BUILD Build for iSCSI or NFS storage for Xenserver

[Netwalker]

Hello!

I'm going to be replacing my home lab which is currently VMware (boss lady has decided it's to loud) with 2 Xenserver hosts and a Freenas unit. I'm looking to use the Freenas unit as either NFS or iSCSI storage for running my VMs. My main purpose is to have a funcational lab environment (few 2008r2/2012 servers running AD, possibly exchange) plus run a few fun things for the house (plex, pbiaf, pfsense mainly). We also have a few TrueNAS units in a few clients production environments and i'd like to be more familiar with them for troubleshooting, reconfiguring and etc. I would like to have 3-4 NICs configured to my iSCSI/NFS switch feeding the 2 Xenhosts (more for learning than function).

My planned build is as follows:
Kingston 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM ECC Yes Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (4)
Rosewill RSV-L4500
SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O
SeaSonic S12G-450 450W ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS GOLD
HGST Deskstar NAS H3IKNAS40003272SN (0S03664) 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache (6)
SanDisk Cruzer Fit 32 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive

Any advice ?

 

[Ericloewe]

I'd avoid Kingston RAM and go with a Seasonic G-Series instead of S12G.

Depending on the workload, you'll probably need more RAM.

 

[cyberjock]

Well, 32GB is pretty much what I call "the minimum for running VMs". You really need much more than that (yes, I understand your motherboard doesn't support it.. you aren't the first that's gonna be mad to hear that and I guarantee you someone will be right behind you in 2 days upset all over again) and an L2ARC (which also has to be rightsized to your RAM, which you already are short on). NFS isn't even an option for you with that hardware, so don't even consider it.

 

[Netwalker]

You think 32GB won't be enough ? I've attached the RAM usage from one of our TrueNAS units (48GB of RAM) and my workload should be less this system is hosting a document management system (around 2TB of data) as well as a file server and a few other VMs.

 

[Netwalker]

I can up the hardware was just trying to go as light and quiet as possible. I'm not mad at all :) the response isn't unexpected just verifying everything.

 

[Netwalker]

I'd avoid Kingston RAM and go with a Seasonic G-Series instead of S12G.

Depending on the workload, you'll probably need more RAM.

What ram do you recommend ? I haven't found many options (though I have only checked on newegg)

 

[Netwalker]

Well, 32GB is pretty much what I call "the minimum for running VMs". You really need much more than that (yes, I understand your motherboard doesn't support it.. you aren't the first that's gonna be mad to hear that and I guarantee you someone will be right behind you in 2 days upset all over again) and an L2ARC (which also has to be rightsized to your RAM, which you already are short on). NFS isn't even an option for you with that hardware, so don't even consider it.

The board supports 64GB per http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/atom/x10/a1sri-2758f.cfm. However, I don't think 16GB sticks are available at-least that I've been able to find.

 

[Ericloewe]

What ram do you recommend ? I haven't found many options (though I have only checked on newegg)

Anything from the QVL. Kingston's become known for their underhanded business tactics (changing parts without changing the model number, despite major incompatibilities or performance drops).

The board supports 64GB per http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/atom/x10/a1sri-2758f.cfm. However, I don't think 16GB sticks are available at-least that I've been able to find.

Finding them is the hard part. Paying for them is the next hardest part.

 

[Netwalker]

Anything from the QVL. Kingston's become known for their underhanded business tactics (changing parts without changing the model number, despite major incompatibilities or performance drops).



Finding them is the hard part. Paying for them is the next hardest part.

Noted i'll start steering clear of them. Do you know any vendors that are producing the 16GB sticks? Google is returning no results period for 204 pin DDR3 16GB that are relative. Any ballpark on a price?

What would you recommend going to instead of this ? I really wanna try and keep the noise down if possible and not burn the bank (less than $2k would be great).

 

[cyberjock]

48GB is a massive improvement over 32GB. Yes, it's 50% more, etc etc etc. But it's an exponential improvement for ZFS. For example, having 1GB of ARC and upgrading to support 2GB if ARC is much much more than double the improvement. ;)

My box at home is limited to 32GB and I run 1 VM (and only for experiments for users). It's horribad slow and I wouldn't even consider going with VMs on my box no matter what. I actually have a second machine (its actually running TrueNAS for other reasons) but it has 48GB of RAM and an L2ARC.

 

[Netwalker]

48GB is a massive improvement over 32GB. Yes, it's 50% more, etc etc etc. But it's an exponential improvement for ZFS. For example, having 1GB of ARC and upgrading to support 2GB if ARC is much much more than double the improvement. ;)

My box at home is limited to 32GB and I run 1 VM (and only for experiments for users). It's horribad slow and I wouldn't even consider going with VMs on my box no matter what. I actually have a second machine (its actually running TrueNAS for other reasons) but it has 48GB of RAM and an L2ARC.

This is looking like my winner. View: http://www.ebay.com/itm/3U-Supermicro-16-Bay-SAS-SATA-Storage-Server-X8DT3-F-2x-HEX-CORE-X5650-48GB-/131333141606?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item1e9410b466
since it's E-ATX I can put it in the Rosewill case above to get rid of some of the noise. Probably replace the fans in it with Noctua ones. Will need to pickup a 2 port NIC and bigger PSU and that should have me all set.

 

[Netwalker]

Actually looking at Supermicro's site for the chassis I might can retro-fit the fans but the noise is usually from the PSU :/.

 

[anodos]

Actually looking at Supermicro's site for the chassis I might can retro-fit the fans but the noise is usually from the PSU :/.

Some PSUs are quieter than others. You might try emailing supermicro and seeing what PSU they recommend. They actually respond pretty quickly. You can also try some of those noise absorbing panels from a hardware store.