version of the list is as follow:
 

- Intel Core i9 9900k [Link]

- Gigabyte Z390 M Gaming [Link]

- 2x Seagate Xeos 7E8 6TB [Link]

- Corsair crystal 280x white [Link]

- Corsair h115i [Link]

- 4x Noctua NF-S12A PWM chromax.black.swap, 120mm [Link]
- 2x Noctua NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap, 140mm [Link]

- Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK32GX4M2A2666C16 (2x 16gb, 2666mhz) [Link]

- Corsair HX850 V2 [Link]

- Samsung 970 Evo 500gb [Link]

As you can see I chose the enterprise seagate drives as you mentioned. I also changed the corsair RGB fans for some noctua ones. Main reason for this is that they are much quieter and I don't think I have that much control over the RGB fans using unraid anyway.

The motherboard has been changed to a gigabyte board for the reason to support hackintosh and for the option of having more than 2 ram slots available (future wise).

I kept the small case as I don't have that much room in my chamber and this sizing is very easy to put somewhere and also looks very good next to my 570x which I use for my main gaming rig.

Edited February 3, 2019 by Tjeu
Fixed links

[Alexander]

Gigabyte. That was a nice MATX.

For motherboard components and price I like ASRock and Gigabyte.

But ASUS and ASRock has better BIOS just be prepared for that so maybe you shood check ASUS again then?

Edit: Forget that comment. This is the Gigabyte board to get for a Hackintosh. Cool choice for that.

 

I check reviews on Newegg before I buy a board.

Your Gigabyte board on Newegg

 

On your board:

Other Thoughts: While navigable, uefi still falls behind AsRock and Asus. (Meaning BIOS is less good in Gigabyte)

 

But since that board only has 4 reviews i suggest you check these 52 reviews on another Gigabyte Z390 board here Gigabyte Z390 AORUS MASTER as the same probably will apply to your board too.

Some of the bad ratings might be user error, but to me if the BIOS is easy to use and gets good reviews it is a better board.

 

On several Z390 Gigabyte boards if you check reviews

With a cold start, the board sometimes "forgets" the boot drive and requires you to enter and (save) exit the BIOS for the system to pick the drive up again. (If that is true it is painful).

 

Wendell at Level1Tech is an expert on linux motherboards and CPUs. He seems to mostly use/review ASUS and ASRock in his youtube videos and I think they are the best ones too (edit: for linux, Gigabyte often best for Hackintosh).

Here is a nice Threadripper (AMD) review.

ASUS Prime X399-A

 

I fully understand your MATX size and intel CPU choice of motherboard and case.

Edited February 17, 2019 by Alexander

[wesman]

On 2/2/2019 at 3:04 PM, Alexander said:

For Z390 you have

ASRock Taichi has 10 Gb + 2 x 1 Gb (and all these work in unraid now, future proofing)

ASRock Phantom Gaming has 2.5 Gb + 2 x 1 Gb (I have not tested if the 2.5 Gb chip works in unraid)

 

I can not get unraid to use my Asus Crosshair Hero 8's 2.5 GB Nic. I am not sure its supported. 

[Alexander]

On 10/16/2019 at 8:58 PM, wesman said:

I can not get unraid to use my Asus Crosshair Hero 8's 2.5 GB Nic. I am not sure its supported. 

Thank you for pointing that out. I edited my post accordingly.