Asus MoBo

[kamin]

Hello- New timer here. Any foreseen issues with this board and FreeNAS: Asus P10S-M WS?

I'm thinking of pairing these parts with it:

Kingston 16GB ecc udimm
Xeon 1275 v6
6 x 2TB Ironwolf Pro

Thanks for any advise!

 

[Chris Moore]

Any foreseen issues with this board and FreeNAS: Asus P10S-M WS?

It is more expensive because it includes audio and video features that you just don't need with FreeNAS.
This is a workstation board (WS in the model) and not meant for a server
You could have an actual server board for less money, so why would you want to buy this.

As an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...o-I-O-shield-DDR4-Micro-ATX-IPMI/142889159240

Xeon 1275 v6

With the Supermicro board, it has an integrated video chip, so you can go with a less expensive CPU that does not have an embedded video processor.

Here is a good example that is plenty fast enough for anything you will need to do in FreeNAS:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon...ssor-3-5GHz-8-0GT-s-8MB-LGA-1151/192412120398

 

[kamin]

It is more expensive because it includes audio and video features that you just don't need with FreeNAS.
This is a workstation board (WS in the model) and not meant for a server
You could have an actual server board for less money, so why would you want to buy this.

As an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...o-I-O-shield-DDR4-Micro-ATX-IPMI/142889159240

With the Supermicro board, it has an integrated video chip, so you can go with a less expensive CPU that does not have an embedded video processor.

Here is a good example that is plenty fast enough for anything you will need to do in FreeNAS:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon...ssor-3-5GHz-8-0GT-s-8MB-LGA-1151/192412120398

I found this board used for $110: Supermicro ATX DDR4 LGA 1151 Motherboards X11SAE-F-O. Looks solid enough and is Supermicro. What do you think?

 

[Chris Moore]

I found this board used for $110: Supermicro ATX DDR4 LGA 1151 Motherboards X11SAE-F-O. Looks solid enough and is Supermicro. What do you think?

Supermicro also makes boards that are not server boards. That one is not. You can tell by the audio ports. There is no need for audio on a FreeNAS system and IPMI is a feature that is very useful.

 

[Chris Moore]

Then there is the huge waste of space between the two PCIe x16 slots because they gave space for a double slot video card that is totally wasted on a server, and what are you gong to use those old PCI slots for?

 

[Chris Moore]

What is the plan for this system, besides just FreeNAS. You can actually have just as much performance with older gear that is much less expensive.

 

[Chris Moore]

Thanks so much for the quick response. I really appreciate the dedication with this community. Is there no benefit to Plex in a jail by having a video chip on the board or CPU? I saw this Supermicro board but shied away due to my lack of experience with brand.

No, there is no benefit at all of having any sort of video processor in a FreeNAS system.

 

[pro lamer]

No, there is no benefit at all of having any sort of video processor in a FreeNAS system.

At least not for jails... And of course a graphics chip may be helpful for some initial boot and installation but if a mobo has an IPMI then it (usually?) has some graphics chip already as a part of the IPMI instrumentation...

 

[Chris Moore]

At least not for jails... And of course a graphics chip may be helpful for some initial boot and installation but if a mobo has an IPMI then it (usually?) has some graphics chip already as a part of the IPMI instrumentation...

True, a very modest VGA chip is handy and one is embedded on the board of systems that include IPMI. It allows enough video to do most basic configuration (BIOS etc) and it will even do a GUI in Windows or Linux, but it is sluggish at that. The thing I was trying to say, but imperfectly, is that advanced GPUs that are intended for high speed (gaming) graphics are wasted on FreeNAS because it has no drivers for them and they can't be passed into the virtualization.
Another user had planned a gaming graphics card for their system, not realizing that it would serve no purpose.

 

[polbel]

It is more expensive because it includes audio and video features that you just don't need with FreeNAS.
This is a workstation board (WS in the model) and not meant for a server
You could have an actual server board for less money, so why would you want to buy this.

As an example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...o-I-O-shield-DDR4-Micro-ATX-IPMI/142889159240

With the Supermicro board, it has an integrated video chip, so you can go with a less expensive CPU that does not have an embedded video processor.

Here is a good example that is plenty fast enough for anything you will need to do in FreeNAS:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon...ssor-3-5GHz-8-0GT-s-8MB-LGA-1151/192412120398

One very interesting point to consider before saying the P10S-M WS is not a good choice for freenas is the M.2 connector especially with a 1 or 2 TB NVMe SSD. For the life of me i can't find decently priced server boards with M.2 NVMe connectors. Caching with a SSD running at 32 Gbs (NVMe) sure beats 6 Gbs sata3 SSDs. Just the 2 cents from a guy that spent 40 years in IT...

 

[Chris Moore]

is the M.2 connector especially with a 1 or 2 TB NVMe SSD. For the life of me i can't find decently priced server boards with M.2 NVMe connectors

That is not as useful as you appear to think it is.

For the life of me i can't find decently priced server boards with M.2 NVMe connectors. Caching with a SSD running at 32 Gbs (NVMe) sure beats 6 Gbs sata3 SSDs.

You can add a PCIe card for that, and get one cheap, and nobody on this forum would suggest SATA SSD for cache.

SLOG benchmarking and finding the best SLOG
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/slog-benchmarking-and-finding-the-best-slog.63521/

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod....2_adapter_pcie_x4-_-9SIAEF87R71910-_-Product

Just the 2 cents from a guy that spent 40 years in IT...

Compatible hardware is more important that integrated junk like the audio output that will never be used and the x16 PCIe slots when most adapter cards that are needed in a server are x8. You should take some time to see what hardware we suggest and why before you make your own suggestions.