I am new here.  I have been reading like crazy trying to make sure I get this right.  I have a whs server and sagtv.  I am wanting to implement a unraid server into the mix.  SO here is a list of parts I am about ready to purchase.  Tell me what you think:

 

Case:  COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 RC-590

 

Harddrives (X3): Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

 

PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 ...

 

MOBO:  SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-F-O Xeon X3400 / L3400 / Core i3 series Dual LAN Micro ATX Server Board w/ Remote Management

 

CPU:  Intel Core i3-550 Clarkdale 3.2GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3550

 

HD cage: SUPERMICRO CSE-M35T-1B Black 5 Bay Hot-Swapable SATA HDD Enclosure

 

Flash Drive:  SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) Model SDCZ6-2048-A11

 

Any changes I should make before I click purchase?

No problems, just some comments.

 

1) Many e-retailers don't accept checks

 

2) Definitely a nice choice of motherboard.  Will support up to two SuperMicro AOC-SASLP-MV8s and has built in IPMI.  I assume you are planning on using these SuperMicro cards once you need more ports, right?

 

3) Remember that all WD EARS drives need a jumper on pins 7-8 BEFORE being installed into an unRAID server.  Also, it is highly recommended that you do not buy them all from the same source at the same time.  Doing so increases your chances of a multiple drive failure (if they were all from the same bad batch).  Either buy them from three different sources, or space out the purchases from the same source by a few weeks each.

 

4) I assume you are going for a 15 bay build using three of the SuperMicro 5-in-3 cages?  Since the rest of your hardware will support 20+ drives, you might want to consider something like the Norco 4220 instead - it will be cheaper, and you will get 20 bays instead of 15.

 

5) The i3-530 will work just as well for unRAID.  Unless you have something in mind to use up that extra power, I would suggest the 530 instead of the 550.

2.  Yes I am definitely going with the suggested raid cards, when needed.

 

3.  I have read this, are these the typical jumpers like on the old IDE drives?  I have read in the forums about not buying all drives from one retailer (I made this mistake in the past and I am paying for it now with my whs server.  Before I read this tactic on the forums, I purchased 2 WD EARS from tiger direct (sale), then I read this.  Nothing I can do now.  I am buying one from newgg though.  SO if I run 3 drives.  2 for data and one for parity.  I am planning on adding a cache drive soon.  Will I be disappointed with performance if I don't add a cache drive right away?

 

4.  I debated the Norco but (maybe I am being short sighted) have decided, for the immediate money sake, on the 590.

 

5.  My bad, I meant the 530.

 

I don't think I mentioned ram, it will be a compatible single 2 gig stick (do you possibly know compatible ram to order).  I would love to run esxi and virtualize both my whs server and the unraid server but that might be on in the furture.  I am very concerned about the drives currently in my whs server, so I need to get this up and running and move data so I can replace the failing drives.

3.  I have read this, are these the typical jumpers like on the old IDE drives?  I have read in the forums about not buying all drives from one retailer (I made this mistake in the past and I am paying for it now with my whs server.  Before I read this tactic on the forums, I purchased 2 WD EARS from tiger direct (sale), then I read this.  Nothing I can do now.  I am buying one from newgg though.  SO if I run 3 drives.  2 for data and one for parity.  I am planning on adding a cache drive soon.  Will I be disappointed with performance if I don't add a cache drive right away?

Yes, the jumpers are the same ones that have been around for years.  Here's a pic.  (That's a terrible price, by the way - I bought a 100 pack for $12 locally).

 

Too bad that you already bought two drives from TigerDirect.  Just preclear them all and hope for the best, I guess.

 

No, you will most likely be perfectly satisfied with your server's performance before adding a cache drive.  You should see write speeds of around 25 MB/s, and read speeds much faster than that.  Adding a cache drive will bring your write speeds up to around 50 MB/s (or possibly faster).

 

4.  I debated the Norco but (maybe I am being short sighted) have decided, for the immediate money sake, on the 590.

I know the Norco isn't for everyone (it is large, heavy, loud, and somewhat ugly), but if you are making the decision based on money, the Norco is actually CHEAPER than the 590 + SuperMicro 5-in-3s.  Consider:

Norco 4220 + free sliding rails = $340 shipped

3 x SuperMicro 5-in-3 + CM590 = $410 shipped

 

With the latter option you also have to flatten down the tabs in the CM 590 to accommodate the SuperMicro drive cages, which is kind of a pain.

 

Sorry, I can't answer your RAM question, but I do know that SuperMicro boards are very picky about RAM.  Just get something off SuperMicro's approved list and you should be fine.

Ok so I am considering the Norco again.  If I get the norco, will I need anything else (specialized sata cables etc).  I am going to start off with 3 2tb drives.  The wifey might be killing me because this will put me quite a bit over my original anticipated budget.  So if I don't respond back, it has been nice chatting with you  

 

Another consideration is to find a cheap case with decent ventilation (for now) then in say 6 months purchase the Norco.  Any suggestions as to a cheap case with say 4 3.5 slots.  Then I don't have to buy the 5 in 3.  Here is something I found, it may sound kind of crazy and I might spend a little more but it could alleviate an $$ issue.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811156245

Ha, the WAF (wife acceptance factor) is always an important consideration.  She may not appreciate the server during the planning stages, but wait in until she relies on it for her media consumption.  Part of the inspiration behind Joe L's preclear script was to keep his wife from nagging him while the server was down (this is a joke).

