FreeNAS CPU help

[raulm753]

Hi,

This is m first server build of any kind. Im debating between the following processors:

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX
AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor SDX145HBGMBOX
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

The components that I plan on buying are:
1 Rosewill REDBONE Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
1 Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
1 ASUS M4A88T-M AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
1 Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...
1 G.SKILL Ares Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-1333C9Q-16GAO

This is what I want from a server:
File Sharing
Torrent
Upnp
Transcoding
Is FreeNas good for me?
Thank you for the help.

 

[Kimba]

If you plan on using 8.x.x I would recommend a multicore processor.
You have plenty of memory and everything else.

My concern would be just a single drive because the strength (or comfort in FreeNas) is its raid abilities. Nothing like having one drive go down and the only words out of your mouth is "I need to buy another drive or still one from one of my other machines" verses "I lost all my #%^*## data".

 

[b1ghen]

I am running the exact same motherboard and a AMD Athlon II X3 455 CPU with the fourth core unlocked, it has plenty of power. I would probably avoid the Sempron like Kimba said.
I only chose that motherboard for the ECC RAM support.

If you are not going for the AMD platform for the ability to use ECC RAM I would look into and Intel platform instead and save on the power bill in the future, a Sandy Bridge based Pentium (like the G620 or above) is very capable and uses a lot less power than any AMD desktop CPU.

 

[lrusak]

Hi,

This is m first server build of any kind. Im debating between the following processors:

AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX
AMD Sempron 145 Sargas 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W Single-Core Desktop Processor SDX145HBGMBOX
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX

This is what I want from a server:
Transcoding

I had a Phenom II x4 955 in mine. It was unnecessary and I swapped it out for a Phenom II x2 550 and is running more then adequate.

PS. how do you suppose you are going to do any transcoding? Upnp and DLNA are just for providing files as is, then the client decodes them.

 

[raulm753]

Kimba and b1ghen thank you for your help. Im leaning toward the X3 now.
So you think is better to go with this instead?1

Rosewill REDBONE Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...

Pareema 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model MD313C81609L1

ASRock H61ICAFE LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
This only support 4 SATA PORTS

Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G620

I dont know how many HD do I need starting out.

On transcoding, so FreeNAS does not transcode? So much trouble would it be to get FreeNAS to transcode?

 

[PosGuy]

The number of hard drives depends on how much space you want to end up with and what kind of redundancy you want. With a single drive you get %100 of the space but you loose everything if it dies. With 2 drives (2X2TiB for example) in a mirror mode each one copies the other, so you only get 2Tib of space to use, but you have %100 backup if either drive dies. With 3 drives you can start to get into striping and raidz. With 3 X2Tib drives you would end up with 4Tib of usable space and all your data is save if any 1 drive dies. I think 3 is a good start point for most uses unless you need a lot of space.

 

[raulm753]

The number of hard drives depends on how much space you want to end up with and what kind of redundancy you want. With a single drive you get %100 of the space but you loose everything if it dies. With 2 drives (2X2TiB for example) in a mirror mode each one copies the other, so you only get 2Tib of space to use, but you have %100 backup if either drive dies. With 3 drives you can start to get into striping and raidz. With 3 X2Tib drives you would end up with 4Tib of usable space and all your data is save if any 1 drive dies. I think 3 is a good start point for most uses unless you need a lot of space.

Thank You. Three drives would be the way to go then. Still not sure on the transcoding and Upnp(DLNA) stuff. I'm also thinking about using linux(CentOS, Unbutu) or freebsd and add the programs that I need, but FreeNAS seem like it would be the simpler option.

 

[lrusak]

I dont know how many HD do I need starting out.

On transcoding, so FreeNAS does not transcode? So much trouble would it be to get FreeNAS to transcode?

I would recommend reading more into freenas and ZFS in general before you take the plunge. Read about the different types of Raid modes and how they can benefit you. then choose what is right for your application.

Freenas won't transcode video because there is no plugin that will allow it to transcode. It will simply serve you your media as a direct stream. If you want to transcode then look into running Plex media server off of Ubuntu. This isn't to say that freenas won't have this functionality in the future but there is really no way to know how long it could take

 

[survive]

Hi raulm753,

A couple of thoughts....

Are you leaning AMD or Intel at this point? The AMD procs (except the Sempron) are all plenty powerful for a home NAS....the 965 is way overkill. If you are going Intel the 620 is fine, I'd be tempted to go with the smallest i3 just on principal, but I have no real justification for saying so. You might want to look at the AMD E-350 boards if you are looking for lower power.

I would stay away from the H61 boards because of the 2 DIMM limit & only 4 SATA ports.

I'd go ahead & get 8GB of ram in 2 4GB sticks, particularly if you are planning on using the on-board video. 8GB is plenty of RAM and with a 67 or 68 series board you still have 2 slots for more.

Personally I like to spend a bit more on the case & PSU. Paying a bit more initially for a case without any hidden sharp edges makes for a much better build experience and a sturdier case should be quieter. I like Antec Corsair & SeaSonic for PSU's.

Also, if you are looking to transcode you might want to see about getting a media player like the Patriot Box Office which can play your media right off your filer.

-Will

 

[raulm753]

Thank you all for the information. Im now leaning back to AMD with x3 or x4, most likely x3. I'll look into the E-350 boards see if i like them. I wanted to use an xbox360 to play the media on the server, and for that i need transcoding. Im now looking into using CentOS or some other linux distro as a server, or wait for freenas to get plugins for transcoding.