Please help with computer build...

[RyanThaTemp]

Hi Everyone!

I was hoping for a little guidance with my first attempt at configuring a computer to run Blue Iris. I am confused as to how to add a WD Purple HDD to my computer. My apologies for my ignorance but I have never added nor swapped a hard drive before. Let's see if I can accurately articulate my questions:

I recently bought a refurb computer. The plan is for me to configure the computer I bought with the optimum hardware before I install Blue Iris and connect 4 -6 cameras. So, here are some specs to show it's current configuration: Dell OptiPlex 3040 SFF PC, i5 6500, 16G DDR3L RAM, 1T hdd. Now, from researching it seems that a WD Purple hdd is often recommended for survellience. Most of what I have read has stated that people add the WD Purple as a 2nd drive. Is that what I should do with this computer? If so, how should I do that? I am not asking anyone to do research for me, I am just hopeful someone may be familiar this model computer or something similar. I have found a couple sites where someone suggested that the dvd optical drive can be removed. Then, a plastic caddy can be purchased to hold the WD Purple hdd. Would anyone here be comfortable with saying that sounds viable? And would the WD Purple use the same connector that previously was connected to the dvd drive? Or would I just need to purchase some type of adapter for the connection?

Any advice or suggestions are welcome! Maybe I should just have the WD Purple as an external drive? I appreciate any responses! Thanks!!

Link to Dell Optiplex 3040 SFF Owners Manual

 

[fenderman]

Hi Everyone!

I was hoping for a little guidance with my first attempt at configuring a computer to run Blue Iris. I am confused as to how to add a WD Purple HDD to my computer. My apologies for my ignorance but I have never added nor swapped a hard drive before. Let's see if I can accurately articulate my questions:

I recently bought a refurb computer. The plan is for me to configure the computer I bought with the optimum hardware before I install Blue Iris and connect 4 -6 cameras. So, here are some specs to show it's current configuration: Dell OptiPlex 3040 SFF PC, i5 6500, 16G DDR3L RAM, 1T hdd. Now, from researching it seems that a WD Purple hdd is often recommended for survellience. Most of what I have read has stated that people add the WD Purple as a 2nd drive. Is that what I should do with this computer? If so, how should I do that? I am not asking anyone to do research for me, I am just hopeful someone may be familiar this model computer or something similar. I have found a couple sites where someone suggested that the dvd optical drive can be removed. Then, a plastic caddy can be purchased to hold the WD Purple hdd. Would anyone here be comfortable with saying that sounds viable? And would the WD Purple use the same connector that previously was connected to the dvd drive? Or would I just need to purchase some type of adapter for the connection?

Any advice or suggestions are welcome! Maybe I should just have the WD Purple as an external drive? I appreciate any responses! Thanks!!

Link to Dell Optiplex 3040 SFF Owners Manual

The dell SFF is not an ideal setup. If there is no m.2 slot for an ssd, you will need to remove the optical drive and use it for the SSD for the OS and BLue iris. You want an SSD from the operating system and blueiris software and database. It makes and incredible difference. The caddy allows you to mount an ssd not a 3.5 drive. The pc has a slot for the 3.5.

 

[sebastiantombs]

It appears to have the SATA connections and the physical slots to add a second drive internally.

 

[The Automation Guy]

It's what I run BI on. It works fine. I actually think there are 4 sata connections available, but really only room for 2 drives and honestly I never checked to see if all 4 are enabled in the BIOS. I use a 500gb SSD drive for my OS drive and a large capacity hard drive for BI recordings. I have mostly cameras with decent AI built in, so I have no need for deepstack.

 

[RyanThaTemp]

It's what I run BI on. It works fine. I actually think there are 4 sata connections available, but really only room for 2 drives and honestly I never checked to see if all 4 are enabled in the BIOS. I use a 500gb SSD drive for my OS drive and a large capacity hard drive for BI recordings. I have mostly cameras with decent AI built in, so I have no need for deepstack.

