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ECC or UNBUFFERED?

C

Compman55

Golden Member
In my current (outdated) server, it handles 3 users for logons, and has a 2TB raid 1 array for folder redirection, and holds alot of pics, videos, and documents. Thats it.

So I plan to build something up to date that is low power and low budget. Do I need ECC ram for this?

When people build NAS's / home servers do they consider ECC ram?
 
The question is wrong. Is not ECC or Unbuffered, is ECC or no ECC. You have four combinations: Unbuffered, Unbuffered w/ECC, Buffered (Also called Registered), and Buffered w/ECC. The latter two only works on Server platforms. You need to check if your Motherboard supports ECC, and I'm nearly absolutely sure that Buffered will not work on whatever Motherboard you're using for the Core 2 Duo.
 
Well, lets make it simpler. Can I build a new server and use just plain old ram and be safe?

Per the verbage on the ram sticks I am running "registered ECC" on my server now. It has a real server motherboard with a server chipset. It supports C2D, C2Q, and Xeons in socket 775.
 
Compman55 said:
Well, lets make it simpler. Can I build a new server and use just plain old ram and be safe?

Per the verbage on the ram sticks I am running "registered ECC" on my server now. It has a real server motherboard with a server chipset. It supports C2D, C2Q, and Xeons in socket 775.
Click to expand...

It will depend on what you get in terms of motherboard and CPU. But odds are if you go with a mainstream retail CPU (not Xeon) and a consumer class chipset (Z-whatever), then it won't even accept registered memory at all, and ECC will be useless/unsupported. Some (very few) server motherboards won't function with unbuffered non-ECC memory.
 
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ECC is not required for a normal media server. The only advantage is that if you encounter some error, you can easily know is that coming from a faulty RAM.

ECC is important for long time calculation (e.g. complex emulation, which cannot afford a single bit error), but not for a NAS server.
 
h9826790 said:
ECC is not required for a normal media server. The only advantage is that if you encounter some error, you can easily know is that coming from a faulty RAM.

ECC is important for long time calculation (e.g. complex emulation, which cannot afford a single bit error), but not for a NAS server.
Click to expand...

Great. Like I said it is just a domain controller, and file server.
 
You can run server software on a desktop pc which wont support ecc/registered memory. So a domain controller can be a desktop pc
 
h9826790 said:
ECC is important for long time calculation (e.g. complex emulation, which cannot afford a single bit error), but not for a NAS server.
Click to expand...

ECC can be pretty important for long term file storage as well, especially if you are using software based raid such as ZFS. I ran my NAS for three years without ECC but definitely decided for it when I upgraded the hardware earlier this year.

See an example here:
http://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/ecc-vs-non-ecc-ram-and-zfs.15449/
 
ethebubbeth said:
ECC can be pretty important for long term file storage as well, especially if you are using software based raid such as ZFS. I ran my NAS for three years without ECC but definitely decided for it when I upgraded the hardware earlier this year.

See an example here:
http://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/ecc-vs-non-ecc-ram-and-zfs.15449/
Click to expand...

Understand that, I am using software RAID 0 with non-ECC RAM as well. The risk of the non-ECC RAM cause you trouble most likely is much less than that cause by the HDD. Everything is possible, even though ECC RAM can give you undetected error if 2 bit fail at the same time. It's just a matter of risk management. In this case, we should handle the threat from HDD, but not RAM.

Of course, if money is not an issue, using ECC RAM is 99% better (except it may run 1-2% slower than non-ECC RAM). However, my strategy to handle this risk is by having proper backup x2, rather than using ECC RAM.

Since the chance of having trouble from non-ECC RAM is so small, and I am not running a commercial mission critical server (e.g. Google). Therefore, I can afford a non-ECC error, and spend (up to) few hours to recover the whole system or any files. In reality, I spend few hours per season to upgrade my OS, but never have to recover it due to non-ECC error. Therefore, the potential time cost simply not an issue here.

IMO, once have proper backup, ECC is not important any more. In fact, for any file storage system, backup is much much more important than ECC RAM. ECC can keep the system alive, and able to detect error before system break down. However, it cannot replace proper backup. And for a normal home user, backup should be very important, but not ECC.

I am not saying that ECC RAM is useless, or bad. In fact, I love ECC RAM, and it may be very useful when something goes wrong. However, it's just not that important in a storage system, or a home use file server.
 
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I'll be going with ECC RAM for my next storage server. The peace of mine is worth the minimal extra outlay in hardware. (RAM price difference almost negligible, platform cost may be slightly higher, but you get all the extra enterprise features, works with any i3)

This lingering doubt behind every software crash, that bad RAM might be behind it, has just gotten too annoying, on a machine that I want to be able to rely on.
 
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