Please help to get another FreeNAS dream come true :)

shauku

Cadet
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
4
Hi everyone,
After reading some posts and guides on this forum, I feel ready to post my FreeNAS plans. I usually build my PC's on my own from chosen components, but it's the first time I'm doing a server-project.

What am I planning to do with the system?
  • Backups for Windows 10 PC's, and Linux Servers (Ubuntu / Centos) and Apple TimeMachine
  • Media Server (Plex) - So I need good transcoding Power (Maybe also for two 4K streams in near future...?)
  • Downloader - Couchpotato or radarr and maybe also torrents
  • Private Cloud setup (if possible?)
  • Last but not least... 1 or 2 Linux VM's just to do (and learn) stuff :D
Things I already have:
Big-Tower Silverstone SST-TJ07-S [silverstonetek.com]
6x HDD Seagate Ironwolf 6TB [amazon.com]

Things I need to buy:
Mainboard: Supermicro X11SL-CF (8x SAS LSI 3008 on Board and 6x SATA) [newegg.com]
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240 v6 @ 4x3.7Ghz [amazon.com] OR Intel Xeon E3-1220 v6 @ 4x3Ghz [amazon.com]
RAM: 1x16GB Samsung DDR4-2133 ECC Unbuffered [amazon.com]
PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 550W [amazon.com]
Cooler: Alpenfoehn Black Ridge (95W TDP) [alpenfoehn.de]
SSD: 2x Samsung 860 Evo 1TB [amazon.com]


The HDD's build a single Raidz2 Pool and be used as a "All-purpose-storage". The SSD's will go in a mirror and be used as Installation Drive for Plugins and VM's.

What do you think about this build? Did I miss something?

Question 1:
Since I have a big tower case that could also take an E-ATX Mainboard... Would it be better to look for a bigger size Mainboard like ATX? The Supermicro X11SL-CF is a micro-ATX Board, so there will be a lot of unused space inside...

Question 2:
Is it good to have a Mainboard with integrated SAS (LSI 3008) or should i go for a dedicated HBA (LSI SAS3008 9300-8i) --> Flash to IT-Mode...?

Best regards
shauku
 
Joined
Jan 7, 2015
Messages
1,150
Id go with another 16GB of RAM if you can swing it, but otherwise, and even now, looks like a nice machine. The onboards can be flashed but I haven't ever had to do it. I think you will be A-Ok with this rig.
 

John Doe

Guru
Joined
Aug 16, 2011
Messages
635
setup looks nice.
maybe consider to have a 2nd 16gb ram module.

in case you want to go more silent, I can reccomend sharkoon vibe fixer. I think your case is having enough slots to cover that. those vibe fixers are really doing a great job!

never had e atx board, for me atx is sufficient, would not recommend to go for a smaller size, as usually freenas is growing over the years and you might want to play with it. means zil/slog, 10gbit nic etc. with matx it is hard to combine.
 
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
648
Have you considered a used server? You don't need leading edge for FreeNAS. Something with a Supermicro X9/x10?
 

joeinaz

Contributor
Joined
Mar 17, 2016
Messages
188
Have you considered a used server? You don't need leading edge for FreeNAS. Something with a Supermicro X9/x10?

This is a good point. Consider the following:

Intel 1240 v6: Price=$288; Performance= 10472 (Priced from Amazon)
Intel 1220 v6: Price= $199; Performance= 7752 (Priced from Amazon)
Intel 2630 v2: Price= $20; Performance= 10378 (Priced from eBay)

Similar or better performance for 10% (or less) of the cost. The same can be the motherboards. An older X8, X9, or X10 motherboard is going to be less expensive than a similar X11.

The savings could allow you to purchase additional disks which may be the best way to improve a new FreeNAS system...
 

kdragon75

Wizard
Joined
Aug 7, 2016
Messages
2,457
You will likely want more cores for the VMs.
 
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
648
Here are some more thoughts on what you should consider when selecting your CPU(s):
  • Use the "L" model - low power - CPUs. When you select a motherboard, check which CPUs are supported.
  • What type of VMs are you planning to host? You may want to decide on a higher clockspeed CPU.
  • You are correct, if you are using Plex and streaming 4K streams you will need more horsepower. Think about the number of cores/threads.
I'd personally use VMware ESXi for hosting VMs - bhyve doesn't seem to be there, yet.
 

