FreeNAS first Build

[Ashmanq]

Hi,

I'm new to the world of Networked storage but have been looking into building a NAS for storing backups from a couple of PCs and as a (Plex) media server that is capable of transcoding 4k video to at least 1 tv at one time (at most 2 devices at the same time).

I am looking at using FreeNAS with the ZFS file storage system. I have read the FreeNAS manual and gone through the PowerPoint presentation explaining Zpools and vdevs.

From this I figure I need at least 8GB of ECC RAM or ideally 16GB. I also realise that I should use a server grade motherboard with an Intel NIC. Supermicro seems to be the motherboard of choice. I also think the HDDs should be WD reds which are designed for NAS use.

I have a Lian Li case PC-V351 case that I will use for the build. I also have a 32GB SSD that I will use to host the freeNAS OS. I'm looking at the following to build my server/NAS and wanted to check if I'm getting the right components or if I've over/underspec'd:

Ram: 2x 8GB Crucial DDR4-2400 CT7982469 = £100
Processor: Intel skylake Xeon E3-1260L v5 = £270.00
Motherboard: Supermicro X11SAE-M micro ATX = £200.00
PSU: 650W Corsair RM650X = £90.00
HDD: 2x WD Red 4TB drives* = £300
*Have the two HDDs as a mirrored Vdev in a Zpool giving me 4TB of HD space.

Do you think this will be capable of performing what I want? Am I using the best hard drive setup? I'll admit the different RAIDZ arrangements confuse me a little.

I am currently wiring my house for gigabit ethernet and plan to have the two tv's wired to the network. I also have three PCs on the network that will use the NAS/server to store backups and access files every so often. The main use will be as a media server.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Don't use a low power CPU like you have selected.

Other suggestions: I would get 16GB sticks of memory so you can max things out if you ever need to. Price will probably be about the same.

 

[Nick2253]

Don't use a low power CPU like you have selected.

I'll second this.

An E3-1245 or E3-1240 will give you much better performance, and they'll be cheaper to boot.

 

[okgunguy]

I have the E3-1241. I have never tried 4k video. But it handles 1280 to multiple (3+ devises) just fine. When I built mine a year ago 32Gb of RAM sounded like a lot. But that was before DDR4 came out. 8Gb of RAM will not be enough. The MoBo you have listed takes DDR4 up to 64Gb. Give it that much.

 

[Ashmanq]

My wish list is now:

Ram: 16GB Crucial DDR4-2133 CT7981927 = £100
Processor: Intel Skylake Xeon E3-1240 v5 = £270.00
Motherboard: Supermicro X11SSH-F micro ATX = £200.00
PSU: 650W Corsair RM650X = £90.00
HDD: 2x WD Red 4TB drives = £300

I've gone from 2 8GB RAM sticks to a 16GB stick and I've changed the processor to the Xeon E3-1240 v5. I've also changed the motherboard to the X11SSH-F as the previous model had audio which I don't need.

Do I need a 650W PSU? Can I get away with a 500W efficient PSU for this build and still have room for more HDD's?

 

[Nick2253]

Do I need a 650W PSU? Can I get away with a 500W efficient PSU for this build and still have room for more HDD's?

There's a PSU sizing sticky, along with recommendations, in the hardware forum.

 

[SweetAndLow]

You could drop your power supply to a 450 watt of you wanted. It all depends on how many disks you want to run.

Also double check you can run a single stick of memory in that motherboard. It should work but sometimes they are strange.

 

[okgunguy]

You could drop your power supply to a 450 watt of you wanted. It all depends on how many disks you want to run.

Also double check you can run a single stick of memory in that motherboard. It should work but sometimes they are strange.

I'm running 550W for 6 disks and probably still have enough for more.
I would also double check and see if your MoBo will run on only 1 stick of RAM. SweetAndLow is totally correct in this.
RAM and HardDrives are where you'll want to spend your money. Suck it up and get 2 16Gb sticks right off the bat. You can add another 2 later. And go as big and as many drives as you can afford. At least 4Tb. You can't add to your pool. But you can always add more pools.
You don't need audio or video on your MoBo. Your client will take care of all that for you.
I had been running my Samsung DVD player as my client. But DVD players are horrible when it comes to cinevia. I just switched to a Raspberry Pi 3 with Rasplex. Plays everything perfectly. Even movies that I know for a fact have cinevia on them.

 

[CraigD]

You can't add to your pool. But you can always add more pools.

You are confused, you can add to a pool by adding more vdevs or upgrading HDDs with larger drives

Normally only one pool with multiple vdevs is used (get more IOPS) some people run two pools one mechanical and one SSD

I currently have 3, my main pool 8x2TB RAIDz2, a SSD Mirror pool for Jails and a temporary pool 3x4TB RAIDz1 until I buy 5x4TB drives and add a 8x4TB RAIDz2 vdev to my main pool

Have Fun

 

[danb35]

You can't add to your pool. But you can always add more pools.

As @CraigD says, this is incorrect. You can add another vdev (or two, or three, or n) to your pool, expanding it. You can replace your existing disks with larger ones to expand your pool. You can even add single disks to your pool, though this is almost always a pathologically stupid thing to do. I suspect you're confusing pools with vdevs, because what you say of pools is true of vdevs.

You can, of course, also add any number of pools.