jeff.lebowski's unRAID build

[jeff.lebowski]

I had been juggling internal drives + a Thermaltake BlacX eSATA dock since early 2010. It's nice to have a lower power (no power when it's not in use!) backup like this, but there's no protection for the data. Power use was my main decision in not building a JBOD a couple years ago; I simply didn't want something running 24/7. unRAID has come to the rescue!

First server (Limelight):

OS at time of building: 4.6
CPU: AMD Sempron 140
Motherboard: ASUS M4A785-M Micro ATX
RAM: Kingston 2GB
Case: Cooler Master 590
Drive Cage(s): Icy Dock 5 in 3
Drive Cage(s): Norco SS-500
Drive Cage(s): Built in CM four slot cage
Power Supply: CORSAIR Builder Series CMPSU-500CX 500W
SATA Expansion Card(s): SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 PCI Express x4 SAS SAS RAID Controller
Cables: 18 inch
Fans: 2x Masscool SL-FD12025 120mm for the top (exhaust), one Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E / 120mm 1,200rpm installed on the side panel (intake), then stock fans for the front (intake) and rear (exhaust).
Flash Drive: 2GB SanDisk Cruzer Micro
UPS: APC BR1000G

Parity Drive: 2tb WD EARS (jumpered)
Data Drives: 2x 2tb WD EARX
Data Drives: 1x 2tb WD EADS
Data Drives: 7x 2tb WD EARS
Data Drives: 2x 2tb Samsung F4 Spinpoint (w/Japanese firmware)
Data Drives: 1x 2tb Seagate Barracuda
Total Drive Capacity: 26tb

Primary Use: Media, music, and general backup
Likes: Everything!
Dislikes: Difficulty in understanding the user shares settings
Add Ons Used: unMENU, preclear_disk, email notifications

I got these numbers via the UPS and its "LOAD" number listed on the front panel of the UPS. I think it's pretty accurate.

Boot (peak): 125W
Idle (avg): 75W (all drives spun down)
Light use (avg): 85W (streaming to one client)
Active (avg): 175W (parity check)

Second server (Subdivisions):

OS at time of building: 4.7
CPU: AMD Sempron 140
Motherboard: BIOSTAR A760G M2+ Micro ATX
RAM: Kingston 2GB
Case: AZZA Helios 910
Drive Cage(s): Icy Dock 5 in 3
Drive Cage(s): 2x SUPERMICRO CSE-M35T 5 in 3
Power Supply: Corsair TX650
SATA Expansion Card(s): SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 PCI Express x4 SAS RAID Controller
Cables: 18 inch
Fans: Stock fans
Flash Drive: 2GB SanDisk Cruzer Micro
UPS: APC BE550G

Parity Drive: 2tb Samsung F4 Spinpoint
Data Drives: 3x 1tb WD FALS
Data Drives: 1tb WD EADS
Data Drives: 4x Samsung F1 Spinpoint 1 TB
Data Drives: 2x 2tb WD EARX
Data Drives: 2x 2tb WD EADS
Data Drives: 1.5tb WD FAEX
Total Drive Capacity: 17.5tb

Primary Use: Torrent hosting and short term storage
Likes: Everything!
Dislikes: Old disks run a bit warmer than the other server
Add Ons Used: unMENU, preclear_disk

Third server (Freewill):

OS at time of building: 5.0-rc8
CPU: AMD Sempron 140
Motherboard: BIOSTAR A760G M2+ Micro ATX
RAM: Kingston 2GB
Case: AZZA Helios 910
Drive Cage(s): None yet.
Power Supply: Corsair HX650
SATA Expansion Card(s): None
Cables: 18 inch
Fans: Stock fans
Flash Drive: 2GB SanDisk Cruzer
UPS: APC BE550G

Parity Drive: 3tb Seagate Barracuda
Data Drives: 2x 500GB Caviar Blue AAKS
Total Drive Capacity: 1tb

Primary Use: Testing out release 5
Likes: Everything!
Dislikes: Old disks run a bit warmer than the other servers
Add Ons Used: Simple Features, preclear_disk

Updated pic hosting, with options:

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Here's my network diagram:



I was more than a little apprehensive when it came time to flatten the 5.25" bay tabs on a brand new case. I flattened all 24 of them so when the next cages are ready, I just install them and add the drives. No more trips to the garage and getting jiggy with a clamp.

I found an old USB header and removed the metal bracket that holds it against the back of the case. It's now plugged into one of the USB pin sets.

The 4 pin ATX cord is not quite long enough to go behind the mobo in that kick ass cable race between the bottom mobo panel and the side panel, so I ordered an extension: Athena Power 12" 4-pin P4 12V Power Extension Cable (Female to Male). Along those lines, the PSU has plenty of SATA power plugs (five of them), but short on molex (not unexpected). I also ordered three of Athena Power 15-pin SATA to Dual 4-Pin Molex Adapter.

The front panel wires are neatly bundled and fastened to the case with zip ties. The SATA cables are bundled as well, but I don't like how little movement they have.
I performed a low level format on the parity drive using HDDGURU. That took about 5 hours.

Second server build notes:

The components for this server were purchased by a friend, under my guidance. He's a Mac user, and wanted something more expandable and lower cost than his Drobo. He bought the parts, but couldn't wait for me to arrive and help assemble. He shorted out the PSU somehow, and got really afraid. I bought the case, mobo, ram, proc, and cage for $300. It sat in a spare room for a solid eight months before I decided to do something with it.