Do you mind sharing your setup? Or could you help me understand the drives that I need to add/swap/remove? The 1tb drive has windows 10 installed. Can I just add the WD Purple drive for the BI recordings and use the current 1tb drive for the OS? Do I need to remove the DVD Optical drive? If you were to use this computer for BI, what would you do? If there isn't a decent setup I can use with this computer, I do have the option to return it. Of course, I was trying to do everything to avoid returning it. I did read the BI wiki on this site before I purchased the computer and I thought it easily met the minimum and the suggested specs from the wiki. My apologies for all the questions, I'm new to this but I really want to learn and do it myself. Thanks!

 

[charcoalcreampotatochips]

Do you mind sharing your setup? Or could you help me understand the drives that I need to add/swap/remove? The 1tb drive has windows 10 installed. Can I just add the WD Purple drive for the BI recordings and use the current 1tb drive for the OS? Do I need to remove the DVD Optical drive? If you were to use this computer for BI, what would you do? If there isn't a decent setup I can use with this computer, I do have the option to return it. Of course, I was trying to do everything to avoid returning it. I did read the BI wiki on this site before I purchased the computer and I thought it easily met the minimum and the suggested specs from the wiki. My apologies for all the questions, I'm new to this but I really want to learn and do it myself. Thanks!

To add on to what someone else said and help answer your questions:

Referring to the owners manual for some of the actions, but what you could do is:

1. Buy a 9.5mm SATA to SATA 2nd hard drive adapter (example)
2. Buy a 3.5" hard drive caddy for 3040 SFF (because I don't think the current one will work; example)
3. Install the WD Purple drive into the 3.5" caddy
4. Remove the 2.5" hard drive from your computer and place in the 9.5mm SATA adapter
5. Remove the DVD optical drive (Keep on hand, reuse in another device, or try and sell)
6. Insert the 9.5mm SATA adapter/2.5" hard drive combo into the slot where the DVD optical drive was and connect the drive to power and SATA
7. Insert the 3.5" caddy/WD purple combo into the spot where the 2.5" drive originally was and connect the drive to power and SATA

If you have trouble booting because it can't find the OS drive, you can either edit the settings in the BIOS or swap the SATA cables where they connect to the motherboard.

Hope all of that makes sense. Good luck!

 

[mat200]

To add on to what someone else said and help answer your questions:

Referring to the owners manual for some of the actions, but what you could do is:

1. Buy a 9.5mm SATA to SATA 2nd hard drive adapter (example)
2. Buy a 3.5" hard drive caddy for 3040 SFF (because I don't think the current one will work; example)
3. Install the WD Purple drive into the 3.5" caddy
4. Remove the 2.5" hard drive from your computer and place in the 9.5mm SATA adapter
5. Remove the DVD optical drive (Keep on hand, reuse in another device, or try and sell)
6. Insert the 9.5mm SATA adapter/2.5" hard drive combo into the slot where the DVD optical drive was and connect the drive to power and SATA
7. Insert the 3.5" caddy/WD purple combo into the spot where the 2.5" drive originally was and connect the drive to power and SATA

If you have trouble booting because it can't find the OS drive, you can either edit the settings in the BIOS or swap the SATA cables where they connect to the motherboard.

Hope all of that makes sense. Good luck!

Thanks @charcoalcreampotatochips and welcome to the forum!

 

[The Automation Guy]

Do you mind sharing your setup? Or could you help me understand the drives that I need to add/swap/remove? The 1tb drive has windows 10 installed. Can I just add the WD Purple drive for the BI recordings and use the current 1tb drive for the OS? Do I need to remove the DVD Optical drive? If you were to use this computer for BI, what would you do? If there isn't a decent setup I can use with this computer, I do have the option to return it. Of course, I was trying to do everything to avoid returning it. I did read the BI wiki on this site before I purchased the computer and I thought it easily met the minimum and the suggested specs from the wiki. My apologies for all the questions, I'm new to this but I really want to learn and do it myself. Thanks!

