# Building a server with raid 5 card and four 2TB hard drives ? Need help.



## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

I am planning to build a office based server with following configration 

Microsoft Small Business Server SBS 2011 Standard Edition 64 Bit 5 User

Raid 5 compatible raid controller Card

Four units of 2TB western digital red edition hard drives 

Please suggest me what will be the best option

On board raid controller card or independent raid controller card 

I got following options in mind , please let me know if these one are good option or should i go for something else. 

http://products.ncix.com/detail/syba-sy-pex40008-4-channel-sata-9e-53815-1374.htm

Please suggest me some good server motherboard which has HDMI port and PCI-E slot in it ?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

How much money do you have to spend on this?

Do you need parts for everything?


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

We are planning less than $800 if possible , yes i would like to start everything from scratch. I would like to know what will be better option and most recommended parts ?


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

Do not rely on an on-board RAID controller. If the on-board controller fails, you have to replace the entire motherboard with an identical one. If an add-in RAID HBA fails, all you need to replace is the controller.

I would suggest going with an LSI controller. They have some inexpensive SATA options, and LSI controllers just work. There are few things as frustrating as trying to get a finicky, no-name HBA to work right. If you have to spend an extra hour futzing with the configuration or figuring out how to rebuild the array without nuking all your data, the extra cost of a good controller has already paid for itself.


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

I have gone thru some options for LSI megaraid cards and selected this one, please let me know if this will solve my purpose here .. As i mentioned before i would like to add 4 sata hard drives 2TB each 

http://products.ncix.com/detail/lsi-megaraid-9240-4i-4-port-83-54361.htm

Only thing which i am not clear here if i would like to choose a motherboard with USB 3.0 ports. Would this card works on that ? 

Here are the specs of this card 

General Information
Manufacturer:	LSI Logic Corp
Manufacturer Part Number:	LSI00199
Manufacturer Website Address:	LSI Corporation Home Page
Brand Name:	LSI Logic
Product Line:	MegaRAID
Product Model:	9240-4i
Product Name:	MegaRAID 9240-4I 4-port SAS RAID Controller
Packaged Quantity:	1
Product Type:	SAS RAID Controller
Technical Information
Host Interface:	PCI Express 2.0 x8
Data Transfer Rate:	600 MBps
Interfaces:	Serial Attached SCSI, Serial ATA/600
RAID Levels:	0, 1, 5, 10, 50, JBOD
Drive Support:	64 x Physical
Platform Support:	PC, Solaris
Interfaces/Ports
Ports:	1 x SFF-8087 mini SAS 600 - Serial Attached SCSI Internal
Physical Characteristics
Form Factor:	Low-profile Plug-in Card
Dimensions:	2.54" Width x 6.60" Width


As they mentioned Data transfer rate on this card is 600 Mbps , is it good enough ??



For server board this is the option I have chose, please let me know if we have issues 

http://products.ncix.com/detail/asus-z9na-d6-lga1356-intel-c602-a-bb-74143.htm

Here are the specs 

Specifications
Processor / System Bus	2 x Socket LGA1356 
Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2400 product family 
QPI 6.4 / 7.2 / 8.0 GT/s
Core Logic	Intel® C602-A PCH
Memory	Total Slots : 6 (3-channel per CPU, 3 DIMM per CPU) 
Capacity : Maximum up to 192GB LRDIMM
Memory Type :
DDR3, 1066/1333/1600, RDIMM
DDR3, 1066/1333, UDIMM
DDR3, 1066/1333, LRDIMM
Memory Size :
2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB RDIMM
2GB, 4GB, 8GB UDIMM
8GB, 16GB, 32GB LRDIMM
Expansion Slots	Total Slot : 6
Slot Location 1 : PCI-E x1 (Gen2 X1 Link), MIO supported 
Slot Location 2 : PCI-E x8 (Gen2 X4 Link) 
Slot Location 3 : PCI-E x8 (Gen3 X8 Link) 
Slot Location 4 : PCI-E x8 (Gen3 X8 Link) 
Slot Location 6 : PCI-E x16 (Gen3 X16 Link) 
Follow SSI Location#
Form Factor	12 " x 9.9 " Inch
ASUS Features	FAN speed control
Rack Ready (Rack and Pedestal dual use)
ASWM Enterprise
Storage	SATA Controller :
Intel® C602-A AHCI
4 x SATA2 3Gb/s ports
2 x SATA3 6Gb/s ports
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise(RSTe) (For Windows Only)
(Support Software RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 )
Networking	2 x Intel® 82574L
Graphic	Aspeed AST1300 with 16MB VRAM
On Board I/O	1 x TPM header
1 x PSU Power Connector , 24-pin ATX power connector + 8-pin ATX 12V power connector *
1 x Management Connector , Onboard socket for management card
1 x Internal A Type USB Port
2 x USB pin header , Up to 4 Devices
8 x Fan Header , 4pin
2 x SMBus 
1 x Chassis Intruder
2 x Front LAN LED
1 x Serial Port Header
1 x Device Power Connector*1
Back I/O Ports	1 x External Serial Port
4 x External USB Port
1 x VGA Port
2 x RJ-45
1 x PS/2 KB/Mouse

