First Build - NAS + Plex Server

[R15K]

Hello!

This will be my first build and I intend to use this as a Home Media Server / Plex Server and a NAS. This will almost always be on with constant read and write for torrents as well. I also want to mention that I want to support a minimum 2x 1080p transcodes at the same time.

My budget is around $2500 USD

• CPU/Motherboard Combo - Supermicro X10SDV-4C+-TLN4F-O Intel Xeon D-1518/ DDR4/ SATA3&USB3.0/ V&4GbE/ Mini-ITX Motherboard & CPU Combo
• RAM - 2x Samsung - 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory
• Storage - 6x Western Digital - Red 8 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
• Case be quiet! - Silent Base 800 ATX Mid Tower Case (This is a case I already own so I figured I may as well re-purpose it. I believe it supports enough bays and the Motherboard format)
• Power Supply - Corsair - RMx 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
• USB - Samsung MUF-32AB/AM FIT Plus 32GB - 200MB/s USB 3.1 Flash Drive - for the OS
  

Some more details -

• The HDDs will be in Raidz-2 (4+2).
• The case has already been purchased for a previous build but was not in use so I am recycling this case. I know it is not ideal (I would have loved to try out hot swap bays), but it is what it is.
• The OS will be installed on a USB flash drive.

Some things that worried me was the performance for the Plex part of this when I install the OS on a flash drive as well as the fact that even though Plex says that a 2000 passmark score for the CPU is enough to handle a 1080p transcodes, the CPU I chose scored around 5000, which I am not sure is sufficient for 2x 1080p transcodes + handling torrents.

I think I covered everything for the NAS/HMS, but I wanted to get some feedback to see if I followed best practices!
I appreciate any and all feedback!

 

[Tigersharke]

Hello!

• CPU/Motherboard Combo - Supermicro X10SDV-4C+-TLN4F-O Intel Xeon D-1518/ DDR4/ SATA3&USB3.0/ V&4GbE/ Mini-ITX Motherboard & CPU Combo
• RAM - 2x Samsung - 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) Registered DDR4-2133 Memory
• Storage - 6x Western Digital - Red 8 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
• Case be quiet! - Silent Base 800 ATX Mid Tower Case (This is a case I already own so I figured I may as well re-purpose it. I believe it supports enough bays and the Motherboard format)
• Power Supply - Corsair - RMx 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
• USB - Samsung MUF-32AB/AM FIT Plus 32GB - 200MB/s USB 3.1 Flash Drive - for the OS

I think I covered everything for the NAS/HMS, but I wanted to get some feedback to see if I followed best practices!
I appreciate any and all feedback!

The only item I can comment on is the USB flash drive for the OS. Older versions of FreeNAS may have been okay with having a USB stick as boot device in constant use, but this is no longer the preferred nor recommended, and not a suggested method. Something like Transcend 32GB MLC SATA III 6Gb/s 2.5" Solid State Drive would be a much better choice but others on the forums or details in the hardware recommendations guide or quick hardware guide will be more precise than my quick guess at an appropriate SSD. I am not one to ding you on any of the other hardware you have proposed to use as I would surely not be using the best items myself if/when I get my own FreeNAS install back up.. besides, those guides exist for a reason. :)

 

[Inxsible]

@R15K -- Think used hardware !

You will get a lot more bang for your buck and yes, get a small SSD for the OS.

 

[Chris Moore]

My budget is around $2500 USD

I have not updated it lately, but you might want to take a look at this:
https://www.ixsystems.com/community/resources/specific-build-components-list-up-to-32gb-ram.109/
or, for a little more horsepower:
https://www.ixsystems.com/community...anges-to-upgrade-as-high-as-512gb-of-ram.110/
There is certainly no reason to spend money on new hardware to run FreeNAS.

 

[Jessep]

Torrent'ing to/on your main pool is likely to create a lot of fragmentation if you are anything like me (download a lot, keep little). Might want to think about a smaller pool (2 drive mirror) for that.

 

[Chris Moore]

Torrent'ing to/on your main pool is likely to create a lot of fragmentation if you are anything like me (download a lot, keep little). Might want to think about a smaller pool (2 drive mirror) for that.

