Hello everybody.

My need is to build a reliable and future-proof file storage/archive solution for photos (lots of RAW images) with the ability to increase disk space as needed. The goal is to be able to support at least 12 disks at some point. In the past, I've used several commercial NAS products, but now I feel that the solution I’m seeking becomes too expensive. Also, the unRAID operating logic relative to traditional RAID solutions seems very appropriate to my needs.

I have looked at a variety of options that could meet my needs at the moment I’m planning the following build:  

 

Chassis: Fractal Design Define XL R2

I live in northern Europe, so the availability of components is a bit weak and this has had some effect on the build. For example, a Norco or Rosewill rack enclosure would really have been ideal for me, but their availability at a reasonable price is very poor here. The Define XL R2 I chose would fit quite easily at least 12 discs into the case and at least 4 more with a little tuning so I think it will fulfill my needs.

 

Mobo: SuperMicro A2SDi-8C-HLN4F

As regards the motherboard, I have reflected on many different options and perhaps most essential matter consisted of ease. I think that the board might be a bit overkill, but it allows me to connect 12 disks without having to purchase separate SAS controller, the processor is included and suited to my needs, and the PCIe port allows me to add additional SATA ports if needed with the SAS controller.

 

Mem: Crucial 8GB DDR4 2666MHz ECC (or maybe two)

I am not using the solution for streaming, running virtual machines, etc. so I would expect 8GB to be at least enough memory at first.

 

Power: Seasonic 650W FOCUS GX-650

650W power supply might have enough juice to run the system even when I have 12+ HDDs attached?

 

Boot drive: Sandisk 16GB Ultra Fit, USB 3.1, 130MB/s

HDD: 2*WD red 4tb + 2* Seagate Ironwolf 4tb + some old 2-4tb drives

+ some SATA/Power cables etc.

 

I would be very grateful for any tips and thoughts about my plan because this will be my first unRAID build.

Do you think I have forgotten something essential about building a configuration or would you recommend some better options as parts of the build?

32 minutes ago, HenriH said:

Boot drive: Sandisk 16GB Ultra Fit, USB 3.1, 130MB/s

No benefit to more than USB2 speed, or more than 4GB capacity. And it's best if you can boot from a USB2 port because they are often more reliable for the USB boot flash. The OS doesn't run on the flash, it just loads into RAM at boot time. Think of it as firmware.

 

34 minutes ago, HenriH said:

some old 2-4tb drives

You want to make sure all disks are reliable. In order to reliably rebuild a missing disk, Unraid must be able to reliably read parity PLUS all other disks.

 

And I always recommend not installing more disks than you need for capacity. Don't install a disk just because you happen to already have it. Each disk is a possible point of failure so the fewer the better. In fact, I always replace disks with larger disks to get more capacity instead of adding disks.

15 hours ago, trurl said:

No benefit to more than USB2 speed, or more than 4GB capacity. And it's best if you can boot from a USB2 port because they are often more reliable for the USB boot flash. The OS doesn't run on the flash, it just loads into RAM at boot time. Think of it as firmware.

 

You want to make sure all disks are reliable. In order to reliably rebuild a missing disk, Unraid must be able to reliably read parity PLUS all other disks.

 

And I always recommend not installing more disks than you need for capacity. Don't install a disk just because you happen to already have it. Each disk is a possible point of failure so the fewer the better. In fact, I always replace disks with larger disks to get more capacity instead of adding disks.

Thanks trurl for your comments.

 

I did not fully understand the role of the boot disk, which is why I chose an unnecessarily big and fast option.

Thanks also for the tip on old HDD's. I'll have to use the oldest discs for other purposes and to evaluate whether the newest and bigger ones are worth transferring into the build as they become available.

19 hours ago, HenriH said:

I think that the board might be a bit overkill,

Just opposite, this CPU quite weak, I can't see future proof. Quick check show it haven't SSE command set. I even doubt can it handle dual parity without serious performance drop, but may be I wrong. Pls go with LSI HBA add on card route, you pay once then you can freely change MB without limitation by how many port onboard.

 

I only agree if you need a power save machine for 7x24.

 

Edited December 21, 20196 yr by Benson

On 12/21/2019 at 5:26 PM, Benson said:

Just opposite, this CPU quite weak, I can't see future proof. Quick check show it haven't SSE command set. I even doubt can it handle dual parity without serious performance drop, but may be I wrong. Pls go with LSI HBA add on card route, you pay once then you can freely change MB without limitation by how many port onboard.

 

I only agree if you need a power save machine for 7x24.

 

Thanks Benson for your comment. I understand your point but still decided to go with A2SDi-8C-HLN4F and hope that the processor will have enough performance. Ease of use and on the other hand, the power rating outweighed the future alternatives.

My final configuration is going to be:

Mobo: Supermicro A2SDi-8C-HLN4F
Mem: Crucial DDR4 8GB EEC RDIMM
PSU: Corsair RM650x
Case: Fractal Design Define XL R2
Boot disk: SanDisk Cruzer Fit 16GB USB2
Cache drive: Kingston A2000 M.2 NVMe SSD 250GB
Parity + Data: 4*Seagate IronWolf 4 TB

 

I could send some build reports if someone is interested.

Understand, I also amend, C3000 series (Goldmont microarchitecture) stronger a lot than C2000 (Silvermont) and previous.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldmont#Desktop_processors_(Apollo_Lake)

 

9 hours ago, HenriH said:

I could send some build reports if someone is interested.

Welcome.