Posted October 16, 201014 yr im planning to build a unraid server to feed my htpc in the living room and a popcorn hour a110 in the bedroom. i have been running 2x 2tb wd greens in raid 0 in my desktop and then manually backing up to another 2x 2tb wd greens as my current server setup. this setup is a waste of usable space as well as its full so i need to do something. read about unraid on the xbmc forums and it looks like its what i need. anyway i want to build it on a tight budget that allow me to use all 4 of my drives to start with. from what i can gather that will give me 6tb of protected storage. what i need to know if these components will work ok mobo http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=42978&vpn=G31TM-P21&manufacture=MSI/MicroStar cpu http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=24601&vpn=BX80557430&manufacture=Intel ram http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35727&vpn=KVR800D2N5/1G&manufacture=Kingston also on a side note with my current raid setup my 2 drives show up as one in windows making it easy to browse media using the popcorn hour. can i do the same with unraid? thx
October 16, 201014 yr Good God, RAID0? Actually, it sounds like you're running RAID10 the hard way. Your hardware looks fine to me, as long as you won't be adding on CPU intensive tasks. UnRAID itself hardly seems to need the CPU at all. Depending on how many drives you want to add long term, you may want to consider a motherboard with two PCI-E x4 or better slots, to allow for add on controller cards. You can set up a user share that spans as many or as few drives as you wish. All while having the parity to add redundancy. I have a Movies share that is currently on only one drive. I'm going to add another drive to it, but at the user end you won't be able to tell. I have a "Television" share which spans three disks. It's all completely seamless at the user end. Windows just sees a single share that's the size of all three disks together.
October 16, 201014 yr Author i dont think i would go higher than 6 drives anytime soon so i could just add a pci card when the time and add 2 more drives correct? my current backup disks are used in non raid config. i just put all my tv shows on one and everything else on the other. i wanted my backups completely seperate from my pc but as im running out of space thats becoming more expensive and clunky lol can i have all my newsgroup downloads go directly onto the server as well or do i need to transfer then from the desktop over my network? thx for your input
October 16, 201014 yr Your CPU and RAM are fine, but I would recommend against that motherboard. Look for one that has onboard video, Gigabit LAN, and 6 SATA ports. You should be able to find one for under $75 CAD.
October 16, 201014 yr I totally agree, you really should seek 6 SATA, Gigabit and onboard video, two PCIe ports that are 4x+ is also a nice to have. For an Intel solution look at G43 boards, also consider AMD. The wiki has some suggestions for Recommended Builds. http://www.lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Hardware_Compatibility
October 16, 201014 yr Author how about this mobo http://ncix.com/products/?sku=43357&vpn=M4A785%2DM&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1207 and this processor http://ncix.com/products/?sku=43969&vpn=SDX140HBGQBOX&manufacture=AMD same ram thx again
October 16, 201014 yr Looks like someone has built a system using that same MB and CPU. You can read about it here. Many other users have that Sempron CPU as well, myself included. Bottom line - that MB and CPU should be fine. I didn't check the QVL for that RAM but I'm betting that it'll be fine also. I've seen a lot of other people use a single 2GB stick though.
October 16, 201014 yr That looks like a fine motherboard choice. There are a lot of places to save on an unRAID system, but the motherboard isn't one of them. I think that motherboard will serve you well for years to come.
October 17, 201014 yr Author ok so i got everthing hooked up and when i boot it starts up and a whole whack of stuff goes flying by on the screen and then it seems to just keep trying something and it says sata2.00 failed command read dma external? what do i do next?
October 17, 201014 yr Try unplugging everything that isnt needed (all addin cards). Leave only one sata disk (preferably in sata port 0 or 1). So just NIC/VGA/USB pen/SATA disk. Disable everything else in the bios Retry. If that works plugin one more drive at a time until it starts to fail again. Reseat and retry then replace that sata cable. Failing that if using molex -> sata PSU adapters reseat and replace those.
