BUILD Another new FreeNAS box... component selection

[Reciprocity75]

Hello interwebs,

I have been mostly reading and lurking with the occasional post. I am moving on from a very low powered and non-upgradable (at least it doesn't make sense to upgrade) WHS v1 server. I setup a test box with some old hardware to test out the OS and get a feel for freenas. I like it so much more than the WHS offerings as I am a bit of a geek and like messing about which the unix space offers in spades.
The time has come for me to go all in and I have a list of equipment that I would appreciate any feedback before I hit the buy it now button.

Hardware List:
Motherboard: Intel DZ75ML-45K - MicroATX, Intel NIC, 6 x Sata, 4 x DDR3 slots
CPU: Intel Core i3-3220 - While the bulk of the server will be backups, I will be streaming and perhaps transcoding, so I am building with that in mind.
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB DDR3 (2x8GB) - with 8TB of storage in the pool, this should be enough for ZFS raidz2.
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 400W Mk III- I like PC P&C and it is modular. Perfect.
Drives: 6 x 2TB WD Red- I will build a raidz2 for 8TB of storage. I and my wife have our separate side businesses (photography and training videos) along with a few bluray rips for the kids. The movie rips may increase with time, but I have a plan for that.
Case: Rosewill RSV-4411 - A fantastic value with 12 hot swap bays. I will be filling half now and if needed, lots of room for another raidz2 pool when needed.

I will buy a few 4GB USB drives (spares from what I have read are good to have) for the OS... there is a local MicroCenter which will have a large selection.

So that is my plan, an 8TB pool for 3 PC backups, 1 mac time machine, photos, web videos and bluray 1:1 rips. If the storage starts to become tight, I will add another, separate pool for whatever component(s) need the additional storage. Any and all advice is welcome.

Thanks,
Tim

 

[whiskeyjack]

I'm new here as well, but it seems a very good build and your cpu triggered me to take another look at my build. Didn't know this new cpu yet, but it has almost the same specs as the 2120 and runs cooler (because of the 22 nm). So I will get that one as well, thanks.

I would take a look at getting 3TB drives though. The cost per mb will be lower and you will be able to postpone upgrading. But if you want z2 it will be significantly more expensive, so you probably already considered that. The WD Red drives seem a good choice though, it is what I ended up with in my prospective build after trawling forums and reviews.

 

[Reciprocity75]

I'm new here as well, but it seems a very good build and your cpu triggered me to take another look at my build. Didn't know this new cpu yet, but it has almost the same specs as the 2120 and runs cooler (because of the 22 nm). So I will get that one as well, thanks.

I saw your build as well... glad that you could get a little better performance/watt with the new CPU.

I would take a look at getting 3TB drives though. The cost per mb will be lower and you will be able to postpone upgrading. But if you want z2 it will be significantly more expensive, so you probably already considered that. The WD Red drives seem a good choice though, it is what I ended up with in my prospective build after trawling forums and reviews.

I have done the math (many times) and the least expensive WD RED 3TB drives that I can find are 159 each. That is 53 dollars per TB. The 2TB drives are 110 or 55 dollars per TB. That means with a 6 drive raidz2 I would need to spend an additional ~300 dollars for an additional 4TB of storage that I do not need at this time. It also makes that last 4TB of storage even more expensive at 75 dollars per TB. I would rather wait until the added storage is needed and add an additional pool of equal or greater size. I would buy 2 of the M1015 HBA's and place all the drives on them, bypassing the onboard Z75 chip if/when I need to add another volume for storage. Besides, in a few years 4TB drives will be 75 bucks... :).

Thanks for the feedback.