 

If you choose the Norco 4220, you will need the following cables:

 

NORCO C-SFF8087-4S Discrete to SFF-8087 (Reverse breakout) Cable - $20 shipped

Use this cable to connect one of the SAS backplanes to the motherboard slots

NORCO C-SFF8087-D SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Internal Multilane SAS Cable x 4 - $70 shipped

Use these cables to connect the SAS cards to the SAS backplanes

 

Total: $90

 

If you choose the CM-590 + 5-in-3s option, you will need the following cables:

3ware CBL-SFF8087OCF-05M 1 unit of 0.5m Multi-lane Internal (SFF-8087) Serial ATA breakout cable, forward x 2 - $50 shipped

Use these cables to connect the SAS cards to the 5-in-3 drive cages

Standard SATA cables x 6 - $15 or so

Use these cables to connect the motherboard ports to the 5-in-3 cages

The above will get you to 14 drives.  If you want to use that 15th drive slot, you'll need to add another expansion card, such as the SIL3132 as well as another standard SATA cable - $20 or so

 

Total: $85

 

You may be able to find these cables cheaper by shopping around a bit.  Just be careful about the 'forward' or 'reverse' specification on the breakout cables, it is important.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that the Norco requires two of the SuperMicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 cards if you want to use the entire 20 bay capacity.  This is why I note that you need 4 of the SAS cables above (2 for each card).  These cards run about $100 each, so factor that into your final price considerations.

 

If you want to save money and you are sure that 15 drives is enough, you can always just leave the last 5 bays in the Norco perpetually empty.  This means you won't have to buy a second SuperMicro card, and you would only need 2 of the SAS cables.  Again, you can use the cheap SIL3132 to cover that 15th bay, since 6 onboard SATA + 8 on the SuperMicro is only 14 drives.  You would actually have a 16 drive capacity at that point, if you cared to use every single available SATA port.

 

I see nothing wrong with buying a cheap case now and then upgrading later.  For only 3 or 4 drives I wouldn't worry too much about ventilation, any old case will do.  If your drives run a bit hot, just add a 120 mm fan.  The case you chose looks fine.  Rosewill makes some nice cheapies too.  Here's one that I used in one of my prototype builds - I like it because it can take a 5-in-3 to become a quick and easy 5 drive server.  I found it on sale at Newegg for $20 shipped.

 

Good luck, and I hope to hear back from you

Ha, the WAF (wife acceptance factor) is always an important consideration.  She may not appreciate the server during the planning stages, but wait in until she relies on it for her media consumption. 

She actually requested I put a LAN connection in the bedroom so she could watch her favorite movies there and listen to the music we have on the server there.

Part of the inspiration behind Joe L's preclear script was to keep his wife from nagging him while the server was down (this is a joke).

That is no joke.  That is the truth. 

 

We would greatly miss the server if it was not available.  (We would have to find a DVD on the shelves and put it in the player, and the media library shelves are two floors below the bedroom, nowhere near as convenient as pushing "play" on the remote.)

 

It is a lot of work to get it all set up, but once you do there is a lot of WAF to enjoy.

So if I go with the cheap case for now, is a hard drive married to the port it is plugged into?  I ask this because I will for sure look to purchase the norco, then I will be moving the components to the norco case.

 

So lets say I build this server with say 3 drives in the cheap case.  Then I buy the norco and add say a cache drive, what is the minimum required items that I will have to purchase with the Norco case.  Over time I plan on purchasing more hardware (need to kind of spread it out) like two of the SuperMicro AOC-SASLP-MV8.  I just can't buy it all at once. 

No, a hard drive is not married to a particular port.  Before you migrate to the new case, just take a screenshot of the 'devices' page and save it to your desktop/laptop.  Then when you start up unRAID for the first time with the new hardware, just go to the devices page and assign each drive into the correct spot.  It is IMPERATIVE that you get the parity drive in the right slot, otherwise you could lose data.  The data drives aren't as important, unRAID will figure it out if you mix them up a bit.

 

OK, minimum to get started with up to 4 drives in the Norco case is as follows:

- Motherboard with at least 4 SATA ports and two PCIe x4 or faster ports.

- CPU

- RAM

- Up to four 3.5" SATA hard drives (IDE hard drives won't work)

- PSU (I would recommend buying one that will support 20 drives, such as the Corsair 650W, even if you only start with a small amount of drives)

- One SAS-SATA reverse breakout cable (NORCO C-SFF8087-4S Discrete to SFF-8087 (Reverse breakout) Cable)

- Norco 4220 case

Depending on the parts you choose, I would say you are looking at $500-$800 for this initial phase.

 

The above will get you a 4 drive capacity in the 20 bay case.  Now phase 2 purchases would be:

- One SuperMicro AOC-SALP-MV8 card

- Two SAS-SAS cables (NORCO C-SFF8087-D SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Internal Multilane SAS Cable)

That should total around $150.

