fn369
Explorer
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2016
- Messages
- 60
Hello all,
I am very new to the forum, as well as FreeNAS in general, and I must apologise in advance for how long this post has become!
I started out 5 or 6 years ago using various Drobos, then moved on to 2x Synology DS2413+ (12 bay) units (using 1 as a backup) - which I’ve been using for the last 3 years.
Having just suffered major data losses on both Synologys, I decided to use it as an opportunity to upgrade. Suddenly realising how underwhelming Synology's hardware is, I was considering a 16 bay QNAP Enterprise device.
However, it seems that by going the FreeNAS route I could get a lot more hardware for a lot less money, and end up with a more secure NAS to boot, and who doesn’t like that?!
Having spent the past 10 days or so reading through the forums, following links and trying to configure an ideal setup, I have become utterly confused reading through all the different specs on Supermicro's and Intel's websites.
For example, what I’ve seen praised here as ‘a great setup’ often appears not to follow Supermicro's recommended compatibility, and I trust the experts here more than Supermicro when it comes to getting the best out of FreeNAS!
GOALS
This is what I’d like to achieve (includes some future proofing)
Notes:
I’ve currently got 25TB of data, of which 20TB is iTunes media. However, because I want to start using Plex, I first need to convert it to a usable format. This will virtually double my space requirements, giving me an immediate need for 45 TB useable space.
Having done my best to work through the FreeNAS guidelines, I believe I would want VDevs of 8 drives in RAIDZ2 configuration. My Synology units both have 12 x 4TB WD Red drives, and I will be able to use 12 of them towards the FreeNAS.
My thought was to start off by creating a brand new ‘future proof’ ~40TB Plex VDev by buying 8 x 8TB WD Red for use in RAIDZ2 configuration.
I will maintain triple backups of crucial data (family photos, personal files etc.) in addition to the FreeNAS, but everything else is media so I think it’s reasonable to rely on RAIDZ2 for now, and perhaps add secondary backup later? (to save having to download everything again in case of catastrophic loss / failure)
PROPOSED HARDWARE
If the following list seems familiar to you, it's because I've copied it directly from @DataKeeper’s first build (because I’m confused and his planned usage was most similar to mine, and he kindly invited me to do so!)
Chassis:
SUPERMICRO CSE-846E16-R1200B 1200W PSUs
Mainboard:
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SRL-F
Processor:
Intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 Haswell-EP 3.5GHz
CPU Cooler:
Noctua NH-U9DX i4
RAM:
4 x SAMSUNG 16GB SDRAM ECC Reg DDR4 Model M393A2G40DB0-CPB (RDIMM)
Or something else? (Not Kingston! Not Kingston! Not Kingston!)
Install Drives:
2 x SUPERMICRO SSD-DM064-PHI SATA DOM(they only cost $3 more than 32GB)
Data Drives:
8 x 8TB WD Red / 8 x 4TB WD Red (Another 8 later on)
Data Cables:
2 x Supermicro CBL-0281L-01 75cm Mini-SAS (SFF-8087) to Mini-SAS (SFF-8087) Cable
HBA:
IBM ServeRAID M1015 SAS/SATA Controller
NIC:
At the moment I only have a 1GbE network and I’m using the Synology units with link aggregation, but I’d like to go to 10GbE or Fibre equivalent at some point.
I was thinking of starting with a 4 x 1GbE NIC (2 in link aggregation and 2 in failover), with ability to add 10GbE / Fibre later on, but perhaps I should upgrade to NETGEAR ProSAFE 10 Gigabit switch now with money saved by not buying QNAP…? Or is fibre better?
HDMI Output?
This is something offered by QNAP, but I’ve not seen anyone mention it here. Can it be done?
What would you do?
I have contacted DataKeeper, and I'm told that his NAS is running perfectly and that he’s extremely happy with it, and I don’t doubt him for a moment!
So why am I posting this?
1 Simply because it is 15 months since his build
2 It's possible that the landscape has changed with regard to best component usage recommendations
3 I don't know anyone who has their own NAS (let alone FreeNAS), so I’ve got no-one to bounce ideas off, and I would really appreciate some expert feedback.
If you’ve made it this far, THANK YOU very much for the time you’ve already given me. I’m sure you’re busy and I recognise that it’s been an extremely long post.
And now, if you’ve still got the energy and inclination, please tell me what you think. Have hardware recommendations changed since then? What would you do? Exactly as above, or something different?
I am very new to the forum, as well as FreeNAS in general, and I must apologise in advance for how long this post has become!
I started out 5 or 6 years ago using various Drobos, then moved on to 2x Synology DS2413+ (12 bay) units (using 1 as a backup) - which I’ve been using for the last 3 years.