It's been a while since I set up this machine and I honestly don't really remember what I did. I don't think I removed the optical drive because I really don't think there is a gaping hole in the front of the machine and I know I did not buy an adapter like
charcoalcreampotatochips suggested. I do know that the SSD drive I have is small - probably a 2.5" drive that's only perhaps a 1/4" thick. I suspect I just have it secured in the case with velcro or zip ties. I then have a larger capacity 3.5" drive in the regular drive slot for my BI recordings.

Personally I would recommend a SSD drive of the OS and BI software. They offer much better performance than a regular drive for that use and they are pretty inexpensive now. Plus, in a case this small, having a tiny drive is very helpful.

 

[jarrow]

About two months ago, I built two BI systems on Dell OptiPlex 9020 SFF's, which look about the same size as the 3040 SFF.
Mine came refurbished with a 256GB 2.5" SSD, DVD drive and I bought WD Purples. The SSD was mounted in the 3.5" HDD slot with some kind of adaptor plate.
I did exactly what @charcoalcreampotatochips suggested and bought an SSD caddy to replace the DVD drive with (like the one in charcoals example), used its power cable and placed the SSD in there.
Then I put the WD Purple in the 3.5" slot with the power cable which was originally in the SSD. I kept the sata cable of the SSD in the same slot as it originally was and put the HDD sata in the spare slot.
No gaping hole at the front of the device, because the caddy came with a fitting faceplate.

 

[RyanThaTemp]

To add on to what someone else said and help answer your questions:

Referring to the owners manual for some of the actions, but what you could do is:

1. Buy a 9.5mm SATA to SATA 2nd hard drive adapter (example)
2. Buy a 3.5" hard drive caddy for 3040 SFF (because I don't think the current one will work; example)
3. Install the WD Purple drive into the 3.5" caddy
4. Remove the 2.5" hard drive from your computer and place in the 9.5mm SATA adapter
5. Remove the DVD optical drive (Keep on hand, reuse in another device, or try and sell)
6. Insert the 9.5mm SATA adapter/2.5" hard drive combo into the slot where the DVD optical drive was and connect the drive to power and SATA
7. Insert the 3.5" caddy/WD purple combo into the spot where the 2.5" drive originally was and connect the drive to power and SATA

If you have trouble booting because it can't find the OS drive, you can either edit the settings in the BIOS or swap the SATA cables where they connect to the motherboard.

Hope all of that makes sense. Good luck!

Thanks @charcoalcreampotatochips!!! This should get me going!!!

 

[RyanThaTemp]

Would there possibly be a limit on the size of the WD Purple that I can use? Or is it ok for me to purchase the most memory I can afford?

 

[sebastiantombs]

The HD size limit is limited by the OS, not the hardware (motherboard) so as big as you can afford is fine. Check the machine specs for the maximum memory and 16GB should be more than enough.

 

[TonyR]

• To add on to what someone else said and help answer your questions:
  
  Referring to the owners manual for some of the actions, but what you could do is:
  

  1. Buy a 9.5mm SATA to SATA 2nd hard drive adapter (example)
  2. Buy a 3.5" hard drive caddy for 3040 SFF (because I don't think the current one will work; example)
  3. Install the WD Purple drive into the 3.5" caddy
  4. Remove the 2.5" hard drive from your computer and place in the 9.5mm SATA adapter
  5. Remove the DVD optical drive (Keep on hand, reuse in another device, or try and sell)
  6. Insert the 9.5mm SATA adapter/2.5" hard drive combo into the slot where the DVD optical drive was and connect the drive to power and SATA
  7. Insert the 3.5" caddy/WD purple combo into the spot where the 2.5" drive originally was and connect the drive to power and SATA

  [*][*][*]If you have trouble booting because it can't find the OS drive, you can either edit the settings in the BIOS or swap the SATA cables where they connect to the motherboard.
  
  Hope all of that makes sense. Good luck!

  Good write up, man! It was almost verbatim to what I had for him but I got to working on a leaky toilet in the master bath...