Heracles

Wizard
Joined
Feb 2, 2018
Messages
1,401
Hey Shauku,

For that many separate use, you need to beef up the server a little. 16G RAM is low for FreeNAS itself, 2 VM and 4 jails.

Also, for that many concurrent accesses, you will probably need a Raid-10 like config : 3 mirrors of 2 drives each. That would give you 18TB os usable space. Remember that you should never load your pool too much. How much space do you expect to use on day 1 ?

Also, don't forget that no system, no matter how hardened it is, can protect your data by itself. Even the best FreeNAS server needs backups. See the 3 copies rule in my signature for that.

As for a private cloud, that would be achieved with Nextcloud.

Have fun designing your system,
 

jgreco

Resident Grinch
Joined
May 29, 2011
Messages
18,681
Here are some more thoughts on what you should consider when selecting your CPU(s):
  • Use the "L" model - low power - CPUs. When you select a motherboard, check which CPUs are supported.

Oh heck NO WAY. They are not "low power" CPU's. They burn about the same watts for the same amount of work. It just makes the work go more slowly, and in fact you may end up burning MORE power for equivalent work because the CPU runs at max for a much longer period of time. This means they suck for performance.

You have misunderstood these CPU's to be "low power" when they are actually "low TDP". You use these CPU's in environments where you cannot readily dissipate all the heat of a full-speed CPU into the environment, such as a fanless server.

Please do not ever suggest this anywhere where I might see it. :smile:
 

rvassar

Guru
Joined
May 2, 2018
Messages
971
More memory... I have 16Gb... And two jails. Plex, and a trivially loaded MySQL DB... I wish I had 32Gb!
 

shauku

Cadet
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
4
Id go with another 16GB of RAM if you can swing it, but otherwise, and even now, looks like a nice machine. The onboards can be flashed but I haven't ever had to do it. I think you will be A-Ok with this rig.

maybe consider to have a 2nd 16gb ram module.

More memory... I have 16Gb... And two jails. Plex, and a trivially loaded MySQL DB... I wish I had 32Gb!


Thanks for the advice... 32GB Ram is noted an will be installed in the initial setup :)

never had e atx board, for me atx is sufficient, would not recommend to go for a smaller size, as usually freenas is growing over the years and you might want to play with it. means zil/slog, 10gbit nic etc. with matx it is hard to combine.

Have you considered a used server? You don't need leading edge for FreeNAS. Something with a Supermicro X9/x10?

Thats a very good thought, I'm pretty sure my system will expand in future. It just doesn't feel right to mount a matx in a big tower o_O
And Thanks for the advice on X9/X10 being sufficent for a FreeNAS build!
  • So for the motherboard I'm looking for a X10 Supermicro in ATX format... Onboard LSI SAS would be appreciated but if there are at least three PCIe x8 slots for a dedicated LSI SAS controller and for possible upgrade to 10Gbit ethernet and ZIL-SSD, there shouldn't be any worries... suggestions on that are welcome ;)
You will likely want more cores for the VMs.

I've chosen the Intel Xeon because it's on the hardware guide and I see a lot of people on this forum using xeons for their builds. If it comes to "more cores for less money" I'd go the AMD Ryzen road. But I'm not sure if those can give a good punch on a FreeNAS setup (Since that would be the main use... VM's are just nice to have and just 1 or 2 of them).
Besides the usual (and sometimes annoying) AMD vs Intel discussion... Any good CPU recommendations? (Combined with a X10 Supermicro ATX Board) ;)

Thank you all for your inputs... Reading you posts, make me really rethink / improve my setup.
It will take some time to dive into the www again and find the right parts. I will post an update with some changes.

Best regards
shauku
 

joeinaz

Contributor
Joined
Mar 17, 2016
Messages
188
My next build will be an X10SRL-F; It has a bunch of x8 slots. It supports the E5-2600 V3 & V4 series of Intel CPUs. 8 DIMM slots. It has 2 SATA active DOMs. This motherboard is a bit expensive. An alternative try an X9SRI-F. It supports the E5-2600 V1 & V2series of Intel CPUs. 8 DIMM slots. It has 1 SATA DOM power connector. It also has 3 PCIe slots (x8 minimum)

I have a 2630 V4 CPU ES (Engineeering Sample) for my X10 board and a 2650 V2 for my X9 board. While both CPUs have similar performance the older V2 CPU is less expensive.

