Doing cheap home file server build

Which is the best option? READ POST FIRST

  • Just buy a cheap AM3 CPU and a new case to use for FreeNAS and use my full system of spare parts for

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  • Switch around the roles in part B.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Buy a cheap i3 CPU and motherboard for FreeNAS and use my full system of spare parts for the VM PC?

    Votes: 0 0.0%

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Bermanator98

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So... I've recently replaced my FX8350 with an Intel CPU. I now have a full PC worth of parts from upgrading over the years, a spare AM3+ motherboard, as well as an old free PC I got from work. So I wanted to make use of this. I thought of setting up a PC for virtual machines, as well as a machine as a local file server all as a little project of my own. I knew that I would have to buy hardware to make it work since the PC from work only has 4 SATA ports, and I planned to use it as the file server. As well, the old PC case is too small for an ATX board. Then I could use the 8 core FX8350 for VMs, so I can dedicate more cores to VMs. But then I got thinking... I was thinking of Linus' "Under $150 CPU, Motherboard, 16GB RAM" video from last December. I could probably buy a decent server-grade CPU / mobo / RAM combo from ebay and throw that in the mix. And then I got thinking about that... Would I be better to use the FX8350 for the VM PC, or using old Intel server hardware for VMs? Also, do all old server motherboards that Linus talks about have non-standard mounting holes? If so, then that's probably not a good idea...

So here's the question.. Should I:

A. Just buy a cheap AM3 CPU and a new case to use for FreeNAS and use my full system of spare parts for the VM PC?
B. Buy an old Intel server CPU and board and a new case for FreeNAS and use my full system of spare parts for the VM PC?
C. Switch around the roles in part B.
D. Buy a cheap i3 CPU and motherboard for FreeNAS and use my full system of spare parts for the VM PC?

For storage I plan on using give or take 5 1TB drives in RAID 5. The reason for this is I can get them for free from work, which is the only reason why I'm going through with this. Normally I would use higher capacity drives, but hey, they're free.

Another thing, I was looking at the FreeNAS system requirements, and it says Intel is highly recommended... Why is this? Does it matter if I did go with AMD? Or should I go with Intel if at all possible?

Input on this is much appreciated!

Thanks,


Michael
 

anodos

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Intel server components (I.e. processor / chipset). No older than nehalem. And for the love of God stay clear of anything Linus does.

Giving more specific details about the Intel option would be better. you could also follow DrKK's buying guide. I think he has more sense in his left pinky toe than the aforementioned YouTuber.
 

Bermanator98

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Intel server components (I.e. processor / chipset). No older than nehalem. And for the love of God stay clear of anything Linus does.

Giving more specific details about the Intel option would be better. you could also follow DrKK's buying guide. I think he has more sense in his left pinky toe than the aforementioned YouTuber.
I gave his guide a look, and it seems really helpful for people. However, I don't have the kind of money that he is talking about. This is simply for a small personal project of mine, reusing old hardware just like his guide is not about. That's why I ask about getting old Intel server hardware, or if I should just buy a cheap AM3 compatible CPU and call it there.
 

anodos

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I gave his guide a look, and it seems really helpful for people. However, I don't have the kind of money that he is talking about. This is simply for a small personal project of mine, reusing old hardware just like his guide is not about. That's why I ask about getting old Intel server hardware, or if I should just buy a cheap AM3 compatible CPU and call it there.
AMD is not a good idea. Supermicro X8 is about as old as you should go for Intel platform.
 

Fritzolio

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I just put together a cheapy AMD1 box using spare parts. FreeNAS would not install on it. Don't go AMD.
 

gpsguy

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Do you still have your FX8350? If so, you might consider picking up an Asus M5A78L-M/USB3 motherboard and some ECC RAM. You'd also need an Intel NIC (like the Pro/1000 CT). The onboard Realtek is crap. We've got some users on the forum using this mobo.

In general, we don't recommend AMD solutions, nor desktop mobo's. But, if money's tight, you might want to consider it.
 
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