Looking for recommendations on my first FreeNAS build.

[Esme101]

Hello,

I am looking to build a home server for mass media/plex with about 8+ tb of video files.
I'm thinking of going with 5 4tb wd reds in Raidz2 and a 120gb ssd for the OS. WD Red 4TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - WD40EFRX
I would like to get server grade hardware but my biggest worry is will an older system work well with newer drives.
Also the case would need 8+ 3.5in bays. 10 would be nice so i could add another set of drives. I am not against buying tower server case later on.
My budget is about 700 USD but could be increased if it really needed to be.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Inxsible]

If you want good performance than your configuration may have issues if you already have 8 TB of video files already.
5x4TB in RAIDZ2 means you already lose 2 drives to parity. That leaves you with 3x4TB=12TB of space. You will lose more due to the fact that a 4TB drive is usually not 4TB and also the filesystem overhead etc.

Note that ZFS pools really do not perform well when they are more than 80% full. So right of the bat, you won't be happy with FreeNAS. I would recommend going with bigger drives or more drives if your case allows for it.

Rackmount cases usually allow for 8(older 2U cases) or 12 (2U) or 24(4U) drives. If rackmount is not to your liking, there are other tower style cases available which can support large number of drives.

If you don't already have the hardware, I would recommend server grade hardware -- think IPMI, intel NICs, lack of supefluous ports like hdmi, dvi and sound cards etc

Not sure about your location, but $700 is a lot of coin if you are willing to buy used parts off of ebay in the US. Availability is great as well. If you are in some other part of the world then your choices might be limited.

An example : https://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro...603317&hash=item2f37120326:g:pNUAAOSwPZhdjORj

 

[Esme101]

I could probably get more 4tb drives. Or what about 4 6tb in z1. I have read that z1 is not a the best raid to run? Also just to be sure, the drives will be compatible with older hardware.

 

[Esme101]

I'm in PA US and Ebay is not a problem.

 

[subhuman]

...I'm thinking of going with 5 4tb wd reds in Raidz2...
...My budget is about 700 USD but could be increased if it really needed to be.

I think that is an unrealistic estimate; the 4TB WD Reds you mention in the first post are around $115 each on either Amazon or Newegg- that's $575 of your proposed budget right off the bat.
The barebones @Inxsible linked will get you pretty far. What are you doing for drives?

I'm thinking of going with 5 4tb wd reds in Raidz2...
...Or what about 4 6tb in z1

Careful, certain models of WD Red 6TB drives are SMR.
HGST drives are pretty affordable right now, 3TB $50, 4TB $77, 6TB $110. Either Newegg or Amazon. Your call, but I'd take them over most others on a normal day- but more so with the prices being as low as they are. WD specifies the Reds for "small business NAS" of 8 drives or less. You're already talking about exceeding that in the future. I don't mean to imply they're a bad choice (well, SMR ones would be), just that they may not be the only choice. Enterprise drives or surveillance drives are also intended for 24/7 operation.

I have read that z1 is not a the best raid to run?

There's less redundancy than in the raidz2 you mentioned in your first post. At a certain threshold size you should switch to RAIDZ2 then at another threshold you should go RAIDZ3. I don't know the exact numbers offhand, but my gut's telling me you should probably not use RAIDZ1.

You still need RAM.

I'm in PA US and Ebay is not a problem.

Greetings from the Lehigh Valley!

 

[Esme101]

Never thought about using HGST drives, seems I got suckered by the big "BEST NAS DRIVE" WD uses in their product ads. I assume you mean 4TB $77 renewed by HGST because new ones were more expensive, though I am fine using refurbished drives. I'm thinking of using these parts for a system, but a barebones is a good idea, and if I see a nice one I might grab it instead of building.

E3 1230 v3 - $80 (Ebay)
32gb ddr3 ecc - $40 (Ebay)
Supermicro X10SLL+-F (6 SATA and 8 SAS ports) - $80 (Ebay)
Seasonic FOCUS SGX-450 80+ Gold - $80 (New)
Case (not sure yet but looking for a supermicro) - $60 (Ebay)
About $350 give or take.

Yeah, about the Z1 I have read that during re-silvering drives have a higher failure rate so Z2 does seem like a better option. I have 3.4TB of video (In Blu-Ray and DvD) but have plans to get another 5-7TB after I get a server. In light of the $75 4TB drives I might buy 7 of them and with my 4TB drive I have now I would have 24TB with Z2. The drives would be about $500 with link one. If I can get a system for $350 then I would still be within a reasonable budget range. Thanks for the recommendations.

