kayo7

Hi, I have a small company, and we work with 3D illustrations and rendering. I'm seeing the need to have a server to improve render time, and use UnRaid to have a NAS (in the same system) here in the company as well. As it is my first time building a server, I would like to know if I am forgetting something, or if exist any part that has a better cost benefit. CPU: Intel - Xeon E5-2660 V2 2.2GHz 10-Core Processor ($200.00) CPU: Intel - Xeon E5-2660 V2 2.2GHz 10-Core Processor ($200.00) CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.95 @ Amazon) CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.95 @ Amazon) Motherboard: Supermicro X9DRI-LN4F+-O Dual LGA2011 /Intel C602/ DDR3/ SATA3/ V&4GbE/ EATX Server Motherboard ($496.69 @ Amazon) RAM: 8x 8GB 64GB RDIMM ECC REG DDR3 1600MHz RAM HP Workstation Z420 Z620 Z820 A2Z51AA ($207.00) Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Western Digital - Red 8TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($262.99 @ SuperBiiz) Storage: Western Digital - Red 8TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($262.99 @ SuperBiiz) Storage: Western Digital - Red 8TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($262.99 @ SuperBiiz) Storage: Western Digital - Red 8TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($262.99 @ SuperBiiz) Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card ($173.98 @ Newegg) Case: Corsair - 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($148.89 @ B&H) Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($249.88 @ OutletPC) Other: 10Gtek for Intel 82599ES Chip Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X520-DA2 ($99.00) Other: SAS9211-8I 8PORT Int 6GB Sata+sas Pcie 2.0 ($119.98 @ Amazon) Other: Asunflower 3.3Ft Internal Mini-SAS 36P (SFF-8087)Male to 4x SATA Female Breakout Cable ($9.99 @ Amazon) Total: $3367.25

I did not quite understand. Then there would be 2x 8TB drives as parity, and 1x 8TB as storage? I could change for 4x 6TB drives, but then I wouldn't have less space putting two drivers as parity?(compared with 6x 4TB) What configuration do you suggest, in this price range?

With the help of a user here in the forum I got this configuration. I wanted to know your opinion too, as someone with more experience. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2660 V2 2.2GHz 10-Core Processor ($200.00) CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2660 V2 2.2GHz 10-Core Processor ($200.00) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.89 @ OutletPC) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.89 @ OutletPC) Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg) Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($183.99 @ SuperBiiz) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Other: 10Gtek for Intel 82599ES Chip Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X520-DA2 ($99.00) Other: SAS9211-8I 8PORT Int 6GB Sata+sas Pcie 2.0 ($98.80 @ Amazon) Other: Supermicro X9DRI-LN4F+-O Dual LGA2011 /Intel C602/ DDR3/ SATA3/ V&4GbE/ EATX Server Motherboard ($459.05 @ Amazon) Other: Asunflower 3.3Ft Internal Mini-SAS 36P (SFF-8087)Male to 4x SATA Female Breakout Cable ($10.99 @ Amazon) Other: Asunflower 3.3Ft Internal Mini-SAS 36P (SFF-8087)Male to 4x SATA Female Breakout Cable ($10.99 @ Amazon) Other: 8x 8GB 64GB RDIMM ECC REG DDR3 1600MHz RAM HP Workstation Z420 Z620 Z820 A2Z51AA ($207.00) Total: $3163.45

Thanks. I could not find the E5-2660 V2 in that price, the lowest price that show on my ebay was $200 for each. The problem with the 3x 8TB drives is that if two drives fail I will lose all my data. So I'd rather put more drives for redundancy. Just remembering for future forum searches, I want to mount this system primarily as a render farm / NAS, with 1 VM and plex docker. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2660 V2 2.2GHz 10-Core Processor ($200.00) CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2660 V2 2.2GHz 10-Core Processor ($200.00) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.89 @ OutletPC) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.89 @ OutletPC) Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg) Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($183.99 @ SuperBiiz) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Other: 10Gtek for Intel 82599ES Chip Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X520-DA2 ($99.00) Other: SAS9211-8I 8PORT Int 6GB Sata+sas Pcie 2.0 ($98.80 @ Amazon) Other: Supermicro X9DRI-LN4F+-O Dual LGA2011 /Intel C602/ DDR3/ SATA3/ V&4GbE/ EATX Server Motherboard ($459.05 @ Amazon) Other: Asunflower 3.3Ft Internal Mini-SAS 36P (SFF-8087)Male to 4x SATA Female Breakout Cable ($10.99 @ Amazon) Other: Asunflower 3.3Ft Internal Mini-SAS 36P (SFF-8087)Male to 4x SATA Female Breakout Cable ($10.99 @ Amazon) Other: 8x 8GB 64GB RDIMM ECC REG DDR3 1600MHz RAM HP Workstation Z420 Z620 Z820 A2Z51AA ($207.00) Total: $3163.45

