hansolo77

I'm always getting ripped I think. So I ordered that HP card on Saturday, and here it is on Thursday! Wow, good shipping. Even eBay said to expect it between November 12th and November 30th! It's only the 5th! Anyway, the box was just big enough for the card. I mean, it's like 2 cm thick, by maybe 4 inches tall and 6 inches wide. One side was wrinkled like it had been crushed. There was a little scape looking hole on the side where it looked the the "crush" exposed something in the box. Opened up the box, there was a big bright yellow smiley face card with writing on the back that said contact us before raising an issue with eBay, then there was a layer of tiny hole bubble wrap, followed by a tiny hole bubble bag, then a layer of tiny hole bubble wrap on the bottom. Inside the bubble bag was an ESD bag with the card in it. The card appears to be brand new. I didn't take it out of the bag, but the bag was still sealed with an ESD warning sticker. I guess those can be pretty easily available. But if I look at the back plate that you screw into the case, the whole bottom portion (bottom of the slot) was bent out of shape. I gently bent it back. I'm not too concerned about that though since it's really just the back plate. The components on the card are more important. Since I don't have any spare SAS cables, I have to wait before I can install and test it. However, I did just go ahead today and ordered 5 more SAS cables from Monoprice. Shipping is 2-3 days, and that would make it fall on the weekend so I probably won't get them till Monday. Anyway, there wasn't anything extra included, no instructions, or mounting screws, or cables. I didn't figure there would be, but on the plus side there wasn't any little pieces inside the bag that had broken off! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this was just a minor blemish with the plate and the card itself will be ok. I'll report back my findings. If anybody else is interested in this HP Expander card, go for it! But ask the guy to pack it a little better.

Been almost 2 weeks now without an update. So I thought I'd real quick announce that I have ordered my HP 24-port SAS Expander! http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-HP-6Gbps-SAS-Expender-Card-24-Port-SAS-PCI-E-Expander-Board-468405-001-/171532956108?hash=item27f02931cc:g:aQUAAOSwdsFUPgAb I tried to haggle a bit with the seller. I originally bookmarked his sale when it was at $210, it's now at $160. In fact, when I started my haggle, he had it set at $110. I only managed to get him down to $100 even, plus $8 shipping. Still, it beats +$200, and it's brand new. I could have gotten it cheaper, in the $80 range, but those other sales are different models running at 3G speed instead of 6G. Now I need to buy me some more SAS cables!

Grr!! Now I'm bald. Just checked my event viewer. I had it running great for like 7 hours. Then around 12:30am last night, it popped the RaidPort3 error. Then again around 1:15am. WTF?! I don't know what else to try. The only thing left to really try is swapping the cables, but I'll probably still get the same error only it would be referring to the other back plane instead. Argh! I think I'm going to just wait and get the expander and go from there. If I still get the error then, I'll replace the back plane. The system is still stable, I haven't lost any data or anything. It's just an annoying event.

Woot! I think I have finally narrowed down the where the error is coming from. Tricky little devil. So today I decided rather than try and remove the drive from the front of the case, I'd try to remove the actual SATA cable. That way I can definitely rule out the back plane as the problem. I started with all the drives (except for the OS) connected directly to the motherboard, using the same process as yesterday of removing the drive, and waiting for the error to pop. Theoretically, it shouldn't come up if there isn't anything connected to it right? I think the errors from yesterday was because the cable was still attached and connected to the back plane. Well, I went through the whole set of motherboard cables and they all popped up the error. Then I went to the PCIe SATA controller (not the LSI since it's working fine). The first cable I removed showed the error in about 15 minutes. Then I removed the 2nd cable, and it didn't pop for 3 hours! Woot! Rather than re-connect it and wait for it to pop again, I decided to swap it with plug #1. So the port that DIDN'T pop the error is still disconnected. By swapping the plugs, I'm also checking now to verify that it wasn't the back plane (because now I'm connecting the drive that was reporting as being reset to another plug). So far so good. I'm an hour in. If it passes another hour, I'm going to officially declare that the port on the controller is what is going bad. This is no problem because I do have another 3 ports available on the motherboard (though they are 3g instead of 6g speeds). My plan is connect everything back the way it was, but connect the cable from the failing plug to the motherboard. Let it run for a good while, and hopefully everything will remain stable. If I get another error to pop, I'm expecting it to be on a different port (instead of RaidPort3, it should be either RaidPort2 or RaidPort0). If that happens, I have more work to do (bad back plane (swap reverse break out cables to verify) or bad cable (no way to verify)). If the error still comes up RaidPort3, I'm going to pull my hair out! I'm not going to bother ordering another reverse breakout cable, since I'm going to be getting that HP Expander that uses SAS cables. Here's hoping!

