# [Build Log] Terrorbyte V2 - 105TB Home Server



## Sean Webster

My little Terrorbyte server started off as an innocent offspring of my mind in the physical form of *this*. However, as time progressed and tech got faster and cheaper...and I became more devious, my plans expanded and thus, my simple home server has developed into...

This, the build thread for Terrorbyte V2!



As I progress in building and configuring up my server I'll be posting pics and info that may or may not be helpful or entertaining. Feel free to ask any questions, throw me suggestions, or just sit there quietly like a ninja ghost and stalk me like 90% of the internet does.









*Main goals/uses*


Experimentation and learning
VMs
Lots of storage

*Progression*
Day 1: Got my C1100, first impressions
Update 2: Got my Norco 4224, Trouble with the Dell C1100 + Fix
Update 3: Got my SAS expanders
Update 4: Got my LSI 9261-8i
Update 5: Finally got my SAS cables, got back a RMA'd SSD for the OS, and set up the system...IT'S ALIVE!
Update 6: RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and 50 benches with 6x 2TB drives
Update 7: Crazy Network and transfer speeds. 0_o
Update 8: RAID 6 8x 2TB drives
Update 9: Got a 3TB backup drive + Benches
Update 10: Got a 5x 500GB drive + a 1TB Samsung F3 for free of a client








Update 11: Got HP 1800-24G + Update to Terrorbyte V2.1 begins
Update 12: New mobo installed, installed Server 2012 R2, and more fun
Update 13: New 8x 3TB RAID 0 and RAID 6 array benches, Power draw testing, and storage layout reconfiguration. 
Update 14: Added 8x HGST He8 HDDs + 1TB SSD + Benches

*Currently the setup is as follows...*

I originally purchased a Dell Poweredge C1100 with 2 L5520 CPUs & 72GB RAM for $435 and connected it to the Norco chassis via SAS cables and an expander. Now, however, I bought a mobo to put in the Norco case and stripped the Dell of its two CPUs and 48GB of its RAM and finally got everything into the Norco. I sold the Dell to regain some $.









*Total Spent:* ~$2,724

*System w/out Storage:* ~$1,232

*Das Terrorbyte v2.1!*

CPU: 2x L5520

RAM: 48GB Nanya 1066MHz ECC RDIMM

Mobo: SuperMicro X8DTi-F - $140

Coolers: SuperMicro SNK-P0040AP4
RAID card: LSI 9261-8i RAID card with BBU - $200, replacement BBU - $70
SAS expander: Intel RES2CV240 - $115

Cables: 7x 1 Meter SAS Cable SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 - $60
PSU: Corsair TX650 V2 - $80

Chassis: Norco RPC-4224 - $350

120mm fan wall - $18

3x Be Quiet! 120mm Silent Wings 2 - Free

2x SilenX EFX-08-15 80mm Effizio Fans - $15

Athena Power Cable-PCI6EPS428 6" PCI-E Converter - $9

*Network*
HP Procurve 1800-24G - $95

*OS*
Server 2012 Datacenter R2 - Free

*VMs:*


Server 2012 R2 x5
Win 10 x2
Win 8.1

*Current HDD configs (105TB + 128GB)*
No RAID -> 128GB - OS, 480GB - VMs, 1TB - Share


128GB Samsung 830 - $67
480GB SanDisk Extreme 2 - Free (Work)
1TB Edge Boost Micro - Free (Work)

RAID 5 -> 4x 2TB Archive 1


2x Samsung Spinpoint F4 - $160
2x WD Red - $200

RAID 5 -> 4x 2TB Archive 2


2x Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 - $180
2x Toshiba DT01ACA200 - $160

RAID 6 -> 8x 3TB for Movies and Backup


3x Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001 - $270
5x Toshiba DT01ACA300 - $455

RAID 6 -> 8x 8TB for Movies and Backup


8x HGST He8 - Free (Work)


----------



## seross69

Do you mind me asking what you gave for the C1100?? Also why a managed switch??


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## Sean Webster

Got the Dell Poweredge C1100 all hooked up for some testing.









This thing is awesome, I can't believe I actually have something with so much RAM and threads. Previously i thought the 32GB of RAM in my desktop was a lot, now it seems so miniscule. lol It is crazy how they are able to pack so much in to such little space with this server. The size definitely took me by surprise when I first opened the package and took it out, it is so big, yet so thin.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9454442526/
Canon 60D IMG_4789.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9454443616/
Canon 60D IMG_4790.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9454444884/
Canon 60D IMG_4791.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

DAT RAM O___O
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9454446304/
Canon 60D IMG_4792.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

Pretty good score, wish I could OC this thing now lol

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Do you mind me asking what you gave for the C1100??


$435 shipped.
Quote:


> Also why a managed switch??


More features and options for me to tweak and mess with. lol

I just ordered the 2 Intel 24port SAS expander cards, I got the 2 for $300. That's what i get for pushing the seller lol.


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## Zankza

Can you please explain to me what is use of data deduplication with the hyper-v? they do not reduce or deduplication VHDs.


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zankza*
> 
> Can you please explain to me what is use of data deduplication with the hyper-v? they do not reduce or deduplication VHDs.


I usually got all my ISOs on there and some program installer files, so i'm thinking it should help a little with them. Plus it helps for VMs I use infrequently. I'm just experimenting.


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## Zankza

Alright, cause u had me a bit all excited about the data deduplication cause I have revodrive installed in my servers, storage space is never quite same so I try almost every trick there is to reduce size.


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## xNovax

Very interesting. I will definitely be watching this.

I would have trouble dropping $350 on a case.


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## Sean Webster

Man, yesterday was crazy. First off I want to give some info on the Dell C1100 I got.

*1.* I turned it off and it wouldn't turn back on...I was like wut. 0__o So I tried doing a few things to boot it up, check all the connections and cleared CMOS. Finally it booted, but then I setup the BIOS and it didn't boot again. It just powered up for a second then powered down, literally on/off. So, I googled around and found this: http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/cloud/f/4442/t/19512575.aspx

Updated everything. Reconfigured the BIOS and it worked.









Now however, with the newest BIOS the fans are louder at idle and it warms up my already warm room here in South Florida.









So far I really like it, it is going to be sweet when it is all set up and configured how I like.

*Here are some moar pix:*
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9466929431/
Canon 60D IMG_4801.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9466928859/
Canon 60D IMG_4809.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9466928113/
Canon 60D IMG_4810.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9466927373/
Canon 60D IMG_4812.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9466926639/
Canon 60D IMG_4814.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9466925303/
Canon 60D IMG_4817.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9469706726/
Canon 60D IMG_4827.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

*2.* Found that a hard drive caddy latch was broken.









Good news is that I am getting a new non broken one next week, that ebay seller is awesome.











Canon 60D IMG_4799.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

*3.* Got the Norco RPC-4224 today. It is pretty heavy without anything in it, about the weight of my current home server filled.









http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9466924077/
Canon 60D IMG_4835.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9469705510/
Canon 60D IMG_4837.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9466922255/
Canon 60D IMG_4840.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9469704880/
Canon 60D IMG_4839.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

*4.* I'm trying to figure out where i can put this stuff in my house lol. I want to shove it in the kitchen in the pantry where the clothes washers are, but me mumzy ain't gonna have it.







So I need to either deal with the noise and heat or sneak it in there one night and route network cables around the house.

*5.* The two SAS expanders and the LSI RAID card are shipped and should be here next week, I may get something saturday.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Zankza*
> 
> Alright, cause u had me a bit all excited about the data deduplication cause I have revodrive installed in my servers, storage space is never quite same so I try almost every trick there is to reduce size.


basically if the data on the volume is read more than written to it will be good for data deduplication. Try it out on your setup and see how it goes.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> Very interesting. I will definitely be watching this.
> 
> I would have trouble dropping $350 on a case.


Yea man, it literally hurt my wallet doing so...i'm still on a college students budget with no job lol.


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## xNovax

Its not a 900D.









Also are those samsung dimms?


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> Its not a 900D.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also are those samsung dimms?


nanya nt4gc72b4na1nl-be

http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdetail.aspx?itemid=1442237231


----------



## xNovax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> nanya nt4gc72b4na1nl-be
> 
> http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdetail.aspx?itemid=1442237231


Mine came with samsung dimms. They probably perform the same.


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## PR-Imagery

I'll be waiting for bandwidth numbers and benchmarks on the storage setup


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> nanya nt4gc72b4na1nl-be
> 
> http://www.memory4less.com/m4l_itemdetail.aspx?itemid=1442237231
> 
> 
> 
> Mine came with samsung dimms. They probably perform the same.
Click to expand...

Nice, maybe run some benches like maxx mem Pi2. I'll run it too when I plug it in in a bit.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PR-Imagery*
> 
> I'll be waiting for bandwidth numbers and benchmarks on the storage setup












I'll be getting 1Gb/s throughput to all my PCs until I upgrade to 10Gb/s in a few years. Storage speeds should be good. I'm thinking about 400-600MB/s for the RAID 6 array with 6 2TB HDDs, maybe better. With a 10-12 drive RAID 6 I hope to see double that. I may throw my desktop RAID 0 set up in there and change it to RAID 5 with my 4 1TB drives.


----------



## xNovax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Nice, maybe run some benches like maxx mem Pi2. I'll run it too when I plug it in in a bit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll be getting 1Gb/s throughput to all my PCs until I upgrade to 10Gb/s in a few years. Storage speeds should be good. I'm thinking about 400-600MB/s for the RAID 6 array with 6 2TB HDDs, maybe better. With a 10-12 drive RAID 6 I hope to see double that. I may throw my desktop RAID 0 set up in there and change it to RAID 5 with my 4 1TB drives.


Im on holidays, maybe when I get home I will run it.


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## Nexo

Wow this must of cost you like a lot all together.


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## PR-Imagery

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> I'll be getting 1Gb/s throughput to all my PCs until I upgrade to 10Gb/s in a few years. Storage speeds should be good. I'm thinking about 400-600MB/s for the RAID 6 array with 6 2TB HDDs, maybe better. With a 10-12 drive RAID 6 I hope to see double that. I may throw my desktop RAID 0 set up in there and change it to RAID 5 with my 4 1TB drives.


Hmm. Not bad I guess; I've got raw 4k media in mind


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> Im on holidays, maybe when I get home I will run it.












Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Nexo*
> 
> Wow this must of cost you like a lot all together.


Yea, kinda. I could have probably done it cheaper, but I wanted the system a certain way and maintain a certain level of performance as well.

The whole thing without drives is ~$1500 without drives.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PR-Imagery*
> 
> Hmm. Not bad I guess; I've got raw 4k media in mind


Get a couple RAID 0 arrays set up with some SSDs or some of the Seagate 1TB/platter HDDs.


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## stubass

Them Pics look awesome, going to follow this until the end. Might learn something from you too over Skype


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> I'll be getting 1Gb/s throughput to all my PCs until I upgrade to 10Gb/s in a few years. Storage speeds should be good. *I'm thinking about 400-600MB/s for the RAID 6 array with 6 2TB HDDs*, maybe better. With a 10-12 drive RAID 6 I hope to see double that. I may throw my desktop RAID 0 set up in there and change it to RAID 5 with my 4 1TB drives.