So, what do you think: PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2660 V2 2.2GHz 10-Core Processor ($240.00) CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2660 V2 2.2GHz 10-Core Processor ($240.00) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.89 @ OutletPC) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12DXi4 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.89 @ OutletPC) Memory: Samsung 8GB (1 x 8GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory Memory: Samsung 8GB (1 x 8GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory Memory: Samsung 8GB (1 x 8GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory Memory: Samsung 8GB (1 x 8GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory Memory: Samsung 8GB (1 x 8GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory Memory: Samsung 8GB (1 x 8GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory Memory: Samsung 8GB (1 x 8GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory Memory: Samsung 8GB (1 x 8GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($136.84 @ OutletPC) Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB SSC GAMING ACX 3.0 Video Card ($119.99 @ Newegg) Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($183.99 @ SuperBiiz) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.95 @ Amazon) Other: 10Gtek for Intel 82599ES Chip Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X520-DA2 ($99.00) Other: Supermicro AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 Add-on Card, 8-Channel SAS/SATA Adapter with 600MB/s per Channel ($102.74 @ Amazon) Other: Supermicro X9DRI-LN4F+-O Dual LGA2011 /Intel C602/ DDR3/ SATA3/ V&4GbE/ EATX Server Motherboard ($459.05 @ Amazon) Other: Asunflower 3.3Ft Internal Mini-SAS 36P (SFF-8087)Male to 4x SATA Female Breakout Cable ($10.99 @ Amazon) Other: Asunflower 3.3Ft Internal Mini-SAS 36P (SFF-8087)Male to 4x SATA Female Breakout Cable ($10.99 @ Amazon) Total: $2960.39

Thanks for the help, I'm learning a lot.

I see thanks for the help. It seems like it's common to use parts of old servers on home servers. what is the pro/cons of using old vs new released hardware ( like a Asus Z10PA-D8 mobo with dual Intel Xeon E5-2620 V4 for example)?

When it comes to computer parts I understand a few things, but when it comes to assembling a render server I don't have much experience what is the best hardware for the price. I work with 3D rendering, and would need a system that meet those requirements: - Budget $ 2.500 (without hard drives/SSDs) - normal tower case with 6 or more HDD brackets (I already have 6x 4TB drives and 2 SSDs) - Preferably with low noise (I intend to use noctua fans/coolers) - 32~64GB RAM I'm going to use this system primarily as NAS, plex docker , and 1 VM with windows and the software I use for rendering. Some members of the forum suggested a dual xeon system, to have maximum performance while some cores are destined to plex/unraid. As it's my first time setting up a server, I would like your help to choose the best performance/price hardware and create a pc that won't give me much problem in the long run.

Ahahaha, Thanks I'm learning a lot. Yeah, it actually got a lot more expensive than I expected. But since I'm not very knowledgeable about it, I basically chose what seemed to be "right." What parts would you recommend for a render farm server/ NAS around $ 3,000?

Thank you so much for the information. This is the hardware I'm thinking of buying, what do you think? PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2650 V4 2.2GHz 12-Core Processor ($1099.99 @ SuperBiiz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.89 @ OutletPC) Motherboard: Supermicro MBD-X10SRL-F-O ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($273.98 @ Newegg) Memory: Crucial 64GB (4 x 16GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory ($739.98 @ Directron) Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Amazon) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($118.99 @ Best Buy) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($118.99 @ Best Buy) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($118.99 @ Best Buy) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($118.99 @ Best Buy) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($118.99 @ Best Buy) Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($118.99 @ Best Buy) Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 2GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($107.49 @ SuperBiiz) Case: Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Edition ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ SuperBiiz) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg) Other: 10Gtek for Intel 82599ES Chip Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X520-DA2 ($263.99 @ Amazon) Other: Linksys Max-Stream AC2200 MU-MIMO Tri-band Wireless Router, Works with Amazon Alexa (EA8300) ($199.97 @ Amazon) Total: $4054.19 I liked the plex Docker idea. Since I'm only going to use plex on my cell phone and on my tv, and I'm just going to use the NAS for backup, I was thinking of leaving the cores 0-4 for them, and the rest for the vm/render farm. What do you think?

I work with 3D rendering using the software 3ds max. I want to build a pc that is a render farm and a NAS. I'm going to make a NAS using Unraid, and install windows OS using VMs. In Windows OS I will install the 3ds max (I need to install a version of it to use as a render node), but I also wanted to install plex media server in the same VM. But seeing some videos on youtube I have some questions. 1-How much hardware does Unraid need for the NAS part? After all, since a render farm uses 100% CPU, I want Windows VM to have as many threads as possible. 2-If I install the Plex media server on the Windows VM, but the files are on the NAS, the processing power that will be used in transcoding will be of the VM or the NAS part? (Is it possible to do this, or there is a better way?) 3- In the video 2 gamers 1 CPU Linus distributes the cpu threads to the two VMs leaving (apparently) no cpu thread for the NAS part. What I am not able to find, is how much processing Unraid needs? Can I put all cpu threads to the VM? What impact this have? Sorry for the many questions, but as I'm starting to venture into this world of servers, I'm kind of lost.