Thanks Chris. I've actually been doing a bit of research on that Norco rack, that's why I linked it. From my understanding, the rack is "just wide enough" to support the RPC-4224 case mounted flush. If you try to use Rails, it's a no-go. I don't know if you remember, maybe I didn't even mention it before (heh I don't even remember), there was a guy on eBay selling his Norco 4224 case as 1 item, and this exact rack he had it mounted in separately. So I know they can work together. I also read a review complete with a video, that showed a guy installing this case in that rack. The trick is to use either a shelf that the case sits on, or mounting brackets that hold the back up and the front screws into the rack. Anyway, I'm not sure what you mean by it being too shallow. Do you mean front to back or side to side? Front to back isn't a problem if you're using the shelf or brackets because the case just sits on them, they don't mount to anything in the back. If you're talking about side to side, again I don't think that's an issue if other people have done it. I guess I can always do more research. Especially if there are other options out there (like you said, HP or Dell racks). One thing I do know I probably don't want is one of those enclosed rack cabinets with the glass windows, etc. Sure they look pretty, but I really can't imagine them being cool (temperature.. obviously they're COOL lol). As for the switches. The plug and play is really what I thought it was then. That's good. I'd hate to order up one of those unmanaged switches and then turn around and not be able to use it because of configuration issues. I assume things like IP address's and things are all configured then from the machines themselves like they already are. I let my wifi devices all use dynamic IP's, and then all my wired have specific IP's so I can route traffic. If the IP is set on the machine, and I plug it into the switch, the router would still pick it up right? So I'm basically just adding more ports to the router. If I need to port forward to an IP address, it would still be the same way as before right? So for instance it would still be 192.168.1.25 for the HTPC, etc. It wouldn't become something like 192.168.2.25, and I wouldn't be able to access it through the router or nothing? I'm also happy to know that my theories on UPS functionality is correct. When the time comes, I'll definitely research what the best model would be for my needs. I'm not sure what type I should get, as you say Active PFC. Not sure what I have, and what would be compatible. Right now, my server is using that new PSU (Corsair AX760i) which I believe I read has Active PFC, and my HTPC uses that older PSU (Antec HCG-750) that I'm pretty sure you identified as Active PFC too. So I guess that means I need the PFC type UPS. Only ideally, I'll want 2 UPS's... one for the server and the switch, etc, and another one for my HTPC, TV, AVR, etc. Uhg, this hobby bleeds you dry! In other news. I don't know if I've mentioned it publicly in the forums here or not, but I know me and Chris have been trying to troubleshoot an issue with my server. Since installing the new OS, I've been experiencing a flush of errors in my System section of the Event Log. Specifically, it is reporting the driver "mvs91xx" has caused a Warning "Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort3, was issued." Originally this warning was from a different driver on the older motherboard. So I know it's definitely not from one of the 2 expander card's I'm using. I just spent the entire day today tracing each port out... the long way. I removed a drive, and waited for the error to pop. When it did, I re-added it, cleared the log, and removed the next one. Rinse and repeat. Needless to say, as of this very moment, I have completed the cycle of removing each and every drive that is plugged into the motherboard (minus the OS's SSD), and came up with nothing. The error appeared, on the same "device", no matter if there was a drive plugged in or not. So it's clearly NOT a drive issue. I'm afraid one of my backplanes may be faulty, which is not surprising. A lot of people have reported issues with Norco's backplanes, and I thought I was safe because they all "work". Still, I'm not giving up. Has this come up in anybody else's builds? Can you recommend something I haven't tried? Having removed each drive on 2 separate backplanes, I'm not even sure which one (if any) I would even need to replace. Or is this just something I'm going to have to simply ignore? I have some other Server issues I'd like help with, but they can wait since my system is stable for the most part. The other issues deal with DNS and such, all stuff to do with Server Essentials backend stuff that I'm not ready to deal with yet.