That's seems a bit optimistic with the RAID 6 array. It will most likely be in the 300-400 MB/s range with the 6 disk RAID 6 array. Don't let the raid controller's cache fool you. Run your benchmarks at greater than 512MB.


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## Sean Webster

Got my SAS expanders, I'll make an updated post with pics later tonight when I'm free.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> I'll be getting 1Gb/s throughput to all my PCs until I upgrade to 10Gb/s in a few years. Storage speeds should be good. *I'm thinking about 400-600MB/s for the RAID 6 array with 6 2TB HDDs*, maybe better. With a 10-12 drive RAID 6 I hope to see double that. I may throw my desktop RAID 0 set up in there and change it to RAID 5 with my 4 1TB drives.
> 
> 
> 
> That's seems a bit optimistic with the RAID 6 array. It will most likely be in the 300-400 MB/s range with the 6 disk RAID 6 array. Don't let the raid controller's cache fool you. Run your benchmarks at greater than 512MB.
Click to expand...

Yea, right now I'm getting 450-500MB/s in RAID 5 when benchin with 8MB. You're right, I'll be a little less than what i said lol. My WD10EZEXs should be able to do better tho....if I get more, but the price to capacity is not worth it.


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## Sean Webster

Got my SAS expanders! Once I get my RAID card and SAS cables I'll start doing some experimenting before I move all my data over. So far all I can say is that they look sweet!


Canon 60D IMG_4856.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr


Canon 60D IMG_4857.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr


Canon 60D IMG_4859.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr


Canon 60D IMG_4862.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr


Canon 60D IMG_4863.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr


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## Sean Webster

Got my LSI 9261-8i!









All I have left to wait for is my SAS cables to arrive and we will be up and running. Oh, and I need to backup my current server somehow....









http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9496071041/
Canon 60D IMG_4873.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9498871130/
Canon 60D IMG_4878.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9496072767/
Canon 60D IMG_4879.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9498873964/
Canon 60D IMG_4882.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9496073833/
Canon 60D IMG_4881.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9498874590/
Canon 60D IMG_4883.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr


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## tycoonbob

Beautiful card, aye? I love my 9261-8i.


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## Sean Webster

Aye, I really am liking the looks of it. Right now I have the bracket taken off and it is sagging and need to fine a standard/long bracket to secure it in the C1100.


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## cones

Subscribing and also very nice pictures.


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## seross69

Good looking card!! Going to water cool it?? Guess I am going to have to find some batteries now!!


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Good looking card!! Going to water cool it?? Guess I am going to have to find some batteries now!!


Water cool a 1U server? XD

I'm trying to think of a way to quiet this dell down. I don't care what anyone says, this thing is annoyingly loud in my room, even in my closet.

I'm thinking of getting a cheap 1366 cooler (got 1 hyper 212+ already) and leave the top off the server and just use those to cool the CPUs. Then I have some 200mm fans I can throw on top of the open top to help cool the mobo and chipset a little. And I have some 120mm fans I can throw behind the HDD bays to keep airflow for them.


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Water cool a 1U server? XD
> 
> I'm trying to think of a way to quiet this dell down. I don't care what anyone says, this thing is annoyingly loud in my room, even in my closet.
> 
> I'm thinking of getting a cheap 1366 cooler (got 1 hyper 212+ already) and leave the top off the server and just use those to cool the CPUs. Then I have some 200mm fans I can throw on top of the open top to help cool the mobo and chipset a little. And I have some 120mm fans I can throw behind the HDD bays to keep airflow for them.


I have seen this done even in a 1U.. Would not take much to do this and they sell 60 and 80mm Radiators...


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Water cool a 1U server? XD
> 
> I'm trying to think of a way to quiet this dell down. I don't care what anyone says, this thing is annoyingly loud in my room, even in my closet.
> 
> I'm thinking of getting a cheap 1366 cooler (got 1 hyper 212+ already) and leave the top off the server and just use those to cool the CPUs. Then I have some 200mm fans I can throw on top of the open top to help cool the mobo and chipset a little. And I have some 120mm fans I can throw behind the HDD bays to keep airflow for them.
> 
> 
> 
> I have seen this done even in a 1U.. Would not take much to do this and they sell 60 and 80mm Radiators...
Click to expand...

I know, it wouldn't really be hard. No where to put it a inside this 1U chassis. Besides I don't like water cooling myself. Been there done it, moved back to air.


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## scottath

Sub'd
This is an awesome setup mate. Keen to see where you go with it.


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *scottath*
> 
> Sub'd
> This is an awesome setup mate. Keen to see where you go with it.












I'm currently backing up 8TB of data...it sucks btw.


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## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm currently backing up 8TB of data...it sucks btw.


This is why you need 10GbE or Infiniband


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm currently backing up 8TB of data...it sucks btw.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is why you need 10GbE or Infiniband
Click to expand...

Actually let me rephrase that. What sucks is deciding what files stay and go while sorting out all my data to backup. i have 8TB of data, yet only 5-6TB of backup space to backup to. lol

i wonder if I can just import my RAID 5 array to my new LSI card and then migrate to a RAID 6...

Infiniband is sweet, but no need atm.


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Actually let me rephrase that. What sucks is deciding what files stay and go while sorting out all my data to backup. i have 8TB of data, yet only 5-6TB of backup space to backup to. lol
> 
> i wonder if I can just import my RAID 5 array to my new LSI card and then migrate to a RAID 6...
> 
> Infiniband is sweet, but no need atm.


Yea that does suck...had that happen before too. Thats the reason I built a dedicated backup box.


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## netdevil

This is an awesome build. It would be interesting to see what you do with this baby


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## Sean Webster

OMG, the eBay seller who sent my SAS cables opted for sign on delivery and the stupid mail man (actually mail woman) decides to leave a redelivery notice for me instead of knocking at my door. My mom, my dad, and I were all home today all day. All 3 of our cars where in the parking lot. But, this idiot decides to just leave the notice in the mail box and not bother coming to my door. I am really pissed off at her now. I never did like this lady since she became our new mail deliverer. I'm going to complain to USPS now. No holiday thank you from me!



As for the actual server, I cut back 1TB of data to back up so far. I have 1TB more to go. I ordered 2x 50ft Cat 6 Ethernet cables for $10 and a standard bracket for the LSI RAID card for $10. And I convinced my dad to put the server in his closet.


----------



## Sean Webster

Update on my SAS cable package situation...

It appears that the mail lady delivered my package to another house and had them sign for the package and they had another package they ordered and thought it was part of theirs. Upon opening it they put it back by the mail and left it there hoping the mail person would pick it back up...so basically USPS screwed up and now I need to see if I can get anther set sent out. I hope they find the package and it turns up tomorrow.


----------



## xNovax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Update on my SAS cable package situation...
> 
> It appears that the mail lady delivered my package to another house and had them sign for the package and they had another package they ordered and thought it was part of theirs. Upon opening it they put it back by the mail and left it there hoping the mail person would pick it back up...so basically USPS screwed up and now I need to see if I can get anther set sent out. I hope they find the package and it turns up tomorrow.


That really sucks. Hope you get it sorted out.


----------



## PR-Imagery

They didn't see that it wasn't addressed to them?
So glad its impossible for that to happen here.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Actually let me rephrase that. What sucks is deciding what files stay and go while sorting out all my data to backup. i have 8TB of data, yet only 5-6TB of backup space to backup to. lol
> 
> i wonder if I can just import my RAID 5 array to my new LSI card and then migrate to a RAID 6...
> 
> Infiniband is sweet, but no need atm.


At least its only 8Tb.
If its a lsi card, save the configuration and import it to the new card, should work.


----------



## BigWorms

Nice build so far!


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Update on my SAS cable package situation...
> 
> It appears that the mail lady delivered my package to another house and had them sign for the package and they had another package they ordered and thought it was part of theirs. Upon opening it they put it back by the mail and left it there hoping the mail person would pick it back up...so basically USPS screwed up and now I need to see if I can get anther set sent out. I hope they find the package and it turns up tomorrow.
> 
> 
> 
> That really sucks. Hope you get it sorted out.
Click to expand...

Next post will let you know.









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PR-Imagery*
> 
> They didn't see that it wasn't addressed to them?
> So glad its impossible for that to happen here.
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Actually let me rephrase that. What sucks is deciding what files stay and go while sorting out all my data to backup. i have 8TB of data, yet only 5-6TB of backup space to backup to. lol
> 
> i wonder if I can just import my RAID 5 array to my new LSI card and then migrate to a RAID 6...
> 
> Infiniband is sweet, but no need atm.
> 
> 
> 
> At least its only 8Tb.
> If its a lsi card, save the configuration and import it to the new card, should work.
Click to expand...

It is from a PERC 5i








Quote:


> Originally Posted by *BigWorms*
> 
> Nice build so far!


Thanks. I have an update coming up soon...and it's a good one!


----------



## Sean Webster

"OMG, it's a miracle! I actually have them!" The words I stated after my SAS cables arrived! They came Saturday. I thought they were lost forever after the person who revived them said they put them by the mailbox and they thought the trash men or someone took them. I was so relieved.

1 meter is just long enough for me to route one cable to a back plane and one to a SAS expander. So now I can sell off one of my expanders I don't need.









Also, I had a scary moment yesterday. Basically I was powering the norco case and stuff with extra cables hanging out of my current server lol...Here is a jist of a chat I had with a buddy about it.
Quote:


> Sean Webster: Thought I lost 6TB of data, killed backplanes, a mobo, a RAID card, and possibly a PSU
> Sean Webster: I connected a 4 pin molex to my norcco back plane when the PSU was on and poooof!
> Sean Webster: Sparks
> Sean Webster: PSU shutdown on its own, but didn't start
> Sean Webster: No power LEDs went on
> Sean Webster: No beep
> Sean Webster: No Ethernet light
> Sean Webster: I was like
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...
> Sean Webster: Cleared cmos and bam works now and all data is good.


It was a close call the scared the hell out of me...lesson learned, don't mess with PSUs when powered on.

Alrighty, next up, I got the server up and running today! Everything is almost complete.









HDDs from the old server
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9550318503/
Canon 60D IMG_4892.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

SAS cables installed
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9553109452/
Canon 60D IMG_4894.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9550321327/
Canon 60D IMG_4899.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

Molex cables hooked up to 5/6 planes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9553110896/
Canon 60D IMG_4898.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

PSU in the case
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9553110282/
Canon 60D IMG_4895.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

LSI 9261-8i installed, only need one cable hooked up atm.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9553113114/
Canon 60D IMG_4905.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

Stopping the RAID card from touching the top panel and shorting out with a piece of paper.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9550323515/
Canon 60D IMG_4907.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

So I didn't even think about this until I got building. I took some SATA cables (added another after I took the pic) and routed them into the case.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9550324395/
Canon 60D IMG_4909.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

Almost done
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9553115914/
Canon 60D IMG_4910.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

Remember the SATA cables sticking out? Well now I can have have 2 SSDs hooked up nicely. My V300 for OS...I think 55GB (partitioned space) is enough based on the usage from my last set up. And my sexy 480GB SanDisk Extreme 2!

