Is FreeNAS what I am looking for?

[Lee C]

So I want to build something that will allow me to store all my files onto one machine and let it act a lot like dropbox. I know this is the owncloud portion but do I build this through the FreeNAS interface. It's my first time building a linux machine so I am trying to do as much research and ask some questions before I dive into it. I would also like to be able to stream movies on this same file server on devices through out my home as well as be able to access all my files when I am at school or work.

I was thinking about an i3 setup but not sure that is enough if it involves streaming? Then perhaps I should be doing a xenon build? Or even consider an AMD build although I know ECC supported ram might become an issue then.

Thanks for any input,
Lee

 

[pirateghost]

FYI, FreeNAS is not Linux...

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

[rm-r]

so the answer to your question is yes - the plex plugin will do all you need for streaming, but this does need some cpu horsepower - the owncloud plugin is very easy to configure. and you can also use samba shares very easily. all of these things i also do.

i STRONGLY suggest reeding the hardware sticky in this forum before going anywhere near a shop.

and as above - its not Linux - FreeNAS is FreeBSD based

 

[Lee C]

My apologies, I am obviously a little bit lacking in the knowledge department here.

What kind of CPU are we talking about here? Would a newer quad core AMD be good? Or do I need an i7? Is the i3 too little in a big way? Or do I need a xenon?

 

[david kennedy]

My apologies, I am obviously a little bit lacking in the knowledge department here.

What kind of CPU are we talking about here? Would a newer quad core AMD be good? Or do I need an i7? Is the i3 too little in a big way? Or do I need a xenon?

Most here would say you want to go with ECC memory if you plan on using ZFS. This means you would need a motherboard/cpu combo which supports ECC.

 

[jgreco]

Best attack a few basic questions:

1) How much storage are you looking for?

2) Are you looking to build as in actually build the machine (which involves some system building experience) or is a prebuilt platform like the HP Microserver a possibility?

3) How much performance do you need? For example, Plex with transcoding for feeding random devices is going to take more CPU.

FreeNAS is almost never the cheapest option for NAS based storage but it is based on ZFS, which makes it potentially very resilient - if you do it right.

A well-resourced system like an E3-1230 with 16GB of RAM is likely to be more than a home user will ever need, but on the flip side it is nice not to have to readdress storage for years at a time. You don't really want to have to rebuild storage servers on bigger hardware if you can avoid it.

A small system like a Microserver N54L is going to perform a little slower and not necessarily do a great job of transcoding if that's one of your requirements, but if you don't need more than four disks and want a compact prebuilt, it is a good option.

Either way, I strongly suggest you do walk through the "so you want some hardware suggestions" sticky in the hardware forum, after thinking about the above three questions. Picking random hardware and then trying to run FreeNAS on top of it is supposed to work, but the practical reality is that you really want to design what is essentially a small server, and you should do so based on the requirements, and build up a hardware platform to suit, rather than picking some random "quad core AMD," then picking some cheap random mainboard, then adding some RAM, and winding up with a system that has a Realtek ethernet and no ECC, both of which are serious mistakes.

 

[Lee C]

1. 6-8 TB to start with but would like to be able to scale up as needed.
2. Yes, have built quite a few PCs.
3. Honestly not sure but would like to be able to have the ability to transcode and have 1080p streams on multiple devices.

I was thinking a Mini-ITX build with a motherboard that supported intel CPUs and ECC ram. Although building off a full ATX board might be a little more affordable as I recall that specific Mini ITX board was about 200-250 (SuperMicro) and would also mean a case that can have more HDDs. I am just not sure of the CPU side I guess. I definitely know I need the ECC supported motherboard and obviously the RAM itself. Is the xeon you mentioned earlier going to be better than an i7 for transcoding?

EDIT
What I had originally planned was just building up an old intel 2 duo core I have laying around but I am lacking the SATA connections, although I could just purchase a PCI SATA card and do things that way. Just think it would be a little lacking as far as transcoding goes.

 

[jgreco]

If the extra cost of a Xeon is not a showstopper for you, go with 16GB RAM (2x8GB) and a low-end Xeon like the E3-1230. Check out cyberjock's slideshow of ZFS vdev knowledge and then decide on a pool layout; I always suggest that you should never use anything but the largest reasonably priced drive, which at the moment is 4 (not 3) TB. If you are going for RAIDZ2, that'd be a 4x 4TB vdev, and expansion could then be 4x or 6x 4TB vdevs.

The main value of the Xeon is that we usually do not hear people say "crap I should have gotten a faster Xeon" or "I'm missing feature X" when you get one of the fully featured Xeons; the 1230 is more or less the basement there, but is also sufficiently fast for almost any home use we've seen. But if transcoding and encryption are not serious issues, there are some Pentium class CPU's that can be considered as well. I just don't really keep track, take a look around the forum.