I need some help for building my FreeNAS (newbie)

[Destiney]

Hello everyone, I'm new in the community, as I said in my presentation before, I used to use a synology Ds212J but now I want to create my own.
Long time ago, I bought a small pc for lan party gaming which contains the following components :

• Case : BitFenix Progedy Cube : http://digit.ec/438013
• Motherboard : ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe (LGA 1155, Intel Z77, Mini ITX) : http://digit.ec/304184
• CPU : Intel Core i7 3770K : http://digit.ec/305251
• CPU Fan : Corsair H80 : http://digit.ec/258613
• PSU : Corsair Netzteil AX750 : http://digit.ec/240839
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance 2x8 Go DDR3-1600 : http://digit.ec/329684
• HDD : I have 2x 2TB from the Synology but I can buy other disk like 2x4TB or bigger

So yes, I would like to convert that "gaming pc" to a FreeNAS in my home.
What I would like is :

• Plex server H265 4k - > I bought recently a TV : LG55B6V
• Backup my iPhone
• Backup my Macbook Pro
• Download torrent

I know some of you will say it's a bad idea to do something like that without ECC RAM but I don't want to throw away the components.
So, for the beginning do you think is it possible to do what I want with this hardware?

Thanks for reading the newbie who I am :)

 

[dragonsangel]

the hardware will work just fine in my opion

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

 

[Chris Moore]

It has enough horsepower, but it is not in compliance with the recommended hardware, you already commented, it has no ECC support. It also may have hardware on the gaming series motherboard that does not have driver support in BSD Unix. You may need to install an Intel NIC for example.
It could be made to work, but it would be risky. If you value the data you are storing, you should invest in proper hardware. Best to sell this for what you can get out of it.

 

[Destiney]

It has enough horsepower, but it is not in compliance with the recommended hardware, you already commented, it has no ECC support. It also may have hardware on the gaming series motherboard that does not have driver support in BSD Unix. You may need to install an Intel NIC for example.
It could be made to work, but it would be risky. If you value the data you are storing, you should invest in proper hardware. Best to sell this for what you can get out of it.

Okay then... If I sold my motherboard and my cpu, what is your advice ? I want to be sure than I have enough power and free space for what I would like to do : )
I saw you gave some advices for others users, can you do it for me please ? :)
My objective is to stay in itx seize or very small case.

 

[dragonsangel]

Okay then... If I sold my motherboard and my cpu, what is your advice ? I want to be sure than I have enough power and free space for what I would like to do : )
I saw you gave some advices for others users, can you do it for me please ? :)
My objective is to stay in itx seize or very small case.

i would sell the board and ram and keep the i7. i used a gigabyte board that could handle the ecc ram

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[Destiney]

i would sell the board and ram and keep the i7. i used a gigabyte board that could handle the ecc ram

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

I didn't find the board. Anyway, what do you thing about Supermicro X10SDV-4C-TLN4F ? is it enough ?

 

[MrToddsFriends]

i would sell the board and ram and keep the i7. i used a gigabyte board that could handle the ecc ram

There is no Socket 115x i7 model that supports ECC memory.
There is no Socket 115x consumer chipset that supports ECC memory.

The manufacturers of some 115x consumer boards claim "ECC compatibility" (or something similar) which means that ECC memory modules can be used (and nothing more).

 

[Chris Moore]

i would sell the board and ram and keep the i7. i used a gigabyte board that could handle the ecc ram

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

You don't know enough to be commenting. This is the second bad advice I have seen from you today. The i7 processor does not support ECC. Read all the hardware guides before you even think you know enough to build your own much less give advice.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

 

[Destiney]

Okay, I did some research. I think I will buy the : Asrock EPC612D4I.
The reason is because of my choice of ITX seize I don't have so many choices
I saw some other board in mini ITX but some where you can't change the cpu like MBD-X10SDV-4C-TLN2F

What is your opinion about this board EPC612D4I
For the CPU maybe this one : Xeon E5-2620 v4
For the RAM : 2x (Kingston Memory DDR4 16GB 2133MHz ECC (1x, 16Go, DDR4-2133, DIMM 288))

I'm waiting for your opignions :)

 

[Stux]

If you are interested in FreeNAS, you could go ahead and run FreeNAS on this, system. @Chris Moore's comment about the NIC is a good one.

What NIC does it have Realtek? Intel? If it only has RealTek, then I'd suggest an Intel add-in card.

The CPU would be relatively performant plex transcoder

With the 4 core Xeon D, it's only running at 2ish ghz

So the only issue is lack of ECC which is not critical. ECC is very good to have, but FreeNAS will work without it.

You should have a backup.

And maybe you'll build a bigger/better FreeNAS after this and use this one as a backup in future?

 

[Destiney]

If you are interested in FreeNAS, you could go ahead and run FreeNAS on this, system. @Chris Moore's comment about the NIC is a good one.

What NIC does it have Realtek? Intel? If it only has RealTek, then I'd suggest an Intel add-in card.

The CPU would be relatively performant plex transcoder

With the 4 core Xeon D, it's only running at 2ish ghz

So the only issue is lack of ECC which is not critical. ECC is very good to have, but FreeNAS will work without it.

You should have a backup.

