BUILD low budget newbie FreeNAS build

[carcrusher]

Hello!
I made some provisional parts list of my fututre low budget FreeNAS box. It's inspired by joeschmuck's build. Here we go:

NAS:

• Motherboard:
  ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3
  http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A78LMUSB3/specifications/
  
  
• RAM:
  Two modules x 8GB of:
  GoodRam W-MEM1600E38G - 1600MHz samsung chips
  or kingston KVR16E11/8 - 1600MHz CL11 KVR16E11/8 http://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/KVR16E11_8.pdf
  
  
• CPU:
  AMD Athlon II X2 240e @2.8GHz
  
  
• flash:
  kingston DTSE9H/16GB
  
  
• drives:
  2x1TB HGST Deskstar 7K1000.C (already in use)
  
  
• PSU:
  BeQuiet PurePower L8 350W (already in use)
  
  
• UPS:
  CyberPower DX800E-FR (already in use)

PC / backup machine:

• RAM:
  1x8GB, or 2x4GB the same kind as in NAS
  
  
• HDD:
  For now it would be just one 1TB 7200rpm SAMSUNG F3 HDD. Migration to 2x1TB mirror in the future.
  
  
• ALL THE REST ALMOST THE SAME AS NAS MACHINE

Currently all data are on the HGST's (2x1TB mirror) plugged into cheap MSI 1155 motherboard (celeron G530 @2.4GHz, 8GB non-ECC RAM).

• Everything is under control of Debian sid and mdadm @ETX4.
• Backup is made into single 1TB NTFS SAMSUNG F3 (Windows controlled).

Storing mailny family photos and videos, but also a bit of text files (sometimes small and numerous), documents, spreadsheets and some flac/mp3 files. Used as CIFS server so nothing fancy, no plex, etc. Apache, MySQL and other stuff will me moved to Raspberry Pi.

I suppose the Athlon x2 is good enough for that purpose? I have some doubts about memory compatibility with Asus motherboard but its hard to verify not having stuff in hands.
Would be happy to read some (constructive) critics about this build, but please remember that I'm a bit short on cash.

 

[gpsguy]

I'm using this mobo for my primary desktop PC. I bought my ECC RAM direct from Crucial using their selection tool.

If you decide to go this route, pick up a PCI/e Intel Pro/1000 CT NIC. It costs ~$30 USD.


Sent from my phone

 

[carcrusher]

Thanks! Crucial seems OK, but it's a bit overpriced compared to kingston. I checked that kingstons should work with this ASUS, but only the 1333MHz version, so I decided to go with:

• ASUS M5A78L-M LX3 http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A78LM_LX3/specifications/
  I know it has only 2 DIMMs, but 16GB RAM shoud be enoug for 2x1TB (maybe 2x2TB in the future) mirrored disks I think ?
• 2x8 GB Kingston KVR16E11/8 for NAS and 1x8GB for PC/backup machine http://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/KVR16E11_8.pdf

I was planning intel NIC's but I was wondering why Pro/1000 is over 2x cheaper than i210...

 

[danb35]

"more expensive than" != "overpriced compared to"

 

[Ericloewe]

Unfortunately, Kingston is not reputable anymore. Crucial, if certified compatible, would be a much better choice (as would any other major brand).

As for the NICs, the i210 is a relatively recent model and the Pro/1000 is a rather old model. Performance should be close, but the i210 adds certain features that you may or may not want and runs on PCI-e 2.0 instead of PCI-e 1.0, I believe.

 

[carcrusher]

One or two mistakes (vide v300 ssd's) doesn't suddenly make them not worthy considering. I had a few kingston RAM modules, and all worked/work flawlessly. I also have one ballistix (crucial brand) pair of dimms and guess what... fortunately warranty was valid. I know that it doesn't proof anything, but what I have to loose? The memory will work or throw errors, if that occurs there is always warranty. On kingston's website stands that kvr16e11/8 was tested with this motherboard - so I think it should work without problems?

 

[Yatti420]

The only motherboard I've seen issues with kingston ram is the x10 series from Super micro.

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ericloewe]

The only motherboard I've seen issues with kingston ram is the x10 series from Super micro.

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk 2

It's not about compatibility, it's more about business practices. Compatibility problems are fortunately rare, but I wouldn't put it past them to try and pass off crappy DRAM for the good stuff (like sell 1066-binned stuff as 1600).

 

[carcrusher]

(...) but I wouldn't put it past them to try and pass off crappy DRAM for the good stuff (like sell 1066-binned stuff as 1600).

could you provide some references for that?

 

[Ericloewe]

could you provide some references for that?

Well, they did something rather similar with SSDs recently, besides the whole Supermicro X10 debacle.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7763/an-update-to-kingston-ssdnow-v300-a-switch-to-slower-micron-nand

 

[enemy85]

I know it has only 2 DIMMs, but 16GB RAM shoud be enoug for 2x1TB (maybe 2x2TB in the future) mirrored disks I think ?

With just 2x2tb hd 8gb ram are already ok for a home user...at least for now i would save that money...

 

[carcrusher]

Well, they did something rather similar with SSDs recently, besides the whole Supermicro X10 debacle.http://www.anandtech.com/show/7763/an-update-to-kingston-ssdnow-v300-a-switch-to-slower-micron-nand

I know about ssd's issue, this case was hard to miss. I was asking about selling 1066 RAM as 1600 - because I never heard of it.

With just 2x2tb hd 8gb ram are already ok for a home user...at least for now i would save that money...

That's even better - I forgot about OEM license for windows - need to buy another because of motherboard change. So savings from RAM will go to M$.