SOLVED Custom build or IXSYSTEMS FreeNAS mini?

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

My usage would be: strage, backup of other devices, owncloud, plex server with transcoding, file sharing. This is the minimum requirement, anything else is a plus. I might install a game server for my family only (4-5 players at most), but I can also just run it on my desktop pc, there is no real need there.

I would be ok for used gear, problem is that in Canada I struggle to find parts on ebay or Amazon.

I really hate the 4 bays idea. In my mind I was going to add drives whenever I needed, starting with 2 (I decided to go with mirroring, long story, less space but more flexibility).
Anything over would make me happier.

700 $ build is perfect. I was looking for something in that ballpark, but dell has a hole between the 600 and the 1000 one.

 

[Chris Moore]

Looking around for used gear, here’s one idea Lenovo ts460. https://m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...334524.m4084.l1313.TR3.TRC0.A0.H0.Xts460.TRS0

I’m sure there are equivalents by hp and dell, and older versions for even less

That is way too new... Look at this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/UXS-Server...JBOD-FREENAS-2x-Sandy-Bridge-ZFS/132771936782
and that system board can run the Xeon E5 v2 processors that are a bit more efficient and it can use Registered ECC memory which is less expensive than Unbuffered memory.

 

[Chris Moore]

If you want to go really storage crazy, you can get one like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4U-48-Bay-...2x-Xeon-Low-Power-6-Core-2-26Ghz/132799185756
I would probably put a newer system board in it, but it would work like it is.

edit - it would need the hardware RAID controller changed out for a plain SAS HBA, not a show stopper.

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

That looks great, please keep in mind though that the computer is on sight.

The lenovo looks good, except for the bundled 8gb ram.

Also looking on ebay.ca I found very little, from u. S. I have to add 12% to everything.

Edit: I guess I can cover the server with a big picture or something like that.

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

If you want to go really storage crazy, you can get one like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4U-48-Bay-...2x-Xeon-Low-Power-6-Core-2-26Ghz/132799185756
I would probably put a newer system board in it, but it would work like it is.

edit - it would need the hardware RAID controller changed out for a plain SAS HBA, not a show stopper.

Keep in mind the budget, Ideally I won't go over 700 (800,maybe 850). As usual I can stretch for the perfect deal, but let’s pretend 750 is a target.

 

[Chris Moore]

Just don't get lured in by these things:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4U-45-Driv...server-Intel-i3-2100-3-10Ghz-8GB/142997710266

Some of the components are not what could be considered compatible.

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

That is way too new... Look at this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/UXS-Server...JBOD-FREENAS-2x-Sandy-Bridge-ZFS/132771936782
and that system board can run the Xeon E5 v2 processors that are a bit more efficient and it can use Registered ECC memory which is less expensive than Unbuffered memory.

That looks perfect, except for the 32 gb ram bundled (8gb sticks), I'll need to replace it all to use all those hdd slots. But yeah, that is damn good!

 

[danb35]

I'll need to replace it all to use all those hdd slots

No you won't, just add--that board has more than four DIMM sockets. Do not take the (deliberately loose and vague) "1 GB / TB" rule of thumb too strictly.

 

[Chris Moore]

That looks great, please keep in mind though that the computer is on sight.

The lenovo looks good, except for the bundled 8gb ram.

Also looking on ebay.ca I found very little, from u. S. I have to add 12% to everything.

Edit: I guess I can cover the server with a big picture or something like that.

I don't really understand why the secondary market is so slim in other countries. Sorry.
This server would be a good one, in the price range, with the only caveat being the existing hardware RAID card would need to be changed out for a SAS HBA.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...-24-x-HDD-Storage-Server-W-Rails/173688157339

You can pickup a quality used SAS HBA like this very easily:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6G...0-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162862201664
and it is easy to swap the cards.

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Just don't get lured in by these things:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4U-45-Driv...server-Intel-i3-2100-3-10Ghz-8GB/142997710266

Some of the components are not what could be considered compatible.

I'm looking only at xeon processors, so i wouldn't pick that. I also double check for intel nics. That is very important!

 

[Chris Moore]

PS. These rack chassis from Supermicro can easily stand on their side to be used as tower chassis. That is what I do because my wife has not yet been talked into the idea of having a server rack. I have six rack mount servers standing on their sides in my office at home and a couple of them have been running like that for nearly three years.

 

[Chris Moore]

If you want to go full custom build, you could get a bare chassis like this and pick your own system board:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chenbro-RM...t-Server-Chassis-12Gb-s-mini-SAS/233105384634

Options.

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

PS. These rack chassis from Supermicro can easily stand on their side to be used as tower chassis. That is what I do because my wife has not yet been talked into the idea of having a server rack. I have six rack mount servers standing on their sides in my office at home and a couple of them have been running like that for nearly three years.

That build you linked is PERFECT.
Not joking, it beats the the Dell by far! I'm glad I waited to buy.

