UnRAID v2 Build!
Why I picked unRAID
When it came to building/buying my first home server I had a lot of choices build (Freenas, a simple linux box, Proxmox, etc.) or buy (Synology), so I tried to focus on my needs / wants which were:
- Cost, option to repurpose current hardware (see below)
- A good migration path to add newer hardware down the line
- Docker container and applications support
- Virtual Machines (VMs) support
- Storage for backup and general information
Options boiled down to unRAID or FreeNAS. I chose unRAID for the breath of applications / tutorials available, "lift and shift" capabilities when upgrading hardware, and scalable storage (mix and max drives and add drives ad-hoc).
Old Gaming PC Hardware
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD FX-4100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core OEM/Tray Processor | $109.99 |
| Motherboard | ASRock 970 Extreme3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard | $89.99 |
| Memory | G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-1600 CL9 Memory | $29.99 |
| Storage | Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $109.99 |
| Storage | Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $54.99 |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $109.99 |
| Video Card | Gigabyte Radeon HD 6850 1 GB Video Card | $159.99 |
| Case | Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master Silent Pro M 700 W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $99.99 |
| Optical Drive | Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer | $20.00 |
| Case Fan | Cooler Master Megaflow 110 CFM 200 mm Fan | $22.99 |
| Total | $867.90 |
Note: From the build above, I created my first unRAID build with the final components shown below.
UnRAID v1.0
UnRAID v2.0
After a year and over a dozen running containers, my machine was in desperate need of more deserving hardware. I planned by needs / wants once again:
- Multiple core CPU for VMs
- At least 3 M.2 slots: 1 for docker and VMs, 2 for cache pool
- 6 to 8 SATA ports: 2 for parity, 2 to 4 for data, and 1 to 2 for unassigned drives (maybe a purple drive for survelliance in future)
- 2 PCIe slots: 1 for GPU for VM passthrough (future), 1 for 10 Gb/e NIC (future)
From here I landed on the following hardware:
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 3.8 GHz 12-Core Processor | $429.99 |
| Motherboard | ASRock X570 Taichi ATX AM4 Motherboard | $299.99 |
| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory | $168.98 |
| Power Supply | Corsair RM (2019) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $139.98 |
| Storage | Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive | $99.99 |
| Storage | Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive | $99.99 |
| Video Card | Zotac GeForce GT 710 1 GB PCIE x1 Video Card | $43.99 |
| Case | Cooler Master HAF 912 Plus ATX Mid Tower Case | $59.99 |
| Case Fan | Cooler Master Megaflow 110 CFM 200 mm Fan | $15.55 |
| Case Fan | Cooler Master Megaflow 110 CFM 200 mm Fan | $22.99 |
| UPS | APC BX1500M UPS | $178.60 |
| SD Card | SanDisk 16GB Cruzer Fit USB Flash Drive | $6.48 |
| Software | UnRAID Basic License | $59.00 |
| New Purchases Total | $1082.85 | |
| Net Total | $1625.52 |
From these components to actually building my server it was literally a "lift and shift". All I had to do was remove my old motherboard, CPU, heatsink, memory, and power supply, and add these new components, boot the machine up and BOOM everything was ready to go! The last thing I had to configure was the BIOS to have the right frequency of the RAM I purchased.
With this new build I finally have a machine that is not on 80 to 100% average load consistently! I have many new purchases to do with this new build including:
- Replace the WD Red's I have since they are SMR's to some Ironwolf Pro's
- Add a 2nd parity drive
- Replace my cache drives with 2 500GB Samsung 970 Evo NVMe drives in a RAID 1 for redundancy
- Add a 1TB Samsung 970 Evo NVMe drive for docker / VMs
I plan to blog about my journey as I make changes and what I learn along the way in hopes others can learn from my mistakes or teach me something new.