BUILD Home VM/Media Server/Storage Server Build

[bryce]

I'm looking to build a home server for some VMs, media serving, and the typical storage server. I've been looking around the forums and looking at different parts for a while now and I think I've settled on the following. Anyone see any glaring issues with what I have chosen for this build? By the way, I still need a rackmount case if you have any suggestions.

First of all, I'm probably going to be using 8x4tb WD Reds, if anyone has any suggestions for shaving just a few dollars off the other parts without gimping quality I would like to go for 6x8tb WD Reds or even 8x6tb WD Reds. Now for the parts list.

HDDs: WD Red 6TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM (8x)
PSU: SILVERSTONE ST50F-ESG 500W
RAM: SAMSUNG 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM ECC (2x)
MOBO: SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SSM-O
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220 v5
CASE: NORCO RPC-430 Black 4U Rackmount (could only find 6 bay cases)
UPS: CyberPower CP1350PFCLCD 1350 VA

Total is just over $2k, anything wrong with these parts for a VM/Media Server/Storage Server build?

8x6tb Reds is ~$600 more compared to the 8x4tb Reds, I'm almost thinking it's worth it just for future proofing. But would need to revise my other choices in parts to just save a tiny bit. This will yield me 24-36tb depending if I go with the 4tb or 6tb drives.

Any suggestions?

EDIT: Updated case and psu above.

 

[Spearfoot]

Any suggestions?

My first suggestion is: edit your post and use URL tags for the links, giving the brand name and model number of the parts you've selected, sorta like this (adapted from my signature):

Motherboard: Supermicro X10SL7-F
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241v3 @3.5GHz
RAM: 32GiB Crucial ECC
Case: Fractal Define R4
PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 750W G2

This way we can see at a glance what you're talking about, instead of having to follow umpteen links...

 

[bryce]

Updated the links and went ahead and decided on the 8x6tb Reds instead of the 4tb drives. Just can't seem to find a rackmounted case with more than 6 internal 3.25" bays.

 

[Stux]

Fwiw, I looked at the Norco 430, and eventually decided to kick it up to the rpc-4224

Worked out about the same cost as adding the hotswap bays to the 430

 

[Spearfoot]

Updated the links and went ahead and decided on the 8x6tb Reds instead of the 4tb drives. Just can't seem to find a rackmounted case with more than 6 internal 3.25" bays.

Much better, thanks!

Your motherboard, CPU, WD Red HDD, and UPS choices are fine. I haven't checked the RAM part; just make sure it is ECC type memory listed on Supermicro's tested memory list and you should be in good shape.

Are you certain you want a rackmount case? They have their advantages, of course, but they can be expensive, difficult to keep cool, cumbersome, require special PSUs, and often are loud. My Fractal Design Define R4 mid-tower case uses a standard ATX PSU, has bays for 8 drives, and will hold more if you utilize the 5 1/2" bays.

I'm not familiar with the Silverstone PSU. If you're planning on using 8 HDDs, you will want more than 500W. I use a 750W EVGA SuperNova PSU which I like quite a bit; many here on the forum recommend the Seasonic brand. There's a PSU sizing thread here you may want to check out.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum!

 

[bryce]

I'll be sure to check Supermicro's site about the memory, it's ECC but have not checked if it's compatible yet.

Reasoning behind the rackmount case was I have a rack under my desk and wanted to make use of it. Guess I could just get a mid-size tower and lay it on it's side or something. Because looking at rackmount cases they definitely are more expensive.

 

[Stux]

One concern with that case, is where are the HD fans? You'll need some.

I think the longer versions have a fan wall, which in its 120mm guise, is actually a very cool thing

The hotswap bay modules I referred to have built in fans, one per bay.

A common complaint with Norco stuff is that the built-in fans are noisy. In my limited experience, I found this to be true. Swapping them all for Noctua fans, and writing a custom hybrid fan controller has resulted in a very quiet system. Quieter than my primary gigabit switch and drobo with fans on the way out!

This is mine:

 

[Spearfoot]

Have you considered buying a used cabinet off eBay? Here's a Supermicro 3U/16-bay chassis with dual 800W power supplies for $149 + $38 shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/381180190659

But, again, it's probably going to be much louder than anything you'd want under your desk...

 

[CookiesLikeWhoa]

Are you planning to use the storage for vm's as just storage presented to them or are they going to be stored on there as well?

If it's the later what type of pool set up are you going with? A z2 set up might be tight on iops if the vms are using the pool and you are as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bryce]

Before I order, I just thought about the jails I'll be using. How should I handle those? I was thinking of getting another couple smaller hard drives maybe 2x1tb drives but I'm out of sata ports on the motherboard so I would have to get a sata expansion card then lol.

Are jails usually very big? Is there any harm in just storing the jails on the actual usb drive FreeNAS is stored on?

 

[Stux]

is there a reason you wouldn't just put the jails on the pool and let ZFS take care of caching and everything that it does?

 

[bryce]

I thought it was considered bad practice to do that. But no reason I couldn't just do that.

 

[Stux]

I thought it was considered bad practice to do that. But no reason I couldn't just do that.

It might be, I wouldn't know. But if people are putting giant ESXi VM on iSCSI/NFS, then a little jail should be fine.

Its sortof the point of a storage pool is to store stuff.

 

[bryce]

Getting kind of excited. Parts are in shipping now. Just doing some reading up on setting it up and running through the setup, etc in a VM to get a bit more familiar with it.

 

[depasseg]

It's fine (and very common) to have a jails dataset on your main pool. The cases where I've seen people use a separate device is done to either improve performance (by using SSDs) or for power savings (so the main pool can spin down).

 

[bryce]

I've been looking around the forums and site for initial burn in testing of drives, etc. Is there any viable way to reliably test all 8 of my 4tb drives in one go? Or am I going to have to test each drive one by one? Seeing how each test is going to take about 24 hours, I'd rather just test them all at once if possible.

 

[Stux]

Yes.

[How To] Hard Drive Burn-In Testing

Connect your drives, boot freenas. Commence burnin testing as per link.

You should memtest your memory first.

 

[bryce]

Yeah, I knew about memtesting first. That's why I didn't ask about it :P.

Thanks.

 

[bryce]

Parts are coming in, woot. Just waiting on the motherboard and case and sata cables and they get here Monday.

Question though, with 8x6tb drives, I read ZFS prefers 1gb of RAM per 1tb of storage. Is that usable storage or raw storage? Should I get another couple sticks of my RAM to max out my board at 64gb or should 32gb be fine for now?

 

[Ericloewe]

Question though, with 8x6tb drives, I read ZFS prefers 1gb of RAM per 1tb of storage. Is that usable storage or raw storage?

The answer is "yes".

It's a rule of thumb, not an absolute rule. 32GB will probably be plenty. If not, add more RAM later.