Feedback wanted on home plex server (and some related RAM questions)

[NoImaginationException]

Overall idea:

We plan on building a home server running linux (ubuntu with zfs file system) + plex for delivering media.

Our transcoding needs (possibility of two simultaneous transcoding streams) suggests we get a moderately powerful processor (I have followed plex guidelines on this, i.e. about 2000 passmark score points per stream, the processor I have chosen appearantly got 5926 passmark points).

For storage we're going with 6 x 2TB in Raidz2, so this would give 8TB of storage, with the possibility of 2 drive failures.

We also want registered RAM with ECC to minimize any source of data corruption.

So! Here is the core components I have planned to implement these requirements:

Processor: Intel Xeon [strike]E5-2609[/strike] E5-1620 v3 (updated)

• 
  - Socket: LGA2011-3
  - ECC: Yes
  - Integrated graphics: No
  - Memory types: DDR4 1333/1600/1866/2133

Disks: 6 x Western Digital Red 2TB

• 
  - Very low power consumption
  - If we need more storage after some years, we're hoping to replace the 2TBs with 4TBs or maybe even larger disks, still having 6 disks in Raidz2.
  - We will also install a SSD for the OS, and for downloading/uploading to server (to avoid lengthy writes to the 6 HDDs -- those 6 should be used mainly for reading data).

RAM: 32GB (8 x 4GB) Kingston DDR4 2133MHz ECC Registered Memory

• 
  - Model name: KVR21R15S4K4/32
  - On motherboards QVL list: No. Actually there were only 1 option on that list with both registered memory + ECC (see motherboard QVL list below)
  - Data sheet: http://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/KVR21R15S4K4_32.pdf

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty X99M Killer

• 
  - QVL list: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty%20X99M%20Killer/?cat=Memory
  - Relevant note from the QVL list: "The DDR4 ECC, un-buffered memory/RDIMM is supported with Intel® Xeon® processors E5 series in the LGA 2011-3 Socket."
  - Socket: LGA2011-3
  - Memory slots: 4

Graphics Card: Asus Geforce GT 720

• 
  - We don't really need a fancy graphics card, but I think we do need one, since processor has no integrated graphics.
  - Cheap card, with linux drivers available.

Remaining parts to be decided: casing + psu.

Some things I'm worried about (mainly concerning RAM) (updated)

• 
  1. Will the RAM work properly. ECC + Registered memory. It's not on the QVL list. And I imagine since this RAM has specific features, maybe something goes wrong.
  2. [strike]The RAM is 2133MHz, but ark.intel.com says DDR4 1600. Will the motherboard automatically underclock the RAM for me?[/strike] (no longer a problem thanks to kanewolf)

General feedback about the setup is also very much appreciated

Let me know if I have forgot something in my write-up

 

[kanewolf]

You are paying a lot extra for a CPU that is designed for a dual socket motherboard. An E5-1xxx CPU is designed for a single socket motherboard.

 

[NoImaginationException]

You are paying a lot extra for a CPU that is designed for a dual socket motherboard. An E5-1xxx CPU is designed for a single socket motherboard.

kanewolf! you are right, I did not know this. I can get the E5-1620 v3 instead. That one has apparently a passmark score of 9615, which could possibly enable 4 simultaneous transcoding streams. So it's more powerful and also about 380 NOK = 46 USD cheaper On top of that it can work at a higher RAM clockspeed; 2133MHz

 

[NoImaginationException]

Maybe I could even replace the WD Red drives with WD Green. They have the same low power consumption and are a lot cheaper (especially when multiplied by 6).

 

[kanewolf]

Maybe I could even replace the WD Red drives with WD Green. They have the same low power consumption and are a lot cheaper (especially when multiplied by 6).

I wouldn't recommend using Green drives in a RAID configuration.

 

[NoImaginationException]

Maybe I could even replace the WD Red drives with WD Green. They have the same low power consumption and are a lot cheaper (especially when multiplied by 6).

I wouldn't recommend using Green drives in a RAID configuration.

Is this mainly due to the Green drives wanting to spin-down, and then having a playback/resume delay waiting for spinning up to speed? I can imagine this becoming especially annoying while consuming media stored in smaller chunks, like images and music. With video this might not be as big of a problem. But, yeah. We want the server for images/audio as well.

 

[kanewolf]

Red drives have been designed and tested for RAID use, they have firmware that is optimized for RAID use, and are more vibration resistant.