BUILD Home Plex and Data Server, Build Assistance

[DanPrs]

I have spent some time getting to know FreeNAS these past days. I have had a few questions answered and as a result a few more come up.

Bellow you will find a parts list of what I think would be an ideal system, after skimming through these and other forums.

Intel i3 3240
Supermicro MBD-X9SCL-F-O
Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) ECC
SeaSonic SS-400ET Bronze 400W ATX12V
Fractal Design Node 304

I'll most likely use a USB drive for the OS as suggested by a few members. As is this build is a bit over $500, a bit much for what I intentionally expected to spend. This is of course before I purchase storage drives which will then put me around the $1000 mark.
This being my first server build, I'm interested to know if the ECC components are truly necessary. I had initially chosen a system built around an AMD Athlon II X4 740, this saved me the price of a drive. Is real life performance and safety that much improved or can I get away with a cheaper build?

Edit 1: Reading a few more posts I think the real question is, can I get away with a cheaper build for what I'm trying to achieve?


I intend to use the system for data storage, remote data access and transfer, Plex server for Chromecast and DLNA for a PS3.

Edit 2: Upon discussing and reviewing the hardware, my build looks like this:

LIAN LI PC Q25B $100
Intel Core i3-4130 $134
ASRock E3C224D2I Mini ITX $190
Kingston ValueRAM 16GB Kit 2.8GB ECC $192
3x WD Red 3 T $399
SanDisk Cruzer Fit 4 GB USB Flash Drive $8
SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W $59


Total $1082

The plan is to use RAID Z, with hopes for 3 drive expansion in the future.

 

[Richman]

Well, soon will probably see guard dog cyberjock chime in and scare the crap out of you telling you that your data is doomed and won't last more than a few weeks if you don't go with ECC. But even he will admit that the real question is, 'How important is your data?" He has said that many times.
I don't and maybe nobody knows how many have used cheaper hardware, like non-ECC for however long and not had a issue .......... yet. But, as I amassed info and read thousands of thread post by this time, I figure the question also revolves around not only .....
1. How important is your data ..... ie can you afford to loose it and not cry for very long? Can it easily be replaced from some other source other than FreeNAS snapshots?
But also involves many other thing that only the the person building and administering the NAS can answer.
In other words, there are some ways to minimize the chance of data loss using non-ECC a little more with some diligence but still not make your data completely "SAFE" but they all take more time and energy and maybe circumventing some of the built in features of FreeNAS .... like not using the built in snapshot feature and doing a straight backup of your most valuable data (which in a lot of cases is not a huge amount of data) or doing a memory test every time before you do snapshots and scrubs but then there is no guarantee as you memory could go bad or have a problem right after, so you have to ask, 'What is the use of all of this?' This scenario really doesn't make a lot of sense when the solution to all that work is ECC. You could use cheaper hardware and use it as intended but then there is no guarantee how long before disaster could strike. There is no real warning. The only change of a warning is doing regular mem test to minimize any loss to a smaller amount but that is only a maybe.
For instance, I may plan to use non-ECC for a closet full of movies I have and converted to digital. But only because I payed a friend to back them all up on his storage server. So if I loose them, I know he has the backup copy and I can replace them. That is only one scenario and there could be thousands of individual scenarios and no real answer that anyone else can give.

Many have said that a FreeNAS box can be built for around $500
Some have said its only $250-270 more for the right hardware than to use consumer hardware.
Then if you already have some hardware, then buying new ECC hardware is then a $500 difference. I think its less often the person that is looking at buying all new than it is the one looking at spending an extra $500 that looks like a big investment.

I still am not sure what I am going to do. I mean what OS, FS, hardware, everything. First I have to quantify or spreadsheet all my data to know exactly what I have and what is important and irreplaceable before I can begin to figure out a plan of action.

 

[DanPrs]

Well, soon will will probably see guard dog cyberjock chime in

I've read a few of his posts, hence my edit ;)

But it's understandable. I can't expect a Ford Focus to compete in F1 racing, so I can't expect PC grade hardware to give me more then what it's intended for. That said, I guess I just want to know if the hardware mentioned can be subbed for something a bit cheaper without sacrificing data safety.

A bit off topic but, initially I intended to set up a system with a RAID 5 card. This too would have been expensive considering that a reliable RAID card is also pricey. So I looked around and found FreeNAS with it's ZFS support which I had never heard of previously. My other option was a Synology NAS which just looking at their OS and app support, seems very appealing. That said for ~$500 I'd get an Atom based Synology system, or a RAID 5 set up. I think in the end for $500, I can get a much more capable system using FreeNAS, so I'm certainly not complaining. But I would like to know what other's have and if I could possible get away by saving a few bucks in the hardware.

 

[engmsf]

DanPrs, your build will not work as you either need to consider a new motherboard or a new case. The X9SCL is matx and the Fractal Node 304 is itx.

For what it is worth in this discussion, I run a dedicated Plex server in one of my Freenas box. This is paired with several Roku 3s and it has served me well for several months. If you are curious in the specs, it is in a very small footprint Antec ISK110, Gigabyte GA-H87N, and G3220. Freenas is ZFS strip with 2.5 hard drives. I could have ran PMS on other system but choose Freenas - for the headless GUI and low overhead requirements.

A word of caution is this setup is NOT recommended if you value your data. Non-ECC and ZFS strip have a lot of risk - you can loose all of the data with no hope of recovery. I have a lot of backup (another Freenas server, external drives, etc) for the movies and cartoons, and have considered the risk manageable. I can also easily turn on my Windows machine to serve Plex at any time.

 

[DanPrs]

The X9SCL is matx and the Fractal Node 304 is itx.

