Decisions Decisions..

[kmk]

Greetings all,

Checked out FreeNAS awhile back, installed on a HP xw4100 with 2gb ecc ram just to play with, that was many years ago, and while the server still existis (and chugs along nicely) Its time for a more dedicated solution.

Option 1. Buy a FreeNAS Mini

Pros: Buy - Populate - Plugin Done. ~$1400 (with purchase of 4 WD Red 4TB HDDs)
Cons: Only 4 Disks, for some reason that seems bad to me..

Option 2. Build ~$1500

Pros: Easy to future proof, more is better right? A better rig (hopefully) for the price.
Cons: Time, you own it, etc..

While I have built a few systems in my day, its been awhile. After reading the FAQ's and hardware recommendations this is what I have.

MB: ASRock C236 WSI Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C236

RAM: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM ECC DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Server Memory Model CT2K8G4RFS4213

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220 V5 SkyLake 3.0 GHz LGA 1151 80W BX80662E31220V5 Server Processor

Case: LIAN LI PC-Q25B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX

PS: CORSAIR TX-M Series CP-9020133-NA 550W ATX12V v2.4 / EPS 2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Semi-Modular

Also included 6 WD Red 4TB HDD Purchased in pairs from various retailers.

What did I miss? Improvements? Just buy the Mini and be done with it?

Looking to have a central storage for photos (currently have about 3-4TB spread around various media) time to consolidate. May use to stream videos but that would be a rarity, only 2 people accessing at any given time.

This will be running full time, I have attempted to be power conscious, but feel as I have failed.

Thank you,

-k

 

[gpsguy]

ixSystems does offer a Mini XL, that allows for up to 8 disks.

Only 4 Disks, for some reason that seems bad to me..

Do you *really* need something based on a mini-ITX form factor? If you can find a microATX case you like, I'd recommend a solution based on a Supermicro X11 motherboard.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Also included 6 WD Red 4TB HDD Purchased in pairs from various retailers.

Don't waste your time with that nonsense if buying drives from various retailers. All you have to do is test them before using them. Follow the burn in procedure documented in the forms.

You can also buy pre built systems that fit 4 drives for under $200 + drives of you want a less expensive system. Then if you need more drives in the future you didn't really waste much on your first hardware.

 

[Arwen]

If building your own, @SweetAndLow's suggestion is decent.

In some ways buying a 4 disk system cheap, but using higher density drives, (meaning >=8TB), gives you a bit of future proofing. It also compensates for using RAID-Z2, which only gives you 1/2 the storage, (plus the ability to loose any 2 disks unlike Mirrors...).

That said, I like my FreeNAS Mini, (non-XL version). It meets my needs AND you can add 2 x 2.5" disks, either L2Cache, SLOG or just for other storage, (like a separate pool for VM storage). And if you really need a bit of extra storage, you can add a SATA DOM, (SuperMicro sells a 128GB model now).

 

[Inxsible]

MB: ASRock C236 WSI Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C236

Don't know where you are going to buy that board, but if you are planning to buy from Newegg ( https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813599009 -- currently listed at $492.76) then paying close to $500 for that board is stupidity. You can get much better boards for less than half that price.

I use a Tyan S5533 which is a Mini-ITX and I got that for $159.99. Also AsRock calls it a server board, but then gives useless sound ports on it which for a FreeNAS application are unnecessary and only a way for dust to get into the case.

Supermicro does have some ITX server boards, but most of them that I know are SoC. There are some Supermicro ITX boards that you can plug a CPU in but you have to search for them. If ITX is not a necessity, then Supermicro has lots of better options.

 

[kmk]

Don't know where you are going to buy that board,

It was available at NewEgg for $219 but looks like its gone now.

 

[kmk]

Ok take 2...

Case: Fractal Design Node 804 Black Window Aluminum/Steel MATX Cube Computer Case ~95
MB: SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SSH-LN4F-O Micro ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C236 ~210
Ram: Black Diamond Memory 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Server Memory Model ... ~380
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5 SkyLake 3.3 GHz LGA 1151 80W BX80662E31225V5 Server Processor ~230
PSU: Cooler Master V850 - Fully Modular 850W 80 PLUS Gold PSU with Silencio Silent 135mm fan ~190
HDD: WD Red 4TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD40EFRX ~140 x4

Total is at $1650 This gives me space to add another pool of 4 disks in the future. There is also room to add another 32GB RAM.\

Thoughts?