October 17, 201014 yr Author after leaving it for a few minutes the log in screen appears. however after logginf in at my desktop and assigning the drives my parity shows fine but my other data drive is always red? from what i can see that means that the drive is bad however i had no problems with it when i was using it before so im kinda stumped as to what to do next
October 17, 201014 yr after leaving it for a few minutes the log in screen appears. however after logginf in at my desktop and assigning the drives my parity shows fine but my other data drive is always red? from what i can see that means that the drive is bad however i had no problems with it when i was using it before so im kinda stumped as to what to do next You are experiencing the ability of the unRAID server to "simulate" the drive that has failed. If you have a "red" indicator, then that drive ware marked as not-valid because a "write" to it failed. Attach a syslog to your next post if you want further guidance. You may have a failed drive or a loose connection, but the drive will not restore itself even if you fix the loose connection. You must Stop the array Un-Assign the failed drive Start the array with it un-assigned. You'll still be able to get to its contents... (it is still being simulated) Stop the array Re-Assign the failed drive where you think it might have been a loose connection) Start the array once more. The "simulated" contents will be written to the drive, re-constructing it. This will take about the same time as an initial parity calculation. Joe L.
October 17, 201014 yr Author forgive my ignorance but i know nothing about this system yet. i switched the drive to a diffrant sata port and restarted the system. i reassigned the drives and now it shows a orange ball beside it and data rebuild in progress. there is no data on the server yet but i need to wait for it to zero everything correct? it syas it estimates its gonna take 500 minutes
October 17, 201014 yr forgive my ignorance but i know nothing about this system yet. i switched the drive to a diffrant sata port and restarted the system. i reassigned the drives and now it shows a orange ball beside it and data rebuild in progress. there is no data on the server yet but i need to wait for it to zero everything correct? it syas it estimates its gonna take 500 minutes Either you let it finish, or, you can initialize a new disk configuration and let it calculate parity again which will probably also take about 500 Minutes... Pick your poison. Use the time to read the FAQ in the wiki to learn more about your new server.
October 18, 201014 yr Author is it normal for it to take a few minutes for the server to boot up? i notice while its going the the startup proceedure that it show a few errors?
October 18, 201014 yr is it normal for it to take a few minutes for the server to boot up? i notice while its going the the startup proceedure that it show a few errors? Yes is is normal. Some errors are normal as devices are probed and the hardware configuration determined. Take a few minutes and look at some of the system logs others have posted, especially if you can find one from a user with a similar motherboard. You'll see similar messages. Errors after the server has booted are ones you might need to be more concerned about.
October 19, 201014 yr Author aha ok thats what i figured i havent got any of those yet so thats good. im kinda confused however about the transfer rates im getting from my desktop to my unraid box. its averaging 10MB/second. is there a way to make that considerably faster or is that pretty much normal? thx again
October 19, 201014 yr aha ok thats what i figured i havent got any of those yet so thats good. im kinda confused however about the transfer rates im getting from my desktop to my unraid box. its averaging 10MB/second. is there a way to make that considerably faster or is that pretty much normal? thx again It depends. Does your desktop have a Gigabit LAN connection? or a 100Mbit LAN connection? Is the router/switch it connects through a Gigabyte router/switch? or a 100Mbit router/switch? Joe L.
