Hardware Chassis/Case/Mainboard/disk fans reco for 8+ disk tower

[sszuecs]

Hi all!

My use case is to have a data sink for my wifes pictures/photoshop/indesign files, that are quite huge and should be available, but right now spread on laptop and 4-6 USB drives. I don't really know anymore where the data is and searching is not nice.
Additionally I want to be able to build some raspberrypis that can stream music from the NAS. I tried some other streaming solution and all suck (sorry for this word, but it's true). I want to sync, maybe yearly, the data to a cloud storage to have safety against a full NAS outage, because of a hazard (fire/water/..).
Disk, ZFS, system errors I want to monitor with some monitoring systems and integrate with my smtp server, so I get notifications of drive errors without looking into freeNAS itself.

I read for quite a while resources in this forum, hardware guides and some blogposts around freeNAS and hardware setups.
For example I read https://blog.fosketts.net/2016/08/10/14-drives-14-ports-case-freenas/ which has 14 drives in a single tower NZXT H440 case.
I am not so into hardware chassis, fans, cage, so I hope you can tell me if my ideas are wrong/stupid or you have better suggestions. :)

My current spec idea:

# Mainboard
X10SL7-F Supermicro X10SL7 14x SAS/SATA - LGA1150 socket https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SL7-F.cfm

# CPU
Intel Xeon 1220 V3 3.1 4 (4 Threads)

# RAM
4x 8GB Transcend TS1GLK72V6H DDR3-1600 ECC DIMM CL11 Single

# storage disks
8x WD Red 4TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD40EFRX
8 disks should be enough for the stored files in the next 2-3 years.
To increase storage later I would try to buy bigger disks and unmount one old disk and try to restore the old disk to the new or maybe I would first try dd from old to new and it just works to replace one disk at a time like that.

# OS disk
USB stick and clone image on every change of the OS/config to disk. Save image to some other places for safety, if it does not work anymore just buy another USB stick and clone the image to it. I don't need HA, but data should be safe
Advantage of USB stick is to have no SATA/SAS connector required.

# PSU
at least Corsair RM550x 80 PLUS Gold

# Chassis/Case
I struggle a bit with the chassis. I want to have 8+ disks in a tower, disks should be reachable, but also the system should not be too noisy for running in a flat where I live with my family and cat.

Supermicro has some nice chassis for hotswap, which also has the advantage to mount them later into a 19" rack as 4U, if I decide later to have one.
8 bay hotswap: https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/743/SC743TQ-865B-SQ quiet <28dB 80-Plus PSU
8 bay hotswap: https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/743/SC743AC-668B platinum PSU
One problem, Supermicro writes X10SL7-F is not produced anymore and the above chassis are not listed in their recommendations. Should this be ok to use?
How could I mount >8 drives into these (I guess in the 3x 5.25" bays are then the max for these cases)?

The blogpost recommends NZXT H440, which seems to be not really good available in Germany and specs from NZXT are a bit unclear to me, so I don't really understand if a H442 can also have so many bays and reachable as described for H440 in the blogpost.
https://www.nzxt.com/products/h440-white

Often Fractal Design is mentioned here and there I am also a bit lost. R4 is unavailable, R5 has 8 bays, R6 has 6 bays, but are these hot pluggable and are these easy to mount/unmount? How many drives I can mount into these, if I need to mount more disks than bays?

From simplicity point of view I think https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/743/SC743TQ-865B-SQ SC743TQ-865B-SQ quiet <28dB would be the way to go for me.
Open questions are:
- PSU is not good specified with 80-Plus PSU (bronze/gold or what?).
Maybe better to buy https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/743/SC743AC-668B incl. platinum PSU and buy and mount an noise absorber kit myself?
- Does the rest of the hardware p.e mainboard fit (different X10SL are listed but not the X10SL7-F)?
- What about cat hair filters (do these exist or important yes/no)?
- Maybe there are also options or solutions that "absorb" waves, if kids jumping around?
- Do I find easily a disk that reported errors?


