[jasmill1969]

Hey Eskro, I know you are an unRAID guy, but I was hoping you might could step away from your comfort zone and whip up a build for someone thinking of going the flexRAID route. I am a windows guy and I'm too old and impatient to change. If so, I'll list my particulars below.

I'd like to have an SSD for my operating system. OS will be Win 7 64x. Besides flexRAID, I'll also be running uTorrent 24x7, Ember Media Manager, and a few other supplemental XBMC/Torrent apps. I am an AMD guy so try to factor that in. You can leave the HDDs out, but for reference I'll be using 2TB WD Caviar Greens. I'd like to have up to 12 of them at some point, but I'll be starting with 4.

[jasmill1969]

This is what I have been thinking so far, so if anyone wants to critique this build, it would be a help.

[CASE] ANTEC Twelve Hundred V3 Micro-ATX ($160 + $0)
[MOBO] ASRock 880GM-LE AM3 AMD 880G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard ($55 + $0)
[CPU] AMD Athlon II X4 640 Propus 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX640WFGMBOX ($99 + $0)
[PSU] CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply ($60 + $0)
[RAM] G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) ($43 + $0)
[HDD] Corsair Force CSSD-F40GB2-A 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) ($85 + $0)
Total $502.94

[Kirky99]

That's very similar to what I'm going with. I have a Deneb 925 quad core however... I'm curious on the CPU requirements on a FlexRAID setup, I'm currently running Ubuntu 10.04 on an Athlon II X2 240e and software RAID5. For the most part, I see no problems, but I know it gets bound up at times. Between file serving and SAB+ w/ SickBeard it's adequate.

I'm actually running a HTPC/TV Server with the 925, and the File Server on the 240e. I'm going to be swapping them and converting the Ubuntu box into a Windows Server to get the TV Server off the HTPC.

I wouldn't spend the cash on a SSD for a server. That's money better spent elsewhere I don't think you'll see much in terms of improvement, although since it's a Windows box, it will need to be rebooted, which is where the SSD will shine. For me, not worth the money though. Schedule a reboot off hours and you'll never know.

I'm running a CoolerMaster HAF 922 for my case, but I don't think it will support the number of drives you're looking to sport. It does stay nice and cool though...

Good luck!

[eskro]

thats the build i suggest for 12 HDD's
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=8...post886478

i dont know about FlexRAID and its requirements,, thats up to you now,,,

but u could still go with this 12 HDD's
and just swap parts to your liking,,,