 

Now you'll have a 12 drive capacity in the 20 bay case.  Phase 3 purchases would be the same as phase 2:

- Another SuperMicro AOC-SALP-MV8 card

- Two more SAS-SAS cables (NORCO C-SFF8087-D SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Internal Multilane SAS Cable)

Again, around $150.

 

After phase 3 you'll have a full 20 drive capacity.  If instead you want to aim for an eventual 15 drive capacity (leaving 5 bays forever unused), let me know and I'll break down that sequence for you.

Something to consider, the Norco is either quiet or it cools well, one or the other, you can't have both. To quiet down the server many have replaced the included fans with quieter fans, thus reducing air flow. This may not be an issue if you can place it where the noise won't be an issue, or it is located in a very cool area.

 

If you purchase a 590 it comes with a single 4 in 3 that is not hot swap, but has excellent cooling via a 120mm fan that is very quiet. Other 4 in 3 cages can be purchased for $20 each. If you are tolerant of or even celebrate a "less elegant" look, you could add a second 590 as an axillary chassis to store more hard drives. By placing the two cases side by side you could make a poor man's Lian Li 343B. Total cost for two 590s and cages is $200, which will give you 24 drive slots. Cheaper than Norco, but you loose the elegant wiring and the hot swap cages. I think hot swap cages are not that useful. We are stuck on 2T. drive sizes and will be for another year at least. If you populate your array entirely with 2T. drives, the only time you have to muck around with drives is when you are adding drives. Keep a precleared spare drive in the array and a drive failure just involves a change of assignment and a rebuild, no touching of any hardware. I'm using a hybrid approach, with one hot swap cage (icy dock) and the rest Cooler Master 4 in 3s. It is a good money saving, quiet and cool compromise.

It is true that the Norco case is very loud with the stock fans, but I believe that by using good quality 120mm fans instead of the included 80mm fans, one can get perfectly adequate cooling in a quiet package.  I'm currently using three of these cheap Cooler Master 120mm fans to cool the 11 drives in my Norco 4220 (along with a custom fanplate).  As soon as the official Norco 120mm fanplate goes on sale (which should be by the end of the month), then the process of upgrading fans becomes much easier.  My server certainly isn't silent, but it is no louder than any other server I've built (including one that had three 5-in-3s in a CM-590, very similar to the standard budget build).

Ok I placed the order and this is my final components until I can spend the money to upgrade to a better case and more conveniant drive access:

 

Case:  RAIDMAX Thunder ATX-315WB (chosen due to price, $20 after mail in rebate, it also includes cooling fans)

 

Harddrives:  Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB X3 (2 from tigerdirect, 1 from newegg)

 

Motherboard:  SUPERMICRO MBD-X8SIL-F-O  (case server level stability and features @ a decent price.  Also gain ability to host 20 drives)

 

CPU:  Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz 4MB L3 Cache (should perform well for an unraid server.  I have also read people using it to virtualize with.

 

Memory:  Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 Server Memory (read and read, it seems as though as far as unraid goes a single 2 gig stick should be more than enough).

 

Flash Drive:  SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2GB Flash Drive

 

Future upgrades will be a biggers case and hot swap capability to have better access to the harddrives.  Add a cache drive.

 

What do you think of the final choice of hardware?  Can't wait to build it and get it setup to start hosting my media.  You know the one thing I haven't bumped into was a FAQ regarding install setup etc.  Do you mind pointing me in the right direction?

You know the one thing I haven't bumped into was a FAQ regarding install setup etc.  Do you mind pointing me in the right direction?

Try this page.  It should get you up and running.  I know that it was sufficient to get me up and running.  Which means that a monkey could do it then.

Looks like a great hardware list!  What was the total price?

 

Hopefully you ensured that your RAM is compatible with the mobo?  I know SuperMicro can be picky about RAM.  It is ECC, so I'm guessing it is fine.

 

If you have any specific questions during the building and configuring phase, just ask here or start a new thread.  We'll be around.

The Supermicro website was pretty limited.  I found info on Kingston's website listing that specific ram as compatible with that mobo.

 

$774.00 for this total build (includes shipping)

Very nice, I really like that motherboard. Let us know how you like it once you've got everything together.

Will do, I hate waiting for parts.  I really want to get my hands dirty.  Read Read Read to prepare for the setup, I guess.  I have been reading and bumped into a thread about running vmware server on unraid, is it true that this is possible?  If so, I am interested in installing whs into a vitual machine.  This move would require me to bump up the amount of ram installed, do you thin 4 gig would be enough?  The whs server is used for sagetv, windows backups and mymovies.  The sagetv server is a hd dvr via X2 hauppage hd pvr's and 1 hd homerun.

I have been reading and bumped into a thread about running vmware server on unraid, is it true that this is possible?

I'm very interested in this as well.  I'd like to consolidate my PVR and unRAID server into a single box if possible.  The only problem is that I'm a total noob when it comes to stuff like this.  Is there a guide out there that anyone knows of that might get me started?