Management Solution	ASWM Enterprise

EMI	US (FCC, CFR47 Part 15, Class B)
Europe (CE, EN55022 & EN55024)
Australia (C-TICK)
Environment	Operation temperature: 10? ~ 35?
Non operation temperature: -40? ~ 70?
Non operation humidity: 20% ~ 90% ( Non condensing)
Accessories	Gift Box Pack :
1 x User's Guide
1 x ASUS Mainboard Support CD
1 x I/O Shield
6 x SATA Data Cables
1 x ASWM Support CD
1 x USB to SATA DOM Power cable
Bulk Pack :
1 x User's Guide
1 x ASUS Mainboard Support CD
1 x I/O Shield
1 x ASWM Support CD
Product SKUs	Standard Gift Box Pack
Standard Bulk Pack
Note	* Support Both ATX & SSI Power Supply
Minimum requiremen of ATX Power supply:
1) 470W 2) All +12V output ?20A
*1 4-pin power connector



Please let me know if there is any compatibility issues or any other issues if i select these two components .. Thanks


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Here is what I put together for you:

Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Newegg.com

Newegg.com - WD Red WD40EFRX 4TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" NAS Internal Hard Drive -Bulk x2

SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL - Newegg.com

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z87-DS3H LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-4570 Haswell 3.2GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I54570

HighPoint RocketRAID 2300 Controller Card - Newegg.com

Total: $1069


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

I would not want to spend $130 on a Server case but the rest looks good.


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

Thanks Master chief for your time and effort , let me check these components , will get back to you, appreciate your help


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Check your other thread Loda117 has posted some info for you


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## loda117 (Aug 6, 2010)

I am not fan of RocketRaid, their Tech support is horrible (atleast for me when i needed it the most) 
To be honest, if its a server with Raid 5 going into a small business I would recommend DELL. There are few reason why:
Warranty on hardware next day service. You call in today regarding a bad part they get you a new part the next day. Also if you want they will send their tech out to replace hard drives or rebuilding raids if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself. Compare to building your own, try this every time something is going wrong you are dealing with manufacturers yourself which is pain in the ***. 
They also provide help with smaller issues which helps your client call them directly and takes monkey off your back till its an actual emergency. 

Downside to it is that you will probably pay around $3k for a server but i would rather have a solid server with warranty backing it up in production over clone system. Choice is yours at the end of the day.

Now as for SMB 2011, are you planning on running exchange and or Sharepoint? 
If not than stick with standard 2008R2 or better 2012 R2 server. SMB is just pain in the behind once it starts to have issues. It has to be configured properly for it to even work right out of the box and its a very taxing OS so your hardware has to be very beefy. If you turn off sharepoint and exchange sometimes breaks. 

Keep it simple and configure it so that its less headache for you in future to maintain the environment. 
Again choice is all yours


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

I would also recommend avoiding Highpoint. Even if that weren't the case, any PCI-e 1x card should be avoided. They're major I/O bottlenecks. A 3.0 card caps out at 8Gbps, while a 4-disk array of SATA 2.0 disks can soak 12Gbps.

The LSI 9240 card should do everything you want, and provides SAS support in case you need that at a later point. It's also far easier to get any sort of cable assembly you need when your card has a 4x SFF-8087 connector rather than individual SATA connectors.

That ASUS board is nice, but may be overpowered. What is your intended usage profile for this machine?


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

LSI make fine controllers but the prices are quite expensive.

Highpoint, which I have used before, works just fine.