Kingston RMA is awesome! The V300 is actually an RMA drive i received Monday after RMAing a old V100 I got off a friend free because he broke the SATA power and data connectors.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9553117306/
Canon 60D IMG_4913.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

All the types of drives in my soon to be RAID 6: 2 WD Reds, 2 Samsung F4s. and 2 Hitiachi Deskstars
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9550326395/
Canon 60D IMG_4912.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

Done!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9553015254/
Canon 60D IMG_4914.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

Finally, it is up and running! I was actually able to import my RAID 5 array from the PERC 5/i! How awesome is that?







Sadly, I'm going to tear that RAID 5 array down and do some benches with RAID 0 and 6. Then I will copy my data back over with them set as RAID 6.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanwebsterhd/9553118086/
Canon 60D IMG_4919.jpg by Sean Webster Photo, on Flickr

Proof I was able to import the array fine:


Now I have to install the OS on the SSD. Configure my system. Move everything into my dad's room. And I should be good to go!

Benches will be coming soon!


----------



## Sean Webster

*Benches:*

*HDTune:*
Test block size set to 8MB

*RAID settings:*
1MB stripe with all benches

*For write through settings:*
Read Policy: Always Read Ahead
Write Policy: Write Though
IO Policy: Cached IO
Access Policy: Read Write
Disk Cache Policy: Enabled

*For Write back settings:*
Read Policy: Always Read Ahead
Write Policy: Write Back
IO Policy: Cached IO
Access Policy: Read Write
Disk Cache Policy: Enabled

*6 2TB drives in RAID 0*
RAID 0 Write Through Cache Read


RAID 0 Write Through Cache Write


RAID 0 Write Back Cache Read


RAID 0 Write Back Cache Write


*6 2TB drives in RAID 1*
RAID 1 Write Through Cache Read


RAID 1 Write Through Cache Write


RAID 1 Write Back Cache Read


RAID 1 Write Back Cache Write


*6 2TB drives in RAID 5*
RAID 5 Write Through Cache Read


RAID 5 Write Through Cache Write


RAID 5 Write Back Cache Read


RAID 5 Write Back Cache Write


*6 2TB drives in RAID 6*
RAID 6 Write Through Cache Read


RAID 6 Write Through Cache Write


RAID 6 Write Back Cache Read


RAID 6 Write Back Cache Write


*6 2TB drives in RAID 10*
RAID 10 Write Through Cache Read


RAID 10 Write Through Cache Write


RAID 10 Write Back Cache Read


RAID 10 Write Back Cache Write


*6 2TB drives in RAID 50*
RAID 50 Write Through Cache Read


RAID 50 Write Through Cache Write


RAID 50 Write Back Cache Read


RAID 50 Write Back Cache Write


----------



## seross69

Actually to me on the read there is not enough difference in Raid 0 and Raid 6 to use the Raid 0.

Nice job.. Could you put up the results in raid 5 and 10?

I know and yes I am greedy!!!


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Actually to me on the read there is not enough difference in Raid 0 and Raid 6 to use the Raid 0.
> 
> Nice job.. Could you put up the results in raid 5 and 10?
> 
> I know and yes I am greedy!!!


Yea, especially with write back cache. However, with write through write is soo slow in RAID 6.

I can't put up any RAID 5 or 10 results, already migrated all my data over and configured the system.


----------



## void

Interesting build.


----------



## Sean Webster

Sooo....something happened. Basically because I was lazy during the first OS install the BCD was written to the secondary SSD...Should have disconnected it, but I was lazy.









Anyways, I had to format the sandisk, rebuild the BCD. However, after getting back into windows i found the drive name for my RAID array got changed, I tried to change it, but I couldn't. So I reinstalled thinking that could fix it, but no. It seems like my RAID arrays got corrupted or something. So now I am backing everything up again and reinstalling. So I can now do some RAID 5 benches and RAID 10 for ya. Aren't you lucky?









Oh and this second install is glitchy as hell, so things aren't going too smoothly.

Why does this crap always have to happen? I can never have a smooth first install or second...ever. 3rd times the charm, eh?


----------



## seross69

Sorry for that but nice to see the raid 10, 5 and 50 marks???


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Sorry for that but nice to see the raid 10, 5 and 50 marks???


oh and now you want RAID 50 results? Oh man you are pushing it.


----------



## seross69

Hey if you do 50 and 60 I will send you those SAS drives for the cost of shipping??? 73Gb 15000 RPM


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Hey if you do 50 and 60 I will send you those SAS drives for the cost of shipping??? 73Gb 15000 RPM


I'll take you up on that offer. However, I can't do RAID 60 as you need a minimum of 8 drives. I only got 6.


----------



## seross69

ok Do what test you can and PM me your address and I will ship monday or tuesday to you


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> ok Do what test you can and PM me your address and I will ship monday or tuesday to you


doing benches now. I had to freaking reinstall 6 times....*6 TIMES!*

Windows really isn't liking me today.


----------



## PR-Imagery

Yay benchies!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Why does this crap always have to happen? I can never have a smooth first install or second...ever. 3rd times the charm, eh?


Lol. I have to do every install twice, no matter what system, install media or os. The first one is always jacked up.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PR-Imagery*
> 
> Yay benchies!
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Why does this crap always have to happen? I can never have a smooth first install or second...ever. 3rd times the charm, eh?
> 
> 
> 
> Lol. I have to do every install twice, no matter what system, install media or os. The first one is always jacked up.
Click to expand...

lol, at least im not the only one.

Btw, updated the benches. RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and 50 benches added back at the previous benches post.


----------



## PR-Imagery

What drives are those?


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PR-Imagery*
> 
> What drives are those?


Look at OP, just edited lol.


----------



## seross69

Well thanks Sean.. I see that actually raid 5 or 6 is as fast as 0 but raid 10 is slower by half.. well I will test and see what I get but I dont think it is wroth it to plan on doing a raid 10 set.. better to do 5,6 or 50

thanks


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Well thanks Sean.. I see that actually raid 5 or 6 is as fast as 0 but raid 10 is slower by half.. well I will test and see what I get but I dont think it is wroth it to plan on doing a raid 10 set.. better to do 5,6 or 50
> 
> thanks












Can't wait for your results. What drives are you going to be using?

Btw, how odd is this? I only have 1Gb/s ports...



Also, I thought I only had SATA 3Gb/s, not SATA 6Gb/s. 0_o

Writing 150GB of movies from RAID 6 array to the SanDisk Exteme 2.


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Can't wait for your results. What drives are you going to be using?
> 
> Btw, how odd is this? I only have 1Gb/s ports...
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also, I thought I only had SATA 3Gb/s, not SATA 6Gb/s. 0_o
> 
> Writing 150GB of movies from RAID 6 array to the SanDisk Exteme 2.
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!


when i get home the below is what i will be testing!!!









Maxtor Atlans 15k II 146GB
Seagate Cheetah T10 146GB
Savvio 10k.2 146GB 2.5

HP 300GB 15K SAS Model HUS156030VLS600 Internal Hard Drive 0B24512 Hitachi 3.5"
WD VelociRaptor 500 GB
Seagate Barracuda 3 TB HDD SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 7200 RPM
Western Digital WD VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX 600GB 10000 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
Western Digital Scorpio Black WD7500BPKT 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5"
Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
Seagate Desktop HDD.15 ST4000DM000 4TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB,Internal,7200 RPM,3.5" (WD10EZEX) Hard Drive

I have a minimum f 4 of each drive


----------



## Sean Webster




----------



## seross69

I drink too much


----------



## Sean Webster

I need to drink with you! Get drunk and order every part I see lol.


----------



## deafboy

Just awesome...well minus having to redo things, lol.


----------



## seross69

if you were in atlanta we could... and wife likes trying new!!!!







and i like to watch


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *deafboy*
> 
> Just awesome...well minus having to redo things, lol.


Thanks.









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> if you were in atlanta we could... and wife likes trying new!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and i like to watch


----------



## void

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> if you were in atlanta we could... and wife likes trying new!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and i like to watch


Well that's an offer you can't refuse.


----------



## max302

Is that badboy gonna get racked properly, with the managed switch and all? In for updates.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *max302*
> 
> Is that badboy gonna get racked properly, with the managed switch and all? In for updates.


No rack any time soon. Managed switch later on when I find a deal/need it.


----------



## bigkahuna360

How do you afford all this stuff on a college fund?  and why do you need all this networking stuff?


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bigkahuna360*
> 
> How do you afford all this stuff on a college fund?  and why do you need all this networking stuff?


idk, i buy things and somehow more $ ends up in my account. Weird, I know.

I need it because I am experimenting and learning how to set up servers. I have a small PC repair business and I want to branch out soon to building systems for other small businesses in my area or offer repair for them. Basically it is for my private cloud and experimentation.


----------



## bigkahuna360

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *bigkahuna360*
> 
> How do you afford all this stuff on a college fund?  and why do you need all this networking stuff?
> 
> 
> 
> idk, i buy things and somehow more $ ends up in my account. Weird, I know.
Click to expand...

If I give you $10k, can we share your account? x'D Medical school isn't cheap!


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bigkahuna360*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> idk, i buy things and somehow more $ ends up in my account. Weird, I know.
> 
> 
> 
> If I give you $10k, can we share your account? x'D Medical school isn't cheap!
Click to expand...

haha, Class for me is ~3k-4k a semester.


----------



## seross69

Whoa!!!!!! But it will pay off in the long run...







What are you majoring in???


----------



## xNovax

What VMs are you running?

Also could you post the link for where you got the 9261-8I.


----------



## bigkahuna360

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *bigkahuna360*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> idk, i buy things and somehow more $ ends up in my account. Weird, I know.
> 
> 
> 
> If I give you $10k, can we share your account? x'D Medical school isn't cheap!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> haha, Class for me is ~3k-4k a semester.
Click to expand...

You'd only be going for what, three? Four years? I have to go for seven or more. I wouldn't put it past the University of Minnesota to charge a premium for classes. Count yourself lucky.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Whoa!!!!!! But it will pay off in the long run...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What are you majoring in???


was doing electrical engineering, just switched to entrepreneurship this semester. Plan on running a small photography business on the side, PC repair business, and manage a mechanic shop. lol
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> What VMs are you running?


Setting that up now. lol

Two win server 2012 domain controllers
VM for torrenting (should I use linux or just win server 2012?)
VM for just running Office 2010 lol For a class, don't feel like downgrading my 2013 install on my desktop
win 7 VM for friends to use over interwebs
VM for minecraft server
Win 7 and 8 VM for testing programs I dont feel like installing on my system
VM for plex...I can't seem to get it to stream content over the internet tho...opened ports and stuff.
Maybe make a VM firewall with like PFSense or something

Any other ideas to play with?








Quote:


> Also could you post the link for where you got the 9261-8I.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LSI-MegaRAID-SAS-9261-8i-With-New-BBU-/281153355885?pt=US_Server_Disk_Controllers_RAID_Cards&hash=item41760bc06d

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bigkahuna360*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *bigkahuna360*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> idk, i buy things and somehow more $ ends up in my account. Weird, I know.
> 
> 
> 
> If I give you $10k, can we share your account? x'D Medical school isn't cheap!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> haha, Class for me is ~3k-4k a semester.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> You'd only be going for what, three? Four years? I have to go for seven or more. I wouldn't put it past the University of Minnesota to charge a premium for classes. Count yourself lucky.
Click to expand...

lol, depends on what i intend on getting for my degree, i can just get a basic 4yr one, or I could masters in a few topics too.