And maybe you'll build a bigger/better FreeNAS after this and use this one as a backup in future?

Thanks for your answer :)
I'm not sure about what you said for the cpu, the Xeon E5-2620 is 6 cores /12 threads but yes... If you say I need Intel Xeon E5-1650 for 4k h265 then I will save more money :)

 

[Stux]

Thanks for your answer :)
I'm not sure about what you said for the cpu, the Xeon E5-2620 is 6 cores /12 threads but yes... If you say I need Intel Xeon E5-1650 for 4k h265 then I will save more money :)

I was referring to your original i7 build.

 

[Destiney]

I was referring to your original i7 build.

Ok but decided to rebuild :) . So now i'm hesitate between two boards :

• EPC612D4I which is 2011-3 socket
• E3C236D2I which is 1151 socket

Both of them need DDR4 ram and ECC is supported. Now question is about CPU and power consumption. The objective is to buy a cpu which which consum as less energy as possible but who is enough for plex 4k H265.

What do you think if I buy the cpu on aliexpress, I saw I can buy some cpu already use (not a problem for me ) for cheaper. Sometimes I can see "CPU ES version". Is it a problem ?

Thanks

 

[wblock]

"ES" stands for Engineering Sample. Problems with those "bargain" CPUs have been reported in these forums.

 

[Ericloewe]

You don't know enough to be commenting. This is the second bad advice I have seen from you today. The i7 processor does not support ECC. Read all the hardware guides before you even think you know enough to build your own much less give advice.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

While you're right that is was bad advice, I must ask that you assume good faith and proceed accordingly. Try to cut people some slack when they get things wrong - it happens to everyone.

 

[Evertb1]

[QUOTE="Destiney, post: 402318, member: 77823Now question is about CPU and power consumption. The objective is to buy a cpu which which consum as less energy as possible but who is enough for plex 4k H265.[/QUOTE]

Looking at the power consumption of a CPU is the thing to do these days. Doing the green thing and saving a couple of bucks I guess. But don't forget that your CPU is not the only thing that consumes power in your system. The motherboard, the HDU's, the fans and maybe other devises like controllers. They all contribute to the systems power consumption.

I guess that a lot of people look at the TDP of a processor. And while that figure says something about the maximum amount of heat the CPU is supposed to generate, it does not say much about the CPU's consumption when the system is idle or under a moderate work load. I believe in choosing a CPU based on the processing power I need (now and in the foreseeable future). And I also believe that you can choose about any CPU of the modern Intel platforms, based on your need, without getting much trouble with your power consumption. Just my two cents anyway.

 

[Chris Moore]

Looking at the power consumption of a CPU is the thing to do these days. Doing the green thing and saving a couple of bucks I guess. But don't forget that your CPU is not the only thing that consumes power in your system. The motherboard, the HDU's, the fans and maybe other devises like controllers. They all contribute to the systems power consumption.

I guess that A lot of people look at the TDP of processor. And while that figure says something about the maximum amount of heat the CPU is supposed to generate, it says not much about the CPU's consumption when the system is idle or under a moderate working load. I believe in choosing a CPU based on the processing power I need (now and in the foreseeable future).

Too true. Often people want to choose an under powered CPU to save some electricity without regard to how limited it makes the system in the overall scheme. For example, I need a more powerful CPU when I am processing video in Plex, but the rest of the time it is mostly idle.

 

[Destiney]

The thing is that I can not find which CPU I should buy for Plex. But yes, I understand that the cpu will never use 100% of the toe when the NAS is not used

 

[Evertb1]

The thing is that I can not find which CPU I should buy for Plex. But yes, I understand that the cpu will never use 100% of the toe when the NAS is not used

On this Plex site https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201774043-What-kind-of-CPU-do-I-need-for-my-Server-
you can find some tips about calculating the needed CPU power for Plex (expressed in Passmark).

 

[jkiel]

The thing is that I can not find which CPU I should buy for Plex. But yes, I understand that the cpu will never use 100% of the toe when the NAS is not used

For Plex, go for the fastest most recent generation Intel CPU you can fit into your budget. In general, the more recent generation the CPU, the better the performance per watt, lower power consumption, etc.

Don't worry too much about the stated max energy consumption of faster CPUs. Faster CPUs of the same generation generally don't consume much more than their slower brethren when idle. When in use, they usually finish their operations and are able to return to idle more quickly than the slower CPUs, so even consumption under intermittent load is roughly equivalent. The reason to choose slower/cooler running CPUs is when you can't provide adequate cooling or power for the CPU when it's under load.

Xeon E5 2620 v4 (Broadwell family - Socket FCLGA2011-3) is a decent choice. If you can go higher, do.

EDIT: I should add; If you're worried about energy consumption, and using your array for mostly media storage, something like Unraid may be a better choice over FreeNAS. Unraid only spins up the drives that contain the media you're currently using, keeping all other spindles spun down when not in use. Also allows you to easily add drives of any size to your array as your media library grows, and is a great way to use old drives you have laying around. If using Unraid, your old 3770k may work well enough, though it could struggle transcoding 4k h265, and with no ECC there is a higher chance of silent data corruption. I'm still using a 3770k in my old Plex server, though I have a separate box for NAS and I don't have much 4K in my library yet.