[helpermonkey]

Hi There,
I thought i'd put this out to the forum to see if someone has a good list of equipment that i can just follow :-)

I'm building a box that will primarily function as a media server for movies and music. However, I will also use it to backup a handful of laptops and a desktop. I want the ability to expand the storage capacity as time goes along and I REALLY want this box to be quiet or possibly even dead silent as it will initially be in my media room. Even if it gets moved into another room, it will stay hardwired into my Apple Airport Extreme router.

I've decided to run unRaid on it and to date, the only thing i've purchased for it are 3 Seagate 2TB SATA drives (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D1GYNT4/).

My budget for this project is roughly $1500 to $2000 (i say roughly because i'm not sure if i'm going to include the 3 HDD in that).

I definitely want an SSD for a cache drive and i want to utilize hotswap drive racks. Beyond that, I'm wide open.

So there you go - let me know what you'd purchase with that budget as I'll need to buy every component (and the case). I'm hoping to buy all of this stuff in the next 24-hours so that i can maximize Cyber-Monday savings.

Also - BIG THANK YOU to Harro for helping me over email the past few days.

[CaptainPsycho]

If you want a dead silent system, take a 35TDP CPU f.e. G1610T and a big cpu cooler f.e. scythe ninja 3, a passive power supply.
I would not mount the drives in hot swapable bays, because they will get hotter in there.
Mount them separately with enough space in between with rubber and so on to eliminate vibration. One in each 5,25" slot.
Take a big tower an mount 140 or even bigger fans over the front where your disks are which are connected to a fan controller with at least 2 temerature sensors.

The Controller should kick in the fans when your hdds gets hotter then 50 Degree and your cpu gets hotter then 60 degrees.

I think 90% of time the system will be dead silent. And when the server is doing hard work or it is hot in summer you won't fry your hardware.

[Qtrmeg]

I built this, and I am beyond happy with it>>>

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Qtrmeg/saved/2CZG

There is a thread on the unRAID Compulsive Design Forum for the Lian Li Q25 case, and I have posted a lot build photos and details there.

One thing I would change is to get the standard 4130 cpu, not the 4130T. This case is so well cooled that the T model is just not neccessary, even with the stock cpu cooler, and the standard model is more powerful for a bit less money. You could go with an entry level cpu like the G3220, but I wanted a little extra power for additional programs. Same reason I went with 8gb of memory instead of 4gb.

The memory I chose was just what was available at the time that seemed like a good deal.

I have this system on the desk not 5 feet from me and it is very quiet. Some people have changed out the 2 120mm case fans but you will need to decide if that is neccessary.

As for the hard drives getting hot? Zero problem with that. The front case fan blows directly across the hotswap cage and if you use the lower tray to mount more than 5 drives the bottom of the case has a vent and the top fan pulls air across them.

I think you will also like the size of this Mini ITX case, and looks, especially if you will be looking at it.

As far as budget, I spent just over $1100 for twice the storage you want to start with, and prices are less now than when I bought.

Ps. partspicker says the power supply is not compatible with the case. The smaller PS I used works just fine and allows much more room in the case for airflow, and better cable management.

[CaptainPsycho]

My conclusions after a lot of tests is: Avoid as much fans as possible. Whey they are almost silent when new, they will become louder after a certain amount of time.

[Qtrmeg]

My conclusions after a lot of tests is: Avoid as much fans as possible. Whey they are almost silent when new, they will become louder after a certain amount of time.

I can't argue with that, but the case fans/filters pop right off toolessly so they are easy to clean or replace. As I said above, if you think the stock fans are too noisey then replace them with silent ones. I will eventually have 7 hard drives in this case so I personally prefer to keep the fans.

I really didn't pick up on the fact that helpermonkey intends to use hotswap bays, as opposed to the internal hotswap cage of the Q25. I much prefer the internal hotswap cage of the Q25, and that shouldn't be a dealbreaker because the side panels pop right off toolessly in a second.

There are infinate ways of acheiving the same goal here, I'm just offering one option.

[Harro]

+1 for the Lian Q25B build at The UnRaid Forum. Add a 128 gig SSD drive for a cache and it will be rock solid and expandable for future.

Only thought I would have is to buy a 3 or 4 TB drive for your parity and use the 2 TB drives for storage. This way when you do decide to expand you only need to swap out the 2 TB drives for a larger drive equivalent to the parity drive. I also do not think that hot swappable drive bays would be of your interest at this point. Just as easy with this case to swap out the drives since we are only talking about a handful of drives.
Just my 2 cents.
You have my email if you have other questions. Good Luck

[helpermonkey]

Alright, game on guys! Thanks for the suggestions.

[helpermonkey]

My conclusions after a lot of tests is: Avoid as much fans as possible. Whey they are almost silent when new, they will become louder after a certain amount of time.

I can't argue with that, but the case fans/filters pop right off toolessly so they are easy to clean or replace. As I said above, if you think the stock fans are too noisey then replace them with silent ones. I will eventually have 7 hard drives in this case so I personally prefer to keep the fans.

I really didn't pick up on the fact that helpermonkey intends to use hotswap bays, as opposed to the internal hotswap cage of the Q25. I much prefer the internal hotswap cage of the Q25, and that shouldn't be a dealbreaker because the side panels pop right off toolessly in a second.

