Need Recommendations: First Build

[MarxisNewbie]

Hi,

 

I'm currently planning on building a new PC that would support 2 VMs in Win10 (for standard office work, no graphic intensive software) and preferably with unRAID for backups of file and storage for CCTV

 

This is my current partlist

Intel Core i5 7400

4Gb RAM

SSD 240GB(Cache)

1Tb HDD

450W PSU

MSI B250M Mortar

Asus R7 360 2Gb

 

Note: I don't have overall knowledge to build this thing but, I'm interested in what unRAID can offer

As you can see, its a budget build, so I need recommendations for at least meeting what it will be built for.

And do I need a RAID controller for this one? thanks

 

Edited June 4, 2017 by MarxisNewbie

[demonmaestro]

16 hours ago, MarxisNewbie said:

 

Note: I don't have overall knowledge to build this thing but, I'm interested in what unRAID can offer

As you can see, its a budget build, so I need recommendations for at least meeting what it will be built for.

And do I need a RAID controller for this one? thanks

 

I would highly recommend putting more ram in if wanting to do VMs.

I don't see a need for a RAID controller due to you having 6* sata ports.

I think you will probably will want more storage. 

 

(Currently as of writing this NewEgg has a deal with 2 - 4TB WD Reds for $259.99 https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.3519110)

 

*One of the sata ports will be considered used if you use a m.2 drive.

Edited June 4, 2017 by demonmaestro
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[MarxisNewbie]

4 minutes ago, demonmaestro said:

I would highly recommend putting more ram in if wanting to do VMs.

I don't see a need for a RAID controller due to you having 6* sata ports.

I think you will probably will want more storage. 

 

(Currently as of writing this NewEgg has a deal with 2 - 4TB WD Reds for $259.99 https://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.3519110)

 

*One of the sata ports will be considered used if you use a m.2 drive.

 

Okay I will upgrade to 8Gb RAM at least in dual ch. So two HDDs would mean this is just a storage pool? or one is parity? or should I just get another one for parity? 

[demonmaestro]

I would say if have the ability max out the ram. (64gb)

As far as your storage situation goes. you could set it up on how you want it.

The parity is basically used as your "safe guard". (With no parity your storage pool is unprotected)

However if you say use 2 hard drives and one as a parity. Your available storage available will only be 4TB (If use 2- 4TB HDDs)

Do keep in mind that the parity drive needs to be the biggest drive in the storage pool. For instance if you have a 1TB, 3TB, and a 4TB HDDs in your pool. Your parity needs to be 4TB.

 

Now unRaid does work without a parity. Just your data wont be safe on a HDD failure.

[MarxisNewbie]

2 hours ago, demonmaestro said:

Now unRaid does work without a parity. Just your data wont be safe on a HDD failure.

Then if for example my initial setup would be without any parity, and sometime in the future I decided to have one, what are my methods? will it wipe all my drives? 

[demonmaestro]

No, it shouldn't wipe your existing data. Just make sure that your data on the "parity" drive is formatted.

[MarxisNewbie]

so basically I just have to plug a hard drive and set it up as parity, as simple as that? would an 8gb ram suffice for a single VM? 

[JonathanM]

22 minutes ago, MarxisNewbie said:

would an 8gb ram suffice for a single VM?

Are you comfortable with 4GB RAM for your normal desktop? If so, then 8GB total for the unraid machine with 4 set aside for the VM should be fine.

 

Personally, I like to have at least 8GB in my desktops, so having so little in an unraid box hosting my desktop VM would be totally unacceptable, but some people are fine with it.

[MarxisNewbie]

28 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

Are you comfortable with 4GB RAM for your normal desktop? If so, then 8GB total for the unraid machine with 4 set aside for the VM should be fine.

 

Personally, I like to have at least 8GB in my desktops, so having so little in an unraid box hosting my desktop VM would be totally unacceptable, but some people are fine with it.

