New Unraid Server Build

[Scarous]

I am looking to build a new Unraid server. Have built computers for years but I am a noob when it comes to server equipment. I realize the parts below are drastically different in cost+capability, so I need some input. I have no idea what to look for when it comes to connecting a large number of drives (HBA?) to the server mobo (part of the appeal for the 45 drives case). Basically, I am looking for at least 10 3.5 drives (preferably 12+) and maybe 1 or 2 5.25 bays (not required but would be nice). This build is for Unraid, 2 Windows VMs, 10ish dockers (Jellyfin, Unbound, Pihole, Home Assistant, etc.), and NAS. I already have an Intel dual 10gig NIC and an Intel A380. However, I realize that Unraid currently doesnt support the A380, so I may need to add a GPU to one of these builds. Case needs to be rack mountable. Cost is not necessarily an issue, but I am looking to get the best system I can build for a reasonable price (don't mind spending the money, but dont want to overspend if not needed).

 

What route would you go and what would you add to the build? What am I missing? I probably need a PCIe to NVME M.2 adapter and some way to connect all the drives to the motherboard. Plus what is the best way to power all of this? Any recommendations would be great!

 

Parts

Option 1

AMD EPYC 7402

Supermicro H12SSL-i

256gb 3200A

 

Option 2

Intel Xeon e5-2597v4 x2

SuperMicro X10DRI-T4+

64gb ECC DDR4 2133mhz

 

Case

Option 1

45 Home Lab (case + PSU + backplane)

 

Option 2

Sliger CX4712

 

Option 3

Rosewill RSV L4500U

 

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, Scarous said:

I am looking to build a new Unraid server. Have built computers for years but I am a noob when it comes to server equipment. I realize the parts below are drastically different in cost+capability, so I need some input. I have no idea what to look for when it comes to connecting a large number of drives (HBA?) to the server mobo (part of the appeal for the 45 drives case). Basically, I am looking for at least 10 3.5 drives (preferably 12+) and maybe 1 or 2 5.25 bays (not required but would be nice). This build is for Unraid, 2 Windows VMs, 10ish dockers (Jellyfin, Unbound, Pihole, Home Assistant, etc.), and NAS. I already have an Intel dual 10gig NIC and an Intel A380. However, I realize that Unraid currently doesnt support the A380, so I may need to add a GPU to one of these builds. Case needs to be rack mountable. Cost is not necessarily an issue, but I am looking to get the best system I can build for a reasonable price (don't mind spending the money, but dont want to overspend if not needed).

 

What route would you go and what would you add to the build? What am I missing? I probably need a PCIe to NVME M.2 adapter and some way to connect all the drives to the motherboard. Plus what is the best way to power all of this? Any recommendations would be great!

 

Parts

Option 1

AMD EPYC 7402

Supermicro H12SSL-i

256gb 3200A

 

Option 2

Intel Xeon e5-2597v4 x2

SuperMicro X10DRI-T4+

64gb ECC DDR4 2133mhz

 

Case

Option 1

45 Home Lab (case + PSU + backplane)

 

Option 2

Sliger CX4712

 

Option 3

Rosewill RSV L4500U

 

You can run that workload on an i3…. If you want server gear which is a fine idea, I’d go that generation of Xeon but you can get a lower power chip. I run a 2660-v4 myself, and it’s been great. You only need 1 of them.

 

I run Proxmox as my hypervisor, and VM’s consist of TrueNAS, windows 11, 3x Ubuntu server, pfsense, a few LTXC containers, home assistant, and within the Ubuntu VM’s I have about a dozen docker containers running, a Plex server, and some other random stuff. CPU usage is usually low single digit %’s….

[Scarous]

Also posted this on Reddit and they seem to be driving me towards consumer Intel hardware instead. I have read that Unraid prefers ECC RAM, but does it really matter?