1) I think the SM cages are slightly larger in dimensions. It was a VERY tight fit for the first one (middle position), and very, VERY tight for the third cage.
2) The front trim piece on the AZZA Helios 910 had these crossbars that had to be removed because would it not reinstall with the new cages there.
3) The cages must have their power cables installed before slid into position. There is almost no room to insert them after the fact. Mine are against the motherboard wall, not the other.
4) The threaded holes on the side of the SM cage are optical drive mounting threads, NOT hard disk mounting threads.

Third server build notes:

I bought the motherboard, CPU, and RAM from another unRAID user. Already had the Intel NIC and a few old disks to use as data. Bought the case, flash drive, and UPS new. I wanted to work on cable management with this build more so than the others. So a modular PSU was needed. The original PSU was an OCZ ZT650 which had a super long 24 pin ATX cable. It easily went into the race behind the motherboard. The 4 pin cable needed an extension. When that arrived, I hooked everything up and the damn thing wouldn't power up. After swapping in the Antec PSU, everything worked fine. So the OCZ went back to amazon for a refund. A Corsair HX650 is on its way. Just a few days after completing preclear sequences everything is great. I like how Simple Features looks, but I think it will be a bit before updating the other servers to release 5.

[bnice5299]

nice setup 

[bjp999]

When you upload the images, try to resize them to 800x600 or so.  Then you can link them in the forum posts like this:

Code: [Select]

[img]http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/2803/dsc03753b.jpg[/img]

This image is a little too big though!

[jeff.lebowski]

When you upload the images, try to resize them to 800x600 or so.  Then you can link them in the forum posts like this:

Code: [Select]

[img]http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/2803/dsc03753b.jpg[/img]

This image is a little too big though!

I chose thumbnails with links to hi-res images for closer scrutiny. Are 800 pixel on the long side directly posted without thumbnails preferred?

[Rajahal]

Ideally you could post 800 x whatever photos hotlinked to the full size photos.  However, if that is too much work then I would prefer the thumbnails like you posted to oversized photos posted directly.  As long as I don't ever have to scroll sideways to see a photo, I'm happy.

[jeff.lebowski]

Ideally you could post 800 x whatever photos hotlinked to the full size photos.  However, if that is too much work then I would prefer the thumbnails like you posted to oversized photos posted directly.  As long as I don't ever have to scroll sideways to see a photo, I'm happy.

I think there's an option in most browsers to force larger than the window images to resize, with an option to view full-size. In case you didn't know about it.

[Rajahal]

No, I didn't know that...thanks.

Edit: I don't see any options like you've described in chrome - unless you mean simple zoom.

[jeff.lebowski]

No, I didn't know that...thanks.

Edit: I don't see any options like you've described in chrome - unless you mean simple zoom.

Looks like it's not an option for Chrome. Surprising. ctrl + or - works too, but is not automatic, which is handy for this situation. I'll work on something special, just for the unRAID group.

[Rajahal]

Can't wait 

The only issue with zoom (ctrl + / -) is that it shrinks the text too.  I actually do spend most of my time on firefox at work (can't install chrome there), so if there's already an option built into firefox them I probably won't need the chrome one.  At home I use chrome on a 24" monitor, so I rarely need to zoom anything

[rich.bingham]

Raj, take a look at Image Zoom

[Rajahal]

Sweet, thanks.  But I still encourage people to properly size their photos

[opentoe]

Ideally you could post 800 x whatever photos hotlinked to the full size photos.  However, if that is too much work then I would prefer the thumbnails like you posted to oversized photos posted directly.  As long as I don't ever have to scroll sideways to see a photo, I'm happy.

I think there's an option in most browsers to force larger than the window images to resize, with an option to view full-size. In case you didn't know about it.

I'm using Firefox and can zoom images by holding down left CTRL key and then scrolling my mouse.

[jeff.lebowski]

Sweet!

Third (second data) disk just finished pre-clear about an hour ago. WD20EADS took 29 hours to pre-clear. I had to low level format twice, using HDDGURU. Some kind of weird error in the middle gave me pause, so I ran it a second time.

Transferring data at 28MB/s via TeraMove.

I'll run this free license for six weeks or so (if the free space holds out), and then upgrade to Pro. I can obviously place two more drives in the existing Icy Dock before needing to purchase a second dock and SATA controller card. I could utilize the existing drive cage that's behind the case fan. Unless that would present issues later when they do get moved into an Icy Dock cage? Just thinking ahead here, I don't know if there would be an issue.

[jeff.lebowski]

Today I ordered a new WD20EARS from Newegg. Just in time for the $20 rebate and $10 newegg promo.

There's two slots left in the Icy Dock cage, plus the three slots that come with the CoolerMaster 590. With the other two 2tb drives I already have, all sata ports will now be full in just a week or so. The two drives are within just a few % of being full, so with the new drive added in, I'll have some free space available. After that, I've got three 1tb drives (also near full) to install, but that will require another Icy Dock cage.

I upgraded to a Pro license, v4.7, and pre_clear v1.2 in the last 12 hours as well.

[Joe L.]

I upgraded to a Pro license, v4.7, and pre_clear v1.2 in the last 12 hours as well.

pre-clear 1.3 was released only a few hours ago...  You may want to download it one more time.

Joe L.