----------



## bigkahuna360

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Whoa!!!!!! But it will pay off in the long run...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What are you majoring in???
> 
> 
> 
> was doing electrical engineering, just switched to entrepreneurship this semester. Plan on running a small photography business on the side, PC repair business, and manage a mechanic shop. lol
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> What VMs are you running?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Setting that up now. lol
> 
> Two win server 2012 domain controllers
> VM for torrenting (should I use linux or just win server 2012?)
> VM for just running Office 2010 lol For a class, don't feel like downgrading my 2013 install on my desktop
> win 7 VM for friends to use over interwebs
> VM for minecraft server
> Win 7 and 8 VM for testing programs I dont feel like installing on my system
> VM for plex...I can't seem to get it to stream content over the internet tho...opened ports and stuff.
> Maybe make a VM firewall with like PFSense or something
> 
> Any other ideas to play with?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Also could you post the link for where you got the 9261-8I.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/LSI-MegaRAID-SAS-9261-8i-With-New-BBU-/281153355885?pt=US_Server_Disk_Controllers_RAID_Cards&hash=item41760bc06d
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *bigkahuna360*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *bigkahuna360*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> idk, i buy things and somehow more $ ends up in my account. Weird, I know.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> If I give you $10k, can we share your account? x'D Medical school isn't cheap!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> haha, Class for me is ~3k-4k a semester.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> You'd only be going for what, three? Four years? I have to go for seven or more. I wouldn't put it past the University of Minnesota to charge a premium for classes. Count yourself lucky.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> lol, depends on what i intend on getting for my degree, i can just get a basic 4yr one, or I could masters in a few topics too.
Click to expand...

Well good luck in your financial life, cause I'm set.







I qualify as a Native American so I get a free ride!


----------



## xNovax

How do you have so many Windows 7/8 licenses? Its gotta be expensive.


----------



## CynicalUnicorn

Holy crap man. You got rid of your funny dog avatar. Oh, and you've just spent how much money on a server? Good luck!


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> How do you have so many Windows 7/8 licenses? Its gotta be expensive.


Umm, 2 Win 8 and a few Win 7 licenses. I get them from friends who have MSDNAA and don't need them.









And my OS server 2012 datacenter = infinite VMs included with the license.









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CynicalUnicorn*
> 
> Holy crap man. You got rid of your funny dog avatar. Oh, and you've just spent how much money on a server? Good luck!


Yea, I saw this shot of Katy Perry ad was like, new Avatar time! lol,

~1400? Excluding HDDs. I need to sell the extra SAS expander I got tho, I was going to use both but 1 is fine for now. That will help a little with cost. And if I can sell my PERC or RC car that will too. lol


----------



## Sean Webster

I emailed LSI and it turns out is is functioning normally and doing what it was programed to in order to extend the life of the battery. http://mycusthelp.info/LSI/_cs/AnswerDetail.aspx?&inc=8301

any ideas on this?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1422714/lsi-9261-8i-bbu-not-charging


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> How do you have so many Windows 7/8 licenses? Its gotta be expensive.


Something you can do is for about 400 a year get a Microsoft Tech license that will allow you to use all there software for your own use as you want or need. No matter what the software is!!


----------



## scottath

^^ That expires as an offer tomorrow, they are discontinuing the Technet subscription. Wont be able to sign up for it after this month.


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *scottath*
> 
> ^^ That expires as an offer tomorrow, they are discontinuing the Technet subscription. Wont be able to sign up for it after this month.


You can still buy it from a reseller and activate it until Sep 30th.

_"IT professionals who would like to purchase a new TechNet Subscription may do so through August 31, 2013. If your TechNet Subscription expires on or before September 30, 2013, you are eligible for a final, one-time renewal of the subscription. Any renewals must be purchased on or before August 31, 2013. Subscribers may activate purchased subscriptions through September 30, 2013."_


----------



## xNovax

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> You can still buy it from a reseller and activate it until Sep 30th.
> 
> _"IT professionals who would like to purchase a new TechNet Subscription may do so through August 31, 2013. If your TechNet Subscription expires on or before September 30, 2013, you are eligible for a final, one-time renewal of the subscription. Any renewals must be purchased on or before August 31, 2013. Subscribers may activate purchased subscriptions through September 30, 2013."_


Looks like I will be purchasing that today. Perfect timing.


----------



## xNovax

I got it working, Thank you VERY VERY much for letting me know about tech net. I just wish I knew about it before I purchased Windows Server 2012 for full price.


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> I got it working, Thank you VERY VERY much for letting me know about tech net. I just wish I knew about it before I purchased Windows Server 2012 for full price.


Well its meant to be used for evaluation and testing purposes, not for personal or production use. You are also supposed to stop using the licenses once the TechNet subscription expires. There are also other licensing restrictions so be sure to read through the terms.


----------



## Sean Webster

So, I set up Plex Server in a Server 2012 VM...I can't actually get anything streamed to my laptop when I am out of my network. I can see the share folder in Plex, but it just loads...forever lol. Port forwarded too. Any ideas to stream movies outside my network online?

Upload = 1.5mb/s lol. Weird that I can't even see my library load tho...

The VM has 8GB of RAM and 4 CPU cores allocated.


----------



## andymiller

just out of curiosity try dmz'ing your server to outside to eliminate router or os.


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> So, I set up Plex Server in a Server 2012 VM...I can't actually get anything streamed to my laptop when I am out of my network. I can see the share folder in Plex, but it just loads...forever lol. Port forwarded too. Any ideas to stream movies outside my network online?
> 
> Upload = 1.5mb/s lol. Weird that I can't even see my library load tho...
> 
> The VM has 8GB of RAM and 4 CPU cores allocated.


How do you like Plex Server ?? I use My Movies and have always go good service from it??


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *andymiller*
> 
> just out of curiosity try dmz'ing your server to outside to eliminate router or os.


I'll give it a try soon if i can get to university today, thanks.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> So, I set up Plex Server in a Server 2012 VM...I can't actually get anything streamed to my laptop when I am out of my network. I can see the share folder in Plex, but it just loads...forever lol. Port forwarded too. Any ideas to stream movies outside my network online?
> 
> Upload = 1.5mb/s lol. Weird that I can't even see my library load tho...
> 
> The VM has 8GB of RAM and 4 CPU cores allocated.
> 
> 
> 
> How do you like Plex Server ?? I use My Movies and have always go good service from it??
Click to expand...

It is ok on the LAN. I literally just started using it 4 days ago...and most of that time was configuring lol

I usually just go through and click a movie in my movie list and stream via VLC, however, I notice I get a better stream to my laptop on wifi with plex than I do if i were to just click the movie in the folder and use VLC.


----------



## Sean Webster

Also, anyone know how to get MegaRAID storage manager to auto log me in? It is sooo annoying to keep having to put my info in to use it.


----------



## PR-Imagery

I've tilted my head at that with no luck, I don't think there is a way. Could try LSI support, they're amazingly helpful!


----------



## andymiller

Never been able to get the lsi storage manager to remember the IP address of my vm host let alone remember the login details. One of those annoying querks.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *andymiller*
> 
> Never been able to get the lsi storage manager to remember the IP address of my vm host let alone remember the login details. One of those annoying querks.


do you know what sucks? I "think" I used to have it remember my info with my PERC 5/i. I just completely forgot how I did it lol.


----------



## andymiller

Think I remember it working before I virtualised but hasn't since, if its possible to have it remember addresses and such then I would think there's a file somewhere you may be able to manually add your entries into with notepad or such.


----------



## PR-Imagery

Maybe use that new LDAP function?


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PR-Imagery*
> 
> Maybe use that new LDAP function?


that is what it is, but it isn't new. I tried configuring it but I get an issue where is says to put "Distinguished Name." I have no idea what is supposed to go there.


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> that is what it is, but it isn't new. I tried configuring it but I get an issue where is says to put "Distinguished Name." I have no idea what is supposed to go there.


You are suppose to put as Distinguished Name you know like mine.. Scott!!!


----------



## Sean Webster

lol. I tried the server name, the administrator account name, made up a name, nothin works lol.


----------



## shadman

Distinguished ...means "successful, authoritative, and commanding great respect". Are your names following this guideline? Maybe you need something like "Sir Sean HDD Webster the Third"


----------



## jibesh

See the below instructions from a LSI manual.

"To specify LDAP configuration details, select Yes, and perform the following sub steps, or if you do not want to specify LDAP configuration details, click No and click Next.

a. Enter the LDAP server's IP address in the Server IP field.

b.Enter the LDAP server's user name in the User name field. An example of a user name can be [email protected]

*c. Enter the name of the Domain Controller in the Distinguished User name field. As an example, the Domain Controller name can be dc= TESTLDAP, dc=com.*

d.Enter the LDAP server's port number in the Port field.

e. Select the Use LDAP as default Login check box to always connect to the LDAP server. All the values entered in this dialog are saved in the ldap.properties file"


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *shadman*
> 
> Distinguished ...means "successful, authoritative, and commanding great respect". Are your names following this guideline? Maybe you need something like "Sir Sean HDD Webster the Third"


lol
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> See the below instructions from a LSI manual.
> 
> "To specify LDAP configuration details, select Yes, and perform the following sub steps, or if you do not want to specify LDAP configuration details, click No and click Next.
> 
> a. Enter the LDAP server's IP address in the Server IP field.
> 
> b.Enter the LDAP server's user name in the User name field. An example of a user name can be [email protected]
> 
> *c. Enter the name of the Domain Controller in the Distinguished User name field. As an example, the Domain Controller name can be dc= TESTLDAP, dc=com.*
> 
> d.Enter the LDAP server's port number in the Port field.
> 
> e. Select the Use LDAP as default Login check box to always connect to the LDAP server. All the values entered in this dialog are saved in the ldap.properties file"


Hmm, what if the host i s not part of the domain?


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Hmm, what if the host i s not part of the domain?


Well then I don't think you can use LDAP authentication for this lol. LDAP, like Active Directory, is an Directory service which is tied to a domain.


----------



## xNovax

Looks like I am going to be copying this build.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> Looks like I am going to be copying this build.


Sweet.









you won't be disappointed. I got a uber cheap fan controller for my norco. I'll post pix again one day. I have it running and don't feel like showing the update now.

I need to find 4TB drives for ~120-130 each. I want o get 2 for backups and like 8 -10 to start off my RAID 6. :/


----------



## seross69

Here is a quick picture of my server as it is now!!!



going to have an excessive amount of SAS hard drives and others!!!! Water cooled and thinking of water cooling the raid cards!!!


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Here is a quick picture of my server as it is now!!!
> 
> 
> 
> going to have an excessive amount of SAS hard drives and others!!!! Water cooled and thinking of water cooling the raid cards!!!


Seems a bit excessive. Are you going to be overclocking it or something?







But hey, its your build









Also, why a desktop board instead of a server board? Some controllers and adapters have issues with desktop boards / chipsets.


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> Seems a bit excessive. Are you going to be overclocking it or something?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But hey, its your build
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also, why a desktop board instead of a server board? Some controllers and adapters have issues with desktop boards / chipsets.


it is a Work Station Board!!! and yes it is excessive.. it is *Excessive Insanity!!*

but this is to go with my 10GB NIC's and 10GB switch!!


