Budget NAS build - used server grade hardware or new consumer hardware

yamees

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Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
2
So, I'm finally getting into the world of NAS and home file sharing. I'm stuck in between two options at the moment.

My goal is to have an in-home NAS system with somewhere along the lines of 6tb of storage with adequate redundancy in case of failure with room to grow.

I was considering either an i3 or Celeron based consumer hardware or used server-based hardware from the Xeon 3400 generation.

My builds are as follows:

Build 1 (New hardware):
- Intel - Core i3-8100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor
- Gigabyte - B360M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151
- G.Skill - NT Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2133 Memory

Build 2 (Used ebay hardware)
- Intel Xeon 3470
- Supermicro X8SIL-F
- Samsung registered ECC 8gb Ram sticks(2x8gb not too sure which speeds are compatible with this server board yet)

I'm fine with the rest of the hardware. and I plan on going through with the same Storage drives in both cases 3x3tb NAS grade drives(correct me if I'm wrong but I should receive 6tb of storage from this no) with space to upgrade in the future hence both systems having 6 onboard sata ports and PCI in case I need an HBA card for more drives. Also, I will be buying an ssd for the os in both cases(new for both cases)

My goals for the system is for General file storage, Plex media sharing, as well as the use of transmission for Torrenting.

Bonus: 10 000 internet points to anyone who can lead me in the best course of action to allow me to use my VPN on the NAS for non-local file sharing privacy(IPVANISH) as I don't have it installed on the modem level of my home network

Let me know what you think or if you have any input on the two suggested systems.
 

Chris Moore

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Between the two suggestions, I would go with the old server gear before buying that gaming gear:

1551045283746.png


Anything that includes gaming in the name should be avoided at all costs, but this is worse than some because it uses a Realtek LAN chip. That might be fine for Windows but performs poorly in FreeNAS due to lack of software support.
Most of the features touted on Game systems are useless in FreeNAS, for example the super wiz-bang sound system on that board, not functional at all in FreeNAS. Probably 90% of the 'features' that board has are totally wasted on FreeNAS. Buy that if you want to build a gaming system but buy a server board to use with FreeNAS.

We have some suggestions here:

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

Hardware Recommendations by cyberjock - from 26 Aug 2014 - and still valid
https://forums.freenas.org/threads/hardware-recommendations-read-this-first.23069/
Storage drives in both cases 3x3tb NAS grade drives
You should first read this:

Why not to use RAID-5 or RAIDz1
https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-raid-5-stops-working-in-2009/
correct me if I'm wrong but I should receive 6tb of storage from this no
Not exactly. Here is a link to a storage calculator:
https://wintelguy.com/zfs-calc.pl
The maximum capacity of the pool you suggest would be around 5.2 TB but you would be limited to only using 4.1 TB because of the restriction on filling a ZFS pool beyond 80%
 
Joined
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My goal is to have an in-home NAS system with somewhere along the lines of 6tb of storage with adequate redundancy in case of failure with room to grow.
What is your budget?
 

yamees

Cadet
Joined
Feb 20, 2019
Messages
2
We have some suggestions here:

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

Hardware Recommendations by cyberjock - from 26 Aug 2014 - and still valid
https://forums.freenas.org/threads/hardware-recommendations-read-this-first.23069/

You should first read this:

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

Not exactly. Here is a link to a storage calculator:
https://wintelguy.com/zfs-calc.pl
The maximum capacity of the pool you suggest would be around 5.2 TB but you would be limited to only using 4.1 TB because of the restriction on filling a ZFS pool beyond 80%

Thanks for this! I looked into some options and came up with a different build as I've been reading that the power consumption on LGA2011 is much higher (aka more heat)

So I referred to the recommendation guide and schemed this:

- Supermicro X10SLM+-F
- Xeon e3-1220V3
- Crucial DDR3 UDIMM 2*8gb ram

I don't think the hardware should interfere....

Duelly noted for the RAIDz1 vs raid-5, Let's say I started with a 3*3tb could I start with raidz1(4.1tb then transfer to raidz2 as I expand with more drives or will the arrays need to be reconfigured and wiped to do so? If that is the case, I will just start with Raidz2(2.09TB) and add drives soon after.

