My first unraid server

[smackdaddy33]

My proposed shopping list on newegg is below.  This build will be based on Raj's 5->10->15 drive budget box here -

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=7998.0. 

I plan to start out with two WD20EARS and work my way up from there.  I'll need to get some jumpers for the EARS, but will I need to get any additional cables or anything else for this build?  I plan to start with the free unRaid license since I'll only have 2 drives at first.  Any suggestions or comments are welcome before I pull out the wallet.

 

    COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $69.99

    Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Bare Drive 89.99

    Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Bare Drive 89.99

    Open Box: BIOSTAR TA785G3HD AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - $46.99

    CORSAIR Builder Series CMPSU-500CX 500W ATX12V v2.3 Active PFC Power Supply - $59.99 after $10 rebate

    Koutech USB 2.0 Header-Pin to Dual Type-A adapter Model IO-UU220 - $9.99

    Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model KVR1066D3N7/2G - $29.99

    AMD Sempron 140 Sargas 2.7GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Processor - $36.99

    SUPERMICRO CSE-M35T-1B Black 5 Bay Hot-Swapable SATA HDD Enclosure - $99.99

    Mushkin Enhanced Mulholland 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Model MKNUFDMH4GB - $5.99

Total =  $540 + $35 shipping.

 

 

[kenoka]

Most motherboards come with a couple of SATA cables, but yours being open box may not. I'd go to monoprice.com and get a bunch of whatever cables take your fancy there.

[smackdaddy33]

I added another drive to make it 3 WD20EARS and switched to a Kingston DataTraveler G3 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive.  I ordered the supermicro enclosure from Amazon instead of Newegg since the price was the same and shipping is free with Amazon Prime.  Jumper caps were relatively cheap there too.

 

My poor wife is hoping she'll get to buy my christmas present for me one year.  I would've offered to let her click the "confirm order" button, but something tells me I'd get whacked.  

[Rajahal]

Haha....it can be hard to explain that all you want for Christmas is a new unRAID server...

 

Yes, you will need some SATA cables.  As kenoka said, monoprice.com is the best source of them.  You'll need one cable per drive.  You might want to start with 5 for now, that way every bay in your Supermicro cage will be usable.  As soon as you buy your second supermico cage, then buy 5 more cables, and so on.

 

For now you will be fine with the power cables that come with your PSU.  For future expansion you'll likely need power splitters (again, check monoprice).

 

Also be forewarned - open box deals are great, but they sometimes ship without any accessories whatsoever.  While you can live without the SATA cables, manual, etc, it is hard to replace the IO shield.  While technically you can run without it, it is sort of nice to have.  Just be prepared to search for a separate one.  Generally buying one from the manufacturer will eat up all the money you saved on the open box deal.  When I ran into this problem once before, I was lucky enough to find another unRAID user who sent me a spare IO shield for free.

[smackdaddy33]

We're rocking and rolling now.  I even managed to get ps3ms up and running thanks to the great contributions to the forum.  Here are a few pictures I took on my cell during the build...

[smackdaddy33]

...

[Thomss]

Very tidy! 

[smackdaddy33]

I only have about 400GB free of the original 4TB of storage space and am filling it up quickly.  I put in orders for parts to build out 10 more drive bays this morning to get the server up to 15 total, but haven't ordered any drives yet.  I may not need the additional 5 in 3 bays right away, but I might as well go ahead at the rate I'm filling up space now.  Now I just need to find a good deal on some 2TB drives.

 

2 X Supermicro CSE-M35T1B Mobile Rack http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=10344799

 

1 X Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 8-Port SAS/SATA Add-on Card https://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AOC-SASMV8

 

2 X 0.75m 30AWG Internal Mini SAS 36pin (SFF-8087) Male w/ Latch to SATA 7pin Female (x4) Forward Breakout Cable - Black http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10254&cs_id=1025406&p_id=8187&seq=1&format=2

 

1 X SATA2 Serial ATA II PCI-Express RAID Controller Card (Silicon Image SIL3132) https://www.monoprice.com/myaccount/od.asp?order_no=5253608&user_id=2066464

[Johnm]

Nice build. i like how the Supermicro pullouts look in that case.

 

you might also want to pick up one of these adapter to turn your 16th drive into an esata port. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040707&p_id=7637&seq=1&format=2

that is unless you had plans to internally mount drive a drive (like an ssd for cache)

 

as far as a hard drive deals, there is a slight shortage on drive at the moment. everything is at the highest it has been in months. if you have a local microcenter or frys, they both have walk-in only deals on 2TB hard drives for $75-$80 bucks.

[smackdaddy33]

you might also want to pick up one of these adapter to turn your 16th drive into an esata port. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040707&p_id=7637&seq=1&format=2

that is unless you had plans to internally mount drive a drive (like an ssd for cache)

 

I thought about attaching an SSD, but never thought about extra storage with esata.  I might have to look into that when I eventually max out the storage.

[Johnm]

I was thinking more along the lines of using the eSATA as a SNAP drive or for Preclears using an eSATA toaster.

 

If you had a reliable eSATA enclosure, I do not see why you could not use it as part of the array.

there is a possibility the MV8 would support a port multiplier on the esata. The PCIx version did support a port multiplier. It did have a different chipset though.