BUILD [updated] Did the math best I could. Would appreciate any feedback.

[AgedReason]

THE SPECS

Well, I'm about ready to pull the trigger on my first server. I've been clawing my way through the forums for about a month now. I imagine this is what building my own lightsaber would feel like. Hoping the pro's here will give my build a once over to warn me about any problems I'm making for myself. I'll be honest, my confidence level is running only about 10%-15% (fretting over memory compatibility must've shaved a good 30% off of my confidence all by itself.) Thanks for reading and any input.

_________________________________

Case: Thermaltake Urban S31 VP700M6W2N

**PSU: CORSAIR HXi HX750i CP-9020072-NA
- ATX12V / EPS12V
- Full Modular
- 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified
- 100 - 240 V 47 - 63 Hz +3.3V@25A, +5V@25A, +12V@62.5A, -12V@0.8A, +5VSB@3A

Mainboard: Supermicro MBD-X10SL7-F-O

Processor: Intel Xeon E3-1276 v3

CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 Tower Cooler

Memory: 4x 8GB Crucial CT2CP102472BD160B
- DDR3 PC3-12800 • CL=11 • Unbuffered • ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V • 1024Meg x 72 • UDIMM

Boot Device: Kingspec Sata DOM SSD Solid State Drives 7pins 16gb MLC 1ch

**Hard Drives: - 5x WD Red 3TB NAS - WD30EFRX

_________________________________

**
-BTW, I've already bought the 3TB drives (as opposed to larger) because I got them at a ridiculous price. There was just no math that made getting anything larger more economical by a pretty sizable factor. I figured getting them would buy me some time for the price of the 6's to drop, plus the usable space equals 3x what I'm using now.
-Planning on going with the Corsair Platinum PSU b/c it is cheaper than the gold right now and same price as SeaSonic Gold.

 

[AgedReason]

THE PLAN

My need is to have a server that functions as central storage for all of my personal documents, my A/V project files, and my home media files. I intend for FreeNAS to run the Plex, Sonarr, Deluge jails. I have a separate HTPC with Kodi installed for accessing the media. For my professional A/V work, I have a separate machine with the muscle for rendering my video and ripping BluRays that will need access to the server. The bulk of my space will be for storing movies and TV shows. I try to keep my BluRays down to around 4GB when I rip them and TV shows tend to take up about 5GB/season.

I intend to access these files from within my network but also remotely.

My expansion plan assumes that by the time server space starts getting tight, the price of 6TB drives will have dropped even more and I will replace 2 of my 3TB's with 6TB's and use the 3TB's to add another pool and mirror them. I will then migrate my projects and documents data to the second pool. As I am able (or becomes necessary), I can replace the remaining 3TB's with 6TB's and finally get the storage bump when they all match. I can't imagine ever needing more than 16TB in the near (or distant) future, but if I replace both pools with all 6TB drives, I'll have well over 20TBs.


Still, I'm not married to any of these components (except the drives, of course) if there are better (read: more economical) options out there that are superior.

What do ya think? Does this seem like a solid plan?

 

[AgedReason]

THE NETWORK

 

[tvsjr]

It sounds like you intend to transcode with Plex... that gets pretty CPU intensive. I wonder if you wouldn't be better served with a quad-core CPU? Along the same lines... memory's cheap. If you intend to run multiple VMs, going ahead with 32GB may be wise.

 

[AgedReason]

Thanks so much for the advice. Plex will be an important part of the machine, so I'll definitely look into that. The only reason I picked that CPU is because I can get one for $70. But if it's gonna bog down the system, then I should definitely reconsider.

Apart from performance issues, does it look like I need to be concerned with component compatibility or that I'm throwing money out the window on useless things? I just want a solid machine I can depend on.

 

[jgreco]

The SAE is a workstation board and probably isn't the best of choices. What use is there for PCIe x16 or PCI slots?

There's no need to worry about memory compatibility as long as you're buying memory from a reputable manufacturer and you've used their tool to select the RAM.

 

[AgedReason]

Okay, that's a bigger deal. I think I may have missed something fundamentally important.

In my head, I was trying to dodge buying a controller card by getting a mainboard with 8 SATA ports because that is how many I need. Is that not how it works?

No soup for me?

 

[solarisguy]

I am confused, why 8 SATA ports when only 5 hard drives? ? ?

You did not overlook much, Supermicro has server motherboards exactly as you want, without an audio component and with 8 SATA ports.

Let's assume that you have 5 disks. I am suggesting that you buy one more disk, either that super cheap 3 TB or a 6TB one. And start with storage that is based on RAID-Z2 based on 6 (not 5 disks). 6TB disk enters the picture only because you plan on updating to 6TB disks.

