Am I doing this right?

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Nicolai

Member
Sep 4, 2020
37
2
8
Hello all of you amazing people.

First of, let me just thank you for ALL of the help you guys have provided already, it's truly fantastic how much I've learned from you guys and how well you've explained everything I've needed to know!

I'm creating a NAS for my business, and I've found a slightly more elegant solution, to get a more aestheticly pleasing setup, but before I go ahead and buy any hardware, I wanted to run it buy you guys and get some input. I do apologize for the following text becoming quite lengthy, but I'm looking for all the input I can get, as I want to make sure it doesn't fail on me in the future.

I want to build a workstation in a SilverStone Technologies RM42-502, no specs there yet, I'm only posting it to show the aesthetics I had in mind, to further understand the choise I want to make.

Then I want to make a NAS Server, originally I was going to use an RM400, but I've found the SilverStone Technologies RM201, which have the same aesthetics as the RM42-502, but only being a 2U instead of the 4U the RM400 offers. Because of the layout of the RM201, I would limit myself to only having 3x 3.5" Hot-Swap bays, but if I change to 2.5", I'll be able to get 8x Hot-Swap bays, using the SilverStone Technologies FS208. This have a 70mm fan and unfortunately Noctua doesn't make 70mm fans and unfortunately there's no dBA information on SilverStones website. I can't imagine it being quiet though, running at 3.000 rpm.

For storage I'd either use SSDs, although the do cost more, the 1TB WD Red SA500 is fairly affordable in my country (Denmark), otherwise there's the 1TB WD Red Plus 2.5" HDD. Another benefit of using this setup is, I don't have to buy an HBA card, as the Supermicro X11SCH-F comes with 8 SATA3 ports, enough to cover my needs there. This is just overkill for a NAS server, but using RAID1 on the 2 NVMe will give me plenty of space and good stability to run UNRAID.

For a CPU I'm going to run an Intel Celeron G4900, both for it's low power, but also for it's iGPU. I need that to be able to run both Plex Media Server and stream 4K edits for costumers at locations. This APU have a thermal solution specification of 65W from Intel, but I'm planning on replacing that with a Noctua NH-L9i, as it's reasonably quiet and should be able to perform the job. To create ample airflow through the server, it's my plan to fit 4 Noctua NF-A8 ULN fans.

My only real concern about this is the Hot-Swap cage and the noise of the 3.000 rpm 70mm fan, but I've never built a server before and I'd like some feedback if this is underestimating the cooling solution?

Best regards and thank you for sticking with that much text, once again I do apologize.
 

BlueFox

Legendary Member Spam Hunter Extraordinaire
Oct 26, 2015
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Why don't you just get something like the HPE MicroServer Gen10 Plus? I can't think of any advantage you'd have in building a server yourself given the type of hardware you've listed.
 

Nicolai

Member
Sep 4, 2020
37
2
8
Why don't you just get something like the HPE MicroServer Gen10 Plus? I can't think of any advantage you'd have in building a server yourself given the type of hardware you've listed.
It's quite simple, because I've never heard of it :p

Jokes aside, I am going to look into it, but I want the setup to look professional, as it's either going to reside in my office or in my living room. Aesthetics matters a great deal here, because I don't have any room I can convert into a server room. I have a bedroom, a living room and then an office. My office have a seperate entrance so I can take costumers in, without them having to put up with my home. If it's going to be placed in my office, the aesthetics might just matter even more, than if it's ending up in my living room.

But about the HPE MicroServer, does it come with any data security like an unraid server has it's parity drive(s)? And is it available with Hot-Swap?
 

BlueFox

Legendary Member Spam Hunter Extraordinaire
Oct 26, 2015
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In my personal opinion, the HPE MicroServer looks considerably better than a generic rackmount case. You really don't want a rackmount case if you don't have a rack...

As for data security, you're talking about things on a software level. That's really disconnected from hardware.

STH's review should provide you with a lot more detail on it: https://www.servethehome.com/hpe-proliant-microserver-gen10-plus-review-this-is-super/

Other alternative to consider: 5029C-TN2 | Mini-ITX | SuperServers | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.
 

Nicolai

Member
Sep 4, 2020
37
2
8
In my personal opinion, the HPE MicroServer looks considerably better than a generic rackmount case. You really don't want a rackmount case if you don't have a rack...

As for data security, you're talking about things on a software level. That's really disconnected from hardware.

STH's review should provide you with a lot more detail on it: https://www.servethehome.com/hpe-proliant-microserver-gen10-plus-review-this-is-super/

Other alternative to consider: 5029C-TN2 | Mini-ITX | SuperServers | Products | Super Micro Computer, Inc.
If the 2 rackmounts is to be mounted in my living room, they're going to replace a couple of drawers in my TV furniture, where they're going to fit exactly like it was a rackmount, I've done the measurering and with rails theres a 1mm clearance. If I'm mounting them in my office, they're going to be housed in the top section of a cabinet, where I have a glass front. Same cabinet where I store my camera equipment. I've done a 1:1 print of the front and located in both areas, and I do like the looks of it, it looks just at home and not like any DIY janky solution.

I'm asking about the data security, to know if it's in the hardware or if I'm to run UNRAID, sorry I wasn't clearer on that part, I do understand there's a difference between a software and a hardware data security solution, I just don't know which is the best to use.

I'm not turning down the idea of a prebuilt solution, by any means, I will look into both those links and try and understand how they work and what their benefit is. I will still need to build a workstation for my office, that's why I'm considering those specific rackmount cases, because they look alike, just in different size. It looks (at least to me) like a professional installation, instead of a box that I need to find a location for and a box that's standing under my desk collecting dust.
 

BlueFox

Legendary Member Spam Hunter Extraordinaire
Oct 26, 2015
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Sounds like you're going to be blocking all airflow for the rackmount setup. You need unimpeded access to the front and rear or else you can expect everything to overheat.
 

Nicolai

Member
Sep 4, 2020
37
2
8
Sounds like you're going to be blocking all airflow for the rackmount setup. You need unimpeded access to the front and rear or else you can expect everything to overheat.
There will be no panels in front or behind the cases, I'm going to get the glass panel in front cut to fit below the 2 cases and I'm going to cut away the rear of the cabinet where the servers will be housed, then I'm going to add a 5 cm space between 2 panels, with an opening only in the back, to vent out the heat from the lamps that's currently sitting there in a single panel.