Note: the MB/CPU is a combo, so I can't swap them without a price increase. If that is what is recommended, so be it.

 

[Inxsible]

Do you really need 4 NICs? If not, I believe Supermicro has a X11SSH-F as well. But given your needs (photo storage and max 2 video streams) I know this build is overkill.

I run a Pentium G3240 on a Tyan S5533 with 16GB RAM with 2 Plex streams, Transmission, CouchPotato and Radarr

 

[Ericloewe]

If not, I believe Supermicro has a X11SSH-F as well.

And the X11SSM-F is a better board than the X11SSH-F.

 

[Inxsible]

And the X11SSM-F is a better board than the X11SSH-F.

Sez u !! ;)

But seriously, how so? I am looking at the Supermicro website for both these boards and the only difference I have found is the M.2 support in X11SSH-F. Oh and they call the X11SSH-F as "Datacenter Optimized" -- whatever that means.

 

[Ericloewe]

From https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/so-you’ve-decided-to-buy-a-supermicro-x11-board.13/

X11SSH-F
The X11SSH-F is the high-end Xeon E3 v5 board from Supermicro. In practice, feature-wise, it’s very similar to the X11SSM-F. In fact, the only difference is that one PCI-e 3.0 x8 (x4 electrical) slot is exchanged for an M.2 connector (2x PCI-e 3.0).

For the sake of consistency, PCI-e 3.0 connectivity is as follows:

· One x16 slot (x8 electrical) from the CPU
· One x8 slot from the CPU
· One x8 slot (x4 electrical) from the PCH

That means that two PCIe lanes are completely wasted (they're used for the extra NICs in the -LN4F version) and the M.2 slot is seriously handicapped. Pricing is also not favorable at all, even if you add an M.2 adapter to the X11SSM-F's price.

 

[Inxsible]

Thanks. That information is not very obvious when comparing on the Supermicro websites. Slimy bastards ! Must read the manuals in detail !!

 

[Ericloewe]

That's why I spent several hours going through the various models close to two years ago.

 

[kmk]

That's why I spent several hours going through the various models close to two years ago.

And that's why I posted here prior to build. Thank you for all the good info, now to see if I can find that board and a cpu.

 

[kmk]

Ok so CPU and MB replaced with

• 1 × SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SSM-F-O Micro ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C236
• 1 × Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5 SkyLake 3.3 GHz LGA 1151 80W BX80662E31225V5 Server Processor

I think we have a build, last change actually dropped the price by ~$40 (Found a CPU/MB combo) so We are under the cost of a 16TB Mini price with 16TB, at Raid Z2 8TB usable. Nice.

Please submit final thoughts, suggestions, complaints, etc.

Thank you.

 

[Inxsible]

Do it !!!

 

[chris crude]

Ok so CPU and MB replaced with

• 1 × SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SSM-F-O Micro ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C236
• 1 × Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5 SkyLake 3.3 GHz LGA 1151 80W BX80662E31225V5 Server Processor

I think we have a build, last change actually dropped the price by ~$40 (Found a CPU/MB combo) so We are under the cost of a 16TB Mini price with 16TB, at Raid Z2 8TB usable. Nice.

Please submit final thoughts, suggestions, complaints, etc.

Thank you.

Other than the fact the CPU has unneeded video support, its cost and speed sits right between the 1220 and 1230 from what i can find. I don't think having the video will hurt anything, won't help but won't hurt.

 

[kmk]

Other than the fact the CPU has unneeded video support, its cost and speed sits right between the 1220 and 1230 from what i can find. I don't think having the video will hurt anything, won't help but won't hurt.

Main Board,CPU, Ram, HDD, and case are all in, power supply is currently MIA.

Thanks to all who assisted, looking forward to the build.

 

[kmk]

Ok, while waiting for the PSU I thought I would make the case a bit more application appropriate. :D

 

[wblock]

That looks amazing--how was the logo made?