Silent NAS build - Page 2

I found my first potential backup Server Mobo for consideration.

ASUS C60M1-I AMD Fusion APU C-60 (1.0GHz, dual core) AMD Hudson M1 Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo

Preparing a line up purchase for my back up server but I am torn between the options below. Anyone has any recommendations that would lean towards one below or maybe a third option?

Adaptec RAID 6805 2271200-R 6Gb/s SATA/SAS 8 internal ports w/ 512MB cache memory Controller Card, Kit

Adaptec RAID 51245 2268100-R SATA/SAS 16-port (12 internal,4 external) w/ 512MB cache memory Controller Card, Single

Note: This is not a wishful thinking list like some posts, so I really appreciate feedback any may have.
Edited by RogueRage - 11/17/12 at 8:00am

After some research and switching back and forth between options. Below is my first draft for considerations into my low power/ energy efficient backup server build. There were a few trade-offs I had to consider. Not the most cost effective but it should be a stable enough rig for my needs. I am still researching a few other options hoping some deals pop-up once Black Friday/Cyber Monday rolls around.


CASE******$109.00 Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case
RAID*******$549.00 Adaptec RAID 6805 2271200-R 6Gb/s SATA/SAS 8 internal ports w/ 512MB cache memory
MOBO*****$184.99 ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel
RAM*******$84.99 G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage
CPU******************* Undecided
HD*********$149.99 8x Western Digital WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
SSD****************** Undecided

Edited by RogueRage - 11/17/12 at 10:17pm

I really really appreciate your input Stubass...

Yeah the Mobo I selected, costs over twice to some of my other options I was looking at. I will take a second a look based on the valued information you provided. I was also considering ZFS on Solaris based on a youtube video I looked at. It is one of the best options when it comes to RAID in figuring out if you have a bad or corrupted file in one of the drives to not serve that file on request. Instead, grab the uncorrupted one from another drive and redistribute that file. At least that was my take from the ZFS youtube video. Sucks I do not know Solaris so it might be somewhat of a learning curve for me. I also love the root security level of Solaris.

I am glad you said 8GB of RAM, I was banging my head on some other reviews/postings. I was actually thinking about a full 16GB set after reviewing some posts by others where they mentioned that for ZFS you should have at least 1GB of RAM / 1TB of HD space. That did not make much sense to me, but it had me thinking when I saw it reposted a few times in various forums and reviews and no one else challenged the postings. This was one of the reasons I went with the current ITX Mobo since it supported more than 8GB RAM. I may still get the 16GB of RAM but iff the cost difference is only a few bucks over the holiday sales.

Installing Ubuntu and downloading the Raid plugin is another option I was looking at for the soft raid. Interesting, but I always thought going the separate raid controller route was best. I guess softraid has come a long way from the old days.

Thanks again for the tips!
Much Respect.
Edited by RogueRage - 11/17/12 at 11:29pm

Between Newegg and Amazon there were a lot of great deals this past weekend to help me shop for my next server build. I was able to take advantage of a couple sales, but missed a few as well pertaining to my build

The Fractal Design XL Black Pearl full tower was on sale for $109 from Newegg
The Fractal Design R4 was on Amazon for $99.
Seagate 3TB 7200rpm HD (prices fluctuated between $109, $99 and $89 over the weekend) from Amazon.
Kingwin 550W PSU Platinum certified went for $112


I ended up buying the Adaptec RAID 51245 2268100-R SATA/SAS 16-port (12 internal,4 external) w/ 512MB cache memory Controller Card, Kit for just over $700. I had just missed out on a $75 discount--- oh well. The raid controller will support eleven 3TB drives and an SSD for cache (not sure yet about setting up the cache).

I purchased another ASUS ITX MOBO (P8Z77-I LGA 1155 Intel Z7) since it has been working so nicely in my HTPC with no issues thus far. Plus, I have some other ideas for this board. The RAM I purchased is not the best but it will do just fine... MEM 8Gx2|GSKILL F3-1866C10D-16GAB R ($39.00 for the set if my memory serves me right.)

For the CPU I chose the 35W (Intel Core i3-2120T Dual-Core Processor 2.6 GHz 3 MB Cache LGA 1155) for $123.00.

============

I had to be a little creative in obtaining the eleven 3TB drive since Amazon was limiting 1 drive per customer (per Amazon account). I tried shipping to another address, as well as, using a different credit card but it did not work. Instead, I reached out to some of my buddies and asked them to purchase a drive for me as a gift. This way if any HDD is defective I can still return or RMA it without the original receipt.


The Kingwin 550W PSU will be enough to support 12 hard drives, as long as, I have a 6-drive by 2-daisy-chain setup. The Seagate drive uses 8w at peak, however idle and normal operation usage ranges from 2-5w respectively according to their website specifications. So, I should be good. On the PSU 54w max supported per chain.

I will try to post a log of the build once all the items are in.
Edited by RogueRage - 11/26/12 at 2:59pm

I finally received some items to kick off my server build sometime this weekend. I only received 6 drives so far... 3 more are incoming, however 2 other HDD orders got cancelled. I was able to take advantage of an ongoing sale on Newegg for Raid controllers... 20% off regular price provided the discount does not exceed $75.00.

Here are a couple pics of the components I received over the last few days in my home office. As well as, a size comparison pic between the Fractal Design XL Black Pearl and Cooler Master HAF X cases. I am also expecting delivery of the R4 from Amazon in the near future.

In the background are 3 Dell 30" screens, a KEF sound system hooked up to a receiver not in image.

Thanks Stubass!

I will try to get something up once I have everything posting. It is a pleasure to work remotely from this office. Only downside is VPN sessions on client side are slow. My only gripe in this office is having all the exposed wire connections at the back not hidden in the wall or in some sort of false cavity.