Very true. I use a SSD to store torrent data because it comes in fragmented to begin with due to the nature of the protocol. After the download is done, then I transfer the data to my NAS.

 

[Tigersharke]

Very true. I use a SSD to store torrent data because it comes in fragmented to begin with due to the nature of the protocol. After the download is done, then I transfer the data to my NAS.

Would this be avoided if qbittorrent for example, had a temporary download directory then once completed it automatically moved the whole file to another location? Probably more certain to avoid fragmentation if the temp and final directories were in separate pools?

 

[Chris Moore]

Probably more certain to avoid fragmentation if the temp and final directories were in separate pools?

Yes. That is how I handle it, and this is how my fragmentation looks:

Code:

root@Emily-NAS:~ # zpool list
NAME           SIZE  ALLOC   FREE  EXPANDSZ   FRAG    CAP  DEDUP  HEALTH  ALTROOT
Backup        43.5T  16.3T  27.2T         -     0%    37%  1.00x  ONLINE  /mnt
Emily         43.5T  18.3T  25.2T         -     0%    42%  1.00x  ONLINE  /mnt
Irene         43.5T  17.8T  25.7T         -     0%    40%  1.00x  ONLINE  /mnt
freenas-boot  37.2G  11.9G  25.4G         -      -    31%  1.00x  ONLINE  -
root@Emily-NAS:~ #

 

[Bigsby]

Yes. That is how I handle it, and this is how my fragmentation looks...

So do you use the boot drive to store inprogress torrents?

 

[Chris Moore]

So do you use the boot drive to store inprogress torrents?

No. The pool named, "freenas-boot" is used for booting the system ONLY. The only thing else you can do with it is store the system dataset which holds the syslog and reporting database.

I have a portion of the Irene pool that acts as the temp space for downloads. Permanent storage is on the Emily pool.

 

[Jessep]

Would this be avoided if qbittorrent for example, had a temporary download directory then once completed it automatically moved the whole file to another location? Probably more certain to avoid fragmentation if the temp and final directories were in separate pools?

That would solve it for most use cases.
In my case I review and delete most downloaded content (tv shows, indie movies, etc.) and keep maybe 10% for repeat viewing. I would end up fragmenting my main pool from the 90% deletes. So I use a pool for download/review and manually move the watched files.

On the plus side my main storage pool doesn't grow very fast as I don't keep everything (grin). Thank you Hollywood for making mostly crap for the last 20 years!

 

[rio236]

Yes. That is how I handle it, and this is how my fragmentation looks:

Code:

root@Emily-NAS:~ # zpool list
NAME           SIZE  ALLOC   FREE  EXPANDSZ   FRAG    CAP  DEDUP  HEALTH  ALTROOT
Backup        43.5T  16.3T  27.2T         -     0%    37%  1.00x  ONLINE  /mnt
Emily         43.5T  18.3T  25.2T         -     0%    42%  1.00x  ONLINE  /mnt
Irene         43.5T  17.8T  25.7T         -     0%    40%  1.00x  ONLINE  /mnt
freenas-boot  37.2G  11.9G  25.4G         -      -    31%  1.00x  ONLINE  -
root@Emily-NAS:~ #

Hello,

I didn't know there is ZFS fragmentation. Thanks.
I currently have this system in use and it has 2% fragmentation.

System 1 - Currently primary.
Case: SuperMicro 846BE1C-R1K23B
MB: SuperMicro X11SPH-nCTF - Broadcom® 3008 - flashed to IT Firmware
CPU: Intel® Xeon® Silver 4114 Processor
Ram: (Samsung M393A4K40BB2-CTD x 2) - 64GB
Storage: 7 x 10TB Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS ST10000VN000 Raidz3
OS: 2 Transcend 32GB MLC SATA III 6Gb/s SSD (TS32GSSD370S) mirrored
Usage: NAS, Plex
Fragmentation: 2%

It would become the offsite backup and expanded with another vdev.

Please advise how to control fragmentation when I copy system 1 to 2 below.

System 2 - not in use - to be primary
The same as above except with
Storage:
2 vdev - 7 x 10TB Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS ST10000VN000 Raidz3
2 x SAMSUNG 860 EVO Series 1TB SATA III SSD MZ-76E1T0B/AM mirrored (torrenting)

Thank you.