Pinozul

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  1. +1 for dark theme +1 for theme allowing more compact, denser display of content Aside from those items, I like the new features.
  2. Agreed. It would definitely be nice to have an ability to display posts in a denser format.
  3. Yes, I think that's a compelling point so I'll just leave the VPN terminating at the router. But as I was messing around setting up VPN access using my Windows Home Server, it dawned on me that these different VPN methods look like they can coexist. The router implementation appears to be a certificate-based L2TP configuration. Using WHS, it is a password-based SSTP implementation. So in theory, I guess you could have a multiple VPNs running on a router and one or more servers in your network. I get that this is unnecessary and probably decreases your security somewhat but is there any other problem multiple VPNs would cause?
  4. Of course, I do! Messing with stuff (and wasting untold hours doing it) is my mission in life. Just ask my wife... So from a purely functional perspective, no, the current setup of OpenVPN client to Netgear router works. But I was curious if I might be able to use the built-in Win10 VPN client to connect to the OPENVPN-AS Docker setup on unRAID. That Win10 client cannot be used to connect to the Netgear router. And I also have an old Windows Home Server 2011 that supports VPN so I guess I'll try that as well and just see which of the alternatives I like best. With respect to security, I guess in theory all three methods should be equivalent unless, as you mentioned, one or another of the VPN implementations has a security hole.
  5. I have OpenVPN running on a Windows 10 laptop and can successfully establish a VPN connection to my Netgear R7000 router. From there, I can access my unRAID server as well as the rest of the LAN. If I were to load the OPENVPN-AS Docker onto unRAID and establish the VPN there rather than the router, what advantages would that provide compared to using the router-based VPN? Also, I didn't have to set up any explicit Port Forwarding to implement the router-based VPN but I believe I would need to configure Port Forwarding to my unRAID server if I wanted to run the OPENVPN Docker on it, correct?
  6. Alright, thanks for the advice. But that reminds me of another question: I'm going to backup the server onto a pair of 4TB drives that I'll rotate in/out of a removable drive bay (keeping one offsite while I'm using the other). Since each of these backup drives will be in the system for just 2 weeks before I swap it out, I thought it would be appropriate to keep these drives out of the array and have them mounted in Unassigned Devices. Does that make sense?
  7. Noob here: Just set up my unRAID server over the last week and despite reading what feels like 100s of threads, I'm still confused on Unassigned Devices and what to do with them. Currently I'm running the Crashplan Docker and intend to use others. I also intend to run a Win10 VM on the server eventually. I have successfully got the system, appdata and domains shares to reside on the cache pool in "Prefer" mode. The isos share writes to the cache pool but resides on one of the array data disks (i.e. "Use cache disk" set to "Yes"). I have a 480GB SSD mounted in Unassigned Devices and from what I've read, it sounds like this is the preferable place to store my Dockers and VMs rather than take up space in the cache pool. However, I can't figure out how to get the various shares onto the unassigned SSD. Also I assumed it might make sense to configure the SSD into multiple partitions, perhaps 1 for Dockers, 1 for VMs, and then another spare partition but I'm not certain whether this has value or not. I could also add a regular HDD to Unassigned Devices if that makes sense but I just don't fully understand when to use Unassigned Devices. [i think I've got this much straight: I've got all my "data" (e.g. media, docs, backups, etc.) on the array data disks.] So: 1. Since I have the 480GB SSD, should I use it for Dockers and VMs instead of the cache pool? 2. If yes, how do I do that? 3. If yes, is there value in partitioning the SSD prior to putting the Dockers and VMs on it? If so, any suggestions for partition sizes? 4. Should my isos share also be on an SSD (either the cache pool or the Unassigned Device)? 5. Aside from Dockers and VMs, is there some other common use case for physical drives installed as Unassigned Devices? Thanks for the help.
  8. COMPONENTS PURCHASED Well, I pulled the trigger on the Xeon E3-1245 v5 along with the Supermicro X11SAE-F-O motherboard and ECC RAM. Although it's hard to say whether I'll ultimately take advantage of the power, in the end, I figured I was paying a premium just to "stop the madness" and quit driving myself crazy. As much as I enjoy building computers, once they're done I don't generally feel like opening them up and upgrading them after a couple years...too many other hobbies to spend time on. So I try to build something with at least a five year lifespan. I think these components should meet that objective. If the whole build comes together well enough and doesn't devolve into an interminable time-sink, I might just run a Window 10 VM on the server and use that as my desktop. With these components, it would be comparable to the Haswell Core i7 setup in my existing desktop. If that proves viable, I can sell my desktop and recoup some of the cost. We shall see. Thanks again, folks, for the insights. I'll try to remember and report back with a quick summary after I've got it built & running.