Having just suffered major data losses on both Synologys, I decided to use it as an opportunity to upgrade. Suddenly realising how underwhelming Synology's hardware is, I was considering a 16 bay QNAP Enterprise device.
However, it seems that by going the FreeNAS route I could get a lot more hardware for a lot less money, and end up with a more secure NAS to boot, and who doesn’t like that?!
Having spent the past 10 days or so reading through the forums, following links and trying to configure an ideal setup, I have become utterly confused reading through all the different specs on Supermicro's and Intel's websites.
For example, what I’ve seen praised here as ‘a great setup’ often appears not to follow Supermicro's recommended compatibility, and I trust the experts here more than Supermicro when it comes to getting the best out of FreeNAS!
GOALS
This is what I’d like to achieve (includes some future proofing)
- Very large Family photo Library
- iTunes media library (music / films / TV)
- Plex media library (media converted from iTunes, plus more from (8) below)
- Plex transcoding up to 9 simultaneous 1080/4k streams to TVs and iOS devices
- Sonos music server playing 24/7 in up to 12 zones
- nextCloud server for 4-5 people
- Backup for 5 computers (Mac / Linux)
- SickRage / SABnzbd / Transmission / CouchPotato possible running in a Jail 24/7
Notes:
I’ve currently got 25TB of data, of which 20TB is iTunes media. However, because I want to start using Plex, I first need to convert it to a usable format. This will virtually double my space requirements, giving me an immediate need for 45 TB useable space.
Having done my best to work through the FreeNAS guidelines, I believe I would want VDevs of 8 drives in RAIDZ2 configuration. My Synology units both have 12 x 4TB WD Red drives, and I will be able to use 12 of them towards the FreeNAS.
My thought was to start off by creating a brand new ‘future proof’ ~40TB Plex VDev by buying 8 x 8TB WD Red for use in RAIDZ2 configuration.
I will maintain triple backups of crucial data (family photos, personal files etc.) in addition to the FreeNAS, but everything else is media so I think it’s reasonable to rely on RAIDZ2 for now, and perhaps add secondary backup later? (to save having to download everything again in case of catastrophic loss / failure)
PROPOSED HARDWARE
If the following list seems familiar to you, it's because I've copied it directly from @DataKeeper’s first build (because I’m confused and his planned usage was most similar to mine, and he kindly invited me to do so!)
Chassis:
SUPERMICRO CSE-846E16-R1200B 1200W PSUs
Mainboard:
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SRL-F
Processor:
Intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 Haswell-EP 3.5GHz
CPU Cooler:
Noctua NH-U9DX i4
RAM:
4 x SAMSUNG 16GB SDRAM ECC Reg DDR4 Model M393A2G40DB0-CPB (RDIMM)
Or something else? (Not Kingston! Not Kingston! Not Kingston!)
Install Drives:
2 x SUPERMICRO SSD-DM064-PHI SATA DOM(they only cost $3 more than 32GB)
Data Drives:
8 x 8TB WD Red / 8 x 4TB WD Red (Another 8 later on)
Data Cables:
2 x Supermicro CBL-0281L-01 75cm Mini-SAS (SFF-8087) to Mini-SAS (SFF-8087) Cable
HBA:
IBM ServeRAID M1015 SAS/SATA Controller
NIC:
At the moment I only have a 1GbE network and I’m using the Synology units with link aggregation, but I’d like to go to 10GbE or Fibre equivalent at some point.
I was thinking of starting with a 4 x 1GbE NIC (2 in link aggregation and 2 in failover), with ability to add 10GbE / Fibre later on, but perhaps I should upgrade to NETGEAR ProSAFE 10 Gigabit switch now with money saved by not buying QNAP…? Or is fibre better?
HDMI Output?
This is something offered by QNAP, but I’ve not seen anyone mention it here. Can it be done?
What would you do?
I have contacted DataKeeper, and I'm told that his NAS is running perfectly and that he’s extremely happy with it, and I don’t doubt him for a moment!
So why am I posting this?
1 Simply because it is 15 months since his build
2 It's possible that the landscape has changed with regard to best component usage recommendations
3 I don't know anyone who has their own NAS (let alone FreeNAS), so I’ve got no-one to bounce ideas off, and I would really appreciate some expert feedback.
If you’ve made it this far, THANK YOU very much for the time you’ve already given me. I’m sure you’re busy and I recognise that it’s been an extremely long post.
And now, if you’ve still got the energy and inclination, please tell me what you think. Have hardware recommendations changed since then? What would you do? Exactly as above, or something different?