The benefit to me with server OS is the stability and automation. It's very easy to setup for automatic computer backups, and the use of storage space is a breeze. The only reason I didn't stay with WHS 2011 was because after finally getting everything installed, the OS started corrupting my system files and registry. Not sure what caused it, probably a Windows Update or something, but I was essentially locked out of modifying anything. Whenever I would try to access the registry, it would give me an error saying the registry was in read-only mode because I was connected remotely. Of course the first thing I then tried was connect a monitor/keyboard/mouse directly to the server, and it STILL gave me that error. I couldn't perform any administrative jobs either, like system restore, to try and fix the problem. The only solution was a complete reformat and reinstall, which I was unable to do because of the current condition of my drive/folder structures. This was before I got DrivePool. If I formatted my OS drive, I would lose what Microsoft called "Tombstones" that stores the location of the files. Lose those files, and you're basically SOL on getting your files off any of the pool drives. My ultimate solution was to go for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, which according to Wikipedia (link) was the next upgrade after WHS 2011. I've had to reinstall it twice because of my misunderstanding of how the system works, but now that it's running it's great. Something else you might consider, though I have no experience with, is something like FreeNAS. From what I understand, it'll do what you're looking for. The OS can be installed on a tiny little USB drive, and then all your drives are pooled. You access the interface for configuring through a built in website, and then access the storage pool through a standard Explorer linked network share. The downside I think is that there is no built in backup solutions. The only reason I didn't go this route is because I'm not good with Linux. But my new understanding is that you don't even SEE Linux. The OS installs and sets everything up automatically. The only downside you might experience would be drivers for your controller (which is also the problem you CURRENTLY have). If you're still in the experimentation phase of locking down an OS, I'd at least recommend giving it a try. I for one would love to know how you get on with it if you do, since it sounds a LOT easier to set and have running.

Heh actually, this is my first true server I'm building now. I had a spare computer in the basement under the steps collecting dust. I read the system requirements to install Windows Home Server v1, and thought to myself "I can do that". I liked the appeal of having a daily backup and a file server so I could stream media from it and not have my primary computer cluttered with lots of files. With a server, its ok because that's what it was built to do. All I needed was to plug in a drive, then another as that got filled, and another and another until I was up to like 12 drives. Then I just ran out of room. No more PCI slots open for Sata controllers, all the Sata ports on the motherboard were used, I had to upgrade to SAS. Chris sold me one of his cards, and that opened up more expandability for me. Got a few good uses out of it then decided it still wasn't enough and went for the Norco RPC-4224 case (same you have!). Then I just did a bunch of asking in forums (like here!) and looking around on the internet at other people's builds and reading reviews, and checking out sites like Amazon and NewEgg at what was available and reading reviews from buyers, and asking more questions, etc. All the while, saving money to make the purchases. I settled on the motherboard that suited my needs. I knew I needed something that would give me the PCIe ports for the Expander card (since the old system's board didn't have the right slots). That was my bottom line.. 2 PCIe slots for the controller and expander. Everything else, like 4 lan ports, onboard USB jack, IPMI, USB3, Xeon processors, etc, all came from researching what they were, deciding if I would ever need them, what my upgrade options were, etc. It just turned out that the one I liked the best of all the options, was the same one Chris suggested to you in his first reply.. the ASRock Rack E3C224-4L! As for priorities... I'm in a bad situation. Because of mental health issue, I only work part time. Can't cope with stress and anxiety. So because of that, I get very minimal pay. I just learned I'm topped out for part timers, which is only $9.90/hr after I've been there 6 years. Going on 7 now and I'm not getting any more raises until next fall, where our new contract goes into effect, and then I'm guaranteed a $1.50 raise over the next 5 years. Because of that, my weekly paychecks only average me about $170 a week. So I can't afford to live on my own. I live at home, with my dad and his new wife that I can't stand. I stay locked in my room if I'm not at work because I'm not comfortable around them. I pay them $60 a week for rent and half the utilities, use their water when I do laundry or go to the bathroom, and eat if they cook me something. If not, I buy Hot Pockets or something at work. That's my life. So in a way, I can afford these things simply because I can't afford anything else. I can save up and not buy anything, but it would take longer than necessary to move out. Cheap living isn't cheap when you're on restricted work hours from your doctor. I could get a room mate, but it'd still be the same as living at home, only more expensive. So yeah, I should prioritize my spending towards other things, but it wouldn't do me any good. Thanks a lot, now I'm depressed again. lol But seriously, with my depression and anxiety, those little moments of excitement I get when something new comes in the mail is about the best thing I got to look forward to.

