Here we go...advise for first NAS build

[Ericloewe]

In the case of the X11SSH-F, the M.2 is a Mini PCI Express 3.0 x2 connector.

Right, they imply it won't even work with SATA M.2 cards.

 

[Raiz]

won't even work with SATA M.2 cards

Good point. You'd have to use something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...re=m.2_pci-express_ssd-_-20-147-431-_-Product
It's not an x2 or x4 PCI SSD, but I doubt anyone would notice the difference when booting from a NAS. Is there any good reason to get a boot drive that exceeds the size of your RAM since FreeNAS loads into RAM during boot?

 

[Bidule0hm]

You can keep more boot envs but that's it, 16 GB is perfectly fine even if you have 1 TB of RAM... :)

 

[NASbeginner]

Updated:
Chassis ($69.99): Fractal Design Node 804 Black Aluminum / Steel Micro ATX Cube Case
Motherboard ($219.99): Supermicro X11SSH-F-O
CPU ($273.99): Intel Xeon E3-1230 v5 Quad-Core Skylake Processor 3.4GHz
RAM (64GB) ($430.95): 4x Samsung DDR4-2133 16GB/2Gx72 ECC CL15
Power Supply ($99.99): Seasonic SSR-650RM
HDD ($879.92): 8x Western Digital Red NAS 3TB drives
SAS Controller ($199.00): LSI 9211-8i HBA - to add support for SSD boot device
UPS ($259.97): APC Smart-UPS SMT750

Rather than paying $200 additional for the LSI 9211-8i HBA, is there another motherboard that might work? I'm looking for 8x 3.5" bays and up to 4x 2.5" bays for boot device (mirrored?) and 2x SSDs for running jails (?). Or is the M.2 connector route better, like what Raiz mentioned above? I'm not familiar with this, so any suggestions would be great.

I also need to come up with a backup plan now too...

 

[TheKiwi]

I'm still unsure on your need for 64G of ram, it feels pretty excessive for 6 drive and I'd guess 32 or even 16 would work excellently unless you have any special needs.

 

[Fuganater]

LSI 9211-8i is less than $100 on Ebay.

I'm still unsure on your need for 64G of ram, it feels pretty excessive for 6 drive and I'd guess 32 or even 16 would work excellently unless you have any special needs.

I would do at least 32GB. Why skimp?

 

[TheKiwi]

LSI 9211-8i is less than $100 on Ebay.


I would do at least 32GB. Why skimp?

Sure, no need to skimp, but 64 does seem a little overkill and means he needs to pick more expensive hardware.

 

[Dice]

Cutting down on the CPU, not going mad overkill on that department would release some resources to be redistributed on a HBA.
I think it is a much wiser decision to get a 9211-8i, and the E3-1230v5 cpu. As already demonstrated by benchmarks, the benefits are not even remotely justified by the higher price of the e3-1275v4 cpu. For example, the Asrock octacore atom boards and recomended pentium cpu's from the hardware guide are typically capable of around 3800 passmark points. You'd still be beyond 10.000 with the E3-1230v5.

Cheers /

 

[religiouslyconfused]

Only C236 M.2 that supports SATA M.2 is the Asrock boards; however, using a SATA M.2 will replace SATA0, so you would be limited to 7 drives. PCIe M.2 would take over a PCI slot. Of course, AsRock has not made their C236 boards available, but hopefully they will come out soon. I will likely go with supermicro for my build unless the AsRock is cheaper.

 

[NASbeginner]

Hi everyone,

It's been a year as this project has been delayed on my end. It looks like I'll be able to begin working on this, this upcoming summer, or wait until November 2017 if that is a good time for deals.

The biggest thing seems to be able to find a case/chassis that supports 8 HDDs (possibly hot swappable) and is somewhat silent (and cool) that could be put next to my TV if need be...although I'm planning on storing it in a media closet. I was thinking Fractal Design Node 804 but heard it can be difficult removing HDDs when needed, etc. Any suggestions on that end?

Also, I've updated my list below (bumped up from 3TB to 4TB HDDs and wondering if I should be looking at better hardware as a year has gone by:

Updated:
Chassis: ??
Motherboard ($208.99): Supermicro X11SSH-F-O
CPU ($252.40): Intel Xeon E3-1230 v5 Quad-Core Skylake Processor 3.4GHz
RAM (64GB) ($110.99 x4): 4x Samsung DDR4-2133 16GB/2Gx72 ECC CL15
Power Supply ($69.99 sale now): Seasonic SSR-650RM
HDD ($139.99 x8): 8x Western Digital Red NAS 4TB drives
SAS Controller ($90.90): LSI 9211-8i HBA - to add support for SSD boot device
UPS ($200.13): CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD
--

Thanks!!!

 

[NASbeginner]

Alright, so I've done further research for the following:

1) Chassis - what is everyone's opinion about the Antec P380? Again, I'm looking for 8x 3.5" drive bays (hot swappable if possible). I also need to deal with a boot device.

2) Motherboard - after reviewing the Supermicro motherboards (thank you for the great information on this Ericloewe!), I see that if I want to bump up to have potential for a 10GBase-T LAN someday in the home, I should really look at moving from an X11SSH-F to the X11SSH-TF or X11SSH-CTF. If I'm understanding correctly, the only difference between the -TF and -CTF is that the -CTF also comes with an LSI SAS 3008 SAS3 controller.

Now since I had originally planned on the X11SSH-F, I was planning on purchasing a separate SAS Controller (LSI 9211-8i HBA) to add support for an SSD boot device.

So if I still need the SAS controller for the SSD boot device, does it make sense then to just get the X11SSH-CTF that already has the LSI SAS 3008 SAS 3 Controller included?

Seems like the -CTF would be the way to go. If of course I want to "future proof" for 10GBase-T someday; essentially paying an additional $110 - $120 for this v. GbE LAN.

 

[Stux]

1230v5, is the CPU you should go for. Better bang fir buck than the 1275.

Consider seagate NAS HD instead of wd if it will save you dough.

Start with 2x 16GB OF RAM. Buy more when you need it. Crucial is often cheaper than Samsung and they guarantee compatibility.

You can use a 10$ PCIe adapter to use a 4x lane m2 card in a PCIe slot. Much better to have an extra 4x slot than a 2x m.2 slot, and just use an adapter.

 

[NASbeginner]

1230v5, is the CPU you should go for. Better bang fir buck than the 1275.

Consider seagate NAS HD instead of wd if it will save you dough.

Start with 2x 16GB OF RAM. Buy more when you need it. Crucial is often cheaper than Samsung and they guarantee compatibility.

You can use a 10$ PCIe adapter to use a 4x lane m2 card in a PCIe slot. Much better to have an extra 4x slot than a 2x m.2 slot, and just use an adapter.

Thanks Stux, I'll check out hte Seagate NAS HDDs and will consider dropping to 32MB RAM to start. That would be a bit of cost savings initially...thank you for that.

Any advice on the chassis or motherboard questions I noted above?

 

[Stux]

Any advice on the chassis or motherboard questions I noted above?

No :)

 

[NASbeginner]

No :)

Thanks Stux, no problem :) Happy New Year.