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Looking for help with my first unRAID build


ArdNsc

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Posted (edited)

Hi,

 

I am new to unRAID and would like to build my first machine to get rid of an old Synology NAS and to replace a Raspi that runs some smaller stuff with Docker. The device should mainly provide storage for my network and should be capable to run things like Pihole, Nextcloud, Sabnzbd via Docker. Mediafiles would also be stored on the new device, but video encoding/decoding is not needed, since another device in my network is running Kodi. I am also not planning to run any VMs, just Docker containers.

 

Right now I am sitting on 4 HDDs (6,8,10,10T) and two SSDs (250G) that would find their way into the device. I want to have the possibility to expand the storage/array/cache later by adding additional drives before I have to remove/replace the old ones.

 

Can you help me finding the right hardware? This is what i came up with so far:

 

 

Some thoughts/questions:

  • What I like about the Silverstone is its size and that it can hold up to 8 HDDs. I need a Case that's not bigger than 40cm in any direction because of the spot where I would like to place it. Hot Swap is not that important to me, but of course nice to have.
  • The Mainboard does only list Windows as a supported OS, no Linux. Will this be a problem?
  • I want to be able to add 2,5Gbit/s or 10Gbit/s ethernet at some point in the future when my network/other devices can benefit from it. This is what I would need the free PCIe port for.
  • Is it even possible to choose a Processor without iGPU when I am not planning to integrate any dedicated GPU? I chose this because its cheaper.
  • Will I benefit from EEC RAM in terms of data-reliability?
  • I want the system to be well-dimensioned for its tasks. Would I benefit from a faster processor / more RAM? Or is my choice already some sort of overkill? I would also want to encrypt at least some of the data drives (LUKS), so the system should be capable of doing that without too much cost of network data transfer performance.
  • When upgrading to faster ethernet in the future it would be nice if the 1Gbit/s connection was the "bottleneck" for the speed of network data transfer (SMB,NFS) and not the system itself.

 

I am looking forward for your opinions and your help. I hope my questions are okay and justify opening a new topic. If you need any more information or if i missed something general just tell me.

 

Edited by ArdNsc
additional info, links
Posted

Some pointers

  • Your CPU doesn't have integrated graphics so you are assuming the ability to boot headless, which cannot be assumed with consumer motherboards. You are better off with a CPU with iGPU. Cost cutting here is very risky.
  • The DS380 case is a known notoriety due to its poor design that basically has no airflow over the drives. You will have to do some small mods to make it work (just google it) so keep that in mind. The smallest ITX case I trust is the Fractal Design Node 304.
  • I think the Windows line means it supports 64-bit, not because it doesn't work with Linux. My X399 Designare has the same Windows line.
  • Unraid does NOT require ECC RAM. If you have to choose paying for ECC vs paying for iGPU, the iGPU wins every time. ECC is a good to have. iGPU may be the diff between even being able to boot.
  • Are you running 2 sticks or 1 stick of RAM? You should always try to populate all RAM channels so if you want 8GB then you want 2x4GB.
  • 8GB RAM is sufficient for the use-case you described. Your CPU choice is also fine, except for the lack of iGPU as mentioned above.
Posted

@testdasithanks for the reply. I would rather pick the Pentium Gold G5400 (has iGPU) instead of the i3-9100. Do you think thats okay? I meant to run 1 stick of RAM. Since the board only has two slots I thought it would be easier to upgrade later on. Plus, 2x4GB is more expensive than 1x8GB. Is it a huge drawbag only to have one stick of RAM installed?

Posted
13 hours ago, ArdNsc said:

@testdasithanks for the reply. I would rather pick the Pentium Gold G5400 (has iGPU) instead of the i3-9100. Do you think thats okay? I meant to run 1 stick of RAM. Since the board only has two slots I thought it would be easier to upgrade later on. Plus, 2x4GB is more expensive than 1x8GB. Is it a huge drawbag only to have one stick of RAM installed?

 

  • The G5400 is fine for your usage without encryption. Last I tested encryption (and dual parity), they had a rather drastic impact on CPU load. Things may have improved by now but I still would caution against using low power CPU with encryption.
  • You may think outside of the box a bit and perhaps consider like the Ryzen 2200G. Of course you will need to change motherboard choices etc so it can be quite daunting.
  • Running half-channel RAM will half its speed. Whether it's small medium big huge is rather "it depends". To be honest, I don't think it will be perceptible given your states use case so if it's in your upgrade plan to add another stick then it's probably ok. You should still download the motherboard manual from the manufacturer website to read up, in case there's any special provisions if you only use single DIMM.

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