Spec an Unraid server...

Bluecube

Bluecube

Bluecube

Soldato
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20 Feb 2011
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... 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
 
You'd laugh at my hardware in my plex server as it it skt775 based but I can recommend the case - Fractal Node 304. It's ITX and love it.

I don't transcode so can get away with just serving the files and thus don't require much cpu power.
 
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.
 
I just picked up a Dell 5070 SFF to replace an old rackmount R710 as my unraid server. It's got an i7 9700 and handles 30-odd docker containers and 4 VMs with ease. I have 2 internal SSDs for cache and a Silverstone external 4 bay SATA enclosure for the array disks. It's quiet, low power and plenty fast enough.
 
Home Assistance can run as a docker. have you tried this at all as it would reduce the overhead.
Pick an Intel CPU for it and be happy with quicksync for HW transcodes, you'll barely notice any cpu usage from plex this way and can use it for all for the other tasks you want to perform.

I ended up with a mini pc running a 10400T. Kept my storage on a separate system, very old aging microserver. But it allowed me to keep 4 disks running.

My last server was a 7700k in a 4U case and it just became easier to make everything almost silent on the new setup.
 
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 said:
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?
Click to expand...

Depends entirely on what the Dockers/VMs are doing. If it's things that are mostly idle like PiHole and the like, then probably yes - if it's 5 VM's hosting game servers and the like, then probably not.

Additionally there are still low-end 2 Core/2 Thread and 2 Core/4 Thread parts available even in the last 2 years - so just need to be careful when saying any CPU

Without knowing what you plan on running and what hardware you are looking at, difficult to say.
 
Armageus said:
If size is the main requirement, then it's worth looking at Lenovo Tiny/Dell Micro/HP Mini PCs
https://www.servethehome.com/introducing-project-tinyminimicro-home-lab-revolution/
(and the many other reviews on Serve the home of later models)

All offer very small form factor, modern CPUs, and majority will accept at least 1 M2 SSD and a 2.5" hard drive.
Click to expand...

This is just what I was getting at, I ended up buying 4 Lenovo Tiny’s with 10400T, I couldn’t just leave them when I was offered them at £259 each. I had plans for a 3 cluster and 1 unraid.

Anyway, I’ve run 3 vm’s and about 20 dockers on one. 2 of the vm’s were very light and 1 is running blue iris. I plan to move the BI to its own machine as I didn’t complete the 3x cluster and I know it’ll be faster.

Quite interested in what the op was looking at and may have to try that myself as an nvr.
 
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.
 
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