Build check - Little to no experience with FreeNAS

[compunerd81]

First, I would like to thank the awesome community here on FreeNAS I was able to get a lot of good information from posts and resources created and posted here! I have read Cyberjock's PDF as well as the FreeNAS primer and many of the forum posts and feel I am ready to start asking a few questions.

I plan on setting up the drives in a single vDev in RAID-Z2.

Bellow is the build I have come up with based on what I have been reading so far:
CPU: Intel - Xeon E3-1225 V6 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - C236 WSI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($207.96 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Memory: 2 x Crucial - 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($105.60 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Storage: 6 x Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.09 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Case: BitFenix - Phenom Midnight Black Mini ITX Tower Case ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1144.67

An very slightly cheaper alternative to the build which would allow for more RAM using an older Integrated Intel Atom board:
Motherboard: ASRock - C2550D4I Mini ITX Atom C2550 Motherboard ($285.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: 4 x Mushkin - Proline 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($76.67 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Storage: 6 x Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.09 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Case: BitFenix - Phenom Midnight Black Mini ITX Tower Case ($73.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1102.69

So my questions are as follows:
1) Have I totally missed the mark or will this allow me to create a decent FreeNAS server?
2) Am I asking for a world of hurt using the cheap Seagate drives or should I be looking to use WD greens/reds as many recommend?
3) Are the integrated SATA controllers going to cause issues for me down the road? Should I be looking to buy a PCIe controller?
4) What kind of performance trade offs am I making between these two versions? Is 16GB vs 32GB of RAM more meaningful than the processing power of the Zeon E3?

 

[Chris Moore]

Seems legit.

1) Have I totally missed the mark or will this allow me to create a decent FreeNAS server?

Depends on what you expect to do with it...

2) Am I asking for a world of hurt using the cheap Seagate drives or should I be looking to use WD greens/reds as many recommend?

I use Seagate drives and I have been happy with them, but I don't like the 3TB model because they used to have a high failure rate.
I use this exact model, which is an OEM drive that Dell uses in their systems:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-4TB-SATA-5900RPM-3-5-ST4000DM000-Replacement-HDD/173420135370
I have 12 of those in my backup NAS and 6 of them in my primary NAS, which is described in my signature.
This is the same model but the retail version and described as "NEW":
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-ST...I-6-0Gb-s-3-5-Desktop-Hard-Drive/131810020232
This is the same model but they are used, but they don't say how used they are.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-De...5-ST4000DM000-GREAT-for-NAS-RAID/163134326085

3) Are the integrated SATA controllers going to cause issues for me down the road? Should I be looking to buy a PCIe controller?

Personally, I like to use a SAS controller for my data drives, but I suppose there is no harm in using SATA.

4) What kind of performance trade offs am I making between these two versions? Is 16GB vs 32GB of RAM more meaningful than the processing power of the Zeon E3?

It really depends on what you plan to do with the system. If you want to give us some idea of your plans, someone will be able to make a more educated statement on that.

I just suggested something like this to someone else a couple weeks ago, but I couldn't find the post to point you at. Here is what I would suggest for a tower build that you want quiet and inexpensive while still capable.

CASE: Fractal-Design-Define-R5-FD-CA-DEF-R5-BK-Black-Silent-ATX-Midtower-Computer-Case - US $99.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/263674323506

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/273350608871

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

OR

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230V2 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor Socket 1155 - US $84.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202364378009

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 accessorie, and I didn't include drives, but this should get you all the key components and it is at $539 as of 18 July 2018
I just picked these on eBay and they are all available right now.

 

[compunerd81]

Thanks for the reply.

My main purpose with this build is the follow:
-SFF: uATX
-Good reliable storage which will perform well for at least the next 5 years
-Something that might be able to handle plex for 1-2 users if I wanted to set that up in the future

 

[Chris Moore]

Motherboard: ASRock - C2550D4I Mini ITX Atom C2550 Motherboard ($285.49 @ SuperBiiz)

If I recall correctly, there were some issues with the firmware on these boards that caused them to die prematurely. The came out with an update to fix it, so you should be fine with it if you be sure it is updated.

CPU: Intel - Xeon E3-1225 V6 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ superbiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock - C236 WSI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($207.96 @ Newegg Marketplace)

If you want to be sure it will work for the next 5 years, and do transcoding for Plex, you might want to get this instead, especially since it isn't that much difference in price.

 

[compunerd81]

Thanks for all the help,
I think I will go with the ASRock C236 build, and I think after reading some drive stats on Backblaze and reading up on 3TB drives in general I will take your adivce and pick up some of the 4TB drives as they are not that much more expensive per drive.

 

[Chris Moore]

I think I will go with the ASRock build

Both of those boards are ASRock...

 

[compunerd81]

Opps, edited my post for clarity.

 

[southwow]

the C2750 version of that board is no slouch. I picked up a refurbished one about 2 years ago and it is awesome.

 

[ChriZ]

If you think that you may need more Ram in the future, you should at least get 1x16GB module instead of 2x8GB for the C236 WSI build
Just my 2c