Hardware recommendation

[virusbcn]

I have an HP DL180 G6 that I want to reuse as NAS, has a Xeon E5620 and 32 Gb ECC RAM, HP P410 512 Mb controller, dual power supply and supports up to 12 LFF or 3.5" disks.



I have already seen that the Freenas does not like very much so I was thinking of replacing it with an HP H220 that is a LSI 9207-8I, you think it's a good idea or is there any better value for money?...?



As disks I thought to put 6 WD RED of 6 or 8 Tb and create a RaidZ2 (pool for backup), apart maybe I take advantage of 4 disks SAS 300Gb 15k rpm that I have in a RaidZ1 (pool for Vmware) and then load some VM from a Vmware ESX via NFS or iSCSI ...



Do you think it's a good configuration? Did you leave me something or do you recommend something else?

 

[Pitfrr]

I'm using a HP DL 380 G6 and I'm very happy with it. I'm not familiar with the DL180 but from what I can quickly gather, it's quite similar.
In my case it's only for home usage and one user and it's working great.

FreeNAS is running in a VM and not bare metal though (based on 2x Xeon X5670 CPU).
I'm not using the integrated RAID controller for FreeNAS (but for Vmware) and I added an LSI controller flashed in IT mode (that I passed through to the FreeNAS VM) and there are 6 HDD on that controller in RAIDz2 for storage.

 

[virusbcn]

I'm using a HP DL 380 G6 and I'm very happy with it. I'm not familiar with the DL180 but from what I can quickly gather, it's quite similar.
In my case it's only for home usage and one user and it's working great.

FreeNAS is running in a VM and not bare metal though (based on 2x Xeon X5670 CPU).
I'm not using the integrated RAID controller for FreeNAS (but for Vmware) and I added an LSI controller flashed in IT mode (that I passed through to the FreeNAS VM) and there are 6 HDD on that controller in RAIDz2 for storage.

Thank you, i buy one X5670 to boost the server, i no buy two cpus because i not have hp disipator, costs more the dissipater almost than the cpu :)

What LSI card have you bought ??? price ???

 

[Pitfrr]

For the HBA, I looked for either an IBM 1015 or an LSI 9211 and I found an LSI which I got for around 50€ and was already flashed in IT mode to be used in FreeNAS.
My advise: look on Ebay, I even saw some around 30€.

I don't know about the LSI 9207... it looks like it is also a good candidate to use for FreeNAS just make sure it is flashed in IT mode.

If you use only one CPU you will only be able to use half of the maximum RAM (that is 6 out of the 12 RAM slots).
And if you go the virtualization route, I suggest to read carefully before and make sure you do everything correctly (but then I'd rather go for a dual CPU setup as well). If you go bare metal then it's fine.

 

[virusbcn]

Thank you Pitfrr

I search in Ebay and i find some cheap cards sell from China, i hope they are good, do you prefer Fujitsu or Dell?? i like rear connectors...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fujitsu-92...777147?hash=item21172d7a3b:g:l~oAAOSwEONcRx6R

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Perc-...epid=0&hash=item1efdbaf562:g:30MAAOSwTBtdIaQS

I have 6x16Gb Dimms and one X5670 i hope they're enough .. but i consider put 2 CPU in the future, but.. what is the problem if i put vmware in recommended config and have a little use of vms?? i thinking too put only freenas and create some jails or vms inside, its another option...

 

[Pitfrr]

Couldn't tell you which one to pick! I never tried Fujitsu though.

You can also ask if they have been flashed or not.
They are sometimes already flashed in IT mode and it saves you the trouble to do it (if you don't feel like it).


If you use VMware then you have to make sure you know what you do and read a bit about it (here and here for example).
And if you use FreeNAS bare metal with some jails or VM inside, with the setup you have (CPU and RAM) you'll have room to play.

 

[virusbcn]

if the seller tells me that it can be formatted in it mode I buy the Dell that also puts is a LSI-9240 (a little better) and start building my next NAS
Thanks for your invaluable help Pit !!! ;-)

 

[Pitfrr]

Enjoy your build...

 

[Pitfrr]

I am using HP DL 380 G6, and it's good at all.

Indeed but like the DL 180 with the DL 380G6 you have to change the integrated RAID controller since it can not be used as an HBA. In that sense, there is no benefits to go for the 380 when you already have a 180 I'd say.

It can be considered if you want to install a second CPU and if the heatsink kit is more than a second hand DL380G6!