 

[AgedReason]

Really? Man, I missed that. I'll look again on their website. Which one did you have in mind? I only went with the SAE because I could get one for $170.

For drives, I anticipated using 5 in the first pool, 2 in the future 2nd pool and then the boot device.

 

[pirateghost]

Okay, that's a bigger deal. I think I may have missed something fundamentally important.

In my head, I was trying to dodge buying a controller card by getting a mainboard with 8 SATA ports because that is how many I need. Is that not how it works?

No soup for me?

The x10sl7-f-0 handles 14 disks without any expanders....

 

[AgedReason]

Holy crap! Looks like I need to hit the books some more and read up on SAS. Thought that was something else. Did not realize my drives would plug right in.

 

[AgedReason]

I think I'll be switching the mainboard out to the X10SL7-F. Nice catch guys. I can't tell ya how much I appreciate the guidance. I feel like I'm in a little over my head, but having the forum is a really great lifeline. I figure I'll just keep reading, keep learning, and try to keep being an obvious idiot down to a minimum.

 

[Fuganater]

Personally I don't like the X10SL7-F because it is limited to 32GB RAM. This is more than enough for most people but I don't like limitations :)

How many devices will be streaming Plex at the same time? If more than 2-3 you should get a fairly beastly CPU which will be about $250.

 

[AgedReason]

Personally I don't like the X10SL7-F because it is limited to 32GB RAM. This is more than enough for most people but I don't like limitations :)

The SAE I was originally looking at was topped out at 32, so that's kind of a wash. I'm only running 5 drives, though there seems to be some concern about the VM's that I need to look into.

Is 32GB of memory going to be a low ceiling for what I'm after?

How many devices will be streaming Plex at the same time? If more than 2-3 you should get a fairly beastly CPU which will be about $250.

Typically, I wont be streaming more than 1 at time; but it could potentially go as high as 3, though I doubt it. A beefier CPU is something I'm going to be looking into, but I'll sure be feeling the hurt in my wallet.

However, I keep telling myself that the only thing worse than spending hundreds of bucks on something is spending hundreds of bucks on something that doesn't work right because I cheaped out.

 

[pirateghost]

The SAE I was originally looking at was topped out at 32, so that's kind of a wash. I'm only running 5 drives, though there seems to be some concern about the VM's that I need to look into.

Is 32GB of memory going to be a low ceiling for what I'm after?



Typically, I wont be streaming more than 1 at time; but it could potentially go as high as 3, though I doubt it. A beefier CPU is something I'm going to be looking into, but I'll sure be feeling the hurt in my wallet.

However, I keep telling myself that the only thing worse than spending hundreds of bucks on something is spending hundreds of bucks on something that doesn't work right because I cheaped out.

Streaming locally within your network should not need any CPU power.

 

[AgedReason]

I may be able to get my hands on a Intel Core i5-4590 if it's gonna significantly outperform the Dual-core in this context.



I am genuinely impressed with how constructive and helpful this discussion has been so far. Thanks folks.

 

[pirateghost]

I may be able to get my hands on a Intel Core i5-4590 if it's gonna significantly outperform the Dual-core in this context.

i-5's do not support ECC RAM

 

[AgedReason]

i-5's do not support ECC RAM

Argggh! Back to drawing board. Thanks. I guess I need to hit it tomorrow. Apparently I'm to tired to pay attention to the chip specs.

 

[Fuganater]

Is 32GB of memory going to be a low ceiling for what I'm after?

I started my servers with 32GB since I bought 16GB DIMMs. They are also easier to resell IMO.

However, I keep telling myself that the only thing worse than spending hundreds of bucks on something is spending hundreds of bucks on something that doesn't work right because I cheaped out.

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. After using a crappy random AMD CPU, 8GB RAM for a system I wanted to buy something I could build and forget about.

Streaming locally within your network should not need any CPU power.

Doesn't it need to transcode the video files? Like most of my library is 1 for 1 Bluray rips. (.MKV) and are 18GB+

I may be able to get my hands on a Intel Core i5-4590 if it's gonna significantly outperform the Dual-core in this context.
I am genuinely impressed with how constructive and helpful this discussion has been so far. Thanks folks.

You will be looking at a E3-12XX V3 for that board.

 

[pirateghost]

Doesn't it need to transcode the video files? Like most of my library is 1 for 1 Bluray rips. (.MKV) and are 18GB+

My pi 2's running rasplex do not require any transcoding at all from the server. Only the clients connecting over the internet do for my setup. It doesn't care how BIG the files are....but what bitrate the device that is streaming the data to can handle.