What is your budget?
My starting budget to get going is 750$ USD all in minus monitor and peripherals. Will grow rapidly as I am in constant need of resources in between two non-local IP's with regularly updating files. Often enough that USB file storage is not the most efficient route.
 

Chris Moore

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My starting budget to get going is 750$ USD
With such a low budget, you might want to consider used gear to begin. I have built all my FreeNAS systems with used gear, even the hard drives, except for the most recent batch I just bought at the beginning of 2018.

Hardware like this would be a very value oriented start:

Intel Xeon E3-1230V2 SR0P4 3.30GHz Processor
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SR0P4-Inte...d-Core-CM8063701098101-Processor/202572624908
US $74.00

Super Micro X9SCM-F, LGA 1155, Intel C204, Micro ATX server motherboard
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-SuperM...rd-Accessoreis-are-not-included-/352358089215
US $77.77

16GB 2X8GB Memory RAM Intel Xeon E3 ONLY DDR3, 1600MHz, ECC, CL11, 2R, X8, 1.5V, Unbuffered, DIMM, 240-pin
https://www.ebay.com/itm/16GB-2X8GB...-CMT-SFF-Intel-Xeon-E3-ONLY-B89-/301855376261
US $126.00

Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-H310-...-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID-/162834659601
US $56.55

1M Mini SAS 4i SFF-8087 36-Pin Male to 4 SATA 7-Pin Splitter Adapter Cable NEW
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1M-Mini-SA...7-Pin-Splitter-Adapter-Cable-NEW/272098511869
US $7.39
Let's say I started with a 3*3tb could I start with raidz1(4.1tb then transfer to raidz2 as I expand with more drives or will the arrays need to be reconfigured and wiped to do so? If that is the case, I will just start with Raidz2(2.09TB) and add drives soon after.
No, to change from RAIDz1 to RAIDz2 is going to take a full rebuild of the array which would require backup of all the data and reloading the data after. It is also not currently possible to add drives to an existing RAIDz2 vdev to expand the pool. It would be my recommendation that you obtain additional drives before forming the initial pool, even if you needed to start with the 3 x 3TB drives you have now plus three more 1TB drives. Initially, this would only allow the use of 1TB of space on the 3TB drives, but you would have almost 4TB of space available to use due to having six drives. With your vdev being six drives from the start and you could replace the 1TB drives with 3TB drives as you were able to afford to do so. Once all six drives were 3TB capacity, your pool would expand to the full space available on the 3TB drives, around 11TB.
 
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Messages
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I used that same X9SCM-F board for my recent backup build and have had absolutely no issues. I did a fair bit of hunting and managed to find one for $50 on ebay, though it did take some searching.

minus monitor
Fortunately FreeNAS is mostly controlled through a web interface so you can use any monitor you have sitting around for the initial setup and then forget about it.
 

Chris Moore

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KevinM

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Apr 23, 2013
Messages
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With such a low budget, you might want to consider used gear to begin. I have built all my FreeNAS systems with used gear, even the hard drives, except for the most recent batch I just bought at the beginning of 2018.

Hardware like this would be a very value oriented start:

Intel Xeon E3-1230V2 SR0P4 3.30GHz Processor
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SR0P4-Inte...d-Core-CM8063701098101-Processor/202572624908
US $74.00

Super Micro X9SCM-F, LGA 1155, Intel C204, Micro ATX server motherboard
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-SuperM...rd-Accessoreis-are-not-included-/352358089215
US $77.77

16GB 2X8GB Memory RAM Intel Xeon E3 ONLY DDR3, 1600MHz, ECC, CL11, 2R, X8, 1.5V, Unbuffered, DIMM, 240-pin
https://www.ebay.com/itm/16GB-2X8GB...-CMT-SFF-Intel-Xeon-E3-ONLY-B89-/301855376261
US $126.00

Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-H310-...-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID-/162834659601
US $56.55

1M Mini SAS 4i SFF-8087 36-Pin Male to 4 SATA 7-Pin Splitter Adapter Cable NEW
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1M-Mini-SA...7-Pin-Splitter-Adapter-Cable-NEW/272098511869
US $7.39
Can confirm. I bought nearly this exact combination 5-6 years ago (see sig) after reading the FreeNAS hardware recommendation guide and it's been running 24x7 ever since. Other than migrating to bigger drives and a hot-swap case, everything is just as it was. The performance level is pretty hard to beat for ~$500.
 
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