Perfect for the side suggestion, I was about to ask that!

How many ram modules does it support? I've been trying to find the number but struggling!

 

[danb35]

I'm looking only at xeon processors

It's up to you, of course, to decide on your needs, but it's a pretty uncommon case (particularly for a home user) that actually needs a Xeon. Says the guy with two E5-2670s (and eight X5650s, but that's something completely different)...

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

If you want to go full custom build, you could get a bare chassis like this and pick your own system board:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chenbro-RM...t-Server-Chassis-12Gb-s-mini-SAS/233105384634

Options.

It would be great but I would probably spend a lot in mailing and have no competence to do that, I'll need to keep asking on the forum

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

It's up to you, of course, to decide on your needs, but it's a pretty uncommon case (particularly for a home user) that actually needs a Xeon. Says the guy with two E5-2670s (and eight X5650s, but that's something completely different)...

There is one reason for doing that, and it's the same as of having a gigabit internet "i don't have to think about it anymore". Don't underestimate that ;)

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

I don't really understand why the secondary market is so slim in other countries. Sorry.
This server would be a good one, in the price range, with the only caveat being the existing hardware RAID card would need to be changed out for a SAS HBA.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...-24-x-HDD-Storage-Server-W-Rails/173688157339

You can pickup a quality used SAS HBA like this very easily:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6G...0-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162862201664
and it is easy to swap the cards.

Ok, I will be going with this one, have been looking around and can't beat it!

 

[Chris Moore]

Although this is a decent system the way it is, you might find the 2.0 GHz processors a bit slow, and don't forget the existing hardware RAID card would need to be changed out for a SAS HBA.

So, if you start with this for $599:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...-24-x-HDD-Storage-Server-W-Rails/173688157339

Add the SAS HBA for $70:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6G...0-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162862201664

Then bump the processor speed up the 2.6 GHz (which works for me) with this kit:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Matched-Pa...Hz-8-Core-Server-CPU-Socket-2011/153349417309

for an extra $180, that would bring the total to about $849 without counting shipping because I am not sure what it would be to your location.

This might be more than you want to spend for now, but you can always get the processor upgrade later.

Something to keep in mind. This system board supports (if I recall correctly) a terabyte of RAM and you can easily pickup faster processors also. They just need to be the Xeon E5 v2 variety.

 

[Fire-Dragon-DoL]

Although this is a decent system the way it is, you might find the 2.0 GHz processors a bit slow, and don't forget the existing hardware RAID card would need to be changed out for a SAS HBA.

So, if you start with this for $599:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...-24-x-HDD-Storage-Server-W-Rails/173688157339

Add the SAS HBA for $70:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6G...0-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162862201664

Then bump the processor speed up the 2.6 GHz (which works for me) with this kit:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Matched-Pa...Hz-8-Core-Server-CPU-Socket-2011/153349417309

for an extra $180, that would bring the total to about $849 without counting shipping because I am not sure what it would be to your location.

This might be more than you want to spend for now, but you can always get the processor upgrade later.

Something to keep in mind. This system board supports (if I recall correctly) a terabyte of RAM and you can easily pickup faster processors also. They just need to be the Xeon E5 v2 variety.

That's all very interesting to me, even the ability to change the processor later.
It also gives me the ability to add drives gradually, which means even though I'm $150 out of budget, I might end up saving money in the end.

For example, since it has 24 bays, I might just buy 2x3tb drives instead of 6tb, saving some money, but still have plenty of room for expansion later on.

I'll go with that, thanks a lot. And yes I'll get the CPU, seems like a good point. I hate having to replace the cpu (I was unlucky and bent a pin long time ago), but this whole setup saves a lot in the end!

 

[Chris Moore]

For example, since it has 24 bays, I might just buy 2x3tb drives instead of 6tb, saving some money, but still have plenty of room for expansion later on.

It also gives you flexibility for other projects. For example, I temporarily added 16 drives to my system to do some performance testing. I took them back out later to cut the heat generated and power consumed, but I had the option.

Do keep in touch. There are lots of people here that would be happy to help with anything you run into.

My suggestion would be to use the previous release version of FreeNAS, which is 11.1-U6,3 because there are still some bug popping up in the new 11.2 version which introduced a whole new user interface. You can get that here:
https://download.freenas.org/11/latest/x64/FreeNAS-11.1-U6.3.iso

Once you get the parts, here are some guides that will help you with the setup:

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

Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/building-burn-in-and-testing-your-freenas-system.38/

Github repository for FreeNAS scripts, including disk burnin
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...for-freenas-scripts-including-disk-burnin.28/

solnet-array-test (for drive / array speed) non destructive test
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/solnet-array-test.1/

Useful Commands
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/useful-commands.30314/#post-195192

Uncle Fester's Basic FreeNAS Configuration Guide
https://www.familybrown.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=fester:intro

Disk Price/Performance Analysis Buying Information
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...e-performance-analysis-buying-information.62/