Re: What is Unraid and how to build an Unraid media server
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2022 1:41 pm
Hi all, I hope everyone is well.
I just wanted to update the thread because I finally received my case and was able to build my Unraid server properly. In fact, I decided to build two, because I found two cases at a decent price.
Here are the beasts:
On the left is the server for all my 4K disks, hence called UNR-A4K. That's the 3770K with 16GB RAM, and where I put my Windows VM. That's the one I care about most. It has an LSI 16-port and an 8-port adapters, so 24-port in total. For now I'm only using the 16-port with data disks (I'll try to stay around 14 disks if I can for now) and the 8-port adapter for the two parity disks. Here's the inside:
On the right is my server for all my 2K disks, hence the UNR-B2K moniker. It's the 2500K with 16GB RAM. That one has the 9305-24i, also 24-port. Currently I only have 6 drives and no parity as I'm moving content to it, but I plan to have 18-20 data drives and two parity drives when everything is there. No VM, though I could. Here is the inside:
I have a 1TB cache SSD in both. I've also added a Noctua controller to adjust the speed of the chassis fans, because they made as much noise as a jet. Most of the time I need them at about 2/3 of the speed. I also moved the GPU to the slowest PCI slot, that way I can have two controllers in each server both at PCI 2.0 8X. At some point I'll upgrade the B server to PCI 3.0 to lift the PCI bottleneck, but 170MB/s is fine for now. The A server maxes at 250 MB/s for all drives, which is plenty for my drives.
I've also installed a USB 3.0 extension on each so that I can connect both a USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 from the front. Handy if I need to connect an external USB 3.0 drive for example.
I have now started the process of moving all the data from my QNAP TS859 and Synology DS2411+1211, which will be reconverted into backup devices with older HDDs when all is done. I have a 30-step to do list to make sure that I keep everything and move the drives as they become available, so wish me luck. I reckon the whole transfer will take me at least a month.
I plan to use the unbalance plugin to move my data around in the 4K server as I've started using it with 12 4TB older drives and I'm replacing the 4TB with 6TH as they become available.
Oh and I recommend to uninstall the old pre-clear plugin, it's not compatible anymore and is causes issues, I installed the Dynamix preclear plugin for unassigned devices that works great, and there is also a docker version (no GUI).
I've also installed the "Fix common problems" plugin, which is very nice as it detected a few issues.
Once I'm done, I'll have one server with all the data I need regularly, and another one with the data I need less often. Both are near instant to get online, unlike the Qnap (8-10 minutes) and the Synology (2-4 minutes). When/if I upgrade the drives in a few years, I'm hoping to have only one server with active data and the other one for backup. Right now I'm only using my existing WD Red and Red Pro 6TB, as I have purchased half of them fairly recently (it was the max size for my fairly old NAS boxes).
Thanks again Paul for all the help, these are your babies too, I think I would have bought the wrong case(s) without you.
I just wanted to update the thread because I finally received my case and was able to build my Unraid server properly. In fact, I decided to build two, because I found two cases at a decent price.
Here are the beasts:
On the left is the server for all my 4K disks, hence called UNR-A4K. That's the 3770K with 16GB RAM, and where I put my Windows VM. That's the one I care about most. It has an LSI 16-port and an 8-port adapters, so 24-port in total. For now I'm only using the 16-port with data disks (I'll try to stay around 14 disks if I can for now) and the 8-port adapter for the two parity disks. Here's the inside:
On the right is my server for all my 2K disks, hence the UNR-B2K moniker. It's the 2500K with 16GB RAM. That one has the 9305-24i, also 24-port. Currently I only have 6 drives and no parity as I'm moving content to it, but I plan to have 18-20 data drives and two parity drives when everything is there. No VM, though I could. Here is the inside:
I have a 1TB cache SSD in both. I've also added a Noctua controller to adjust the speed of the chassis fans, because they made as much noise as a jet. Most of the time I need them at about 2/3 of the speed. I also moved the GPU to the slowest PCI slot, that way I can have two controllers in each server both at PCI 2.0 8X. At some point I'll upgrade the B server to PCI 3.0 to lift the PCI bottleneck, but 170MB/s is fine for now. The A server maxes at 250 MB/s for all drives, which is plenty for my drives.
I've also installed a USB 3.0 extension on each so that I can connect both a USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 from the front. Handy if I need to connect an external USB 3.0 drive for example.
I have now started the process of moving all the data from my QNAP TS859 and Synology DS2411+1211, which will be reconverted into backup devices with older HDDs when all is done. I have a 30-step to do list to make sure that I keep everything and move the drives as they become available, so wish me luck. I reckon the whole transfer will take me at least a month.
I plan to use the unbalance plugin to move my data around in the 4K server as I've started using it with 12 4TB older drives and I'm replacing the 4TB with 6TH as they become available.
Oh and I recommend to uninstall the old pre-clear plugin, it's not compatible anymore and is causes issues, I installed the Dynamix preclear plugin for unassigned devices that works great, and there is also a docker version (no GUI).
I've also installed the "Fix common problems" plugin, which is very nice as it detected a few issues.
Once I'm done, I'll have one server with all the data I need regularly, and another one with the data I need less often. Both are near instant to get online, unlike the Qnap (8-10 minutes) and the Synology (2-4 minutes). When/if I upgrade the drives in a few years, I'm hoping to have only one server with active data and the other one for backup. Right now I'm only using my existing WD Red and Red Pro 6TB, as I have purchased half of them fairly recently (it was the max size for my fairly old NAS boxes).
Thanks again Paul for all the help, these are your babies too, I think I would have bought the wrong case(s) without you.