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## loda117 (Aug 6, 2010)

Just saw you posted the specs 

Just to save you money, go over to FreeGeeks they are in vancouver and have tons of cases you can buy from them under $40 bucks. 
Also you can get used DVD Drive and other stuff like keyboard mice, and used LCDs from them for very good price as well


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

One thing i wanna make sure , do we need server board to build a server or can i use any motherboard with PCI express slot to fit a raid controller card. 

Reason why I m asking is i have a full computer tower ready to go following are the specs for that 

M4A78LT-M LE Motherboard 

Athlon IIX4 650,3.2GHz,512KB, rev.C3,95W, SocketAM3 CPU 

8GB ram memory 

500W coolermaster power supply 

Only thing I need to buy four 2TB hard drives. 


Can i use this tower, put in a nice raid card and run Microsoft Small Business Server SBS 2011 Standard Edition 64 Bit in it or as Ioda suggested i would ask my client if he wont need exchange or sharepoint than i will go for 2008 or 2012 R2. 

About dell server system i know their tech support is really good but i dont think my friend would like to spend that much amount of money. My budget initially was less than $800. I can ask him to stretch may be upto $1200 if i need to add some more good quality components,


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

You don't need server parts since your server is only for local usage.

Do not use a Cooler Master PSU, it is a very low quality unit. Stick with XFX or Seasonic units only.


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

Masterchiefxx17 said:


> You don't need server parts since your server is only for local usage.
> 
> Do not use a Cooler Master PSU, it is a very low quality unit. Stick with XFX or Seasonic units only.



Yah i know coolermaster PSU is not very good quality and of course power supply is one of the most important component in any machine. As you suggested i will go for seasonic and what do you think about corsair ? 

So i can just install a raid card ,change power supply in this machine and we are good to go ??

Because i only need to attach upto 5 machines or even less than that. Is it good idea to use Microsoft Home server edition 2011 ? its way too cheap than other OS ??


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Corsair used to be made by Seasonic but they switched to a lower quality manufacture.

Yes, in any PC can run a RAID card and act as a home server.


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## loda117 (Aug 6, 2010)

Yes you can install a raid card into any desktop motherboard 
Go with one of the builds we have here on TSF + Raid card and your choice of hard drives 
You can use MS Home server or if it comes to it you can run Windows 7 Pro on it with shared folders. You will though have to manage users manually and give permissions to them for certain folders and keep them out of some etc etc 
Also look into Server 2012R2 Essential cheaper than Standard versions.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

The PSU is the most important component in any system and a PSU that will be on 24/7 requires that quality even more so.
SeaSonic-XFX-Antec HCG for insured quality.


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## bindudhindsa (Mar 3, 2007)

Tyree said:


> The PSU is the most important component in any system and a PSU that will be on 24/7 requires that quality even more so.
> SeaSonic-XFX-Antec HCG for insured quality.


Thanks Tyree i will compare prices on these three brands and get back to you guys. 

I am sorry guys I am still bit confused about what kind of raid controller card i should choose , some members suggested LSI is good quality and some members suggested other brands like Highpoint. For price comparison i will compare both brands tonight. 

Is there anything special i need to consider when selecting a raid card. Do all raid cards comes with battery ? 

Most of the LSI cards are quite expensive, cheaper ones are all low profiles and they did't mention if it comes with high profile bracket or not 

for highpoint i am getting this option 

HighPoint Controller Card ROCKETRAID 2640X4SGL 4 x Port SAS/SATA 3Gb/s RAID 4 x PCI Express Retail

for $87.00 

Please suggest if this one will works fine for me


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

LSI is top tier when it comes to RAID controllers but I have used Highpoint RAID cards before and they work like a charm.

You should have no worries with a Highpoint card.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

Most cards have standard brackets on them, and list a low-profile bracket in the included accessories (an example of this is the LSI card you linked in your second post). Battery-backed write caching is rarely an option on entry-level cards. If it's supported, it will be very clearly indicated in the product description.

When comparing hardware, I tend to keep in mind an estimated cost of man-hours required to resolve problems based on the quality and competency of vendor technical support. In that regard, the ROI of top-tier card vendors is significantly higher than others if there are any major support issues over the life of the card. The official support quality, competency, warranty length, ease of RMAing, and the size & expertise of community support are far better with top-tier vendors.

My personal experience is that you'll run into at least one significant issue over the life of an HBA regardless of who made it, so I place a higher value on hardware which has a broad installation base & a history of excellent technical support. Others will have different experiences and/or priorities, though, so there's no one "right choice" in this area.


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