Add on an IBM M1015 SAS controller in IT mode and you are on your way!
 

shauku

Cadet
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
4
My next build will be an X10SRL-F; It has a bunch of x8 slots. It supports the E5-2600 V3 & V4 series of Intel CPUs. 8 DIMM slots. It has 2 SATA active DOMs. This motherboard is a bit expensive. An alternative try an X9SRI-F. It supports the E5-2600 V1 & V2series of Intel CPUs. 8 DIMM slots. It has 1 SATA DOM power connector. It also has 3 PCIe slots (x8 minimum)

I have a 2630 V4 CPU ES (Engineeering Sample) for my X10 board and a 2650 V2 for my X9 board. While both CPUs have similar performance the older V2 CPU is less expensive.

Add on an IBM M1015 SAS controller in IT mode and you are on your way!

Thanks for the input, that really gave me a good direction to look at :)

I finally found some time to update my setup:

Mainboard: Supermicro X10SRi-F [amazon.com] --> pcie3.0 x16 and 2x Intel i350 @ 10Gbit/s
CPU: Xeon E5-2620 v4 @ 8x2.1Ghz [amazon.com]
RAM: Crucial DDR4-2933 32GB/4Gx72 ECC/Reg CL21 Server Memory CT32G4RFD4293 [amazon.com]
PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 550W [amazon.com]
Cooler: Alpenfoehn Black Ridge (95W TDP) [alpenfoehn.de]
SSD: 2x Samsung 860 Evo 1TB [amazon.com]
BootDrives: Western Digital Green 2.5" 120GB SATA3 SSD WDS120G1G0A [amazon.com]
HBA: HP H220 SAS PCI-E 3.0 HBA LSI 9207-8i P20 IT Mode [ebay.com]

What do you think about this config? Did I miss something?
 

joeinaz

Contributor
Joined
Mar 17, 2016
Messages
188
Thanks for the input, that really gave me a good direction to look at :)

I finally found some time to update my setup:

Mainboard: Supermicro X10SRi-F [amazon.com] --> pcie3.0 x16 and 2x Intel i350 @ 10Gbit/s
CPU: Xeon E5-2620 v4 @ 8x2.1Ghz [amazon.com]
RAM: Crucial DDR4-2933 32GB/4Gx72 ECC/Reg CL21 Server Memory CT32G4RFD4293 [amazon.com]
PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 550W [amazon.com]
Cooler: Alpenfoehn Black Ridge (95W TDP) [alpenfoehn.de]
SSD: 2x Samsung 860 Evo 1TB [amazon.com]
BootDrives: Western Digital Green 2.5" 120GB SATA3 SSD WDS120G1G0A [amazon.com]
HBA: HP H220 SAS PCI-E 3.0 HBA LSI 9207-8i P20 IT Mode [ebay.com]

What do you think about this config? Did I miss something?

Looks good... The one thing I would like to know more about is your CPU cooler. I would verify it works with that motherboard. The Intel E5-2600 v4 family has a rectangular shaped (versus a more square) socket. You have to be careful to select the right (shape an size) fan/cooler.
 

Jessep

Patron
Joined
Aug 19, 2018
Messages
379

shauku

Cadet
Joined
Dec 2, 2019
Messages
4
10Gb? Those are 10/100/1000 ports

https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X10SRi-F
Dual LAN with Intel® Ethernet Controller I350-AM2Supports 10Base-T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE-T

Oops :oops:
Thanks for the correction. I've misread the specs.
1Gbit is enough for me, as i don't have any 10Gbit gear at home... yet ;)

Looks good... The one thing I would like to know more about is your CPU cooler. I would verify it works with that motherboard. The Intel E5-2600 v4 family has a rectangular shaped (versus a more square) socket. You have to be careful to select the right (shape an size) fan/cooler.

Ah ok, didn't know about that... thanks for mentioning. I change the cooler to this one:
Noctua NH-U9DX i4 [noctua.at]
 

joeinaz

Contributor
Joined
Mar 17, 2016
Messages
188
Oops :oops:
Thanks for the correction. I've misread the specs.
1Gbit is enough for me, as i don't have any 10Gbit gear at home... yet ;)



Ah ok, didn't know about that... thanks for mentioning. I change the cooler to this one:
Noctua NH-U9DX i4 [noctua.at]
Reply The NH-U9DX i4 is a good cooler. The specs state is supports both a normal and narrow ILM.
 
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