(1) https://www.amazon.com/HGST-Ultrast...st+ultrastar+7k6000+4tb&qid=1574652919&sr=8-2

Chester County here!

 

[subhuman]

I assume you mean 4TB $77 renewed by HGST because new ones were more expensive, though I am fine using refurbished drives.

Well, these guys are claiming they're new.

HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724040ALE640 (0F14683) 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Enterprise Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com

Buy HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724040ALE640 (0F14683) 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Enterprise Hard Drive Bare Drive with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

or

HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 4TB 7200 RPM 3.5" Enterprise HDD - Newegg.com

Buy HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724040ALA640 (0F14688) 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Hard Drive Bare Drive with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

I've never bought from them so I can't comment on personal experience.

These guys, however

HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724040ALA640 (0F14688) 4TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Hard Drive New OEM- w/1 Year Warranty - Newegg.com

Buy HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724040ALA640 (0F14688) 4TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Enterprise Hard Drive New Desktop Internal Hard Drives- w/1 Year Warranty with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

I've bought from on several occasions. Every drive I got that they claimed was new, was new from everything I could tell. Still sealed in the antistatic bag (granted, that's easy to fake). No visible signs like scuffs or scratches. Nothing fishy in SMART.
If they are refurbs, then I'm failing hard at finding evidence.

But you say you're OK with refurb:

Refurbished: HGST Ultrastar 0F14683 4TB 3.5" SATA 6Gbs 64MB 7200RPM Enterprise Hard Drive - Newegg.com

Buy Refurbished: HGST Ultrastar 0F14683 4TB 3.5" SATA 6Gbs 64MB 7200RPM Enterprise Hard Drive with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

You have plenty of options. SAS is usually only a few dollars more than SATA per drive, and what you're looking at in hardware has SAS support.

 

[sabi-tech]

Now i get why the yanks have more storage than us brits! for those prices in the UK site we can get a 1tb hdd

 

[Esme101]

XD

 

[joeinaz]

I put a 10 disk X10 based system w/24GB RAM (10 disks removable from the front panel) system on eBay for $350.

 

[Esme101]

I found yours, the case is awesome (the roller feet are cool) but my problem with it is that it only has a Pentium G3258, I was looking for something more like an E3 1230 v2 or v3 (double the workstation preformance) b/c I have plans for 4k transcoding in the future. . If you had one of them it would be nice.

Just to be sure, all the bays are already wired up and ready for use? ie; No need to flash a card to IT mode? Also what case is that.

Thanks

 

[Esme101]

Or even better, a E3 1231 v3. (It has hyper-threading)

 

[joeinaz]

The next system I will be building will include an E5-2650-V2 in an x9 motherboard. I would include it in an Antec 900 case which would support 9 to 15 disks.

 

[joeinaz]

I found yours, the case is awesome (the roller feet are cool) but my problem with it is that it only has a Pentium G3258, I was looking for something more like an E3 1230 v2 or v3 (double the workstation preformance) b/c I have plans for 4k transcoding in the future. . If you had one of them it would be nice.

Just to be sure, all the bays are already wired up and ready for use? ie; No need to flash a card to IT mode? Also what case is that.

Thanks

"I was looking for something more like an E3 1230 v2 or v3 (double the workstation preformance) b/c I have plans for 4k transcoding in the future."
This system was designed to run as a dedicated FreeNAS storage system due to the included CPU. With the Intel Socket 1150, it is possible to change to a "beefier" CPU and do applications such as transcription and virtualization. For the $50 I reduced the price, you could get an E3-1230 v2 CPU.

"Just to be sure, all the bays are already wired up and ready for use?"
The system is all wired up and the cables are all "dressed". The motherboard comes with eight SATA3 ports (6Gb/s) and there are 4 additional SATA3 ports on a PCIe card. Each of the two 5 disk enclosures are wired and ready to go. You don't even have to open the case to add the 10 disks.

"what case is that"
It's a very old Codegen case which has been modified to accept two "5 in 3" disk enclosures. Besides the 10 disks in front, there are two available 5.25" bays, one external and one internal and one external 3.5" bay. In theory, you could house thirteen 3.5" disks in a quiet mid tower system that could roll under your desk.

It's been my system case for years but now I am torn because I have 2 Antec 900 cases and a large Lian-Li full tower case. Both of those cases hold 12 disks but I am out of room in my office and i am slowing selling my systems.