First server. Basic build list. Suggestions?

Hey everyone,

 

I'm going to make the plunge soon to my first unRAID server.

 

What is your budget?

Without HDDs and the price of unRAID, I'd like to keep it under $700. Even under $600 would be great.

 

How many drives do you want your server to be able to support and how much capacity do you need?

I currently plan to start with two 8TB Red drives and then will expand over time. Most of my storage will be blu-ray rips. I could see getting to 6 drives total (4 storage / 2 parity) but 10 drives would be the distant future.

 

Is expandability important to you?  If so, what's your long term goal?

I want to be able to expand for sure. But as I'm just starting, I have no clue if I'll ever NEED 10 drives of storage. I could see myself getting to 6-8TB drives with 2 being parity.

 

Are you interested in running any unRAID Add Ons (see here)?  If so, which ones?  Be specific.

I only plan on using this for file storage/backup with possible CrashPlan and as a Plex media server. I have 0 intentions of ever doing VM.

 

As far as plex usage. I currently live at home with my GF, parents, and brother. I can't see us ever really having 4-5 plex streams at once, plus when I move out, that server will come with me and will only every have 2 streams at once between me and the gf. The main reason for this cpu choice is I have some odd 300+ blu-rays and shows I need to rip, and I'd like to be able to drop them on the server, let handbrake detect the raw mkvs, and trancode them. I currently use my gaming rig to transcode what I can, but I don't want that left on for all hours of the day, not to mention I can't use it while it's transcoding.

 

Do you want to run green/low power drives or faster 7200 rpm drives?  If you don't have a specific need for 7200 rpm drives, then choose green drives.

I'm pretty set on the 8TB Reds since I can get them for $500 out of the MyBook Duos

 

Do you have any spare parts laying around that you would like to apply towards your build?  This includes drives.

No spare parts at all, will be a fresh build.

 

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Here is a current workup of a build I have in mind https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sNjJqk. Now with this build, my two main questions.

 

I was looking at a mini-ITX build with an ASRock C236 WSI https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813599009 and to put it in a Fractal Node 304 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352027

 

If I stick with this mATX build and the Node 804, what are the differences / benefits of the one listed in the PCPartPicker build and this board https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182986?

 

Are there any other overall suggestions or changes that can be done?

 

You have similar ideas to mine and actually similar hardware considerations. Check out the build in my sig. The only thing I would have done differently is to get an SFX PSU for a bit more space.

Your build suggestions look great though I'd probably use 2x8GB of RAM because - well, why not?  I didn't look up the part number, but make sure that is ECC RAM since your motherboard and CPU support it.  mITX versus mATX really use come down to the number of drives you need to support and the form factor you prefer.  IPMI is worth considering, though, as the WSI doesn't have it.

 

Just curious, you're mixing up the way I usually use the terms transcoding and encoding.  Plex transcodes, Handbrake encodes.  The difference is that Plex is transcoding in real time and therefore needs lots of CPU on demand, while Handbrake encodes in batch and therefore isn't as performance sensitive.  In theory you could get away with less CPU if you only want to do encoding, but the Xeon is still a good idea.  A lot of things can cause Plex to decide to transcode and you want to have the hardware resources available if needed.

 

Be careful with the 8TB drives from the MyBook Duos, I thought I read that they had hardware encryption or something - I'd Google that one carefully.

 

 

I was originally going to go for 16GB of ram but to keep it within a budget I figured 8 was good for now given its use. That memory is ecc for sure so there is no problem there.

 

I'll definitely look into IPMI boards. I'm still torn between a smaller itx build and a mATX build that is bigger but more expandable.

 

As far as the Plex stuff, yeah I mixed my terms up. I've been debating just doing a i3-6100 which would likely be fine since I'm encoding all my blurays to MP4 but then I run into the issue of having to use my gaming machine to do the heavy lifting for that which I'd like to avoid.

 

I heard about the encryption for the MyBook but I'm fairly certain that's in regards to leaving them in the enclosure and not shucking them. I'll confirm just to be safe.

8GB is fine to start out, and may be all you ever need.  2 channels of RAM would perform a little better, but I'd do what you're doing - go with a single 8GB module now and add another if you need it.

 

I tend to encode stuff in batches.  Set it up and let it run overnight on my Core i7 desktop.  As you want to do it whenever new media shows up, going with more server CPU makes sense.

 

I struggle with the miniITX vs mATX decision myself.  My server is old so I am constantly updating a plan to replace it.  I'd love to find a miniITX motherboard with 8 SATA ports and IPMI, I'd put it in a Lian Li PC-Q25 with a Xeon and ECC RAM.  I don't think that motherboard exists, though .

miniITX definitely has it's appeal to me as well, but the board options always seem so limited as you've said.

 

I do think I'm decidedly going mATX with a node 804. If this is going to be a server I'll have for years to come, I'd hate to limit myself to a smaller case.

 

I was able to snag a deal on the Xeon as well. Open-box E3-1245v5 for ~$240 after taxes. Just need to open it at the store and check it out before I leave.

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Are you interested in running any unRAID Add Ons (see here)?...

You probably already realize this, but I just thought I would mention that wiki link in the sticky you were following is hopelessly out-of-date for V6.

8GB is fine to start out, and may be all you ever need.  2 channels of RAM would perform a little better, but I'd do what you're doing - go with a single 8GB module now and add another if you need it.

 

I tend to encode stuff in batches.  Set it up and let it run overnight on my Core i7 desktop.  As you want to do it whenever new media shows up, going with more server CPU makes sense.

 

I struggle with the miniITX vs mATX decision myself.  My server is old so I am constantly updating a plan to replace it.  I'd love to find a miniITX motherboard with 8 SATA ports and IPMI, I'd put it in a Lian Li PC-Q25 with a Xeon and ECC RAM.  I don't think that motherboard exists, though .

 

The SuperMicro Xeon-D boards get you 7 (6 SATA and an M.2 built in). They also have 10Gb Ethernet. That leaves you a free PCIe slot for whatever may come in the future.

...

Are you interested in running any unRAID Add Ons (see here)?...

You probably already realize this, but I just thought I would mention that wiki link in the sticky you were following is hopelessly out-of-date for V6.

 

I do, I just used that as a basis to indicate what I'll be running for dockers.

The SuperMicro Xeon-D boards get you 7 (6 SATA and an M.2 built in). They also have 10Gb Ethernet. That leaves you a free PCIe slot for whatever may come in the future.

Yeah, the Xeon-D boards are about as close to what I'd like as it gets.  That said, I wish the price jump from the 152x boards to the 154x boards was more palatable.