Hi Guys
My current setup is running out of storage and compute power. Running multiple VM's and a fair amount of Plex transcoding going on during the day as the kids are watching their shows has this rig on its last leg.
I'm looking at building out a new server+storage and was hoping to get some feedback on the various components.
Build Name: BLUE v2.0
OS: Server 2016
Purpose:
I wanted to separate out the storage (JBOD) from the host server so that over time I can upgrade the server independent of the JBOD array (just put the HBA in the new server and all should be good).
1) Host Server - Supermicro SYS-5018D-FN4T
-I wanted something low power yet powerful, I'm hoping the Xeon D-1541 chip strikes that balance and will be good enough to transcode Plex media and run a few VMs? Lotsa cores. I would have prefered the D-1567 but don't see any similar Supermicro offerings with it.
-It has 2x10 gig copper ports and 2x1gig copper ports. More than enough bandwidth.
-Will put in 64GB RAM
-Boot from a 128GB Intel 600p NVMe M.2 drive
-I will use Windows Storage Spaces to setup tiered storage (SSD+HDD) using the items below:
1b) I will put in a LSI 9300-8e HBA that will connect to my JBOD array (below)
2) JBOD Array - Supermicro 846BE1C-R1K03JBOD
-Would like to swap out the PSU's for 2x PWS-920P-SQ as I understand these are WAY quieter? I would likely only have 1 plugged in at any time and the other would be a cold spare.
-24 drives should be plenty over time
-The 2x Mini-SAS HD ports will connect to the LSI 9300-8e HBA (per above)
-I will use Windows Storage Spaces and setup a 2 tier system: SSD's will be used as the performance/hot tier for data thats frequently being read and also as a write cache that eventually gets rotated out to the HDD's which would be setup as a capacity/cold tier. Will use the following for this:
-2 or 3 Samsung 850 Evo 250GB SSD's for the performance/hot tier. These are rated at 75TBW for a 5 year lifespan. If my math is correct, this allows me an average of 41GB/day of writes over the life - which I believe should be sufficient.
-Now the hard part, which HDD's to choose? I will start with just a few and expand over time by adding them to the Storage Spaces Storage Pool and then re-balancing everything. 6TB drives seem to be the sweet spot in pricing, and I'm leaning towards the WD Red 6TB drives. Thoughts? I will start with at least 4 drives so that I can use 2-way parity with storage spaces.
3) Network Switch - DLink DXS-1210-12TC
-This server will run 2x10Gig LAG into the switch and my main workstation will run 10gig into this. Everything else will continue off of my other gigabit router. It does have 2x10gig uplinks so I'll make use of those and uplink into this switch.
4) UPS - any suggestions on UPS? has to be rackmount and able to support this server, 2 switches, and a few other smaller pieces of equipment (wifi router, etc).
If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read about it all. Open to suggestions and comments.
Also, any preferred vendors for the parts above? Especially the supermicro stuff and PSU's. The LSI HBA i'll get from ebay and the drives I'll source locally (I'm in Toronto, Canada)
Cheers!
My current setup is running out of storage and compute power. Running multiple VM's and a fair amount of Plex transcoding going on during the day as the kids are watching their shows has this rig on its last leg.
I'm looking at building out a new server+storage and was hoping to get some feedback on the various components.
Build Name: BLUE v2.0
OS: Server 2016
Purpose:
* Virtualization (Hyper-V),
* Plex Server (with transcoding),
* Lots of storage for VM's and movies (on Plex),
* General file storage
* Plex Server (with transcoding),
* Lots of storage for VM's and movies (on Plex),
* General file storage
I wanted to separate out the storage (JBOD) from the host server so that over time I can upgrade the server independent of the JBOD array (just put the HBA in the new server and all should be good).
1) Host Server - Supermicro SYS-5018D-FN4T
-I wanted something low power yet powerful, I'm hoping the Xeon D-1541 chip strikes that balance and will be good enough to transcode Plex media and run a few VMs? Lotsa cores. I would have prefered the D-1567 but don't see any similar Supermicro offerings with it.
-It has 2x10 gig copper ports and 2x1gig copper ports. More than enough bandwidth.
-Will put in 64GB RAM
-Boot from a 128GB Intel 600p NVMe M.2 drive
-I will use Windows Storage Spaces to setup tiered storage (SSD+HDD) using the items below:
1b) I will put in a LSI 9300-8e HBA that will connect to my JBOD array (below)
2) JBOD Array - Supermicro 846BE1C-R1K03JBOD
-Would like to swap out the PSU's for 2x PWS-920P-SQ as I understand these are WAY quieter? I would likely only have 1 plugged in at any time and the other would be a cold spare.
-24 drives should be plenty over time
-The 2x Mini-SAS HD ports will connect to the LSI 9300-8e HBA (per above)
-I will use Windows Storage Spaces and setup a 2 tier system: SSD's will be used as the performance/hot tier for data thats frequently being read and also as a write cache that eventually gets rotated out to the HDD's which would be setup as a capacity/cold tier. Will use the following for this:
-2 or 3 Samsung 850 Evo 250GB SSD's for the performance/hot tier. These are rated at 75TBW for a 5 year lifespan. If my math is correct, this allows me an average of 41GB/day of writes over the life - which I believe should be sufficient.
-Now the hard part, which HDD's to choose? I will start with just a few and expand over time by adding them to the Storage Spaces Storage Pool and then re-balancing everything. 6TB drives seem to be the sweet spot in pricing, and I'm leaning towards the WD Red 6TB drives. Thoughts? I will start with at least 4 drives so that I can use 2-way parity with storage spaces.
3) Network Switch - DLink DXS-1210-12TC
-This server will run 2x10Gig LAG into the switch and my main workstation will run 10gig into this. Everything else will continue off of my other gigabit router. It does have 2x10gig uplinks so I'll make use of those and uplink into this switch.
4) UPS - any suggestions on UPS? has to be rackmount and able to support this server, 2 switches, and a few other smaller pieces of equipment (wifi router, etc).
If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read about it all. Open to suggestions and comments.
Also, any preferred vendors for the parts above? Especially the supermicro stuff and PSU's. The LSI HBA i'll get from ebay and the drives I'll source locally (I'm in Toronto, Canada)
Cheers!
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