10gbps Unraid NAS

[ExplodingTNT]

As the title suggests, I'm thinking of building a Unraid-based NAS that can do 10gbps to my gaming/editing rig.

I saw this LTT video with the used Infiniband adapters, but I'm not sure if that is a reliable long term solution to use used hardware on a critical backup server. (Plus idk if this works in Unraid)

The other option would be to use a 10gbps ethernet setup. How much would this cost?

 

For hardware I'm planning to use my current gaming rig (i7-4770s, 16gb ddr3) as the NAS and possibly a Ryzen based build as the gaming rig. Would the NAS hardware be overkill?

 

Thanks!

 

EDIT: Crap maybe this post should have been in the NAS section... Mods plz help 

[Technomancer__]

7 minutes ago, ExplodingTNT said:

As the title suggests, I'm thinking of building a Unraid-based NAS that can do 10gbps to my gaming/editing rig.

I saw this LTT video with the used Infiniband adapters, but I'm not sure if that is a reliable long term solution to use used hardware on a critical backup server. (Plus idk if this works in Unraid)

The other option would be to use a 10gbps ethernet setup. How much would this cost?

 

For hardware I'm planning to use my current gaming rig (i7-4770s, 16gb ddr3) as the NAS and possibly a Ryzen based build as the gaming rig. Would the NAS hardware be overkill?

 

Thanks!

 

EDIT: Crap maybe this post should have been in the NAS section... Mods plz help 

its ok for the nas if its old but you may also consider 

Synology DS2415+

 thats 1 bay and can expand to another 12 with 

Synology DX1215

 note they consume almost no power, are very easy to set up

 

they are 4 gigabit. quad gigabit card.

i also suggest ruining raid 5 and expand the ram of the device if you want to make it a server aswell

[tt2468]

55 minutes ago, Ethocreeper said:

its ok for the nas if its old but you may also consider 

Synology DS2415+

 thats 1 bay and can expand to another 12 with 

Synology DX1215

 note they consume almost no power, are very easy to set up

 

they are 4 gigabit. quad gigabit card.

i also suggest ruining raid 5 and expand the ram of the device if you want to make it a server aswell

While I recommend synology myself to my high-budget clients, I don't think OP wants to spend $2k+ on his NAS.

 

@ExplodingTNT Intel 10Gb cards like the x520 and x540 can be had for under $100 on ebay. DAC cables are cheaper, but can also get somewhat expensive. Intel cards should work by default in freenas.

[ExplodingTNT]

23 hours ago, tt2468 said:

While I recommend synology myself to my high-budget clients, I don't think OP wants to spend $2k+ on his NAS.

 

@ExplodingTNT Intel 10Gb cards like the x520 and x540 can be had for under $100 on ebay. DAC cables are cheaper, but can also get somewhat expensive. Intel cards should work by default in freenas.

Would you recommend the Intel cards over Mellanox Connect-X2 cards? Those cards can be had for $40 a pop on Ebay, but the price seems too good to be true to me. Is there a reason Connect-X2 stuff is so cheap? And will those cards even work with Unraid?

 

EDIT: I'm talking about these cards: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/LOT-OF-2-MELLANOX-CONNECTX-2-10GbE-ETHERNET-NETWORK-SERVER-ADAPTER-MNPA19-XTR-/142046260117?hash=item21129deb95:g:3JoAAOSwXeJXe~lY

Edited February 26, 2017 by ExplodingTNT

[tt2468]

4 minutes ago, ExplodingTNT said:

Would you recommend the Intel cards over Mellanox Connect-X2 cards? Those cards can be had for $40 a pop on Ebay, but the price seems too good to be true to me. Is there a reason Connect-X2 stuff is so cheap? And will those cards even work with Unraid?

Those cards are amazing! I have 7 of them and all were purchased from esisoinc on ebay. They work perfect in windows and debian based distributions, but I have no idea if they work in FreeNAS or UnRAID. That is why I recommended the intel cards. You could probably get 1 intel card for the server, and a mellanox card for your pc.

[ExplodingTNT]

Just now, tt2468 said:

Those cards are amazing! I have 7 of them and all were purchased from esisoinc on ebay. They work perfect in windows and debian based distributions, but I have no idea if they work in FreeNAS or UnRAID. That is why I recommended the intel cards. You could probably get 1 intel card for the server, and a mellanox card for your pc.

So the Mellanox card and the Intel card should work together because they are both SFP+, correct?

[tt2468]

Just now, ExplodingTNT said:

So the Mellanox card and the Intel card should work together because they are both SFP+, correct?

Yes. 

[ExplodingTNT]

2 minutes ago, tt2468 said:

Yes. 

Wow, thanks for the quick reply! A few more things that I'm wondering:

 

-Since the Mellanox card is theoretically 40gbps capable to my understanding, will the Intel card also be able to make that kind of speed?

-What kind of cable should I be looking for? Passive? Direct-attach? Specific brand? 

[tt2468]

1 minute ago, ExplodingTNT said:

Wow, thanks for the quick reply! A few more things that I'm wondering:

 

-Since the Mellanox card is theoretically 40gbps capable to my understanding, will the Intel card also be able to make that kind of speed?

-What kind of cable should I be looking for? Passive? Direct-attach? Specific brand? 

1. These mellanox cards are NOT 40Gbps capable. The $15 ones on ebay are SFP+ cards for 10Gbps. A 40Gbps card has a QSFP cable, and runs at 40Gbps. So no, the intel card cannot run at 40Gbps.

 

2. Doesn't really matter. Cisco usually has the most compatibility with everything, but other brands out there work just as well. Any Cisco DAC, whether passive or active, should work fine. Tranceivers from finisar should also work fine. I would recommend getting a DAC cable, but if you need fiber distance, I can find something for you.