New build for media streaming

[BeelzebubUK]

Hi,

I've been gathering parts for a new build so that I can have a dedicated streaming box for 4k movies with good performance and some redundancy using ZFS RAIDZ1. It will be a straight file share directly to a OSMC Vero 4k+ box so no need for Plex or any other apps. The system is as follows :

• Chassis: Silverstone TJ08-E
• CPU: Xeon E3-1220 V2
• RAM: 32GB (4x Hynix 8GB DDR 1333 ECC)
• Mainboard: Supermicro X9SCM-F
• HBA: Dell Perc H310 flashed to LSI 9211-8i in IT mode
• PSU: Corsair CX550M
• Boot: 2x Intel 320 40Gb SSD mirror
• Storage: 9x Western Digital Enterprise 6TB RE WD6001FSYZ

The files are not irreplaceable and anything important will be backed up elsewhere. So would rather maximise space with RAIDZ1 rather than RAIDZ2

Not sure what to use as a boot drive yet. Have only done some basic testing with a USB stick. Likely option is 2x mirrored SSD drives (small and cheap). For redundancy and improved caching ?

As far as I know there shouldn't be anything else I need. Would appreciate any feedback and useful links.

 

[2nd-in-charge]

CPU/RAM/Motherboard/HBA/HDDs look good.

• Chassis: Silverstone TJ08-E

It's a compact case, plan carefully how you're going to install HDDs. You'd probably need a 3x3.5" HDD cage that goes into the 2x5.25" slots.

• PSU: Corsair CX550M

Though modular, it's a pretty basic power supply with only 5 SATA power connectors. Consider upgrading to something like RM750x, but also check if the power supply and the abovementioned drive cage both fit lengthwise.

Likely option is 2x mirrored SSD drives (small and cheap). For redundancy and improved caching ?

It's better than USB. Boot SSDs won't do any caching though.

 

[BeelzebubUK]

CPU/RAM/Motherboard/HBA/HDDs look good.

It's a compact case, plan carefully how you're going to install HDDs. You'd probably need a 3x3.5" HDD cage that goes into the 2x5.25" slots.

Though modular, it's a pretty basic power supply with only 5 SATA power connectors. Consider upgrading to something like RM750x, but also check if the power supply and the abovementioned drive cage both fit lengthwise.


It's better than USB. Boot SSDs won't do any caching though.

Thanks. I should have mentioned that I have a drive cage with a fan to convert the 5.25" bays. I had an 8 drive NAS a few years ago using the same case and PSU so there shouldn't be any issues with those.

 

[BeelzebubUK]

Update. Added a 9th drive to the storage and changed to RAIDZ2 for peace of mind so have 36GB of storage. Have been testing and consistently get 112MB's read and write speeds to/from my Windows PC over SMB (basically maxxing out the Gigabit connection) and full 4k movies stream perfectly so its doing everything I want it to :)