I agree with you here. I do have a separate desktop with just that for a little photo editing and a few gaming. but the VM is for officeworks, MS Office and browsing, no PC grinding stuff. I might increase the RAM in the future for expansion. I just need the initial setup going as long as my budget permits it. so far here's the updated partlist

Intel Core i5 7400

8Gb RAM

SSD 240GB(Cache)

2x2Tb HDD(No parity just yet) 

450W PSU

MSI B250M Mortar

Asus R7 360 2Gb (might downgrade) 

any recommendation for a case? if im going to use all my sata ports then I need at least 6 drive bays. 

[MarxisNewbie]

NEW THOUGHT:
What if I just upgrade my stand-alone build to unRAID to maximise my current parts?

 

I have:

Intel Core i5 6500

Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 5

16GB RAM

120GB SSD (OS & few applications)

1TB HDD (Media Storage & few applications I seldom use)

MSI 4GB GTX1050 Ti Gaming X

500W PSU

Fractal Design Define R5

Win10 Pro 64bit OEM

 

Any luck with this rig upgrading to unRAID?

Will it wipe my Win10 License? or I could transfer it to a VM?

 

[trurl]

I don't wish to discourage you from using unRAID, and it can be fun to learn, use, and expand upon. But since you are talking about only 1 HDD, why do you need a NAS? What do you want to do that wouldn't be more easily done with a single Windows machine?

[MarxisNewbie]

9 hours ago, trurl said:

I don't wish to discourage you from using unRAID, and it can be fun to learn, use, and expand upon. But since you are talking about only 1 HDD, why do you need a NAS? What do you want to do that wouldn't be more easily done with a single Windows machine?

hi @trurl, I wish to run at least 2 Windows and have an unRAID server that will store media files and might also be backup for my CCTV. ofcourse it would require me to add a few more hdds. my last question was if im going to use my current setup to migrate into unraid, what will be my pros and cons vs. as to building from scratch like the partlist I posted at the beginning of this thread? Thank you for your help

[demonmaestro]

If the idea is wanting to keep your current rig and possible use it for pfsense and keep a windows vm for day to day stuff then you could do that.

 

Couple of things. The i5 6500 is probably cheaper than the i5 7400  and the i5 7400 aint much of a performance gain.

 

Major issue though is that windows 10 is tied to your motherboard/cpu somehow. Now rather if this is true or not, I don't know  It is just something that I have heard a lot of people saying.

 

If want to tinker with the idea of VMs. Here is another idea. Check out a program called "Oracle VM VirtualBox" and could run an Ubuntu box with samba. There is a lot of people on youtube that shows how to do it.

 

Honestly if wanting to go the cheap route. I would use the VirtualBox idea for your second "windows" machine and then you could do a network share via windows if you want to be able to access your files across the network. 

[art-informa.pl]

@MarxisNewbie - Please do not get me wrong, but I have the feeling, you question is more like: Will unRaid be ok for me? And this is something you have to answer on your own. If you want to use unRaid machine as a server - you will most probably need a "client" pc or laptop to utilize the unRaid functionality. I'm not sure how deep you dive in the unRaid aspects, but the main advantage is that you have a Raid5/6-like protection without having the files scatterered in parts among all the drives. This unique feature allows you, even more drive fails, to rescue at least a part of the data by direct copying from the remaining / working drives. This is in opposite to normal hardware Raids, where, if more driver fails (as assumed by initial configuration), you are left with none data at all. This raises some concerns - if you want to have only one drive -> you will get no benefits from the system. You should have at least one (best two) parity drives in the system. Will you use docker? Maybe you can go and try for example Proxmox as bare metal hypervisor instead of unRaid ? It really depens what you want to do in particular with the system. unRaid is a gread soluition for multi-drive systems due to the described behaviour in the event of failure. If you will not use this -> what is the point of going for unRaid ?

(I hope you add more drives to your setup, and the, the whole thing will make more sense (as for me :)))