Just throwing out a request for suggestions on further expansion of my server. I'm already set on the next couple of buys.. the HP Expander and the upgraded Xeon CPU, plus a few SAS cables and more RAM. But I'm going to be in the market for a few other pieces of gear. 1 - Rack I've been keeping my eyes out on my local Craigslist to see if anybody happens to come up with something to reuse that's cheap. So far, the best thing I've seen is somebody's custom built plywood shelves on a set of 2x4's. So, not much. Sure, I've seen racks.. in the 42u range costing $300-400, that are rusted out, doors hanging off, etc. The GOOD racks are going for $500 or more. So I'm looking at the possibility of buying online. I really doubt I need a 42u size rack. Looking at options, I'm thinking a 15u rack would suit me just perfectly. My server is 4u, and if I upgrade to the point where I need another JBOD expansion case, it'll probably 4u too, so that's 8u's with 7 to spare. I figure 2u for a switch (see below) and 2u for a UPS (also below). That will leave me with 3u to spare. And that's a big IF on the extra case, so I may not even need something THAT big. So any suggestions? I'm seriously contending the one from Norco: (link). The only downside is a lot of people are giving it bad reviews. IstarUSA has one similar, but NewEgg has been out of stock for a while on it. Got any better ideas? 2 - Switch I've never bought a switch and never really thought I needed one until here in the last couple of years. Typically, I've purchased a router to go from my Cable/DSL modem I've had, to the 2 computers in our house that would use them. Ok, that was it, and the classic 10/100 4-port router from NetGear worked great for that. I even learned the basics of file sharing on it. Then the day came that I had a PlayStation 2, and could hook it up to the internet also. Now I had 3 ports in use. Then I got an HDTV that had a network jack on it for upgrading the firmware (that's all it was for). So then I had 4 ports. Things moved along, and I got an iPod touch, with built in Wi-Fi. Uh Oh, 10/100 wired doesn't do wi-fi.. time to upgrade! Got a Linksys 4-port WiFi router. Same plugs for everything else, only now I got WiFi! Then comes the Xbox 360! Need another port for my Xbox now too. I decided to forget the TV's port and decided to use that. Ok. Then I decided the bandwith provided by the Linksys is too slow, time to upgrade to Wireless-N! Then came BluRay. Sure, the WiFi part works, but it slow and skips a lot streaming Netflix, so I'm swapping my Xbox and BluRay's Lan ports. Then Dad decided he didn't like having a network cable running across the hall, and we hooked him up wireless. Then he gets a Bluray player for the Living Room and goes wireless. Then I get a 2nd Xbox 360 (modded it) and have it wired. Then I start building a server (whs v1) and it's wired. Anyway, I keep getting more and more devices, but still only have 4 ports on my router (I've upgraded the router now by the way to a Netgear R6250). So the time has come for me research the purchase of a switch. To be 100% honest, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I believe, based on what I've read, all I need is an unmanaged switch. Something I can connect my router to and just plug all my devices into. My new motherboard has 5 ports on it (IPMI and 4 LAN), my HTPC currently has 1, Xbox's each have 1, bluray has 1, Raspberry Pi2 has 1, dad's computer has 1. So that's 11 right there. I'm probably going to just get a 24-port switch rather than 16. The price difference is negligible, and I'll have the future proof benefits. The only thing is, do I WANT unmanaged or would managed be better for my basic home network? It's just going to be simple internet and file sharing. Since I've never owned a switch, I don't know how difficult it would be setting it up. Is it really as simple as plug and play? How do I assign IP addresses? How would I tell the router to forward the ports for Xbox Live to the Xbox when it's in the switch and not connected to the router directly? Would that even work? Do I need PoE? So yeah, need a little help. 3 - UPS This is another device I've known about for a long time but never gave it much thought as something I should need. But considering the amount of money I'm spending trying to build a decent server, I'd really hate for it to all go kablooey because of a power outage during a storm or something. Right now, I have 2 power strips plugged into the same wall outlet (one for each plug, not daisy chained!). They both have surge protectors on them. However, I'm always scared when the power goes out that my stuff won't come back, because I've actually had 2 motherboards die on me in the past from storms (although that was back in dialup modem days). I'd like to ease my mind with a UPS, and have everything connected through that (computer wise, I'm not going all crazy with stuff like the TV, bluray player, etc). So if I understand correctly, the UPS is plugged into the wall, and stays charged. Power goes out, and UPS provides x amount of minutes (based on the draw of what's running from it). The UPS can tell the computer through USB that it is running, and tells the computer to shut down. This gives the computer a proper shut down, and eliminates the possibilities of corrupted files, damaged drives, blown out circuits. Power comes back, recharges battery, good for another day. If that sounds right, then I definitely want one. Since I'm going to get a rack, I might as well get a rackmount UPS. I'm thinking of this one (link) but I'm up to suggestions. This one is kinda expensive but is on sale right now. If it's on sale now, it will be again. There's other online stores too, so I'll look around. I'm just looking for reassurance that I'm on the right track. 4 - Miscellaneous Is there something else I'm possibly over looking? Seems like a lot when it's all layed out, but it's really because I like to jabber on when I'm half asleep. It's kinda my way of forcing myself to stay awake, by drolling on and on. I'm really just looking for some advice of some basic equipment, and what the general idea for suggestions might be. I'm completely open on this aspect, since these are things to get in the far off future once I'm up and running with my server. Thanks guys!

