Home build 2017

[heisenberg1977]

I was hoping to build my FreeNAS out of my old PC and some drives that I am using in my dual bay RAID storage.

I have an Asus Maximus V Gene with a Core I5 & 16GB RAM. After doing some initial reading I see that it is recommended to use ECC Ram. Unfortunately this MB does not support ECC.

My current dual bay USB 3.0 RAID storage device has 2 x 3TB Western Digital Red's in a mirrored RAID-1. If I am going to look into new hardware I would want redundancy with at least 1TB more of total storage than what I currently have. I'd like to keep the cost low for what I need which would be decent performance for up to 2 users. The capability to configure iSCSI targets would be a nice to have.

I've looked into the offerings from IXSystems, but they are real pricey. (Around 2K when all said and done). I'd was hoping I could build for half that cost. Looking for suggestions.

 

[joeschmuck]

One option is the HP ML10 computer (cost about $200). It will require an additional 4GB ECC RAM to meet the minimum specs but we recommend you add 8GB RAM if you can. Just do an internet search for "HP ML10 Gen 9" and you will find quite a few being sold. Read the specs so you get what you expect.

 

[danb35]

Yep, the ML10 is probably the best bang for buck at this point. Add at least 4 GB (but better 8 GB) of RAM, disks, and a boot device, and you're good to go. Oh, and probably a DisplayPort<->whatever monitor port you have adapter.

 

[heisenberg1977]

Just ordered a ML10 gen 9 (837826-001). It comes with 4GB which I am assuming is one module given that the max is 32GB. Are you suggesting purchasing an extra 8GB module for 12GB total?

 

[gpsguy]

Just ordered a ML10 gen 9 (837826-001). It comes with 4GB which I am assuming is one module given that the max is 32GB. Are you suggesting purchasing an extra 8GB module for 12GB total?

Yes, its a single module. Don't buy anything smaller than an 8GB DIMM. With 4 memory slots, it will give you room to grow. Don't worry about mixing a 4 with an 8. By the way, the max RAM is 64GB.

I bought one back in early March.

 

[iammykyl]

Mixing modules of different sizes will result in single channel mode, so you will take a performance hit. Providing the on CPU support, you could enable Flex Mode,
See page #18 > https://www.intel.com/content/dam/w...sktop-6th-gen-core-family-datasheet-vol-1.pdf
I would use 2 x 8GB

 

[gpsguy]

For a server, I don't think it'll matter much.

If this was a gaming machine, I wouldn't recommend it.

Mixing modules of different sizes will result in single channel mode, so you will take a performance hit.

 

[joeschmuck]

For a server, I don't think it'll matter much.

If this was a gaming machine, I wouldn't recommend it.

From what I understand, RAM speed is typically not a bottleneck in a server application, the hard drives are from an internal point of view, external point of view it would be the NIC. This is why a person does not need to buy the super fast RAM in a server application and can buy the basic RAM speed with no ill effect.

 

[scopeyus]

I'm in a similar situation where I see my Asrock H67 mobo with i3 Sandybridge won't support ECC and has Realtek NIC :-(. Would you still recommend this ML-10 for FreeNas 11 to use for media server as well as general back up and remote access? If not what would be the next step up? Or do you have a mobo recommendation which would allow me to keep my i3 cpu and sweet looking Thermaltake HTPC case and just add ecc ram?

 

[gpsguy]

Since you're in the US, TigerDirect has an even better deal right now on it until 9/5 for $169. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5038747

You might need a dongle for the display port, but I'd certainly buy it again.

 

[joeschmuck]

Since you're in the US, TigerDirect has an even better deal right now on it until 9/5 for $169. http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5038747

You might need a dongle for the display port, but I'd certainly buy it again.

Kind of wish this offer was available when I built my system. Don't get me wrong, I really like the end results of my current system but this ML10 system would have saved me a lot of money. You can't buy a less expensive piece of hardware and get the outstanding throughput on any other prebuilt NAS device.

 

[scopeyus]

Thanks Guys for the speedy response. I see the smokin hot deal there on Tiger. I'm new to FN and I've been cramming for the 'exam' (build) and I thought I read a quad core was needed for media streaming and transcoding. While you didn't specifically address that you have confirmed this box is a great performer. I guess the possibility exists to change the cpu if needed. Also see there is a model 866965-S01 and 837826-001 one has a g440 and the other an i3-6100? $169 vs 265. What say u?

 

[danb35]

The i3-6100 is the cheaper one, right? Higher performance and cheaper sounds like a winner.

 

[scopeyus]

I see I should buy that one. One reviewer did mention only the HP display port to vga will work and it costs more than generic. I had planned to run this headless, but I guess the adapter is still needed for the FN install?

 

[joeschmuck]

Remember, you still need to buy at least one stick of 8GB RAM to augment the 4GB RAM already installed to give you 12GB RAM. Minimum RAM requirements for FreeNAS is 8GB. Ensure you buy the correct server RAM for this unit.

Now it's time for me to depart for a few hours and go spend just over $2K on a new refrigerator. They cost way too much but the wife wouldn't let me get the cheap $500 model.

 

[gpsguy]

I bought mine from TigerDirect back in March for $200. Given that NewEgg sells the boxed i3-6100 for $120, I felt this was a great price.

TBH, I'm running Server 2012R2 on it right now, but my thought was to buy it with the intention of being able to run FreeNAS on it in the future. The i3-6100 has a PassMark score of 5483. My current FreeNAS server has a measly score of 912. I wanted to play with Plex DVR, since I already have a SiliconDust tuner.

While you didn't specifically address that you have confirmed this box is a great performer

 

[gpsguy]

Since I didn't have a DP capable monitor, I bought a HP DP to VGA adapter (752661-001). I played it safe, even though it cost me a little more.

You might want to search the forum, as I recall someone bought one a few months ago and used a generic (Startech?) dongle.
.

One reviewer did mention only the HP display port to vga will work and it costs more than generic. I had planned to run this headless, but I guess the adapter is still needed for the FN install?

 

[danb35]

I guess the adapter is still needed for the FN install?

Not really; you could always do the install on a different machine, then move the boot device over to the ML10. But you probably would want, at some point, the ability to connect a monitor. I don't believe the HP adapter is required, but @gpsguy would know better.

 

[gpsguy]

Here's the adapter another FreeNAS user bought last month - https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-DisplayPort-Converter-P134-06N-VGA/dp/B0049E1QRE

Here's their build thread - https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-hpe-proliant-ml10-gen9-freenas-server.56763/ Had I been *that* user, I would have gone ahead with a traditional build with a Supermicro motherboard and had IPMI, etc.

 

[scopeyus]

So, are you saying the -001 should work well when I start using the plugs-ins such as Plex, Couch Potato, etc?