I currently have a Synology DS212j that’s on it’s last legs. It only has 2 bays and is at capacity. I was toying with the idea of running FreeNas but in the end I decided I think Unraid will work best for my current needs. I also decided I’d like to rack mount the new NAS, my switches, and my daily PC.
I have an old Windows PC/server that currently is only running Plex and a modded Minecraft server (likely getting rid of the Minecraft server). I’d like this new Unraid box to at least run Plex but I’d likely be moving my Pihole from an old Pi to it and maybe spin up some other services.
Windows Server:
Old Fractal Define (3?)
Intel Xeon E3 1230 v2
AsRock Z77 Pro3
16GB of non ECC RAM
Geforce GT 610
Kingston 120GB SSD
Hyper EVO 212 cooler
Corsair CX600 PSU
Gaming/Work:
3700x
1080ti
Arctic Cooling Liquid Freezer II - 360mm
I have several questions:
Any issues with the specs of my server for Unraid?
Are there any drive size limitations for Unraid that I need to worry about? I was thinking of going with 3-4 of the larger 12TB to 16TB EXOS drives for now.
I’ve heard Unraid doesn’t run traditional raid for redundancy, do I need a HBA/raid card/is one recommended? I have an old LSI 9240-4i that I’m not currently using if it would be fine but I’d also be fine with buying a new one.
Should I consider SAS drives or just go with SATA? They seem about the same price now a days.
Thoughts on a chassis for the server? I was thinking something 2-4U that can support at least 8+ drives. A backplane/hotswap would be cool but not necessary. Leaning more towards 4U as I’d like to keep an ATX PSU and 120mm fans to keep down noise.
Thoughts on a chassis for my gaming/work computer? There doesn’t seem to be many/any cases that can support a 360mm radiator. The only one I’ve really found is the Rosewill RSV-L4500 and that’s with some janky mounting.
Z77 platform is DDR3, which for now is still fine. Plex will still run fine on this, even with Unraid in between.
No size limit. The only limit is your PSU: power draw and SATA connectors
No, as long as the Z77 offers enough SATA ports you’d be fine.
SAS offers greater transfer speeds, but require extra cards=extra expense. Again, if the Z77 board offers enough SATA ports, not a real issue for now. Expanding in the future is always an option.
Antec used to offer some nice 19" rack cases in 2-4U sizes (prosumer style stuff), but apparently they’ve concentrated on different things, as I understand it. But if you can get a used case, they’re alright. More brands available, choose one that fits your needs.
Rack cases are not really designed with water-cooling in mind, so you’ll always have to concoct some bodged solution to make it work. Otherwise, it’s just a metal box with holes in it
For either case, the bigger you get, the easier it is to get everything in. Especially that radiator
True, but even the fastest SATA hard drives are not bottlenecked by the interface, but by how fast they can read from the platters. So it only matters for SSDs.
UnRAID uses a software-based raid solution. So either plug drives into the motherboard ports, or plug drives into a HBA (or raid card flashed to HBA mode).
Thank you both. I’ve been thinking it over and I think I’m just going to get a few new hard drives, an HBA card, and hold off on the rack mounting until I know exactly what I was the Unraid box to do. Depending on my requirements I might try to replace the CPU/Mobo with something newer and squeeze it into a 2U.
Idk if this is relevant, but how do you plan on connecting your peripherals to your rackmounted desktop? Also, how far away do you plan on sitting from it?