This is typical symptoms whenever Microsoft comes out with a new OS. It's one of the big reasons why I never upgraded to Windows 8. I'll never get Windows 10 though because it doesn't have Media Center, which is the primary reason for my computer. They "think" they've worked out the bugs, but there is always the unknown when it comes to 3rd party hardware and their drivers. Windows 7 has been around long enough that it's rock solid stable for the most part. Same can be said about Windows XP. I think your decision to stick with Windows 7 using your current hardware is a good idea. It falls back on what I was saying in another forum... "If it's not broke, don't fix it." In my particular case, my server was severely outdated. Running Windows Home Server v1 (2007!). My components weren't capable of supporting WHS 2011. So I upgraded. Then it crashed and I had all kinds of driver issues like you did. Then I learned about the free trial from MS about the MSE 2012 R2 and thought I'd give it a try. The system was extremely stable, but I couldn't do anything more with it. I was maxed out on expansion slots and drive bays. So I decided I needed an upgrade, and thought the best way to do it was just to "start from scratch". So once I'm fully up and running, I can at least say my system was "almost" top of the line as of 2015. The only thing I'm lacking is the latest and greatest CPU's, but for the cost, I can't justify spending the money required for those E5 Xeons, with TRUE server builders getting 2 CPU's on their boards, each costing $2.5k. That's just crazy. I'm settling with a little more waist room. In my case, the processor is going to be the most expensive part. The case was 2nd. Before, the cpu and case were left over basement spares. I went back and read your first post and Chris's response. It really does help to go big and spend a fair amount of cash to get something good, rather than settle. I waited and bought my parts as I could afford them, rather than settle for something cheaper (although I did settle temporarily on a low end Celeron CPU so I could at least have a working system with the other main components while I save up for the Xeon). I couldn't be happier with where I'm at. I'm just waiting for the funds to get my HP Expander and more SAS cables!

How long did it work before it started crashing before though? And is this 3 days on 24 hours a day or on whenever? I typically do a "burn in" for a solid 24 hours before I start messing around with other stuff. That's what I did with my new server build. I haven't had any issues. Have you considered getting a copy of Windows Server Essentials? You can get a free 180-day (6 month) no obligation trial from Microsoft. I went that route since OS's like Windows Home Server and even Windows 7 support has or is ending soon. Where as WSE 2012 R2 will be around for a while. I truly hope your system continues to be stable! That's all you need is somebody not rooting for ya!

I'll take a look next time I'm in there. The boot up time takes FOREVER now compared to my old board. This thing takes like 2 minutes before Windows starts loading. Really driving me nuts. Thanks for your advice!

Yup. Confirms my 32-drive capacity limit. Oh well. I can always upgrade!

That's the way I interpret it. So I don't understand how they can market it as a 24-port expander. It's very confusing. The HP exander I'm going to get has 8 ports plus 1 external. So to me, that's 32-ports, not 24. Maybe on the HP, the external only works if you're not using an adjacent internal one. There's also the double-bandwith thing I saw, where if you use 2 ports on your controller and connect it to the expander, you'd get twice the through put. So I can see that being 24 in that case. Who knows? (Probably Chris )

UPDATE! Got my new Motherboard and RAM in the mail today. WOOT! Spent the last 3 hours getting it together. I made a big mistake though. After applying the Artic Silver 5 to the processor and cleaning off the pre-existing gunk on the Intel Cooler, I went right into installing the cooler onto the board. But I forgot to lower down the lock arm first! So I had the cooler installed, and the metal plate that secures the processor was still hanging out the back. DOH! Hopefully I didn't damage it. I took the cooler off, re-cleaned it and the processor, CLOSED DOWN THE ARM, and reinstalled the cooler. Everything boots up. I had some alerts from DrivePool about drives missing and the license needing transferred (expected that). The only thing I couldn't figure out is how to configure the BIOS to boot from CD-Rom first (if a disk is in the drive). I don't need it right away, since I only use that if/when I have an OS crash and need to do a restore. Still, it would be nice to know how to do that. I guess I wouldn't need it for the OS Restore if I can get some method of the install onto a USB drive and have that permanently connected to the internal USB plug on the board. But even that would require some kind of setting in the BIOS that I didn't see. Maybe it's just because there wasn't something connected to it. I also am only using LAN1 right now, because I don't have a switch and all my LAN ports on my router are used up. A switch is definitely on my "to get" list. Then I can use the 4 NICs and the IPMI. But all in all, for what it's worth, it's working! Of course, I only have 1 stick of RAM and the slowest possible Celeron installed. But it's running! Fingers crossed it stays that way! Next up on the "to buy" list.... the HP Expander so I can use the last 8 drive slots in the case, and remove some of the clutter from all these SATA cables. @ Chris. You mentioned something a while back about having an option in the BIOS that I can configure that will prevent the LSI controller from displaying it's drive detecting routine. Do you recall what that was called, and if I have it on this board? I did find an option called something like "Show Boot ROM option", which I disabled. All that seems to have done is just make the Full Screen Logo appear longer. I figure it's still doing all that work in the background, just not displaying it now.