[Electronics Wizardy]

16 minutes ago, Scarous said:

Also posted this on Reddit and they seem to be driving me towards consumer Intel hardware instead. I have read that Unraid prefers ECC RAM, but does it really matter?

Ecc lowers the chances of data corruption. Probably not needed for home media storage, but nice to have. 

 

Consumer platforms typically idle at lower power and will have higher single threaded performance compared to these older server CPUs. You also often get a hardware encoder on the iGPU, so that would remove the need for the a380. Server platforms will let you have much more ram if you need that, but I don't see that being super important here.

 

 

As far as cases, I like these supermicro 36 bay cases. Pretty cheap used. Here is a example on ebay, should be lots if you look up supermicro 36 bay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/144716914920. Generally pretty easy to work with, and I'd say pretty good build quality.

 

 

With a 10g nic and that many drives, I'd be tempted to get a different solution for faster disk io than a single HDD, but depends on your needs.

[manikyath]

i've ran unraid without ECC for years, the reason why unraid prefers ECC is because the software assumes that when something in memory is different from what's on disk (when a bit flip happens), it assumes memory is correct.

 

the question is, how likely is a bit flip to happen, in a place where it impacts the server? (does your desktop crash due to bit flips?)

 

so if you dont need to go outside of the PCIe availability of consumer platforms, going consumer is a valid consideration.

[LIGISTX]

1 hour ago, Scarous said:

Also posted this on Reddit and they seem to be driving me towards consumer Intel hardware instead. I have read that Unraid prefers ECC RAM, but does it really matter?

ECC isn't needed, but I run it... my mentality is if I am going to spend the money and energy (perosnal and elecrtical) to have a NAS and store all my data presumably for my entire life, might as well do everything I can to keep it secured against bit rot, corruption, etc. Thus why I use truenas and ZFS; no other file system will work as hard as ZFS does to keep your data safe.

[Scarous]

After back and forth here and Reddit, how does this new build look? What am I missing? On the 45 Drives site, it has different options for data cables. What cables do I pick to connect it to this mobo?

 

HW	Model
Mobo	Asus Pro WS W680-ACE
CPU	Intel i7-13700k
RAM	Kingston 32gb 5600 DDR5
Cooler	Noctua NH-D12L
Case+PSU	45 Home Lab

[m9x3mos]

1 hour ago, Scarous said:

After back and forth here and Reddit, how does this new build look? What am I missing? On the 45 Drives site, it has different options for data cables. What cables do I pick to connect it to this mobo?

 

HW	Model
Mobo	Asus Pro WS W680-ACE
CPU	Intel i7-13700k
RAM	Kingston 32gb 5600 DDR5
Cooler	Noctua NH-D12L
Case+PSU	45 Home Lab

The motherboard I don't think has an hba.

So you would want to buy that as well and then get the cables that match the hba you buy. 

[Scarous]

https://www.amazon.com/Broadcom-HBA-9400-16i-Storage-controller/dp/B074XLZ746

 

Something like this? How do I know what cables are compatible with this? It doesnt seem to list the connector numbers like the HL15 website does.

 

 

[Blue4130]

2 hours ago, Scarous said:

https://www.amazon.com/Broadcom-HBA-9400-16i-Storage-controller/dp/B074XLZ746

 

Something like this? How do I know what cables are compatible with this? It doesnt seem to list the connector numbers like the HL15 website does.

 

 

https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/BC00-0459EN

 

Look on the mfg site, not the amazon shopping site.

[Scarous]

Whew! Thanks for everyone's input! The final build (yes its overkill and unnecessary):

 

Asus Pro WS W680-ACE
Intel Core i9-13900K
Noctua NH-D12L Tower Cooler
Samsung 32GB DDR5 4800 ECC x4
Crucial P3 Plus 2TB Gen4 NVME x2
StarTech SATA PCIe 10 Port SATA Expansion Card
Seasonic Focus GX-1000 1000W 80+ Gold
Sliger CX4712 4U Server Chassis