----------



## PR-Imagery

Can totally understand watercooling the raid card, especially in a non-server type case; those things get hot!


----------



## tycoonbob

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *PR-Imagery*
> 
> Can totally understand watercooling the raid card, especially in a non-server type case; those things get hot!


bgears b-Blaster 80 and Delta AFB1212HHE-F00 120mm fans will keep those cards cool.


----------



## xNovax

How did you get the SAS cables from the LSI card out of the C1100?


----------



## tycoonbob

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> How did you get the SAS cables from the LSI card out of the C1100?


Me? My 9261-8i isn't in one of my C1100s. It's in my custom storage box with a Norco RPC-4224 chassis.


----------



## xNovax

Ya but Seans is in his C1100.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Here is a quick picture of my server as it is now!!!
> 
> 
> 
> going to have an excessive amount of SAS hard drives and others!!!! Water cooled and thinking of water cooling the raid cards!!!


sweet!









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xNovax*
> 
> Ya but Seans is in his C1100.


I took the mezz card bracket out and I routed it like in the pics below. The cable goes out and into the Norrco chassis and plugs into the SAS expander.


----------



## Sean Webster

Gonna expand my RAID 6 array next week. Ordered two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149397&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL091313&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL091313-_-EMC-091313-Index-_-InternalHardDrives-_-22149397-L04C

$80 each.

Next drive purchase for a RAID array will probably be a 8-12 4-5TB drives sometime next year.

Thinking of putting my 4 WD10EZEX drives in my server in RAID 5 for my data storage.

Then I need some backup drives.


----------



## Sean Webster

Got my Toshiba's. Similar to my Hitachi's in speed.

Here are the benches from them:




Currently expanding the RAID 6 to 10.9TB now.

Look at that ETA!


----------



## Sean Webster

Check the speeds.


----------



## seross69

nice speeds what are the drives and what level of raid do you have them in??


----------



## Sean Webster

RAID 6 with 8 2TB drives.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> RAID 6 with 8 2TB drives.


The WD REDs and SAMSUNG F4s are slowing it down.







I may sell them and get new drives lol


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> RAID 6 with 8 2TB drives.


I was hoping for higher read and write speeds using 8 HDD with the 1GB Cache on the raid card.. Nothing wrong with what you have this is for sure but i was thinking around 150 MB a drive so what would have been 900 MB sec.. and you are getting a little over 100 MB a sec... ok learned something from this...


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> RAID 6 with 8 2TB drives.
> 
> 
> 
> I was hoping for higher read and write speeds using 8 HDD with the 1GB Cache on the raid card.. Nothing wrong with what you have this is for sure but i was thinking around 150 MB a drive so what would have been 900 MB sec.. and you are getting a little over 100 MB a sec... ok learned something from this...
Click to expand...

it has a 512MB cache

And yea, the different RPM drives mixed into the array cause speeds to be lower. It has to compensate for them.


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> it has a 512MB cache
> 
> And yea, the different RPM drives mixed into the array cause speeds to be lower. It has to compensate for them.


Ok yes the Different RPM drives would do that.. that is the reason I stay with seagate drives because you dont have to wonder if they are 7200 RPM or not. It is a lot easier to make a lower RPM drive that is more reliable that is why WD has such a good name in my opinion. But I love my seagate drives and have never had any problems with any of them...

I thought I remembered you card had 1Gb of Cache..

I am thinking of selling a couple of my LSI cards and getting this.. areca ARC-1882ix-12-4G

4GB Cache and PCIe 3.0

The reason I am waiting is I am trying to get verification this card will work with the expanders we bought.


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Ok yes the Different RPM drives would do that.. that is the reason I stay with seagate drives because you dont have to wonder if they are 7200 RPM or not. It is a lot easier to make a lower RPM drive that is more reliable that is why WD has such a good name in my opinion. But I love my seagate drives and have never had any problems with any of them...
> 
> I thought I remembered you card had 1Gb of Cache..
> 
> I am thinking of selling a couple of my LSI cards and getting this.. areca ARC-1882ix-12-4G
> 
> 4GB Cache and PCIe 3.0
> 
> The reason I am waiting is I am trying to get verification this card will work with the expanders we bought.


Haha I already know the answer I'm gonna get by asking this but why would you need that card?

What are you doing at home that will actually be able to utilize more than the 600 to 700 MB/s speeds that your current card will give you?


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> it has a 512MB cache
> 
> And yea, the different RPM drives mixed into the array cause speeds to be lower. It has to compensate for them.
> 
> 
> 
> Ok yes the Different RPM drives would do that.. that is the reason I stay with seagate drives because you dont have to wonder if they are 7200 RPM or not. It is a lot easier to make a lower RPM drive that is more reliable that is why WD has such a good name in my opinion. But I love my seagate drives and have never had any problems with any of them...
> 
> I thought I remembered you card had 1Gb of Cache..
> 
> I am thinking of selling a couple of my LSI cards and getting this.. areca ARC-1882ix-12-4G
> 
> 4GB Cache and PCIe 3.0
> 
> The reason I am waiting is I am trying to get verification this card will work with the expanders we bought.
Click to expand...

sweet. If you ever need another sas expander I can get you a deal on mine lol.









Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> Ok yes the Different RPM drives would do that.. that is the reason I stay with seagate drives because you dont have to wonder if they are 7200 RPM or not. It is a lot easier to make a lower RPM drive that is more reliable that is why WD has such a good name in my opinion. But I love my seagate drives and have never had any problems with any of them...
> 
> I thought I remembered you card had 1Gb of Cache..
> 
> I am thinking of selling a couple of my LSI cards and getting this.. areca ARC-1882ix-12-4G
> 
> 4GB Cache and PCIe 3.0
> 
> The reason I am waiting is I am trying to get verification this card will work with the expanders we bought.
> 
> 
> 
> Haha I already know the answer I'm gonna get by asking this but why would you need that card?
> 
> What are you doing at home that will actually be able to utilize more than the 600 to 700 MB/s speeds that your current card will give you?
Click to expand...

Stream pr0n even faster lol


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> sweet. If you ever need another sas expander I can get you a deal on mine lol.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stream pr0n even faster lol


THAT!!!!! LOL why not because I want it fast and faster is better!!


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> THAT!!!!! LOL why not because I want it fast and faster is better!!


Lol faster is nice and all but I highly doubt you'll see any more performance than you're seeing with your current card. While some benchmark apps will show you higher speeds, in real world performance you won't see a difference.


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> Lol faster is nice and all but I highly doubt you'll see any more performance than you're seeing with your current card. While some benchmark apps will show you higher speeds, in real world performance you won't see a difference.


But I will know it and will see it on the 10GB network!!! it is for me!!!


----------



## m1ndb3nd3r

Why don't you use xenserver 6.2


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *m1ndb3nd3r*
> 
> Why don't you use xenserver 6.2


Why should I?


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Why should I?


I agree 100% and not know why everyone always says use this free software or this one. when the Windows server is usually the best option all around and is compatible with lots of other software and hardware.

I like it and not want to use a free OS that I have to configure everything. OH well just my 2


----------



## m1ndb3nd3r

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Why should I?


You say that you are using this server to help expand your skills. I do know my college (They asked me to help them out with there VM environment) use both VMware and XenServer as well as other Citrix software. Being able to walk in to a company and say i can condense the 8 servers you have and a dozen desktops in to 2-4 servers oh and you can save money while i do this as you will cut down on the number of Windows machines. I just think expanding your skills and learning about other possible environments that you might come across as you do service calls to company's. One reason I suggested XenServer is you can have a VMware environment WIndows Server Hyper-V Virtualized,
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *seross69*
> 
> I agree 100% and not know why everyone always says use this free software or this one. when the Windows server is usually the best option all around and is compatible with lots of other software and hardware.
> 
> I like it and not want to use a free OS that I have to configure everything. OH well just my 2


Why not use free software? Other software out there that can help you save money and learn more. Some Free OS require everything to be configured others do not. As with all OS you need to do research to figure out what is best for your unique situation.There is a lot of configuration in Windows as well. Just because Microsoft makes something doesn't mean it is the best out there or that it will be easy. If Microsoft was so easy then he would not spend all this money to learn how to configure Windows.


----------



## seross69

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *m1ndb3nd3r*
> 
> You say that you are using this server to help expand your skills. I do know my college (They asked me to help them out with there VM environment) use both VMware and XenServer as well as other Citrix software. Being able to walk in to a company and say i can condense the 8 servers you have and a dozen desktops in to 2-4 servers oh and you can save money while i do this as you will cut down on the number of Windows machines. I just think expanding your skills and learning about other possible environments that you might come across as you do service calls to company's. One reason I suggested XenServer is you can have a VMware environment WIndows Server Hyper-V Virtualized,
> Why not use free software? Other software out there that can help you save money and learn more. Some Free OS require everything to be configured others do not. As with all OS you need to do research to figure out what is best for your unique situation.There is a lot of configuration in Windows as well. Just because Microsoft makes something doesn't mean it is the best out there or that it will be easy. If Microsoft was so easy then he would not spend all this money to learn how to configure Windows.


You make some very valid points and I can see you talk from experience and knowledge. I guess what got me going is you see someone wanting to build a NAS or Home Server to basically be a media server. and everyone bashes you if you suggest WHS 2011. they all say to use free NAS, Hardware raid is no good better using uraid or a software solution. In my mind someone is trying to just build something that is convenient and easy to use. So to be the fastest and easiest is to start with the WHS 2011 for 59 dollars and a Media application install on it like Plex or MY Movies actually they are several of them. this will Serve the media files he wants to serve and also can push these files to hand held devices and it also backs up the client for you. to me a lot of Pluses to this software for home use to do this with. or even to be a basic file server and back-up machine. because if you want you can do a lot more with it and can learn as you go. it is friendly to use so everyone can use it.

I know it is not the best solution but they are 3rd party plug in's that consolidates all your drives into 1 and you can tell it to mirror all data so you will have some protection. It is all easy to use and set up.

sorry about my snap comment and sarcasm. all of your comments were 100% on the money!!!!


----------



## Sean Webster

Oh cool. I'll play with it some on a PC I found the other day and see what it is like.


----------



## tycoonbob

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *m1ndb3nd3r*
> 
> You say that you are using this server to help expand your skills. I do know my college (They asked me to help them out with there VM environment) use both VMware and XenServer as well as other Citrix software. Being able to walk in to a company and say i can condense the 8 servers you have and a dozen desktops in to 2-4 servers oh and you can save money while i do this as you will cut down on the number of Windows machines. I just think expanding your skills and learning about other possible environments that you might come across as you do service calls to company's. One reason I suggested XenServer is you can have a VMware environment WIndows Server Hyper-V Virtualized,
> Why not use free software? Other software out there that can help you save money and learn more. Some Free OS require everything to be configured others do not. As with all OS you need to do research to figure out what is best for your unique situation.There is a lot of configuration in Windows as well. Just because Microsoft makes something doesn't mean it is the best out there or that it will be easy. If Microsoft was so easy then he would not spend all this money to learn how to configure Windows.


While you are on the right track, there are a few things that I would like to point out.
A company is going to go with what technology aligns with their current environment. It's rare for a company to switch something such as their virtualization platform, because of costs. It's all about support, and most companies will have maintenance agreements in place for support. So ditching something for something else is usually not cost effective, and will only happen if the features of the new product are something that is needed that they don't currently have.