It would be super nice if you have ideas about the chassis and could answer some of my open questions.
Thanks!
--
Best, Sandor

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

# Mainboard
X10SL7-F Supermicro X10SL7 14x SAS/SATA - LGA1150 socket https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SL7-F.cfm

Don't feel locked in to this board because it has 14 SATA ports. You can purchase an HBA (see below) that will allow you to use more drives if you run out. Additionally, that board is listed as having a SAS LSI-2308 which, if I'm not mistaken, is a RAID controller. You don't want to use RAID controllers with FreeNAS as they don't give the OS direct control over the disks. Check the forum for more information on this. That being said, you can flash the controller on that board to IT mode which would make it work totally fine. Consider then that with that card and the SATA ports you've got support for 22 drives without even picking up an HBA. If you plan on upgrading to a chassis with more HDD trays this might be perfect for you. Else you could pick up a board with support for more memory etc that has more PCIe slots for flexibility. And with those PCIe slots you can pick up an HBA if you ever move to a chassis that holds more drives. Check out these two recommendations by @Chris Moore to see examples of builds with more or less memory support. 512GB ram or 32GB ram.

I want to sync, maybe yearly, the data to a cloud storage to have safety against a full NAS outage, because of a hazard (fire/water/..).

Good that you're thinking about backups now. You'd probably want to automate backups so you can backup frequently. If you ever store data you don't want to lose, you'll want a reliable backup.

# storage disks
8x WD Red 4TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD40EFRX

Are you planning on mirroring them or using RAIDZ1|2|3? Its just a thing to think about as you consider how much usable space you'll have int he end.

USB stick and clone image on every change of the OS/config to disk. Save image to some other places for safety, if it does not work any more just buy another USB stick and clone the image to it. I don't need HA, but data should be safe
Advantage of USB stick is to have no SATA/SAS connector required.

Folks generally recommend SSDs now as they are more reliable and a 64GB SSD can be had for cheap. The board you picked will support way more SATA drives than the chassis you're looking at can hold so you'd be fine there. If you go with a different board you can buy a $60 dollar HBA that provides 8 additional SATA ports and with another $40 dollar expander you'll get up to 24 additional ports. Cables for these things are cheap as well. So long as you have available PCIe slots for the HBA and a little cash you can easily grow your storage capacity. Gives you more options when it comes to motherboards and boot drives. :)

Often Fractal Design is mentioned here and there I am also a bit lost. R4 is unavailable, R5 has 8 bays, R6 has 6 bays, but are these hot pluggable and are these easy to mount/unmount? How many drives I can mount into these, if I need to mount more disks than bays?

The R6 has 11 HDD bays but comes with 6 HDD trays so you'd have to buy extra trays. You can install a bracket in one of the vertical expansion slots to easily support 12 HDDs. It also comes with 2 SSD trays and you can add 2 more. So, with extra trays/brackets you could get the case up to 4 SSDs + 12 HDDs pretty easily. I have an R6 and it is very quiet, even with the front and back panel removed and 10 fans in it. It also has great dust filters.

The R5 comes with 8 trays and you can put 3 HDDs in those to 5.25 slots with a 2x5.25 to 3x3.5 bracket. Note I'm showing that bracket as an example. You'll want to do some research to find a nice reliable one. The R5 seems to lack vertical expansion slots so if you want to add a 12th drive you may be a little low on space, but could probably make it work.

Both the R5 and R6 have easy-access to the drives so if you use an HBA that supports hot-swap you'll be fine.

Regarding the supermicro towers, you could do a similar setup where you install 5.25 to 3.5 brackets that'll hold 5 HDDS such as this one. Again, double check it'll fit in there with the cables, fans, etc. That'd bring that case up to 13 bays.

Maybe better to buy https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/743/SC743AC-668B incl. platinum PSU and buy and mount an noise absorber kit myself?

The R6 is quite quiet as-is, if you go that route you'll likely be happy with the noise. I expect the Supermicro towers will be less quiet but don't know for sure.


Hopefully this helps. I think you're definitely on the right track. I'm somewhat new around here myself and folks with more experience may have different of better suggestions.

 

[Stux]

that board is listed as having a SAS LSI-2308 which, if I'm not mistaken, is a RAID controller.

Pretty certain this is one of the most popular server boards for FreeNAS, and that chip is one of the most popular HBAs.

