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File server build

trag1c
By trag1c
in New Builds and Planning
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So I am venturing into the unknown as far as my computer knowledge goes. I wish to build a server that I will use for home use, software/game development, electrical/mechanical engineering and as a central storage server for a robotics team which I am one of the mentors (if you can't tell I have a lot of hobbies xD). I am hoping for a safe way of data storage through RAID that will have an up time of 24/7. I know that there is still the possibility of complete array failure from something like the controller dying but it would be better then my current setup I have which is just a few random drives which some of them I have my doubts about. At some point I would invest in another server which would be a nightly back up.

 

The server will be storing a lot of uncompressed files to make any workflows easier as well as a compressed version once the file is finalized. I would like fast reads and write but this would be an added bonus since data storage/redundancy would be the primary goal. I would like to expand the array as I go with more drives.

 

My budget is $1500 however I am flexible with this.

 

This is something I thought may work. I am thinking that RAID 6 would be the best option.

 

I currently have an ASUS Z97-A, Intel G3258 , and 8GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz RAM from an old rig.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/FjzNbv
 
Storage: Sandisk Solid State Drive 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($49.88 @ Canada Computers) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($137.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($137.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($137.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($137.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($137.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Storage: Western Digital Red 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($137.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($124.99 @ NCIX) 
Other: RoseWill RSV-L4500 ($114.99) @ Newegg.ca
Total: $1117.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-15 02:42 EDT-0400

 

What do you guys think?

CPU: Intel i7 - 5820k @ 4.5GHz, Cooler: Corsair H80i, Motherboard: MSI X99S Gaming 7, RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 2666MHz CL16,

GPU: ASUS GTX 980 Strix, Case: Corsair 900D, PSU: Corsair AX860i 860W, Keyboard: Logitech G19, Mouse: Corsair M95, Storage: Intel 730 Series 480GB SSD, WD 1.5TB Black

Display: BenQ XL2730Z 2560x1440 144Hz

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what os will you be running?

I would probably use linux, not sure which flavor yet.

CPU: Intel i7 - 5820k @ 4.5GHz, Cooler: Corsair H80i, Motherboard: MSI X99S Gaming 7, RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 2666MHz CL16,

GPU: ASUS GTX 980 Strix, Case: Corsair 900D, PSU: Corsair AX860i 860W, Keyboard: Logitech G19, Mouse: Corsair M95, Storage: Intel 730 Series 480GB SSD, WD 1.5TB Black

Display: BenQ XL2730Z 2560x1440 144Hz

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Looking good. A few suggestions though.

1. If you can, try to use 7200 rpm drives. They will speed things up a ton.

2. I would recommend one more ssd, one for read caching and one for write caching.

Any suitable drives that you can recommend for this workload that won't break the bank?

understandable.

CPU: Intel i7 - 5820k @ 4.5GHz, Cooler: Corsair H80i, Motherboard: MSI X99S Gaming 7, RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 2666MHz CL16,

GPU: ASUS GTX 980 Strix, Case: Corsair 900D, PSU: Corsair AX860i 860W, Keyboard: Logitech G19, Mouse: Corsair M95, Storage: Intel 730 Series 480GB SSD, WD 1.5TB Black

Display: BenQ XL2730Z 2560x1440 144Hz

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do you have a Raid card?

No

Also, if you run anything like freenas, you will not want a raid card, because freenas uses software raid.

 

Is it worth using a RAID card over a solution like freeNas?

CPU: Intel i7 - 5820k @ 4.5GHz, Cooler: Corsair H80i, Motherboard: MSI X99S Gaming 7, RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 2666MHz CL16,

GPU: ASUS GTX 980 Strix, Case: Corsair 900D, PSU: Corsair AX860i 860W, Keyboard: Logitech G19, Mouse: Corsair M95, Storage: Intel 730 Series 480GB SSD, WD 1.5TB Black

Display: BenQ XL2730Z 2560x1440 144Hz

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No, as the hardware benefits will not help. Freenas uses software raid, which is like a virtual raid card.

Im going to agree. 

CPU: Intel i7 - 5820k @ 4.5GHz, Cooler: Corsair H80i, Motherboard: MSI X99S Gaming 7, RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 2666MHz CL16,

GPU: ASUS GTX 980 Strix, Case: Corsair 900D, PSU: Corsair AX860i 860W, Keyboard: Logitech G19, Mouse: Corsair M95, Storage: Intel 730 Series 480GB SSD, WD 1.5TB Black

Display: BenQ XL2730Z 2560x1440 144Hz

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If you care at all about your data integrity you should be going with ECC memory

And HSGT is probably where you want your hard drives to come from, Possibly 4TB drives

The guys over at tek syndicate have a freeNAS video, and you may want to use ZFS over RAID. FreeNAS only needs a boot USB as it just sits on the RAM while running so no boot drive required.

You should also probably invest in a Universal Power Supply in case of a power outage.





Course I've never built a NAS myself, that's just what I've read.

I edit my posts a lot, Twitter is @LordStreetguru just don't ask PC questions there mostly...
 

Spoiler

 

What is your budget/country for your new PC?

 

what monitor resolution/refresh rate?

 

What games or other software do you need to run?

 

 

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~snip~

 

Hey there trag1c,
 
The Plan seems pretty good. WD Red drives should perform pretty good and are a proper choice for this. You could also check out WD Red Pro as they would deliver better performance (they are designed for larger drive pools) and have longer warranty, but would have a heavier impact on your budget. Here's a link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=JTVFAI
 
I would also recommend using a separate RAID card for better stability and performance. 
 
Have you considered a pre-built NAS that can serve your purposes? I could suggest checking out WD's solutions and see if you find any of them appealing: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=SroPYP
 
Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions :)
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
WDC Representative, http://www.wdc.com/ 

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