32 replies to this topic

[Michael Brown]

Since I've become addicted to the BYOB podcasts, I've decided my first ever computer build will be for WHS 2011. After listening and reading I've come up with the following:

Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz

Memory: 4GB CORSAIR(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMV4GX3M2A1333C9

OS Drives: 2 ea. Western Digital Scorpio Black WD2500BEKT 250GB set to RAID 1 inside an ICY DOCK MB982SPR-2S

Data Drives: 4 ea. Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EADS 2TB set to RAID 5 using the motherboard controller

Video Card: Radeon HD 4350 512MB GDDR2 PCIe 2.0 x16

DVD Drive: LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model UH12LS28

Power Supply: CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 (CMPSU-600CX) 600W ATX12V v2.3 Active PFC

Am I even in the ballpark with this setup? Also, I've been reading that consumer hard drives are not reliable in a RAID 5 array but everyone here seems to be using them. Should I be worried enough to buy enterprise drives?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[dagamer34]

Consumer drives aren't reliable in the sense that if your million dollar business depends on the data in your RAID5 array, you should probably be using enterprise drives, simply because any amount of failure sucks up time, costing you money.

And then there's the very important adagae everyone says: RAID is not a backup. It doesn't protect against power failure when you're writing to the disk. It doesn't protect against a fire. It doesn't protect against a thief. All very important things because if your only copy of your family's photos on the RAID, you'd be hosed. It ONLY protects against a single mechanical drive failing and nothing else.

So I'll say it again: RAID is not a backup

As for your build, i think you hit it OUT of the ballpark. Nice job!

Edited by dagamer34, 16 April 2011 - 09:36 AM.

[jmwills]

Consumer drives will suit you just fine. Enterprise drives are beefier because of the likelihood to have thousands of users hitting them at once. Buy quality gear, not overpriced for the task needed.

Just my .02

[mattd390]

I have that same case for my WS2008R2 / WHS build. It is great. The only thing to watch for is an ATX motherboard with front facing Sata connectors. Space can get a little tight in that situation. I looked at your board and you should be good.

[no-control]

I don't care for the icy dock, so I wouldn't recommend it you don't need the space and your MOBO has enough SATA plugs for the extra drive. I also wouldn't spend money on the scorpio blacks I would just get either scorpio blue or better yet a pair of cheaper 3.5" drives. Again you have the room.

[dvn]

I make a comment about the case selection. I just got the Antec 300. It's ok. You get what you pay for, and it'll work for what you're doing. But it's nothing like a Lian Li PC-K60. I own 2 of these and they're nice. I really like the HDD trays - screwless, shock mounted, easy access. And, plenty of cooling with 4 case fans: 1-120mm and 3-140mm. Also, the rear slots mounts use a very solid clamp system instead of screws to hold in your video cards or whatever. Again, very easy to deal with, and the empty slot covers don't rattle like a conventional setup might.

Unfortunately, I don't see this case on Newegg any more. However it is still available on FrozenCPU's site:
http://www.frozencpu...295&id=VEkIcZtu

And this case, the Lian Li PC-KB58W, is less expensive and has the same features:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811112238
The only differences are that the PC-KB58W has only 2 fans and a side panel with a window instead of being solid.

Yes, I think I'll echo no-control on the Icy Dock. Unless you're cramped for space, don't bother. I have one, and I'm not overly impressed with it.

[Michael Brown]

I don't care for the icy dock, so I wouldn't recommend it you don't need the space and your MOBO has enough SATA plugs for the extra drive. I also wouldn't spend money on the scorpio blacks I would just get either scorpio blue or better yet a pair of cheaper 3.5" drives. Again you have the room.

Keep in mind this is my first foray into the building process, but the reason (as I saw it) for the icy dock was that I didn't think I had enough sata plugs for the two OS drives, the 4 data drives, and the dvd reader. The board only has six sata plugs (two 6gb and four 3gb). Am I looking at this wrong?

Thanks for the advice.

[pcdoc]

Since I've become addicted to the BYOB podcasts, I've decided my first ever computer build will be for WHS 2011. After listening and reading I've come up with the following:

Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz

Memory: 4GB CORSAIR(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMV4GX3M2A1333C9

OS Drives: 2 ea. Western Digital Scorpio Black WD2500BEKT 250GB set to RAID 1 inside an ICY DOCK MB982SPR-2S

Data Drives: 4 ea. Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EADS 2TB set to RAID 5 using the motherboard controller

Video Card: Radeon HD 4350 512MB GDDR2 PCIe 2.0 x16

DVD Drive: LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model UH12LS28

Power Supply: CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 (CMPSU-600CX) 600W ATX12V v2.3 Active PFC

