BUILD First ever NAS

[OlleDenStore]

Hi!

I'm gonna be building my first ever NAS and I would really like some feedback so I don't do anything stupid.

Motherboard + CPU: Supermicro A1SRI-2758F-O
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Black
RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 2x8 GB
PSU: Fractal Design Edison M 450W
HDD: 4x4TB WD Red

Requirements: I'm gonna be using it mostly for movies in my home network. I need it to be encrypted and I'm toying with the idea of running some type of virtualization in order to use it for both FreeNAS and pfSense(or other firewall).

Any and all feedback is appreciated!
/Olle

 

[danb35]

Read the threads on virtualizing FreeNAS (which basically say don't do it) before you consider that too strongly. Why do you need it to be encrypted? As to the hardware, folks here seem to favor the 2750 over the 2758, and Seasonic power supplies.

 

[marbus90]

Yeah, no virtualisation. Isn't feasible in that small footprint. That usually means two SAS controllers, one for hardware RAID for boot volumes and another as HBA for FreeNAS.

You can downsize to an C2550 CPU if you don't plan on using plex or other serverside transcoding.

Rather pick Samsung M474B1G73QH0-YK0 modules, the Kingstons are a bad enough choice if they're on the QVL, if not, avoid them like the plague.

PSU can be downsized to an Seasonig G-360 one.

For HDD setup I'd rather pick 6 drives in raidz2 since you can't change the vdev layout afterwards, i.e. expand the existing 4drive z2 to a 6drive z2. Instead you can just replace the HDDs with bigger ones as you need more storage, as soon as all HDDs are replaced the pool will automatically grow.

Recommended bootsticks are Sandisk 16GB, I'd go for usb3 and use them in the usb2 ports.

 

[OlleDenStore]

First off thanks for the feedback!
I did consider the Seasonic G-360 but since I have no experience with Seasonic I decided to go with the Edison M that Fractal markets as reliable. But if you guys say they are good I think I'll trust you and go for the 360 since it's slightly cheaper. When it comes to the CPU it's really an availability issue. My options from online retailers are limited since I live in Sweden(which isn't that big). There are 2550 boards available but they are from manufacturers like ASUS and ASROCK. I would rather pay a little more for a SuperMicro board, wouldn't you agree? With the RAM I have the same problem as the with the CPU. My options for DDR3 ECC unbuffered so-dimm are sort of limited, but I'll try to find something other than Kingston.
I'd really like to have encryption so that I have a place to safely store sensitive material(like pictures of the GF :) )

Edit: The list of compatible memory modules seems to be really small. What are the chances of mem not on the list being compatible?

 

[Fraoch]

I did consider the Seasonic G-360 but since I have no experience with Seasonic I decided to go with the Edison M that Fractal markets as reliable. But if you guys say they are good I think I'll trust you and go for the 360 since it's slightly cheaper.

Seasonic is probably the best PSU manufacturer right now. Take a look at how the G-360 measures up:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=313

In fact, poke around that site and see the other Seasonic reviews. They're really the best there is, and this guy reviews a LOT of power supplies, 355 at last count. And as you see, he does very extensive reviews with extremely in-depth tests.

I'd really like to have encryption so that I have a place to safely store sensitive material(like pictures of the GF :) )

<too much information!>

Edit: The list of compatible memory modules seems to be really small. What are the chances of mem not on the list being compatible?

A little greater on a server motherboard, unfortunately, and especially with Supermicro. However the Crucial website has a compatibility checker and if your motherboard is listed as compatible and you buy directly from them (looks like they ship to Sweden if you buy from their Euro store) they will accept returns if their memory doesn't work. Beats Kingston for sure.

I have Crucial memory in mine. It's not on the QVL but it works perfectly.

 

[DJ9]

Fractal has pretty decent power supplies. I'd still go with Seasonic. I have the G-450 and it's been really great, and the cost is reasonable.

 

[9C1 Newbee]

I'd really like to have encryption so that I have a place to safely store sensitive material(like pictures of the GF :) )

I'm sorry sir. We will need to see pictures of the girlfriend to really know what kind of server you'll need. It is part of the forum rules.

And by the way, Kingston is on the banned list. They have been doing funny business with their products. Buy your ram from a reputable company.

 

[danb35]

There are some pitfalls with encryption, and a non-zero risk of total, unrecoverable data loss. I don't follow the details, as I don't use it, but look around here carefully, including the bug reports, before you set up an encrypted pool.

 

[Ericloewe]

There are some pitfalls with encryption, and a non-zero risk of total, unrecoverable data loss. I don't follow the details, as I don't use it, but look around here carefully, including the bug reports, before you set up an encrypted pool.

In a nutshell, all the failure modes are designed to lock away the data for all eternity rather than make it available too easily. So, there's an even smaller margin for error than normally.

 

[RussianMafia]

I'd really like to have encryption so that I have a place to safely store sensitive material(like pictures of the GF :) )

Comrade,

Is not necessary to protect the pictures of your girlfriend. We examined your server and found security plenty secure. No encryption is necessary. If you want to use encryption, we highly recommend double ROT-13 encryption. Works very well to protect high quality Russian data from capitalistic pigs.

 

[OlleDenStore]

Thanks for all the help guys! I ended up buying the seasonic G-360 and ordering RAM from crucials euro site.

/Daniel

 

[Glorious1]

Instead of encryption, perhaps you could put the sensitive material in a separate dataset with restrictive permissions.