No production environment should be running VMs in Hyper-V, virtualized with VMware. That's not supported by Microsoft in the event you need Hyper-V support. Free software is fine, as long as you have support. Running the free Xen hypervisor in a large production environment? Not going to happen. Running XenServer, which is backed by Citrix but based on Xen? Yeah, that will happen. I work on a team of 5 managing the Citrix environment for a company of 16K users. We have 4 XenApp farms (over 300 servers - apps are in silos), a XenDesktop Farm, 4 NetScalers, use Provision Services and EdgeSight. Over 400 total Citrix servers, and it's all virtualized on XenServer. Everything else in the environment runs on ESXi.

I do agree that Microsoft isn't always the best choice out there, I personally believe that Hyper-V in Server 2012 is the current best hypervisor. That's just my opinion though, since I work with all 3 major hypervisors. Hyper-V is more cost effective than ESXi (especially if you have an EA with Microsoft), and for most people, they are already familiar with the technology.


----------



## m1ndb3nd3r

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *tycoonbob*
> 
> While you are on the right track, there are a few things that I would like to point out.
> A company is going to go with what technology aligns with their current environment. It's rare for a company to switch something such as their virtualization platform, because of costs. It's all about support, and most companies will have maintenance agreements in place for support. So ditching something for something else is usually not cost effective, and will only happen if the features of the new product are something that is needed that they don't currently have.


I agree with you on this. I was basing my response on the fact that the OP had stated that he wants to create his own company providing Tech support to small business. Most small companies do not have maintenance agreements in place and those that do if talking to him are already looking to change there SA. If the company is small enough and then looking to grow but do not want to hire IT personnel on staff they will look for another company to provide the IT support. Then he could do one of several ideas and create a Network with the hardware and software to best support them.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *tycoonbob*
> 
> No production environment should be running VMs in Hyper-V, virtualized with VMware. That's not supported by Microsoft in the event you need Hyper-V support.


I agree 100% no "PRODUCTION" environment (outside of classroom environment) should be a VM inside a VM. We are not talking about a production environment, but a home lab environment where he will learning and testing different ideas. It works if done in the right order. XenServer will not run on another hyper Visor at least not in ESXi or VB. But you can run ESXi in a VM on XenServer or windows Hyper-V in a XenServer VM. *I REPEAT THIS IS FOR LEARNING NOT FOR PRODUCTION.*
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *tycoonbob*
> 
> Free software is fine, as long as you have support. Running the free Xen hypervisor in a large production environment? Not going to happen. Running XenServer, which is backed by Citrix but based on Xen? Yeah, that will happen. I work on a team of 5 managing the Citrix environment for a company of 16K users. We have 4 XenApp farms (over 300 servers - apps are in silos), a XenDesktop Farm, 4 NetScalers, use Provision Services and EdgeSight. Over 400 total Citrix servers, and it's all virtualized on XenServer. Everything else in the environment runs on ESXi.


I am not saying running a company's production environment on a free software with little to no support other then forms. I know a teacher who does run his classroom on 4 XenServer's (the free version) with out any problems, and another teacher (i built the server from the hardware up) is using a Citrix version of XenServer. His support is me. His ex intern. Now while the Virtualized environment I am working with is not as large as yours. The college had asked me to help them with there 2 XenServers after a third party company came in said this is the Hardware you need and this version of Xen this is how you set it up, then they left after getting only one of the 2 servers up and running and that one his so many problems it is not funny. The second server could not even install Xen on it. So the Network engineer had asked me if i can help them with Xen and some other projects so he can work on another cluster F**K that they have. (they use ESXi for all there virtualization (find it funny how they say that word is spelled wrong) until now) I have now gotten XenServer 6.2 installed and running and working on building there XenApp and XenDesktop farms. (can I pm you questions about both from time to time?)
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *tycoonbob*
> 
> I do agree that Microsoft isn't always the best choice out there, I personally believe that Hyper-V in Server 2012 is the current best hypervisor. That's just my opinion though, since I work with all 3 major hypervisors. Hyper-V is more cost effective than ESXi (especially if you have an EA with Microsoft), and for most people, they are already familiar with the technology.


When I get a chance I will try and set up a Hyper-V server and test it out. As one thing I have learned in computers is there is never a one answer solutions to everything.


----------



## Sean Webster

So, I upgraded my laptop to Windows 8.1 and it forced me to use a email for my account.

Previously on my server I simply added the user Seany and used the same password as the laptop account so I can easily access files on the server from my laptop's user account.

However now I am not able to just browse the files without entering the credentials. How do I update the user name on the server to = my new email user name? I already tried to use the full email as the user name, but I think it is too long as it wouldn't let me write it out completely.


----------



## tompsonn

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> So, I upgraded my laptop to Windows 8.1 and it forced me to use a email for my account.
> 
> Previously on my server I simply added the user Seany and used the same password as the laptop account so I can easily access files on the server from my laptop's user account.
> 
> However now I am not able to just browse the files without entering the credentials. How do I update the user name on the server to = my new email user name? I already tried to use the full email as the user name, but I think it is too long as it wouldn't let me write it out completely.


Two options:

1. It doesn't force you to use an e-mail account (that's just the default option). You can switch back to a local account.
2. Continue using your e-mail account (recommended), create a new local user, add a credential to the Windows credential manager for the server you want to access.


----------



## Sean Webster

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!



Got a 3TB drive for backups. Got an issue tho...this is what it shows up as. lol



I need a IRST driver don't I? I'm just not sure on which to download and install. Any help?



Edit: The 12.8.0.1016 IRST driver worked fine.


----------



## Sean Webster

My new backup drive is pretty nice.







I have 3 WD10EZEX's from my desktop that I'm gonna move over to my server. IDK if I should RAID 5 them or just keep them separate. hmmm.


----------



## xxpenguinxx

Sean I think I'm taking the same route you're going. Currently I have a Fractal Design Arc mini as a server chassis. After dealing with some Windows permission problems when trying to automate backing up my files, I realized I need a domain controller. I'm also running a few virtual machines for testing purposes and am in need of more cores. Looks like I might be getting a C1100 or 2100 in the near future. I have to find a way to rack and hide it out of site of my mom first before I buy one.

Loving the build so far keep it up.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxpenguinxx*
> 
> Sean I think I'm taking the same route you're going. Currently I have a Fractal Design Arc mini as a server chassis.


that is how mine started! Well with a arch midi, not mini. lol
Quote:


> After dealing with some Windows permission problems when trying to automate backing up my files, I realized I need a domain controller.


Really? all you need to do is just make another user account of the PC you are using on the server with the same pass and it should work fine. Otherwise it can be your router or switch causing the issue.
Quote:


> I'm also running a few virtual machines for testing purposes and am in need of more cores. Looks like I might be getting a C1100 or 2100 in the near future. I have to find a way to rack and hide it out of site of my mom first before I buy one.


garage or basement or attic? If you get a c1100 you will hear the fans slightly. Like i hear mine spinning when im in my room and the server is in the living room.
Quote:


> Loving the build so far keep it up.


----------



## xxpenguinxx

I figured setting up a domain controller would be much easier, that way I have one central place where I can set all user permissions, and when I login to a new computer or OS I can have all my network drives mapped without any additional configuration.

As far as hiding it it's not so much the noise, it's the fact that I'm bringing another computer in the house. It shouldn't be a problem as long as I can fit it in the computer room.


----------



## tycoonbob

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *xxpenguinxx*
> 
> I figured setting up a domain controller would be much easier, that way I have one central place where I can set all user permissions, and when I login to a new computer or OS I can have all my network drives mapped without any additional configuration.
> 
> As far as hiding it it's not so much the noise, it's the fact that I'm bringing another computer in the house. It shouldn't be a problem as long as I can fit it in the computer room.


Setting up a DC is not hard, but making sure it's available can be difficult in a home environment. If all your home PCs/servers are domain joined and you DC decides to die, or gets corrupt, then you will be in for a weekend of fun if you don't have any DC backups. Long story short, you will likely want to have 2 DCs (virtual or physical, just hosted from separate physical boxes) and have them both doing DNS as well. UPSs on both boxes, and good backups will all save you from headaches down the road.


----------



## Pip Boy

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *tycoonbob*
> 
> Setting up a DC is not hard, but making sure it's available can be difficult in a home environment. If all your home PCs/servers are domain joined and you DC decides to die, or gets corrupt, then you will be in for a weekend of fun if you don't have any DC backups. Long story short, you will likely want to have 2 DCs (virtual or physical, just hosted from separate physical boxes) and have them both doing DNS as well. UPSs on both boxes, and good backups will all save you from headaches down the road.


In other words. if you have critical stuff and not much time.. don't bother.

imo spend the money on a resilient ZFS box + a dedicated backup. Set up your permissions and sharing and export the config to your storage and backup should any of the machines die.


----------



## Sean Webster

Here is how many writes happen on my server over about a month of use.


----------



## scottath

What are you doing on it ?


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *scottath*
> 
> What are you doing on it ?


torrenting, streaming movies, running multiple bots via VMs, backup, file store, messin in OSes and ummm...thats it atm.


----------



## scottath

so not a heap in the scheme of things......nice effort.....
ps - get on FB


----------



## Sean Webster

I'm resurrecting this 

I just got 5 500GB drives and 1 more 1TB samsung F3 from a client for free. Just made a RAID 5 from the 500GB drives and now i need to add the 1TB into a RAID 0 i have with two other F3s.

It is soo sad to only have 5 bays left in my norco case now. :'(


----------



## CynicalUnicorn

Lrn2casemod


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CynicalUnicorn*
> 
> Lrn2casemod


lol, not worth my time...yet 

I may be updating the server soon...put a mobo in the norco and do a quad Gigabit connection or 10gigabit...


----------



## Sean Webster

Here is what I get with the new RAID 5 array:


----------



## tycoonbob

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Here is what I get with the new RAID 5 array:


I'm actually a little disappointed by those stats. I have the same controller, and with a 5 drive RAID 5...this is what I get (5 x 2TB Hitachi 7K3000):


If you're running 3 drives though, I guess this makes sense.


----------



## Sean Webster

An now today...I have a big issue...all RAID arrays gone.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1491202/lsi-9261-i-raid-configureations-lost-need-help-to-recover

Any recommendations would be great!

All fixed now :3 That was quite a scare! Made sure to back up a folder I had forgotten to previously now!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *tycoonbob*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Here is what I get with the new RAID 5 array:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm actually a little disappointed by those stats. I have the same controller, and with a 5 drive RAID 5...this is what I get (5 x 2TB Hitachi 7K3000):
> 
> 
> If you're running 3 drives though, I guess this makes sense.
Click to expand...

the speeds were with the 5 of them in RAID 5. Their speeds doesnt matter to me as they are all old drives anyhow...it doesnt matter much now as the RAID array is gone now...


----------



## Simmons572

[content deleted] My appologies for cluttering your build log..


----------



## Sean Webster

Well, I'm starting to get an itch to upgrade my network and all things connected to it...Been doing a lot of multi gigabyte file transfers lately and my network is a big bottleneck. My current switch seems to max out at 1Gb in total for transfer speeds across all 8 ports. Its slackin. lol

What was a decent switch to get? I know I was planning on a Dell 5324, its pretty dang cheap, but I was wondering if there were any better options. I'm gonna grab a few Dell YT674's (4 port GbE cards).

