Bare minimum for replication

[bdheard]

I'm new to FreeNAS and am planning on building a home storage server with a remote (off-site) backup. I haven't settled on the details for the home server but I was hoping to use an existing (read, old) system for the replication side (remote backup). What requirements are really necessary for the receiving end of a replication task when realistic speeds to the backup server are in the 10 Mbps range?

The system I would like to use is

• BIOSTAR H61MHB LGA 1155 Intel H61
• Intel Celeron G530
• 4GB of RAM

There are 4 SATA ports on the motherboard and I'll need a full copy of 2 TB with snapshots every week or so (retired every month). We're not talking a production environment here, just backing up family photos and the machine won't serve any other purpose. Specific questions are (1) If I could find one reasonably priced should I get an i5 Sandy Bridge processor to replace the celery, (2) The RAM is presently 2GBx2; should that be upgraded to 4GBx2, and (3) What would be the recommended drive configuration be; 4x1 TB as a single volume, 4x2 TB in some RAID configuration?

Any help and insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chris Moore]

The system I would like to use is

• BIOSTAR H61MHB LGA 1155 Intel H61
• Intel Celeron G530
• 4GB of RAM

No. That does not make the bare minimum. That entire brand of board is unacceptable.

Just a few weeks ago, I suggested something like this to someone else, but I couldn't find the post to point you at. Here is what I suggested for a tower build that is quiet and very inexpensive while still capable. These exact auctions are probably done, but you can use these as a guide:

CASE: Fractal-Design-Define-R5-FD-CA-DEF-R5-BK-Black-Silent-ATX-Midtower-Computer-Case - US $89.24
https://www.ebay.com/itm/253026336681

POWER: Corsair-Certified-CS-M-Series-CS650M-650W-80-Plus-Gold-Active-PFC-Modular-Power - US $64.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/382130407495

System Board: Super Micro X9SCM-F Motherboard w/ Heatsink/Fan & I/O Shield - US $75.00
https://www.ebay.com/itm/273400083962

OR different heatsync

System Board: SuperMicro X9SCM-F Intel Xeon E3 Intel C204 Chipset Micro ATX Server Motherboard - US $79.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/192561781616

CPU: Intel SR00H Xeon E3-1230 3.20GHZ Socket 1155 - - US $55.09
https://www.ebay.com/itm/273313040616

OR faster / newer

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230V2 3.30GHz Quad-Core CPU Processor SR0P4 LGA1155 - C737 - US $94.95
https://www.ebay.com/itm/263869242230

Memory: 8GB Memory RAM for SuperMicro X9 Series - - US $82.00 * 2 = $164
https://www.ebay.com/itm/163130855012

Drive Controller: LSI-SAS-9211-8i-8-port-6Gb-s-PCI-E-Internal-HBA-Both-Brackets-IT-MODE - US $59.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/152937435505

Drive Cables: Mini SAS to 4-SATA SFF-8087 Multi-Lane Forward Breakout Internal Cable - - US $12.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/371681252206

Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste Grease Conductive Compound for CPU/GPU - US $6.95
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302624513215

I may have missed some accessories, and I didn't include drives, but this should get you all the key components

 

[Chris Moore]

some reference material:

Hardware Requirements
http://www.freenas.org/hardware-requirements/

Slideshow explaining VDev, zpool, ZIL and L2ARC
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/

Terminology and Abbreviations Primer
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/terminology-and-abbreviations-primer.28174/

Why not to use RAID-5 or RAIDz1
https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-raid-5-stops-working-in-2009/

FreeNAS® Quick Hardware Guide
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/

Hardware Recommendations Guide Rev 1e) 2017-05-06
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

Proper Power Supply Sizing Guidance
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/proper-power-supply-sizing-guidance.38811/

Did you read the manual? There is a lot of great info in there.
http://doc.freenas.org/11/freenas.html

 

[Chris Moore]

Any help and insight would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry. I don't feel like I was as helpful as I could have been. the LAN Chipset on that board: Atheros AR8151
It is not what you want to use with FreeNAS. You would need to disable that and get an Intel NIC to go in one of the slots.
You would also need to upgrade the memory. This board doesn't support ECC, which is the recommended type of memory for a reason.
Take a look at this for some explanation: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/so-you-want-some-hardware-suggestions.12276/
Then, there are not enough SATA ports. I suppose you can run a RAIDz1 pool with 4 drives, but it is strongly recommended that RAIDz2 is a minimum.