FreeNAS - Hardware Selection recommendations for home use with VM/Encryption

[danb35]

@danb35's suggestion beats it hands down (though I guess you need to add a few bucks for an HBA

No, the SSL includes a SAS3 HBA.

 

[Jim_holden]

great information!!!

here is what I learned so far.

1) not to use passive cooled CPU/Boards for the requirements I set out.
2) not to use the case I selected initially
3) look for options for additional cooling of the case and ensure more air circulation/flow towards the area housing HDDs.
4) don't go for hotswap coz your house is not an enterprise! - safer to shutdown the box and replace the drives.

i will post my new hw selection for your comments.

 

[Jim_holden]

Gentlemen,

So, I spent whole of my day reading through various forum threads and also going through pcpartspicker site. I resign. I don't have enough knowledge to make decisions and I am ashamed to even present my findings to you as there are lot of questions still. I couldn't make up my mind of the hardware I put together. in a way i am happy as I realize that i am a big zero in front of you guys when it comes to knowledge on hardware components :(

I think I should pay someone for selecting the right hardware and answer my never ending queries. I thought I would buy the mini xl - but as someone suggested, its passively cooled - with the amount of money I am willing to invest and my requirements I don't want to take a risk with that hardware...

may be I should lurk around here and read read read and one day come up with some kit...

 

[Redcoat]

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...romised-of-drkks-new-build.54332/#post-376616
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...romised-of-drkks-new-build.54332/#post-376616
I don't know whether you found the post linked above, and its associates. If I were going to build a box today from scratch rather than buying used, I would take DrKK's build as a base example of well-chosen hardware and execution. Maybe you can get some inspiration from it.

 

[Jim_holden]

Hello Gentlemen

here is the list - Kindly let me know your comments so that I can refine if needed...
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/b3BNLD

 

[Chris Moore]

3) I want to run 2 to 3 VMs.
4) Encryption is must as I am a bit of hypochondriac when it comes to data security.

I would like to run 2 or 3 windows servers to check few AD DNS etc for studies. I would like to run some Linux VMs for some syslog to collect data from some network equipment, run VPN, etc..

Due to the desire to run multiple Windows VMs, I would suggest a Xeon CPU to ensure that you have enough compute capacity to support the VMs and the needs of FreeNAS.
Additionally, the risk of losing all your data due to encryption is serious. There are many little things that may appear inconsequential that can change the key and cause you to not be able to access your data. If you don't have a regulatory requirement to use encryption, I would avoid the whole disk encryption that FreeNAS uses and only encrypt the files that are truly sensitive.

 

[Chris Moore]

Hello Gentlemen

here is the list - Kindly let me know your comments so that I can refine if needed...
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/b3BNLD

Sorry, I didn't see this before I posted my previous message. That Xeon should give you plenty of compute power.

 

[ViciousXUSMC]

My setup pretty much meets all your requirements.
Here are a few things to keep in mind.

AES-NI is great for low power machines to get a boost in performance when calling specific tasks, when you looking at 4/6 core server CPUs or dual CPUs it is not really needed as much as you may think.

I use an i7 in my pfSense server and with VPN/Encryption the CPU never gets more than like 5% load so I could have easily used a CPU without it. The people that really needed it were the ones looking at small form factor low power computers like the Celerons or quad core Atoms.

You want to go ahead and start with 48GB or RAM or 64GB of RAM the recommended is 1GB of RAM per TB of storage, you said you plan to have 32TB of storage, so that is 32GB of RAM you should have just for FreeNAS right away, then you want 2 or 3 VM's where maybe another 4GB of memory should be allocated to each.

32+4+4+4 = 48GB and why not leave some overhead so go for 64GB IMO.

Personally if VMs are a priority, I highly recommend installing ESXi and virtualization of FreeNAS. I just converted my bare bones FreeNAS Install to ESXi because I had a Windows VM running my IP cameras and FreeNAS could not allocate enough CPU resources to the VM, it was maxed out at 100% CPU and killing performance and FreeNAS was never using more than 20% of my CPU at any time.

A Dell R710 is what I use and a used one on ebay was like $250 and it already had everything for the build short of the drives.
I tossed in 6x8TB WD RED and put those in a RaidZ2 setup for about 24TB of usable space with 2 disk failure.

As much as you have one major component in front of you already (the chassis) don't rule out the fact you may still be better off buying a server that has everything already included instead of buying only what you do not have.

Do some math on your power cost, I knew using an old server like an R710 would use more power than if I hand built one with new lower power parts.
But my math worked out to be only $10 a month to run my server 24/7 at the cost I paid to get this server with all the enterprise grade hardware, I saved well over $1000 vs building it.
So I would need to run this server for nearly 7 years before it would use up $1000 in electrical cost.

By 7 years time I can go buy another used server and start the process over again. It just did not pay in my use case to get new equipment.

 

[Jim_holden]

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with family - so cannot afford R710 running due to the noise :(

ESXi - can the free version do everything I need? including encryption?

 

[Chris Moore]

Why do you need encryption? It's very risky.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[ViciousXUSMC]

I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with family - so cannot afford R710 running due to the noise :(

ESXi - can the free version do everything I need? including encryption?

Ahh you see, the #1 reason it took me so long to go for a used server was concerns of Noise.
Once I found the R710 was quiet, and I can control the fan speeds with IPMI it was a perfect fit.

It sits on my desk right in front of me and is so quiet that I can do voice over work without having it pick up on microphone, it is no louder than my desktop system on the floor.

For ESXi I do not use encryption, but you can still use encryption inside FreeNAS or what ever VM you decide to set up even if it does not have it or support it.

 

[Jim_holden]

Why do you need encryption? It's very risky.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

paranoid - don't want to send disks for repair if they fail and doesn't have encryption. I have two drives with me in such condition!!

Ahh you see, the #1 reason it took me so long to go for a used server was concerns of Noise.
Once I found the R710 was quiet, and I can control the fan speeds with IPMI it was a perfect fit.

It sits on my desk right in front of me and is so quiet that I can do voice over work without having it pick up on microphone, it is no louder than my desktop system on the floor.

For ESXi I do not use encryption, but you can still use encryption inside FreeNAS or what ever VM you decide to setup even if it does not have it or support it.

so you are saying - R710 will be okay for a two bed room apartment setup and won't have much noise generated other than during boot time when all goes hell loose for first few minutes?

 

[ViciousXUSMC]

Yes, if you spool down the fans. Mine is no louder than a normal gaming desktop.
Even without the fan override in my 73F house the fans are not bad.

Could probably be made super silent if it was in a closed rack.

I'll see about getting some kind of video up with sound once I get some free time.

 

[Jim_holden]

Yes, if you spool down the fans. Mine is no louder than a normal gaming desktop.
Even without the fan override in my 73F house the fans are not bad.

Could probably be made super silent if it was in a closed rack.

I'll see about getting some kind of video up with sound once I get some free time.

That will be great if you can get some video / tips on spooling down...