  9. Very helpful feedback; thanks so much. Based on your comments, sounds like I should just go ahead & bite the bullet for a Xeon now. Although I'm not enthusiastic about spending the extra bucks, I guess I'd rather do it now than have to mess with it again in a year or two. So a couple more questions: A. Any thoughts on comparative value between the three non-GPU Xeons below? For me, if I were to consider the 1230, I could get the 1240 for another $22 so it almost feels like this should be a decision between the 1220 and 1240. OTOH, maybe that's $22 not well spent. CPU Price Cores/Threads Passmark E3-1220 v5 $206 4/4 7355 (similar to Core i5-6500) E3-1230 v5 $272 4/8 9629 E3-1240 v5 $294 4/8 10369 (similar to Core i7-6700) B. If I go with the X11SAE-F-O board, it has Realtek audio and Aspeed AST2400 integrated graphics. However, I get the sense from the spec sheet that the Aspeed graphics is only available for BMC/IPMI suggesting perhaps that it could not be passed through to a VM. So if I decided to connect a monitor to the box in order to run VMs locally, I would need either a) a separate video card or b) one of the Xeon E3-12x5 versions with Intel HD P530 graphics, right? C. Finally, to further demonstrate my confusion, if you have the above MoBo card with a non-GPU Xeon and you ignore the Aspeed graphics, you would have no way to output video locally. But you can still remote into the box and get full audio and video via the remote session, right?
  10. I'm replacing an aging Windows Home Server 2011 (HP ProLiant N40L with AMD Turion). Although I was generally pretty satisfied with WHS2011, that isn't an option anymore so the search for a replacement led me to unRAID. Initially my objective was to build a low-power NAS that was capable of running 1-2 Plex streams. But as I read more about the capabilities of unRAID, I thought maybe I should consider a more powerful box that would support VMs. So my over-arching question is: Should I stick with a low-power build and save $150-$200 or should I spend the extra to get more capability, even if I'm not sure how I'd use it? More details of the TL;DR variety follow. I've already have the following items for the build: * Case: Fractal Design Define R5 * PSU: Seasonic SSR-550RM Gold * Array Data Drives: 3 x 3TB WD Red 5400RPM * Array Parity Drive: 1 x 4TB HGST Deskstar NAS 7200RPM * Cache Drive(s): 480GB SanDisk Plus, 240GB SanDisk Ultra II * Other Drives (likely Unassigned): 2 x 1.5TB Seagate Green 5900 RPM <-- not sure what I'll use these for Unfortunately, I've gotten utterly bogged down trying to decide on the CPU and MoBo. At first, I thought I'd just use a desktop motherboard and a Core i3-6100T but then I started reading about the advantages of ECC RAM, IPMI, so forth and so on. I also decided I'd like a board that supports 8 SATA ports because, for my needs, that seems like it will be sufficient for a very long time, negating the need for a SATA controller card. All this led me to the C236 chipset. So after much angst, I've narrowed it down to a trio of SuperMicro boards. Since the cost differential is minor, I'm planning to use ECC RAM. But I still can't decide on the CPU, primarily because I don't have a real feel for the demands of virtualization and whether I'll do anything with VMs other than occasional tinkering. Given the price differential on the CPUs, I don't want to needlessly buy a Xeon if it's unlikely I'll ever need it. So here's a candidate list for the remaining components: * MoBo: SuperMicro X11SAE-F-O: $226, Alt #1: X11SSH-F-O: $209, Alt #2: X11SSM-F-O: $193 * RAM: 16GB = 2 x 8GB Kingston KVR21E15D8/8HA * CPU: Core i3-6100: $105, Xeon Alternatives: E3-1220 v5: $206, E3-1225 v5: $236, E3-1230 v5: $272, E3-1245 v5: $291 > Approx. Total Build Cost (not including previously owned components): Core i3 Build = $1000, Xeon Build = $1180 Questions [*]If I was just using the box as a NAS (file server & client backups) + Plex server, I get the impression the Core i3 would be sufficient. True? [*]If I just wanted to putter with VMs (i.e. a single Win10 VM run occasionally), would the Core i3 still suffice? [Note: I have a separate Win10 desktop machine.] [*]Are there some other threads that would give me a clear idea of what sort of demands would necessitate a Xeon? [*]Would 8GB of RAM suffice to start off? If so, could that be a single 8GB stick or does it need to be 2 x 4GB for dual channel? [*]I noticed some C236 boards have no onboard audio. Does that imply that, without adding a sound card, they are suitable only for server-type functions and not for VMs? [*]I'm confused by the integrated graphics options on the various C236 boards. Some have no integrated graphics but support Intel HD graphics on the CPU. Others (like a couple of the SuperMicro boards) have integrated graphics (Aspeed AST2400) but do not appear to support Intel HD graphics. All three of the SuperMicro boards above have integrated graphics. Is the integrated graphics basically intended just for console activities? [*]Would I need to buy one of the E3-12x5 Xeon CPUs that have on-chip Intel Graphics only if I intend to connect a monitor locally to the box? [i don't.] [*]Some motherboards I looked at had 1 to 2 PCI slots. I don't have any PCI cards so ignoring legacy support, is there any reason those slots might have value to me that isn't apparent to me now? [*]I saw some threads discussing problems with Skylake systems, either after upgrading to unRAID 6.2 or when trying to pass through video or audio. For a new build like mine, do I still need to be concerned about any "gotchas" using a Skylake CPU and MoBo? My apologies for the length and number of questions. My gratitude for any insight offered. Thanks much.