Yea, this card does require PCI power. But it also has an external port if you want to expand to another JBOD case. Just gotta make sure your initial controller can handle that many drives.

It really doesn't look that bad to me (the minefield lol). You probably just got a bad board. eBay, NewEgg, Amazon, they all sell controllers and expanders. I'm going to pick up the HP Expander (link) once I save up some more for my own build. I'm not sure what your requirements are, but I've heard lots of good things about this card. As for the controller, Chris sold me one of his flash-updated Intel MegaRaid cards. It works ok so far. I've been having some issues in my error log though about an AHCI connected drive being reset. Might be the controller, might be the cable, might be the motherboard, might be a specific drive. I have to wait until the rest of my upgrade parts arrive before I can narrow it down. The only problem, I think his card is only capable of expanding out to 36 drives based on research I've done with the model number printed on the board. So future expandability might be locked out for me. Keep your hopes up. That's the best I can say! I'm in the same boat in a way, trying to build my server.

The only issue I can foresee is that the LSI Controller won't be able to handle that many drives. Remember a few weeks ago I discovered that the controller may be only able to support like 36 drives (I think I discussed that through PM). I'll just have to wait and see. I think for the most part, to run 24 drives is probably good enough, I'll just work on upgrading to higher capacity drives. Is it better to run everything through the expander if possible, or would it be more wise to "share" the load by having maybe 4 drives connected directly to the controller? Also, should I even bother getting the 6gbps expander; would the LSI controller be capable of that throughput? In other news, I'm sick. Was at work yesterday and after about 30 minutes I started feeling very nauseous. About 30 minutes after that I started developing this huge migraine. Dealt with it and continued on, then started feeling really hot/cold, clamy, etc. Left work early and threw up at home. Crashed in bed and slept for the last 13 hours. Woke up today and threw up again, sinus's are stuffed. Called off work. I'm very icky.

UPDATE!! "Pulled the Trigger" and ordered my new server upgrade base components from NewEgg! $198.99 - ASRock E3C224-4L Motherboard (link) $044.99 - Intel Celeron G1820 CPU (link) $057.99 - Kingston 8gb Memory (link) ----------- $301.97 - Total I've done a bunch of research and gotten help from various forums including this one. This build seems to be the best option for my current budget. After spending 3-4 weeks of saving up, what with bills and the unexpected expenses, I've finally got these bad boys on the way! The next "phase" of my server build will be to get a SAS expander card, to increase the 2 port (8 drive) controller Chris sold me to a full 24 drive capacity. I've got 2 in mind. One is is a little more expensive than the other, but is also more well supported and frequently used in home server builds, while the other has (visually) more future proof with an added external port and (again visually) 32 drive capacity. Would like to hear from other users as to their recommendations. HP Board (link) - Advertised as 24-port 6G. Actually has physically 9 plugs. So that would be 28 drives internal (7x4) and ?? external, and the 1 Input. ~$160 (price has been steadily dropping...) Intel Board (link) (link) (link) (etc) - Advertised as 24-Port 6G. Actually has physically 6 plugs. So in reality, that's only 20 drives internal (5x4) and the 1 input. ~$200 (price varies) I'm really leaning towards the HP, because I (correct me if I'm wrong) can plug both connections from the Controller card into the HP, and still get 24 drives, PLUS the added benefit of double bandwith because of using both plugs. If not, I can still have it be useful for future proofing to an extra JBOD enclosure should I need one in the future. What do you guys think?

Dang it, got the $307 deposited but because it was the weekend it never showed up in my bank as available. So I couldn't buy the parts yet. Then later today I had to pay a few bills (namely, my subscriptions to my seedbox and my usenet provider lol). Now I'm back down to around $100, and that $300 sure is taking its sweet time lol. I'm going to play it safe though and wait until next payday. I'm definitely going to get the Celeron then since it's the cheapest and sure-fire way to make sure all my components work. Hopefully, fingers crossed, it'll boot up OK and I'll just have to get a better CPU later. If not, I don't know what I'll do, besides pull my hair out lol! I mean, I wouldn't be able to test another CPU, or RAM stick, and it might be the mobo that's bad. No real way to tell. No sense worrying about something that might not even happen anyway. As I have it right now, using all stock fans, it is about as loud as it was with my old case, with 7 120mm fans all at full power. They weren't engineered for silence though. I am noticing temps hovering around the 40c mark right now, and I have 16 drives installed currently. That's the most I can do with my current motherboard and expansion cards. The heat is looking OK, but borderline I think. A lot of my drives are older (3-5 years) and I don't want to push their heats. The 4tb SAS drive though is sitting nice and cool at 33c, and my hottest drives around 41-42c. Also, I'm in the USA too buddy. Not sure why you'd mention finding US eBay stuff.