Just install IT firmware (ie no raid) on it and you’re good to go.

 

[Stux]

Re USB Sticks.

Just use the default mirroring and backup the configuration.

8 reds, probably in raidz2 is a great pool shape.

A fractal case is probably the way to go. Node 804 might be interesting too.

 

[Chris Moore]

Supermicro has some nice chassis for hotswap, which also has the advantage to mount them later into a 19" rack as 4U, if I decide later to have one.
8 bay hotswap: https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/743/SC743TQ-865B-SQ quiet <28dB 80-Plus PSU
8 bay hotswap: https://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/743/SC743AC-668B platinum PSU

You really boost the price a lot when you look at buying these new. If you are looking for a server chassis, you probably want to look at used. These two are both 4U rack chassis flipped on their edge with some purely cosmetic parts to make the sides into top and bottom. We have easy access to used gear here in the US, but you might want to look at what you can find in the used server market because I picked up one like this a couple years ago and installed a faster processor in it, and it has been a fantastic system for me:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/UXS-Server...JBOD-FREENAS-2x-Sandy-Bridge-ZFS/132771936782
I have it standing on edge like a tower. Just because it was sold as a rack mount system, does not require it to be rack mounted.

Something to think about.

 

[Chris Moore]

You could also get one like this where the system board is out of it and you put your own in there:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...ackmount-Chassis-w-2x-1200W-PSUs/312516613670

Please ask if you have questions.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Pretty certain this is one of the most popular server boards for FreeNAS, and that chip is one of the most popular HBAs.

I perhaps overstated somewhat above. Just gotta flash it, as you note.

Just install IT firmware (ie no raid) on it and you’re good to go.

Lots of instructions on the forums for how to do that as well.

 

[sszuecs]

Thanks for all your feedback!!!
I really appreciate so much replies and ideas about the chassis.

You really boost the price a lot when you look at buying these new. If you are looking for a server chassis, you probably want to look at used. These two are both 4U rack chassis flipped on their edge with some purely cosmetic parts to make the sides into top and bottom. We have easy access to used gear here in the US, but you might want to look at what you can find in the used server market because I picked up one like this a couple years ago and installed a faster processor in it, and it has been a fantastic system for me:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/UXS-Server...JBOD-FREENAS-2x-Sandy-Bridge-ZFS/132771936782
I have it standing on edge like a tower. Just because it was sold as a rack mount system, does not require it to be rack mounted.

Something to think about.

Sounds also an interesting approach, but from my experience the server chassis are normally quite noisy. About 20 years ago, when I did some applied IT school we had some cisco routers and one superstack 4900 (IIRC) in our office and you don't know how much noise a tiny superstack can do. :D

Re USB Sticks.

Just use the default mirroring and backup the configuration.

8 reds, probably in raidz2 is a great pool shape.

A fractal case is probably the way to go. Node 804 might be interesting too.

Yes I was thinking about raidz2 as you wrote. Node 804 is too weight for the place, but an option for the count of disks.
Regarding default mirroring: Do you mean buy 2 disks and Raid1?
This was my first thought, but maybe I can just use all the sockets of the mainboard to not need to buy a SAS/SATA expander at all. It does not mea that I would not buy later an expander, but for the first iteration it could be good to go without, or do I miss something?
Maybe it's an obvious choice to have an expander?

Don't feel locked in to this board because it has 14 SATA ports. You can purchase an HBA (see below) that will allow you to use more drives if you run out. Additionally, that board is listed as having a SAS LSI-2308 which, if I'm not mistaken, is a RAID controller. You don't want to use RAID controllers with FreeNAS as they don't give the OS direct control over the disks. Check the forum for more information on this. That being said, you can flash the controller on that board to IT mode which would make it work totally fine. Consider then that with that card and the SATA ports you've got support for 22 drives without even picking up an HBA. If you plan on upgrading to a chassis with more HDD trays this might be perfect for you. Else you could pick up a board with support for more memory etc that has more PCIe slots for flexibility. And with those PCIe slots you can pick up an HBA if you ever move to a chassis that holds more drives. Check out these two recommendations by @Chris Moore to see examples of builds with more or less memory support. 512GB ram or 32GB ram.


