Hi all.
Been browsing STH/forums for months now, searching for input on a new build.
My old (6+ years) HP DL180 G5 (12-bay) is slow, uses a lot of power, and is noisy, so - time to upgrade.
Build’s Name: Low Power Media Storage Server
Operating System/ Storage Platform: Windows Server 2008/2012 or ???
CPU: Xeon D-15xx or E3-12xx v4/5 or ?
Motherboard: Needs to match above
Chassis:20+ bay hotswap Norco/Inter-tech/HP/Dell/Supermicro or ?
Drives: 3x2 TB Hitachi 7k2000 raidz1 and 7x2 TB Hitachi + 3x4TB TBD running snapraid
RAM: 16-32 GB ECC
Add-in Cards: ?
Power Supply: ?
Other Bits:
Usage Profile: Plex (incl. 4K transcode to iPad/raspberry Pi)/fileserver/ftp-server/backup
Budget: $1000 - $1200 (but less is absolutely preferable!)
The main focus is on expandability, low power and still a reasonable amount of performance (I know: pick any two ;-) so it will be a compromise.
I've only ever user Windows (Server/laptop OS), but I am willing to learn alternatives, as long as I don't have to spend weeks on end figuring out why something doesn't work. I'm aware that using ZFS will require some kind of virtualization, but i don't know anything about how to set it up, so input needed ;-)
The reason for mixing ZFS and snapraid, is that my media rarely changes, and snapraid gives the best capacity/$ + the option to ad disks of varying sizes, and still have some kind of redundancy.
So setup will be something like:
Backup: raidzfs1 3x2TB = 4TB usable
Media Storage: 7x2TB + 3x4TB snapraid = ((7-2) x 2TB + (1-3) x 4TB) = 18TB usable
I've been looking a lot at the Dell FS12-NV7 because they are dirt cheap, and can be shipped to Denmark without paying additional taxes (inside EU), gutting them, and just use the hotswap-part and put in my own MB/CPU and possible power supply (if the existing PSU is some custom Dell, that can't power a normal MB). Anyone have any experience with this?
In order to get 20+bays from the Dell, I will have to link 2 of them together, and to do so, I will need a external SAS-'thingy' or route the cables from a SAS expander-card to the backplane, right?
Again, focus is on low power/expandability and performance lastly.
PS: I live in denmark, so anything outside EU gets slapped with 25% import charges+handling fee of $25, so a good deal in the US might not be a good deal after shipping and import taxes :-(
Thanks in advance.
Been browsing STH/forums for months now, searching for input on a new build.
My old (6+ years) HP DL180 G5 (12-bay) is slow, uses a lot of power, and is noisy, so - time to upgrade.
Build’s Name: Low Power Media Storage Server
Operating System/ Storage Platform: Windows Server 2008/2012 or ???
CPU: Xeon D-15xx or E3-12xx v4/5 or ?
Motherboard: Needs to match above
Chassis:20+ bay hotswap Norco/Inter-tech/HP/Dell/Supermicro or ?
Drives: 3x2 TB Hitachi 7k2000 raidz1 and 7x2 TB Hitachi + 3x4TB TBD running snapraid
RAM: 16-32 GB ECC
Add-in Cards: ?
Power Supply: ?
Other Bits:
Usage Profile: Plex (incl. 4K transcode to iPad/raspberry Pi)/fileserver/ftp-server/backup
Budget: $1000 - $1200 (but less is absolutely preferable!)
The main focus is on expandability, low power and still a reasonable amount of performance (I know: pick any two ;-) so it will be a compromise.
I've only ever user Windows (Server/laptop OS), but I am willing to learn alternatives, as long as I don't have to spend weeks on end figuring out why something doesn't work. I'm aware that using ZFS will require some kind of virtualization, but i don't know anything about how to set it up, so input needed ;-)
The reason for mixing ZFS and snapraid, is that my media rarely changes, and snapraid gives the best capacity/$ + the option to ad disks of varying sizes, and still have some kind of redundancy.
So setup will be something like:
Backup: raidzfs1 3x2TB = 4TB usable
Media Storage: 7x2TB + 3x4TB snapraid = ((7-2) x 2TB + (1-3) x 4TB) = 18TB usable
I've been looking a lot at the Dell FS12-NV7 because they are dirt cheap, and can be shipped to Denmark without paying additional taxes (inside EU), gutting them, and just use the hotswap-part and put in my own MB/CPU and possible power supply (if the existing PSU is some custom Dell, that can't power a normal MB). Anyone have any experience with this?
In order to get 20+bays from the Dell, I will have to link 2 of them together, and to do so, I will need a external SAS-'thingy' or route the cables from a SAS expander-card to the backplane, right?
Again, focus is on low power/expandability and performance lastly.
PS: I live in denmark, so anything outside EU gets slapped with 25% import charges+handling fee of $25, so a good deal in the US might not be a good deal after shipping and import taxes :-(
Thanks in advance.