I'm looking to also strip my C1100 for the RAM and CPUs and get this SuperMicro X8DTi-F and then put everything into the Norco finally. Then sell off the rest of the RAM. Maybe sell the CPUs as well and get some hexacore ones for $65 each. My only concern is the PSU, but i may be able to get Thermaltake to sponsor me a bigger one.


----------



## cones

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Well, I'm starting to get an itch to upgrade my network and all things connected to it...Been doing a lot of multi gigabyte file transfers lately and my network is a big bottleneck. My current switch seems to max out at 1Gb in total for transfer speeds across all 8 ports. Its slackin. lol
> 
> What was a decent switch to get? I know I was planning on a Dell 5324, its pretty dang cheap, but I was wondering if there were any better options. I'm gonna grab a few Dell YT674's (4 port GbE cards).
> 
> I'm looking to also strip my C1100 for the RAM and CPUs and get this SuperMicro X8DTi-F and then put everything into the Norco finally. Then sell off the rest of the RAM. Maybe sell the CPUs as well and get some hexacore ones for $65 each. My only concern is the PSU, but i may be able to get Thermaltake to sponsor me a bigger one.


I like my cheap $20 unmanaged switch but doesn't help you if you need a managed one, it also only has 8 ports. Sorry for the mobile link.

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16833156251


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *cones*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Well, I'm starting to get an itch to upgrade my network and all things connected to it...Been doing a lot of multi gigabyte file transfers lately and my network is a big bottleneck. My current switch seems to max out at 1Gb in total for transfer speeds across all 8 ports. Its slackin. lol
> 
> What was a decent switch to get? I know I was planning on a Dell 5324, its pretty dang cheap, but I was wondering if there were any better options. I'm gonna grab a few Dell YT674's (4 port GbE cards).
> 
> I'm looking to also strip my C1100 for the RAM and CPUs and get this SuperMicro X8DTi-F and then put everything into the Norco finally. Then sell off the rest of the RAM. Maybe sell the CPUs as well and get some hexacore ones for $65 each. My only concern is the PSU, but i may be able to get Thermaltake to sponsor me a bigger one.
> 
> 
> 
> I like my cheap $20 unmanaged switch but doesn't help you if you need a managed one, it also only has 8 ports. Sorry for the mobile link.
> 
> http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16833156251
Click to expand...

Thanks but I need a managed one for LACP (4Gb/s speeds :3) and around 24 ports as well.

And that is the same one I currently have lol. All ports are filled and it is slow.


----------



## cones

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Thanks but I need a managed one for LACP (4Gb/s speeds :3) and around 24 ports as well.
> 
> And that is the same one I currently have lol. All ports are filled and it is slow.


I figured it would not be what you were looking for when you mentioned 24 ports. It works great for me but then again at most two PCs would be 1gb and the rest 100mb.


----------



## Simmons572

I am using a Cisco SG200-26. It seems pretty robust and the web gui is pretty straight forward. I was able to setup 4 way LACP in a matter of minutes.

I snagged mine on ebay for $150.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Simmons572*
> 
> I am using a Cisco SG200-26. It seems pretty robust and the web gui is pretty straight forward. I was able to setup 4 way LACP in a matter of minutes.
> 
> I snagged mine on ebay for $150.


That price tho! 0_o


----------



## zanginator

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> That price tho! 0_o


Using a Dell 5324 myself. LACP is a little odd to setup in comparison to Cisco switches and (tbh) a little undocumented. But it is a pretty solid switch for what you can get them for.


----------



## CynicalUnicorn

Is the new build going to be all flash storage?


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zanginator*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> That price tho! 0_o
> 
> 
> 
> Using a Dell 5324 myself. LACP is a little odd to setup in comparison to Cisco switches and (tbh) a little undocumented. But it is a pretty solid switch for what you can get them for.
Click to expand...

I just started to look into the Dell a bit more and seeing that the only way to start configuration is with a serial cable + port is a big turn off. :/

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *CynicalUnicorn*
> 
> Is the new build going to be all flash storage?


Nah, I need capacity not speed. RAID takes care of speed well enough.


----------



## jibesh

I would recommend the HP ProCurve 1810-8G v2 or the 1810-24G v2 (if you need more ports).

Been using HPs procurve switches for years in my home network and they've been very reliable. HP's support and warranty is also good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-316-701

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833316731


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> I would recommend the HP ProCurve 1810-8G v2 or the 1810-24G v2 (if you need more ports).
> 
> Been using HPs procurve switches for years in my home network and they've been very reliable. HP's support and warranty is also good.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-316-701
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833316731


What about the 1800-24G?


----------



## karmuhhhh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> I would recommend the HP ProCurve 1810-8G v2 or the 1810-24G v2 (if you need more ports).
> 
> Been using HPs procurve switches for years in my home network and they've been very reliable. HP's support and warranty is also good.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-316-701
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833316731


I have a client whose network my company took over managing and they use ProCurve switches and they are so wonky. After using Cisco nothing else comes close.


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *karmuhhhh*
> 
> I have a client whose network my company took over managing and they use ProCurve switches and they are so wonky. After using Cisco nothing else comes close.


But we are talking about a home network not any large scale deployment. The HP ProCurve switches are easier to configure and reliable, at least for me. I have a HP 1810-24G v2, 1800-24G, 1810-8G v2, and a 1400-8G. They are simple to configure and provided all the advanced features I would need for a home or even a small business environment.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> What about the 1800-24G?


It is similar to the 1810-24G but just has older hardware and firmware. I keep my 1800-24G in case i need a backup or temporary solution.


----------



## Simmons572

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> That price tho! 0_o


I was struggling to find a reliable smart/managed switch for under $200. I like jibesh's recommendations for the 8 port switch, but that newegg listing for the 8 port is $100. So for an extra $50, I got 16 more ports. And even that price was cheap, as at the time I found it listed on Newegg/Amazon for around $450. But I digress.

I say, if you find a couple models you are happy with, just hop around ebay and craigslist and see what people are listing. You're bound to find something for a good price.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *karmuhhhh*
> 
> I have a client whose network my company took over managing and they use ProCurve switches and they are so wonky. After using Cisco nothing else comes close.
> 
> 
> 
> But we are talking about a home network not any large scale deployment. The HP ProCurve switches are easier to configure and reliable, at least for me. I have a HP 1810-24G v2, 1800-24G, 1810-8G v2, and a 1400-8G. They are simple to configure and provided all the advanced features I would need for a home or even a small business environment.
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> What about the 1800-24G?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> It is similar to the 1810-24G but just has older hardware and firmware. I keep my 1800-24G in case i need a backup or temporary solution.
Click to expand...

Do you think the 1800-24G should suit me fine then? I just want faster transfer speeds and no hiccups on the network like I have now. Made a thread with a little more detail on how I use the network: http://www.overclock.net/t/1523663/need-24-port-managed-switch-and-4-port-gbe-cards/0_100#post_23122037

Thanks!

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Simmons572*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> That price tho! 0_o
> 
> 
> 
> I was struggling to find a reliable smart/managed switch for under $200. I like jibesh's recommendations for the 8 port switch, but that newegg listing for the 8 port is $100. So for an extra $50, I got 16 more ports. And even that price was cheap, as at the time I found it listed on Newegg/Amazon for around $450. But I digress.
> 
> I say, if you find a couple models you are happy with, just hop around ebay and craigslist and see what people are listing. You're bound to find something for a good price.
Click to expand...

Yea, that's what I normally do!  Thanks


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Do you think the 1800-24G should suit me fine then? I just want faster transfer speeds and no hiccups on the network like I have now. Made a thread with a little more detail on how I use the network: http://www.overclock.net/t/1523663/need-24-port-managed-switch-and-4-port-gbe-cards/0_100#post_23122037


I believe the 1800-24G will meet your needs. But if you just need faster transfer speeds for file transfers between windows server 2012 and windows 8, you just need to present several NICs to the OS and SMB Multichannel will automatically use available NICs to transfer the data. For iSCSI traffic, it would probably be best to setup MPIO than using any kind of NIC teaming.


----------



## Sean Webster

Can I configure SMB Multichannel without a managed switch? To play with it now that is. lol


----------



## jibesh

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Can I configure SMB Multichannel without a managed switch? To play with it now that is. lol


Its is a feature independent of the switch. All you need to do is enable RSS (receive side scaling) on the NICs on both the server and the client and it should automatically enable.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *jibesh*
> 
> Quote:
> 
> 
> 
> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Can I configure SMB Multichannel without a managed switch? To play with it now that is. lol
> 
> 
> 
> Its is a feature independent of the switch. All you need to do is enable RSS (receive side scaling) on the NICs on both the server and the client and it should automatically enable.
Click to expand...

Enabled RSS on both and that doesn't seem to be working. Only get ~115M/s transfer speed still.

My server has this:



second PC has this:


----------



## Sean Webster

Well, I just ordered the HP 1800-24G. I am holding off on the NICs cause im not sure if they will be compatible with my systems yet. At least I can have a network that functions at full speed and wont give hiccups anymore.


----------



## Sean Webster

Well, I think I'll be renaming this Terrorbyte V2.1 or something along those lines...Just ordered a SuperMicro X8DTi-F and 120mm fan bracket for the Norco 4224 off ebay. I have some Be Quiet! Silent Wings 2 120mm fans to use to quiet this beast down. Now I just need to find some good 80mm fans. I'm basically going to retire the Dell C1100 chassis and pop 48GB of my RAM and CPUs into the SuperMicro and pop the RAID card in there. Finally, I will change the SSD to a 128GB Samsung 830 and update to Server 2012 R2.

I may grab two more L5520s on ebay for like 20 each just to sell the Dell C1100 as a working server with 24GB of RAM. Or I may keep the RAM for another server idea and sell the rest of the chassis...not sure yet.

Now I will have much more expansion options, especially with 10GbE ideas coming into my head. lol

Now I'm trying to figure out what to do about needing an extra 8pin plug for the dual socket mobo when I have this Corsair TX 650V2...Should an adapter of some sort work?

Also, got the HP 1800-24G the other day. So many ports for LACP!


----------



## scottath

What are you doing for cooling the cpu's?
I have the same mobo if you remember for my server thats only on for testing / fiddling - and its NOISY AS HECK! 2RU server chassis. Using 2x E5520 with 48gb.....

Procurve should serve you well - use procurve gear at work all the time - mostly 2910al's though.

Should be able to get an adapter from molex > 8pin that ive seen in the past for the CPU power - its just 12v/Ground in 4 pairs.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *scottath*
> 
> What are you doing for cooling the cpu's?
> I have the same mobo if you remember for my server thats only on for testing / fiddling - and its NOISY AS HECK! 2RU server chassis. Using 2x E5520 with 48gb.....
> 
> Procurve should serve you well - use procurve gear at work all the time - mostly 2910al's though.
> 
> Should be able to get an adapter from molex > 8pin that ive seen in the past for the CPU power - its just 12v/Ground in 4 pairs.


I have the board coming with some fan coolers on it already, I am going to see how they perform and sound like. If I don't like them I will probably grab some Hyper 212 Evos...or see if i can get something for review.

Then you can help me with my network setup questions! 