There are infinate ways of acheiving the same goal here, I'm just offering one option.

in light of your comments on the internal cage of the q25 i'm going that route

[helpermonkey]

Just thought I'd toss my config out to everyone. Looking forward to building this!

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/helpermonkey/saved/31UO

[CaptainPsycho]

This won't be dead silent!

[00b5]

Did you already buy all these parts?

I'm not so sure you need to put an i5 in this server (doesn't hurt, but if you can save a few $$$ with an i3 or even a pentium class chip, thats more hdds!!)

You did say you are running Unraid, but didn't say if you were going to run a ton of addons/plex to transcode/etc.

My unraid box is my old C2D from my previous desktop, and it serves as a NAS just fine.

Lastly, if you are building this, keep us updated. We all love porn on our servers..... i mean pics of the building of your server!!

[helpermonkey]

This won't be dead silent!

According to people i've talked to - it will be fairly quiet, enough so that it will suffice until it's moved to the closet. Why do you think otherwise?

Did you already buy all these parts?

I'm not so sure you need to put an i5 in this server (doesn't hurt, but if you can save a few $$$ with an i3 or even a pentium class chip, thats more hdds!!)

You did say you are running Unraid, but didn't say if you were going to run a ton of addons/plex to transcode/etc.

My unraid box is my old C2D from my previous desktop, and it serves as a NAS just fine.

Lastly, if you are building this, keep us updated. We all love porn on our servers..... i mean pics of the building of your server!!

Yup, i've purchased everything. While I know the i5 is a bit of overkill, i plan on learning about and installing a few of the addons and i like my machines to be able to last for a few years, so buying an i5 is part of the reason. I got a pretty good deal on it. I will definitely post / update my sig once this thing is operational!

[CaptainPsycho]

This won't be dead silent!

According to people i've talked to - it will be fairly quiet, enough so that it will suffice until it's moved to the closet. Why do you think otherwise?

Fairly quite is right, but not dead silent.

I've a NAS box with intel stock cooler and 2 slow running 140mm fans. This not really loud but gettin glouder over the time as the fans are wearing out.
In comparison to my complete passive htpc the NAS is loud as f..k. And when you are watching movies in the evening when some others in the house are already sleeping you can turn the volume down and understand everything well. This wasn' possible before i made the htpc passive.

[Qtrmeg]

Monkey, your build is fine just the way it is. Just for giggles, when you get the case pull the fans out just so you can see how easy it is. Dirtysanchez has links to the upgraded fans he used in the first post of his Landfill Build. Other users have also used a Noctua CPU fan as well.

Some people have stated that power supply is noisy. When I say some I have seen 2, with the rest just worried about those 2 reports. In each case the PS was defective. If yours seems noisy AT ALL then you have a bad one, but the odds are slim that will be the case.

You don't have a lot of room for a super space age CPU cooler, nor do you have the need, but if you want I can measue mine and tell you exactly how much room there is between the MB and PS.

---

Fairly quite is right, but not dead silent.

I've a NAS box with intel stock cooler and 2 slow running 140mm fans. This not really loud but gettin glouder over the time as the fans are wearing out.
In comparison to my complete passive htpc the NAS is loud as f..k. And when you are watching movies in the evening when some others in the house are already sleeping you can turn the volume down and understand everything well. This wasn' possible before i made the htpc passive.

I have often thought of mounting a couple of small remote speakers under my coffee table for that exact reason. I don't know why I haven't, I am always fiddling with the volume so I don't bother people, but then I miss what I want to hear.

[helpermonkey]

This won't be dead silent!

According to people i've talked to - it will be fairly quiet, enough so that it will suffice until it's moved to the closet. Why do you think otherwise?

Fairly quite is right, but not dead silent.

I've a NAS box with intel stock cooler and 2 slow running 140mm fans. This not really loud but gettin glouder over the time as the fans are wearing out.
In comparison to my complete passive htpc the NAS is loud as f..k. And when you are watching movies in the evening when some others in the house are already sleeping you can turn the volume down and understand everything well. This wasn' possible before i made the htpc passive.

Monkey, your build is fine just the way it is. Just for giggles, when you get the case pull the fans out just so you can see how easy it is. Dirtysanchez has links to the upgraded fans he used in the first post of his Landfill Build. Other users have also used a Noctua CPU fan as well.

Some people have stated that power supply is noisy. When I say some I have seen 2, with the rest just worried about those 2 reports. In each case the PS was defective. If yours seems noisy AT ALL then you have a bad one, but the odds are slim that will be the case.

You don't have a lot of room for a super space age CPU cooler, nor do you have the need, but if you want I can measue mine and tell you exactly how much room there is between the MB and PS.

---

Fairly quite is right, but not dead silent.

I've a NAS box with intel stock cooler and 2 slow running 140mm fans. This not really loud but gettin glouder over the time as the fans are wearing out.
In comparison to my complete passive htpc the NAS is loud as f..k. And when you are watching movies in the evening when some others in the house are already sleeping you can turn the volume down and understand everything well. This wasn' possible before i made the htpc passive.

I have often thought of mounting a couple of small remote speakers under my coffee table for that exact reason. I don't know why I haven't, I am always fiddling with the volume so I don't bother people, but then I miss what I want to hear.

y'all rock