According to Supermicro it's uATX, which should fit in micro ATX as far as I know. Let me know if I'm wrong. I think you've all convinced me to settle for ECC, server grade hardware.

 

[Richman]

DanPrs, your build will not work as you either need to consider a new motherboard or a new case. The X9SCL is matx and the Fractal Node 304 is itx.

Nice catch. I haven't looked at the specs of that case lately

According to Supermicro it's uATX, which should fit in micro ATX as far as I know. Let me know if I'm wrong. I think you've all convinced me to settle for ECC, server grade hardware.

That board is I believe the same board you originally posted. It is identical in dimensions to an mATX. Although I could not find any ref to uATX I am thinking that it may be SM's own designation. The dimensions of 9.6" x 9.6" is exactly what an mATX measures.
But you still can't fit that MB in the case you originally posted, the Fractal Design Node 304.
This may help:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motherboards_form_factors.svg

Sorry about my first post. I forgot you were already thinking of the ECC route.

I like that SM board though and I thought they were about $154 ........hmmmmmm

 

[DanPrs]

Oh nice catch indeed, I got micro and mini mixed up.

As for uATX, I found this post which clears things up, it is microATX according to Wiki.

I might get something like the Fractal Design Define.


Edit: I did find this little guy though which is very attempting. Though I'd be losing 2 SATA connectors which I'd have to make up with a PCI expansion. Still, a nice find for anyone interested. I am considering it as it would make a more compact system.

 

[Richman]

Edit: I did find this little guy though which is very attempting. Though I'd be losing 2 SATA connectors which I'd have to make up with a PCI expansion. Still, a nice find for anyone interested. I am considering it.

I think 6 SATA connectors is good enough for a good array for most people. Most of us are not data hogs and don't need more than 12-16 TB in a NAS. I didn't spend time checking all the other stats but at $170 I would rather go with the ASRock E3C224D2I Mini ITX for $10 more. I like the SM though for the 4 DIMMs capability and even lower price. Personally I am not so into looks and small form factor. If I had my house set up nice and wanted it out in the open I may be.

 

[DanPrs]

Thanks, I agree that AsRock does look a lot better.


I'd like to also clear something up; I'm looking to initially buy 3 HDDs and set them up in RAID Z (RAID 5 equivalent). In the long run, in a year or so, I might want to expand to a 6 drive set up. Is this possible? I expect I'd have to introduce the new drives all at the same time as opposed to progressively adding one today and another in a month and so on.

 

[gzartman]

I think 6 SATA connectors is good enough for a good array for most people. Most of us are not data hogs and don't need more than 12-16 TB in a NAS.

Speak for yourself! One can never have too much RAID storage. :D

 

[Richman]

Speak for yourself! One can never have too much RAID storage. :D

(GZARTMAN'S TRYING TO DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE NET)

 

[gpsguy]

Please read cyberjock's guide for the answers to your questions.

I expect I'd have to introduce the new drives all at the same time as opposed to progressively adding one today and another in a month and so on.

 

[DanPrs]

Thank you and sorry for having found that before.

After reading that, I'm much more comfortable understanding ZFS. But I do have a question; if I introduce a new VDEV, how will the system operate? I found this post that mentions I cannot define which VDEV the system uses to store data.
If one VDEV is 80% full and the newly introduced is at 0%, is there an utility to spread the data between the two? Will the system simply split the data across the two equally until VDEV1 is full at which point it will begin using VDEV2 only?

Happy New Year!!

 

[cyberjock]

There is no utility, but ZFS will preferentially use the newer vdev for most writes (but not necessarily all) until things balance out on their own.

If you are really hellbent on redistributing the data you'll need to copy it from your pool to your pool (or off of your pool and back) and delete the old files. This doesn't really do much except move the copied files from vdev1 to vdev2, but its the closest you're going to get. Any "new" data written to your pool will prefer the new vdev, so you can help redistribute data. But big picture, it really doesn't matter that much. I wouldn't put any effort into it when I add a vdev to my pools. :)

 

[DanPrs]

That makes sense. I have no issue with it, just want to understand the capabilities and how the system would operate. Thank you all. I'll post back if I have any other questions or when the build is up:D

 

[DanPrs]

I've come across this this Kingston 16GB RAM Module. I was wondering if it mattered that much to FreeNAS OS, if I have the RAM split evenly in modules, or if I can just have a single module. Having a single high capacity module, would in this case be cheaper and free up a slot for the future.

BTW: I went with a XEON V3 1220 :D, should be here by Tuesday.

 

[Dusan]

I've come across this this Kingston 16GB RAM Module. I was wondering if it mattered that much to FreeNAS OS, if I have the RAM split evenly in modules, or if I can just have a single module. Having a single high capacity module, would in this case be cheaper and free up a slot for the future.

FreeNAS doesn't care, but the memory access is slightly faster with modules installed in pairs as the CPU can use dual memory channels. However, you can't use the module you linked in your post. Your mobo works with unbuffered ECC DDR3 memory, the module you found is registered ECC DDR3.

 

[DanPrs]

I just realized the max RAM supported by the mobo is 16GB so it would be wise to just get the 2. Thanks, guess I jumped the gun on that one.

 

[gzartman]

I've come across this this Kingston 16GB RAM Module. I was wondering if it mattered that much to FreeNAS OS, if I have the RAM split evenly in modules, or if I can just have a single module.

Doesn't matter. If you do put multiple modulds , make sure they are all the same. That does matter.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[gzartman]

I just realized the max RAM supported by the mobo is 16GB so it would be wise to just get the 2. Thanks, guess I jumped the gun on that one.

Check the compatible RAM list for your mobo. Some mobos are very picky and won't recognize modules not in the list.

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