For power, I found this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812887002

But some state it is wired wrong!


----------



## scottath

Its a fairly simple connector - compare it to the plug on the PSU (should be colored also) - they are not hard to change the pins.
Else get it (same thing) from somewhere else that doesnt have such a varied set of reviews.....


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *scottath*
> 
> Its a fairly simple connector - compare it to the plug on the PSU (should be colored also) - they are not hard to change the pins.
> Else get it (same thing) from somewhere else that doesnt have such a varied set of reviews.....


Yea, and just looking at it vs this extra P8 CPU connector I have for my dark power pro 850 watt, it seems like it wouldn't even work in the first place.

Should a molex to just 4pin work fine? The CPUs are just 60 watts each anyways. What do you have to connect in your server? Where's your build log newb?

And what has been going on with your photography?


----------



## scottath

the adapter should work fine.
Mine is a server i bought second hand - so has a pair of 750w redundant PSUs etc in a 2ru server chassis.
My 24/7 server is sitting in my mega lian li box - with a heap of HDDs (6x3tb + some others for VMs)......

Photos - well - got some in the works that i havent uploaded anywhere as yet - but still an expencive hobby. Going to Japan on Dec 26th though for a fortnight......


----------



## Sean Webster

Well, got the new mobo installed! Forgot to take pics of it before tho....lol oops.

The fans that came with it are like 90/100mm or something and they move a ton of air, yet are near silent! o_0 So glad, now I don't need to buy more coolers. I need to toss the exhaust fans, they are unbearable...

I am still waiting on a PCIe to CPU 8 pin cable to come so i can install the other L5520...just have the cooler sitting there doing nothing atm over socket #2. Also, still awaiting the 120mm center fan wall.

Replaced the OS drive (60GB Kingston V300) with a 128GB Samsung 830. Installed Server 2012 R2 as well.

Had a bit of a scare thinking my RAID 6 array got corrupt was it was unaccessible when i booted into Win server 2012 R2, however I found out rather quickly that it was just a NTFS permissions issue as I removed all access to that array if you were not the admin...when it was in the old OS. lol

And look at those SAS cables...LOOK AT THEM! Cable management god eh? lol I think I need some 1ft SAS cables to replace these. I am also wanting a HBA controller for the top back plane to install some back up drives to so I don't need to put them on the LSI controller in "RAID 0" to get them to show up as single drives.

Also somehow I destroyed one of the CAT 6 cables. I am going to just buy a box of high grade CAT 6 or CAT 6A now and a crimp set, make my own cables as long as I need them now. 

Here are some pics:







Yea, there is a piece of paper there to prevent shorting. I think the expander is getting enough airflow...i hope so lol.



I only have 13 drives in there atm, I need more. Still waiting on cheaper 6TB, maybe 8TB drives.



And the Dell C1100 is now barren of any CPU :'(



And still has 24GB of RAM in it.





To sell or not to sell, that is the question!!?! Buying some replacement L5520s on eBay is only $40 total lol.


----------



## zanginator

Interesting stuff. I think I may have missed it, but what was the main reason to switching away from the Dell?


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zanginator*
> 
> Interesting stuff. I think I may have missed it, but what was the main reason to switching away from the Dell?


Far too noisey for me and the drive holding capacity = 4 lol...

The Dell C1100 was designed as a high memory system in a small 1u form factor for high performance cloud/cluster environments. That is not my environment.

It was my main plan since day one to move away from it, i just bought it because i got it cheap and could part it out after doing the swap as I finally did. But now i kinda want to keep it....but i don't like the noise (typical 1U server noise) and i could use the $.


----------



## zanginator

Pretty much what I was expecting you to say








Although you could of taken the mobo from the Dell unit and transplanted it but would of had limited expansion slots. (PCI-e)


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *zanginator*
> 
> Pretty much what I was expecting you to say
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Although you could of taken the mobo from the Dell unit and transplanted it but would of had limited expansion slots. (PCI-e)


Exactly, that was another issue, it only had 1 PCIe slot. lol


----------



## Sean Webster

I did something I know I shouldn't have...oh well.









I got x8 3TB drives on the way, x5 Toshiba and x3 Seagate. Now...to RAID 6 or somehow virtualize RAIDz2/3? Or dare I say it...MS Storage Pool! I'm really leaning towards the storage pool option honestly.


----------



## Sean Webster

I finally got all the 3TB drives up and running. Did some stress testing to see if any were bad, all have passed. Hopefully I don't get a random death in a week lol. Got some benches for anyone who cares as well. 

*Benches:*

8x 3TB RAID 0:



8x 3TB RAID 6:



*Storage layout:*

I'll take photos of all my drives stacked one day... Now, I have the top row of the server is filled with 4x 1TB (RAID 5) drives. The second row has 2x 1TB (RAID 1) drives & 2x 500GB (RAID 1) drives. The next two middle rows have 8x 3TB (RAID 6) drives, I decided RAID 6 was best in the end. And the final two rows each have 4x 2TB (RAID 5) drives.

Total Storage is now 47TB unformatted.









*Power Testing:*

I have also gotten a watt meter. The server draws a max of about 450 watts under stress testing and idles around 300-300 watts. Start up peaked around 420 watts from what I saw...tho that is most likely inaccurate lol. However, right now the RAID controller is running a consistency check so I will recheck what it draws in a few days...new RAID 6 is going to take 2 days to finish consistency checking!

So pretty good considering a dual CPU build w/48GB RAM and 24 HDDs.


----------



## Sean Webster

Well, today one more old spinpoint F3 committed suicide.









And my RAID card is annoying. It automagically decides that it doesnt like to be detected by the system during a RAID 1 drive failure...or when i delete any type of RAID array. To stop it from happening I have to set the HDDs offline first before i delete the array. Otherwise the card disappears from the system and I have to do a restart and then another restart to have it all show up again. This has been happening since I had begun building the server, i just havent noted it before as i don't remake RAID arrays much and i just forget to post about it lol. Otherwise I have no data corruption and it works fine for everything else.

ummm, besides this, there was something else i was gonna mention, but now i forgot...

Last thoughts...using the 5400RPM RAID 5 array for all my back up now. I have almost no use for the 7200RPM RAID 5 set up now that I have the 8X 3TB RAID 6 set up lol. And the RAID 1 with the 500GB drives is great for my downloads.


----------



## cones

Is it some bug in the RAID card software that an update would fix?


----------



## Sean Webster

I tried a few firmwares and MegaRAID Storage Managers and they all result in the same issue. I can live with it, it is just something to note for others...maybe mine is just defective. It shouldn't be overheating as I had done non-stop transfers for like 9-10hrs straight no issue. It only crashes/goes offline and becomes undetectable when a RAID 1 drive is detected as failed and I disassemble a RAID array without putting each drive in the array offline first.


----------



## ty2010

It's likely low 5v making it kick out, bigger psu needed. I had a seagate that kept dropping recently and the lowest in the log was 4.97v, turned it to 5ms update and stressed the system to find that it was actually hitting 4.76. Raid 1 is more likely to do this on a fault as drives are trying to exactly sync (double instant load) instead of syncing related stripes in buffers like other raid varieties.


----------



## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *ty2010*
> 
> It's likely low 5v making it kick out, bigger psu needed. I had a seagate that kept dropping recently and the lowest in the log was 4.97v, turned it to 5ms update and stressed the system to find that it was actually hitting 4.76. Raid 1 is more likely to do this on a fault as drives are trying to exactly sync (double instant load) instead of syncing related stripes in buffers like other raid varieties.


Thanks for the reply. I also had this same issue when the RAID card was in the other server box and the norco was a essentially an 8 bay DAS with no mobo in it. I do have a 1500W PSU on the way now to replace it though... 40A on the 5v!  I got it free for review....I don't think I would ever need that much power lol.


----------



## scottath

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> *Power Testing:*
> 
> I have also gotten a watt meter. The server draws a max of about 450 watts under stress testing and idles around 300-300 watts. Start up peaked around 420 watts from what I saw...tho that is most likely inaccurate lol. However, right now the RAID controller is running a consistency check so I will recheck what it draws in a few days...new RAID 6 is going to take 2 days to finish consistency checking!
> 
> So pretty good considering a dual CPU build w/48GB RAM and 24 HDDs.


Interesting - thanks for this.
Since i have the same mobo and cpu combos in my server - well kinda - i have 2x E5520 - so add a few more W/hs i guess.....
Glad its unplugged most of the time unless im labbing.
Need to find another use for it - and a few hyper coolers i think. mine in a 2ru supermicro chassis, along with 4 screaming fans......


----------



## ty2010

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> Thanks for the reply. I also had this same issue when the RAID card was in the other server box and the norco was a essentially an 8 bay DAS with no mobo in it. I do have a 1500W PSU on the way now to replace it though... 40A on the 5v!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I got it free for review....I don't think I would ever need that much power lol.


Start spinning 10, 15k drives and you'll be slinging in 500 and 1000 watt psu's 4-6 at a time in the hot swap bays without thinking about it. Hopefully commercial ssd's come down more and no one will have to think about that again.


----------



## Sean Webster

Well I never intend to use those HDDs. I may get a full flash storage server in a while tho for benches.


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## Sean Webster

Latest update.

I sold the Dell C1100 a bit ago if I didn't mention it yet. She shall be missed.









I finally got around to swapping out some smaller drives for my 8 new 8TB HGST He8 HDDs in RAID 6. I also added in a 1TB SSD I had sitting around as my main program share folder. Total storage capacity is now at *105TB*.







Usable is at ~*72TB*.











Quick RAID Benchmarks in RAID 0. I would have posted RAID 6, but initialization needs to complete first...

 

More benchmarks with a different RAID card here: http://www.thessdreview.com/our-reviews/hgst-ultrastar-he8-hdd-raid-review-8tb-x8/

Here is the SSD I added in.



Overall Storage



I have some more SSDs I can add in....not sure what to use them for though lol. I am also thinking about buying some 50cm SAS cables and selling my 1 meter cables as they take up so much room. Also, I am tempted on building an unRAID server, but it would cost ~$1,200 so IDK. I'll keep using RAID for a bit longer.


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## deafboy

Very nice... those are some high capacity drives, love me some HGST drives! Been looking at getting the 4220 for my NAS.


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *deafboy*
> 
> Very nice... those are some high capacity drives, love me some HGST drives! Been looking at getting the 4220 for my NAS.


yes they are







they run a bit hot in my server around 43-50C. I need to turn my fans up a bit to compensate. I thought just swapping out my 1m SAS cables for 15" ones would fix it, but they didn't. ?

I switched over from the raid card to a hba and am using stablebit drivepool. I am now looking into how to set up snapraid. But now I have ~95TB usable space. I will be doing a better update when I have time and figure things out


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## deafboy

Better update? What do you have in mind?
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster*
> 
> yes they are
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> they run a bit hot in my server around 43-50C. I need to turn my fans up a bit to compensate. I thought just swapping out my 1m SAS cables for 15" ones would fix it, but they didn't. ?
> 
> I switched over from the raid card to a hba and am using stablebit drivepool. I am now looking into how to set up snapraid. But now I have ~95TB usable space. I will be doing a better update when I have time and figure things out


95TB is certainly nothing to be ashamed of, lol. Damn.

Better update? What do you have in mind?


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