Now, @RyanThaTemp , to add on to what he said in case you haven't done it before:

• Go here ==>> Create Windows 10 Installation Media on a USB flash drive
• Install Windows 10 on the SSD (C: drive) with the above installation tool.
• Install Blue Iris and Blue Iris' "db" folder on the SSD (C: drive).
• Create folder "BlueIris" on root of the HDD (D: drive), open folder "BlueIris", then create "New", "Storage" and "Alerts" nested inside the "BlueIris" folder. (Result = D:\BlueIris\New, D:\BlueIris\Storage, etc.)
• Configure BI to send video clips to the HDD (D: drive), choosing D: drive and folders from above as appropriate.

 

[RyanThaTemp]

• 
  Good write up, man! It was almost verbatim to what I had for him but I got to working on a leaky toilet in the master bath...

Now, @RyanThaTemp , to add on to what he said in case you haven't done it before:

• Go here ==>> Create Windows 10 Installation Media on a USB flash drive
• Install Windows 10 on the SSD (C: drive) with the above installation tool.
• Install Blue Iris and Blue Iris' "db" folder on the SSD (C: drive).
• Create folder "BlueIris" on root of the HDD (D: drive), open folder "BlueIris", then create "New", "Storage" and "Alerts" nested inside the "BlueIris" folder. (Result = D:/BlueIris/New, D:/BlueIris/Storage, etc.)
• Configure BI to send video clips to the HDD (D: drive), choosing D: drive and folders from above as appropriate.

Thanks! Just to be sure I understand, I need to remove the current hdd that has windows installed on it and replace it with an SSD and then copy windows to the SSD? So that means I won't be using the current 1tb hdd at all?

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Thanks! Just to be sure I understand, I need to remove the current hdd that has windows installed on it and replace it with an SSD and then copy windows to the SSD? So that means I won't be using the current 1tb hdd at all?

Correct. To maximize the space in your SFF case, best choice its to replace the current 1TB drive with a m.2 SSD. Then install windows to the m.2 using the guide posted by @TonyR . Once the WD Purple is installed, there will most likely be no room for anything else.

 

[charcoalcreampotatochips]

Thanks! Just to be sure I understand, I need to remove the current hdd that has windows installed on it and replace it with an SSD and then copy windows to the SSD? So that means I won't be using the current 1tb hdd at all?

Correct. To maximize the space in your SFF case, best choice its to replace the current 1TB drive with a m.2 SSD. Then install windows to the m.2 using the guide posted by @TonyR . Once the WD Purple is installed, there will most likely be no room for anything else.

Wait. Just to make sure we’re all on the same page:

The Optiplex 3040 does not have an m.2 slot for storage; only SATA ports.

@RyanThaTemp - although your original question of how to add the WD purple drive to your optiplex was answered by my previous post, the new question of replacing your current 1TB HDD with an SSD is an additional step and one that should be taken first. Removing the 1TB HDD, replacing it with an SSD, then installing Windows OS on that SSD would result in a significant performance boost.

Specifically, you’d want a 2.5” SATA SSD (Example).

In the instructions I posted, replaced the 1TB HDD with the new SDD. Once everything is installed and connected in the new computer, you could do a clean install of Windows following the instructions @TonyR posted.

Hope that makes sense. If would help to have new instructions written from start to finish, just let me know. There are some really good comments in this thread and we can merge it all into the proper order to make things easier for you.

 

[Sybertiger]

Not all Dell SFF models have this problem, but the particular one you purchased doesn't have a M.2 slot to mount a M.2 SSD (for Win10 and BI). Dell OptiPlex 3040 SFF – Specs and upgrade options

 

[Sybertiger]

Therefore, you can mount a 2.5" SSD drive where the optical drive is or perhaps use one of the following to mount it.

2.59US $ 7% OFF|En Labs PCIe / PCI Slot 2.5" HDD/SSD Mounting Bracket 2.5" HDD to PCI Slot Rear Panel Hard Drive Adapters Black|Add On Cards| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[Sybertiger]

I'm going to assume you are going to use the PCIe x1 port (labelled #2) to add another ethernet port. If so then you could use PCIE x16 (labelled #1) to possibly installed that mounting bracket I showed you above. Then you wouldn't have to mess with the optical drive.