Am I even in the ballpark with this setup? Also, I've been reading that consumer hard drives are not reliable in a RAID 5 array but everyone here seems to be using them. Should I be worried enough to buy enterprise drives?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Very nice build. I think what you selected will be a great setup. Unlike DVN an no-control, I love my icy dock setup and am running one in my production WHS. If you want the OS mirror, you will have to use something like this as there are not enough connectors to do it via the motherboard. I really like the simplicity and pain free process of the cage especially if you if your are using the motherboard for the raid as you will need the sata connectors for the RAID setup you are doing. Make you set the BIOS to RAID before you do you install. The two white connector should be used for the DVD and Icy Dock and the remaining four for you RAID for the best setup. Great choice in your build. Also, the comments on the consumer grade of drives is very much overstated. I beat up all three of my arrays every day and do not see any issues at all. Modern controllers are a bit more robust and work fine for this kind of application. Also, you made a great selection using the EADS drives as they actually perform better in RAID than the EARS (not by much but it is a gain). I have both and have tested each. I would probably pick a better case if it was me as this case does not appear to have fans for the drives which is where you will need it the most. Sandy Bridge runs very cool but you will want to provide air flow for the drives. Look for something with 2 120/140mm fans on the front where the drives are. Lastly, as "dagamer34" stated RAID is not a backup in the truest sense and neither is putting an additional drive in your system and calling it a backup as you are prone to the same potential issues such as fire, theft,etc. Ultimate protection of critical data will come from an offsite backup via a portable drive, or online backup such as Cloudberry, Crashplan, or Keepvault so you will have to decide what works for you. If you Look forward to seeing your pictures and getting a impression of your build. Good job and thanks for listening. Great job on this and good luck.

[mattd390]

The Antec 300 actually has two fans on the front to cool the hard drives. They work pretty good.

[dvn]

The Antec 300 actually has two fans on the front to cool the hard drives. They work pretty good.

Interesting. Mine came with one in the back and one in the top, but no fans in the front.

[Lurker]

According to the details page on Newegg.com the Antec 300 only had a rear 120mm fan and a top 140mm fan.

[no-control]

Keep in mind this is my first foray into the building process, but the reason (as I saw it) for the icy dock was that I didn't think I had enough sata plugs for the two OS drives, the 4 data drives, and the dvd reader. The board only has six sata plugs (two 6gb and four 3gb). Am I looking at this wrong?

Thanks for the advice.

No I missed the optical drive. I saw WHS and it automatically filters out any need for a DVD. So my revised thought would be dump both the Icy and the DVD. Just how I would do it otherwise it's on point.

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

I too like the IcyDock and set it up on my server. Works great.

I bought the LIAN-LI LANCOOL CASE PC-A70F FULL TOWER for my server last night. This thing will give you plenty of space and airflow. Decided I have to transfer it out of the NZXT gaming case. The fans on that thing just scream.

[dagamer34]

I too like the IcyDock and set it up on my server. Works great.

I bought the LIAN-LI LANCOOL CASE PC-A70F FULL TOWER for my server last night. This thing will give you plenty of space and airflow. Decided I have to transfer it out of the NZXT gaming case. The fans on that thing just scream.

Those cases are HUGE, where do you end up sticking them in your home? I live in an apartment and having several running drives in my bedroom would make me go nuts. All of my network and media stuff is next to my TV, so it needs to be "media center friendly".

[mattd390]

I just checked... I guess I have the Antec 300 black illusion version. I wasn't aware there were multiple versions. Sorry for the confusion guys!

[Michael Brown]

Very nice build. I think what you selected will be a great setup. Unlike DVN an no-control, I love my icy dock setup and am running one in my production WHS. If you want the OS mirror, you will have to use something like this as there are not enough connectors to do it via the motherboard. I really like the simplicity and pain free process of the cage especially if you if your are using the motherboard for the raid as you will need the sata connectors for the RAID setup you are doing. Make you set the BIOS to RAID before you do you install. The two white connector should be used for the DVD and Icy Dock and the remaining four for you RAID for the best setup. Great choice in your build. Also, the comments on the consumer grade of drives is very much overstated. I beat up all three of my arrays every day and do not see any issues at all. Modern controllers are a bit more robust and work fine for this kind of application. Also, you made a great selection using the EADS drives as they actually perform better in RAID than the EARS (not by much but it is a gain). I have both and have tested each. I would probably pick a better case if it was me as this case does not appear to have fans for the drives which is where you will need it the most. Sandy Bridge runs very cool but you will want to provide air flow for the drives. Look for something with 2 120/140mm fans on the front where the drives are. Lastly, as "dagamer34" stated RAID is not a backup in the truest sense and neither is putting an additional drive in your system and calling it a backup as you are prone to the same potential issues such as fire, theft,etc. Ultimate protection of critical data will come from an offsite backup via a portable drive, or online backup such as Cloudberry, Crashplan, or Keepvault so you will have to decide what works for you. If you Look forward to seeing your pictures and getting a impression of your build. Good job and thanks for listening. Great job on this and good luck.