October 19, 201014 yr Author my desktop mobo is a ga-870a-ud3 rev 2.0 specs are here PU Support for Socket AM3 processors: AMD Phenom™ II processor / AMD Athlon™ II processor Hyper Transport Bus 5200 MT/s Chipset North Bridge: AMD 870 South Bridge: AMD SB850 Memory 4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory (Note 1) Dual channel memory architecture Support for DDR3 1866(OC)(Note 2)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules Audio Realtek ALC892 codec High Definition Audio 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel Support for Dolby Home Theater Support for S/PDIF In/Out Support for CD In LAN 1 x Realtek 8111D chip (10/100/1000 Mbit) Expansion Slots 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) (Note 3) 2 x PCI Express x1 slots (The PCIEX1_1 and PCIEX1_2 slots share bandwidth with the PCIEX4 slot.) (Note 3) (All PCI Express slots conform to the PCI Express 2.0 standard.) 3 x PCI slots Storage Interface South Chipset: 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors supporting up to 6 SATA 6Gb/s devices Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID5, RAID 10, and JBOD SATA3 RAID 0 4x and SATA3 2x performance are maximum theoretical values. Actual performance may vary by system configuration. GIGABYTE SATA2 chip: 1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices Support for SATA RAID 0 and RAID 1 and JBOD JMicron JMB362 chip: 2 x eSATA 3Gb/s connectors on the back panel supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD iTE IT8720 chip: 1 x floppy disk drive connector supporting up to 1 floppy disk drive USB Chipset: Up to 12 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (8 on the back panel, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers) NEC chip: Up to 2 USB 3.0/2.0 ports on the back panel * USB 3.0 10x performance is a maximum theoretical value. Actual performance may vary by system configuration. IEEE 1394 T.I. TSB43AB23 chip: Up to 3 IEEE 1394a ports (2 on the back panel, 1 via the IEEE 1394a bracket connected to the internal IEEE 1394a header) Internal I/O Connectors 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector 1 x floppy disk drive connector 1 x IDE connector 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors 1 x CPU fan header 2 x system fan header 1 x power fan header 1 x front panel header 1 x front panel audio header 1 x CD In connector 1 x S/PDIF In header 1 x S/PDIF Out header 1 x IEEE 1394a header 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 1 x serial port header 1 x parallel port header 1 x clearing CMOS jumper Back Panel Connectors 1 x PS/2 keyboard or mouse port 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 1 x coaxial S/PDIF out connector 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 2 x IEEE 1394a port 2 x eSATA 3Gb/s ports 1 x RJ-45 port 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone) I/O Controller ITE IT8720 chip H/W Monitoring System voltage detection CPU/System temperature detection CPU/System/Power fan speed detection CPU overheating warning CPU/System/Power fan fail warning CPU/System fan speed control (Note 4) BIOS 2 x 8 Mbit flash Use of licensed AWARD BIOS Support for DualBIOS™ PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI 1.0b my router is a dlink dir615 specs are here Standards • IEEE 802.11n • IEEE 802.11g • IEEE 802.3 • IEEE 802.3u Device Interface • 4 10/100 LAN Ports • 1 10/100 WAN Port Security • Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA, WPA2)® Advanced Firewall Features • Network Address Translation (NAT) • Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) • VPN Pass-through / Multi-sessions PPTP / L2TP / IPSec Device Management • Internet Explorer® v7 or Later; Mozilla Firefox® v3.0 or Later; or other Java-enabled Browsers LEDs • Power • WLAN (Wireless Connection) • LAN (10/100) • Internet Status Certifications • FCC Class B • IC • Wi-Fi® • IPv6 Gold Dimensions • Item (WxDxH): 7.8" x 5" x 1.2" (198.1mm x 127mm x 30.5mm) • Packaging (WxDxH): 10.9" x 2.6" x 8.1" (276.9mm x 66mm x 205.8mm) Weight • Item: 0.6 lbs (272.2 grams) • Packaging: 2.0 lbs (907.2 grams) Warranty • 1 Year Limited* Recommended System Requirements • For Optimal Wireless Performance, use with: Wireless N 300 Adapter (DWA-130) Minimum System Requirements • Computer with: • Windows 7®**, Windows Vista®**, Windows® XP SP3**, or Mac OS® X (v10.4)*** • Internet Explorer v7 or Mozilla Firefox v3.0 • CD-ROM Drive • Network Interface Card • For Internet Access: • Cable or DSL Modem • Subscription with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) Package Contents • Wireless N 300 Router • 2 Antennas***** • CAT5 Ethernet Cable • Power Adapter • CD-ROM**** with: • Installation Wizard • Product Documentation and if it matters its all connected using cat5e thx
October 19, 201014 yr Author im pretty sure my router is the problem but before i buy another one can someone confirm? 10/100/1000 is what i need in order to achive full speed correct? will it acually be 100MB/second if i get a better router? or will the disk speed only allow for 70/MBish??
October 19, 201014 yr It kind of depends on your hardware. In the real world, you never see the ideal speed listed by manufacturers. On my network, I get about 75-90 MB/s on sustained transfers. That doesn't apply to write operations to the unRAID server of course. Those go at about 25 MB/s, due to parity calculations. I don't use a cache drive at this time.
October 19, 201014 yr Author right i forgot about the parity calculation slowing it down. if i did get a 10/100/1000 router am i definatly gonna see a increase in write speeds to the server?
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