Cheap homemade NAS for plex

[Ansem]

I at all guys!
I want to build a cheap nas for plex, and maybe a small virtual machine for an email server.
I was thinking about this configuration:
-pentium g4400 (for h265)
-msi b150 eco /gigabyte GA-b150m-hd3/asrock b150M pro4S
-4gb of ram
- 2x WD red 4TB in raid1 (I'll add later more couple of hard drive for more raid1)
The main question is: why freenas need 8gb of ram? Aren't 4GB enough for a simpy configuration like mine?
As i said I only need:
-torrent
-share folder
-little VM with 512 of ram for email server.

 

[anodos]

That doesn't meet the minimum hardware requirements.
http://www.freenas.org/hardware-requirements/

 

[Jailer]

The main question is: why freenas need 8gb of ram?

Because ZFS

 

[Ansem]

So I can't even install freenas on a system with 4GB of ram? it's not a big deal, 8gb are like 9€ more than 4gb, so it's fine.
All the other things are fine instead?

 

[danb35]

So I can't even install freenas on a system with 4GB of ram?

Yes, you can, but don't expect the system to be stable, reliable, or safe for your data. If you're going to be running Plex, you should really plan on 16 GB instead--8 GB is the minimum for a basic system, and Plex is pretty hungry.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Your motherboard selection is not going to work. You need a server type motherboard, gaming motherboard use cheaper parts that usually don't work correctly.

 

[SweetAndLow]

If you want cheap check out this thread

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ll-a-proper-home-freenas-setup-cost-me.28936/

Of the Dell t20 or lenovo ts140

 

[danb35]

I don't think it's correct to say the motherboard won't work. In all likelihood it will work, but it won't be optimal for stability or data integrity (no ECC).

 

[Ansem]

man, as I said, it need to be cheap. Those motherboard are already too much expensive.
here people are talking about 16gb of ram WTF, not even my desktop have them!
for the entire nas I can't spend more thane 200€, and I have already passed them.
The question is: can freenas run on this configuration with 8gb, or I need to go for other OS like OMV or debian?

 

[danb35]

If you need to do the whole system including drives for under 200 Euro, FreeNAS isn't for you.

 

[anodos]

man, as I said, it need to be cheap. Those motherboard are already too much expensive.
here people are talking about 16gb of ram WTF, not even my desktop have them!
for the entire nas I can't spend more thane 200€, and I have already passed them.
The question is: can freenas run on this configuration with 8gb, or I need to go for other OS like OMV or debian?

I think 200€ is an unrealistic price point for a NAS with any sort of redundancy (and new drives). You're firmly in WD mycloud territory at that price. If you bother to read up on how ZFS works, you'd understand why it needs lots of RAM. Extra services (like torrents, plex, etc.) bump up system requirements. Take a stab at OMV.

 

[maglin]

The TS140 is what you want for a cheap box.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[danb35]

I think the T20 is even cheaper, but you still can't get one with drives under 200 Euro.

 

[danb35]

...and really, this is 2016. 8 GB of RAM is not a ridiculous requirement. Even 16 GB is not an insane amount of RAM--heck, my three-year-old laptop has that much. You aren't going to get that in a new $200 machine, though. FreeNAS is designed to be a file server; it isn't designed to be installed on dirt-cheap, bottom-end castoff hardware.

Will Plex run in 8 GB? Probably. But I doubt it will run well in the long term.

 

[depasseg]

The main question is: why freenas need 8gb of ram? Aren't 4GB enough for a simpy configuration like mine?

FreeNAS adds a layer on top of what the OS would normally need. So in addition to a healthy amount of RAM required for ZFS, you also have the FreeNAS middleware RAM requirement. And then you add in Plex (and you say a VM?).

Here's a completely idle system with 8GB of RAM. It's a backup system, no shares. I installed plex just to see the RAM requirements. Plex isn't doing anything. And the nas isn't doing anything. I can't imagine dropping this to 4GB and expecting it to run.

 

[Ansem]

FreeNAS adds a layer on top of what the OS would normally need. So in addition to a healthy amount of RAM required for ZFS, you also have the FreeNAS middleware RAM requirement. And then you add in Plex (and you say a VM?).

Here's a completely idle system with 8GB of RAM. It's a backup system, no shares. I installed plex just to see the RAM requirements. Plex isn't doing anything. And the nas isn't doing anything. I can't imagine dropping this to 4GB and expecting it to run.
View attachment 11792

Thanks a lot for you answer! i'll definitevely go for 8GB still an idle system with plex use a little more than 2GB of ram, why peole is telling me that for sharing a folder and using plex i need more than 3gb of ram? does plex and sharing folder use more than 4gb?!

 

[pirateghost]

Thanks a lot for you answer! i'll definitevely go for 8GB still an idle system with plex use a little more than 2GB of ram, why peole is telling me that for sharing a folder and using plex i need more than 3gb of ram? does plex and sharing folder use more than 4gb?!

You need to realize there is more to the entire operating system than 'Plex and sharing folder'

You think the FreeNAS web GUI works on empty promises and hope?

 

[Jailer]

why peole is telling me that for sharing a folder and using plex i need more than 3gb of ram?

Because those people have experience and they are trying to share it with you. You can choose to ignore it but that of course is your choice and you do so at your peril.

 

[Linkman]

From one near newbie to another, the reason for using FreeNAS and ZFS is redundancy and data security. If you're not interested in that, and just need a NAS to use as a media server, than ZFS may not be for you. No worries, there are plenty of other choices, like OpenMediaVault, that would be happier on your hardware than FreeNAS. Good luck!