Good that you're thinking about backups now. You'd probably want to automate backups so you can backup frequently. If you ever store data you don't want to lose, you'll want a reliable backup.


Are you planning on mirroring them or using RAIDZ1|2|3? Its just a thing to think about as you consider how much usable space you'll have int he end.


Folks generally recommend SSDs now as they are more reliable and a 64GB SSD can be had for cheap. The board you picked will support way more SATA drives than the chassis you're looking at can hold so you'd be fine there. If you go with a different board you can buy a $60 dollar HBA that provides 8 additional SATA ports and with another $40 dollar expander you'll get up to 24 additional ports. Cables for these things are cheap as well. So long as you have available PCIe slots for the HBA and a little cash you can easily grow your storage capacity. Gives you more options when it comes to motherboards and boot drives. :)

Thanks for the recos. I just want to have rotating disks (cheap and huge) and good monitoring to see things break.
I don't like hardware cards, because they can take quite some time to boot. When I 3+ years ago worked as System Engineer for a big European company the boot time was 10 minutes, because of these $raid, expansion whatever cards. So the main reason to buy the board was to have not so much other hardware required to start with 8-10 storage disks. Additionally it will reduce the boot time and maybe even it costs less time to build, configure, and maintain the system. No firmware updates for all these cards, etc. problems you can have. So basically the I spend maybe more money and get paid back in my free time. :)

The R6 has 11 HDD bays but comes with 6 HDD trays so you'd have to buy extra trays. You can install a bracket in one of the vertical expansion slots to easily support 12 HDDs. It also comes with 2 SSD trays and you can add 2 more. So, with extra trays/brackets you could get the case up to 4 SSDs + 12 HDDs pretty easily. I have an R6 and it is very quiet, even with the front and back panel removed and 10 fans in it. It also has great dust filters.

The R5 comes with 8 trays and you can put 3 HDDs in those to 5.25 slots with a 2x5.25 to 3x3.5 bracket. Note I'm showing that bracket as an example. You'll want to do some research to find a nice reliable one. The R5 seems to lack vertical expansion slots so if you want to add a 12th drive you may be a little low on space, but could probably make it work.

Both the R5 and R6 have easy-access to the drives so if you use an HBA that supports hot-swap you'll be fine.

Regarding the supermicro towers, you could do a similar setup where you install 5.25 to 3.5 brackets that'll hold 5 HDDS such as this one. Again, double check it'll fit in there with the cables, fans, etc. That'd bring that case up to 13 bays.


The R6 is quite quiet as-is, if you go that route you'll likely be happy with the noise. I expect the Supermicro towers will be less quiet but don't know for sure.


Hopefully this helps. I think you're definitely on the right track. I'm somewhat new around here myself and folks with more experience may have different of better suggestions.

Of course it helps, especially the explanations around the chassis and what I need to buy are super helpful, as I said I do not have a real clue about chassis. I guess I have to check the links and will probably decide for the R6.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Of course it helps, especially the explanations around the chassis and what I need to buy are super helpful, as I said I do not have a real clue about chassis. I guess I have to check the links and will probably decide for the R6.

I've been meaning to post a build report on my R6 build. it isn't anything special but lots of folks ask about it so maybe someone will find it helpful.

 

[Stux]

Regarding default mirroring: Do you mean buy 2 disks and Raid1

You can raid1 two usb boot thumbdrives.

 

[Chris Moore]

I've been meaning to pose a build report on my R6 build. it isn't anything special but lots of folks ask about it so maybe someone will find it helpful.

You might be surprised if you knew how many people will be following it as a step by step guide.

 

[Stux]

Take lots of pictures ;)

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

:blink: that took way longer than it should have; but I finally posted the build report.

 

[Chris Moore]

About 20 years ago

Hardware is not as loud as it was. I have been doing this for a long time and the recent model servers are often no louder than desktop computers. Particularly when you are not going for the 1U or 2U models. I have four rack mount servers in my office at home and my office at work is inside the server room. I listen to servers all day, every day.

in our office and you don't know how much noise a tiny superstack can do.

I bet I do.