Hmm. Price is good, but I live in the USA.

Ok, so I was checking my paystubs yesterday to try and figure out why my check this week was so small. Turned out I actually got 2 checks, but only 1 was deposited through direct deposit. The other was a $500 "Lump Sum" check that taxes got a hold of. Apparently where I work they have a new union contract going into affect, where we're only going to be getting like $1.50 raise over the next 5 years. Pretty shitty. But they sent everybody who is topped out at their position (like me apparently) a bonus check. Sucks it wasn't tax free, but I got one anyway, that's what the $500 was for. After taxes, it was like $307. But that's plenty for me to buy my new server parts with the other money I had saved! So, Chris (or somebody else...), should I still go forward with my plans to buy the Celeron first, or should I go bigger? I don't have enough money to get the Xeon AND the other parts right now, so I wouldn't really benefit with getting something better, especially if I'm going to turn back around and upgrade it in a few weeks after I've verified it all works anyway. Also, I'm still trying to decide on if I should get that 120mm 3-fan wall or not. Can anybody comment on how well it performs with air flow and keeping drives cool? Obviously I'd want to get some Noctua fans for it, but does the temp suffer because of the quieter fans?

I'm kinda bummed today. Got paid at midnight, and was hoping to order my parts today. Then I found out I had to make a copay at my Dr's appointment today, which usually they BILL me for. So I ended up not having enough money to order stuff this week. Now I gotta wait ANOTHER week. Such is the life of living paycheck to paycheck. I don't hate people, but I'm feeling very bitter towards these jerks who drive around in brand new cars, can buy whatever/whenever, and still have money just laying around the house that their cats can pee on. Yeah, I'm actually feeling a bit depressed now that I think about it. Haven't been LOW in a long time. I mean, it's not like I was expecting it anyway, even my last post I said I was going to order next week for sure anyway. Maybe its the news that my doctor thinks I might have Sleep Apnea. Maybe it's that he wanted me to lose 20 pounds before he saw me again, and I thought I did, just to find out it was only 7. Maybe it's just because I have a really bad headache because I had to fast before I could see him, and my appointment wasn't until 2:30pm and I didn't get to eat anything until like 4:00pm. Whatever it is, I feel like I just wanna crawl into a hole and wither. Don't worry about me though! I'm not the suicidal type. I'm afraid of death, and the life long agony and pain I'd suffer with if I didn't do it right in the first place. I just need to chill and relax and realize there's always next week.

Duh.. duh.. duh.. that case is INSANE!!! I thought the 60 drive one was ridiculous, but 90?! How in the heck are they able to keep that thing cool? Also, they only sell that chassis prebuilt with drives included. I'd hate to know how much that would cost at 90 drives times 8tb... I'm not worried about the ECC ram. The one I linked to (w/TS) means with temp sensor. So it can decrease the speed as needed. I was going to use the word throttle there instead of decrease, but to me; Throttle means "step on the gas" and go faster... so I feel like this is a term that needs changed. The heat sink is still a questionable thing, since it's going to be bought last (like literally after I've used the new CPU and verify it works). So I have plenty of time to choose what's best. I do know that I will be buying something though because I've read a lot of reviews that say the supplied Intel cooler just isn't up to typical usage requirements. The thing about the Noctua I listed though, it's been used in other people's builds that have this exact same case. The only thing that would be different is the cpu/motherboard. I think I would prefer a standing tower type cooler as opposed to the classic fan on top style to help with moving more hot air from the drives towards the back vent fans. This particular model comes with 1 fan and can add an additional one in the future (which I probably would do just for ease of mind). I'm still trying to decide what would be best for me as far as the fan wall is concerned. It seems like the biggest noise I have is from the back fans. With the cover on the case, I don't really notice the fan wall noise. I've been looking around, and although the Noctua fans are a lot quieter, they also don't move as much air, so cooling may be problem. There's also the option to get 120mm fans with the replacement fan wall, but even those seem to suffer from less air flow compared to the current set. So I'm not sure if it's really worth it to buy the 3-120mm fan wall and fans, or get quieter 80mm's. I just don't know. I do know I'm definitely going to replace the back exhaust fans because they're really loud, and honestly don't even move as much air as the ones in the fan wall do. So they can definitely be swapped out for something different. Week #1 of saving for the mobo combo is done. I'm sitting at $100. Not a lot, but it's the best I can do. I worked a lot of hours last week though (32 to me is a lot heh) so the paycheck should be nice this week. Fingers crossed I can get the stuff ordered this week. If not, I'm definitely going to be ok come next week!