I've got the two extra fans ordered for the drives.

Thanks!

No I missed the optical drive. I saw WHS and it automatically filters out any need for a DVD. So my revised thought would be dump both the Icy and the DVD. Just how I would do it otherwise it's on point.

I see your point about the optical drive and am dumping it. I was being too timid about installing from a usb stick as I've never done it. I guess if I can't handle that I shouldn't be attempting the build in the first place.

I truly appreciate the input.

[stalni]

Since I've become addicted to the BYOB podcasts, I've decided my first ever computer build will be for WHS 2011. After listening and reading I've come up with the following:

Case: Antec Three Hundred ATX Mid Tower

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX

CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz

Memory: 4GB CORSAIR(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMV4GX3M2A1333C9

OS Drives: 2 ea. Western Digital Scorpio Black WD2500BEKT 250GB set to RAID 1 inside an ICY DOCK MB982SPR-2S

Data Drives: 4 ea. Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EADS 2TB set to RAID 5 using the motherboard controller

Video Card: Radeon HD 4350 512MB GDDR2 PCIe 2.0 x16

DVD Drive: LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Drive Model UH12LS28

Power Supply: CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 (CMPSU-600CX) 600W ATX12V v2.3 Active PFC

Am I even in the ballpark with this setup? Also, I've been reading that consumer hard drives are not reliable in a RAID 5 array but everyone here seems to be using them. Should I be worried enough to buy enterprise drives?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

First off, it looks like you have made a good selection.

But for a reduced power consumption I would go with an integrated graphics card, in sandy bridge it is integrated in the cpu, I do however not remember what chipset is need for the igx unit to be activated,(you can always add a dedicated GFX later if needed) and a lower wattage PSU(power supply unit) 400 W from a quality PSU is plenty. I use a silverstone sst-st40f-es for my server, but seasonic is "generally" the "good" brand behind many other oem's PSU(including the original corsair PSUs).

The higher wattage PSU could easily be justified, simply because you would have an extra "gaming" grade PSU around if needed.

On another related note, I just want to remind you that AMD provides an excellent platform, with more PCI-E lanes, similar RAM performance, similar SATA performance, but currently slightly higher power requirements(+5 - 20 W for low power) unless you tweak your system; and generaly slightly cheaper.

After having said all that, I feel it is paramount that you just put something together and get some experience, and the system you have chosen, should provide you headache free usage:)

[dagamer34]

First off, it looks like you have made a good selection.

But for a reduced power consumption I would go with an integrated graphics card, in sandy bridge it is integrated in the cpu, I do however not remember what chipset is need for the igx unit to be activated,(you can always add a dedicated GFX later if needed) and a lower wattage PSU(power supply unit) 400 W from a quality PSU is plenty. I use a silverstone sst-st40f-es for my server, but seasonic is "generally" the "good" brand behind many other oem's PSU(including the original corsair PSUs).

The higher wattage PSU could easily be justified, simply because you would have an extra "gaming" grade PSU around if needed.

On another related note, I just want to remind you that AMD provides an excellent platform, with more PCI-E lanes, similar RAM performance, similar SATA performance, but currently slightly higher power requirements(+5 - 20 W for low power) unless you tweak your system; and generaly slightly cheaper.

After having said all that, I feel it is paramount that you just put something together and get some experience, and the system you have chosen, should provide you headache free usage:)

Motherboards with the H67 chipset support Intel HD graphics and have the necessary DVI/HDMI outputs.

Also, technically if a power supply is well built, shouldn't it use as little power as needed? A 600W supply isn't going to draw 600W if the systems' requirements are only 250W, right?

[timekills]

Also, technically if a power supply is well built, shouldn't it use as little power as needed? A 600W supply isn't going to draw 600W if the systems' requirements are only 250W, right?

Correct, although their efficiency may not be as good at lower power draws. An 80% efficiency 1000 watt PSU may be only 55-60% efficiency at 250 watts and potentially even less at 60-70 watts. So although the power draw from the PSU will be the same, it may require more power at the outlet to get that power. If you *know* you'll use less than the rated amount for the PSU, it is actually better to get a PSU closer to your expected power draw if the efficiency is the same.

That is why you'll find it is actually difficult - and pricy - to get 400w or < PSUs with 80%+ efficiency.

Edited by timekills, 17 April 2011 - 05:57 PM.

[dvn]

It's all about the efficiency rating: 80PLUS - standard to gold. I have a Core i3 HTPC with a 600W PSU that draws less than 30W @ idle. A 1000w 80PLUS Gold PSU will draw less than a 400W non-80PLUS PSU in the same situation. Plus it'll do it with less heat and fan noise.