Spec an Unraid server...

Bluecube · 1 Jul 2021 at 12:54

... with a slight difference.

I already have an Unraid server that I use for storage, various dockers and several VMs. Nothing too heavy duty. It runs on a Ryzen 2700.

What I want to do is run an Unraid server specifically for use with dockers and VMs. I don't use anything too taxing (Plex is the hardest on the CPU and only when transcoding which is rare) but I want to deploy a Home Assistant VM along with a Frigate DVR docker. Frigate especially seems to hit the CPU hard but I intend to buy a Google Coral to offload to.

I'd also like to keep the build as compact as possible. To meet these needs, I think I'll need an SSD for cache, a dedicated HDD for Frigate and another HDD for general storage. Note that I'm not interested in using the NAS functions of Unraid in this build.

I'm quite happy picking storage by myself but I'd appreciate suggestions for case, motherboard and CPU.

Any comments or suggestions gratefully received

Bluecube · 1 Jul 2021 at 21:32

I was thinking along the lines of an ITX/ MATX build. The only thing holding me back is I don’t know what sort of CPU power I’ll need. Plex isn’t my main requirement - the VMs and Home Assistant are.

Bluecube · 2 Jul 2021 at 13:18

Thanks for all the pointers. On a slight tangent, will any modern (last two years) CPU be good enough for 10 dockers and 5 VMs running pretty much simultaneously?

Bluecube · 3 Jul 2021 at 09:56

Thanks for the advice everyone.

@Armageus Four Windows VMs will be run each with a single instance of a legacy Java based app ie lightweight. Another VM runs Home Assistant which is also pretty lightweight. I run the usual selection of media dockers - Plex, Sab, Sonaar, Radaar with Pihole thrown in there too. My problem is that I don’t know what level of CPU can happily run all these things through Unraid. I currently have a Ryzen 2700 which I now think is a massive overkill and that I could downsize to one of those mini PCs you mention.

@feck199 I plan to run Frigate for CCTV purposes. It ties in tightly with Home Assistant which I use heavily for home automation, and is highly recommended for that purpose. It supposedly runs extremely well with a Google Coral stick for object recognition.