Now I want to get one of these: http://www.45drives.com/products/storage/xl60.php HEHE!! Thanks for the advice there Chris. I'm actually going to be getting ECC Ram with the new motherboard because it only supports ECC. The RAM I'm going to buy buying is this: Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 Server Memory w/TS Model KVR16E11/8 (linky) I was concerned initially about it not having a heat spreader or some other form of heat sink, but after looking around a bit it looks like all server memory is like that. This particular model is 8gb, and listed on the motherboard's memory support list. So I will buy 1 now, with the motherboard and CPU, and then upgrade the CPU, then buy more memory as needed. The CPU I will get further down the line is: Intel Xeon E3-1276 v3 Haswell 3.6GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150 84W Server Processor BX80646E31276V3 (linky) Again, this is the best CPU I could find that the motherboard officially supports. And I'm going to get an after market cooler too, and this one is really teasing my interest: Noctua NH-U9S 92mm SSO2 U-Type Premium CPU Cooler, NF-A9 PWM Fans (linky) It's out of stock at the moment, but after reading some internet reviews of some of Noctua's other models, this one will actually fit inside the Norco case. Other models have issues with the heatpipe post tips. Hopefully I'm linking the correct one here. But yeah, I'm hoping this upgrade will suit me for the time being. If money was no object, I'd probably buy that 60-bay case, and have 2 of the latest E5 Xeons that have 15 cores and 30mb L3 Cache that's like $2,800 along with a few TB's of RAM!!

UPDATE!! Got my 2 Reverse Breakout cables from Chris today, so I'm in the process of installing 8 more drives into my case. Only have 1 left to do as of this update, and my total drive space is now up to 18.2TB. Thanks Chris! I've also made a decision to future proof my motherboard choice. The motherboard has to be the most important thing in the case, as without it you don't have anything to connect all your parts to. As I mentioned before, I'm not all worried about things like Hypervisor or EXSi or any of those lab type requirements. It's just a simple file server for streaming content on the network, and the nightly computer backups. HOWEVER, I don't want some piddly-ass cheap piece of junk either. It needs to be future proof for upgrades down the line. I still agree with Chris's suggestion of using the ASRock Rack board, and the E3C224 models seem to have what I would need. USB3 (future!), PCIe AND PCI slots (past!). The -4L model has 4 lan NICs as compared to the original one that only had 2. So I think I'm going to go with that one. I think with the Teaming functionality, it will help improve overall network performance. I also considered the cost, and the -4L is only about $50 or so more, and the extra benefits justify it I think. The only nagging thing I have is the future proof for the CPU. I looked at the qualified CPU list, and based on what's currently available, it looks like the BEST I can do would be the "Intel Xeon E3-1276 v3 Haswell 3.6GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150 84W Server Processor BX80646E31276V3". I was kinda bummed about that, since I've been researching processors and like how the E5's are HUGE on their L3 Cache, but they're also HUGE on their prices (like $1.5k for a top of the line). So I think in the end, I can justify saving up and spending $350 for the E3 down the line. Since I'm still in the "save up" mode for the mobo/cpu/ram combo.. does anybody have any suggestions on something better before I pull the trigger? Here's the basics of what I think I need: - ATX/mATX/EBB Form Factor (to fit in the Norco 4224 case) - 1 PCIe 8x slot (RAID Controller [Chris's MegaRaid M105 card]) - 1 PCIe 8x slot (SAS Expander [will buy after everything else (HP 24-36 drive with external SAS for additional addon case later if needed)]) - 1 SATA (for OS SSD Drive) - 1 SATA (for future proofed OS SSD Mirror?) - 1 SATA (for future proofed DrivePool SSD Optimize [still need to learn what that's all about]) - 2 USB Pin Headers (for front of case keyboard/mouse) - 1 IPMI Port (sounds cool, would like to utilize it) - 2+ NICs (for enhanced stability and throughput on the LAN) I think that's it. Not really a big list. That's why I think the mobo I'm looking at will be perfect. EDIT -> Anybody ever dealt with SuperBiiz? When I go to pcpartpicker.com and look at builds other people have done, and check out the prices of their parts, I'm constantly seeing a major price discount with SuperBiiz as compared to the "Big Two" of NewEgg and TigerDirect. They're a Google Trusted Store, so that's gotta mean something. I'm just curious how their company is, and how we they would handle DOA shipments and RMA's should an issue come up.