My first FreeNAS Build recommendations please

witherford

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Dec 27, 2019
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Hi Everyone this is my first post on the forums, i have done allot of reading as i am planning on building my next NAS, currently i have a QNAP which is now a few years old and i want to update it with something much more powerful.

I want to use it as both a storage and Plex media server and that's probably about it, I mainly need advice about the hardware specs which i have listed below.

Proposed RAID setup:
Currently i have 4 x 4TB WD RED's in a RAID5 (approx 12TB available) logically my proposed upgrade will be to add two more WD RED 4TB's to the build and go with a RAIDZ2 and have 4 disks available storage and 2 disks parity in a single Udev.

15-16TB of available storage will be plenty for me for the next few years.


Proposed Hardware specs, i have included reasons for my choices:

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7 GHz Dual-Core Processor (good ratings, decent speed and compatible with my board, ECC also supported) (should i use the heatsync it comes with?)

Motherboard: Supermicro MBD-X11SSM-F-O Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (8 x SATA 3 connections, i need 7 for build)

Memory: 2 x Kingston 8 GB DDR4-2666 Memory (start with 16GB and if i need more the board takes up to 64GB) (or should i go with 16GB Sticks?)

Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 60 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (will host the Freenas OS, i hate the idea of a USB stick as it can get knocked out of the port) (may go with 32GB if their is a big enough cost saving)

Storage: 6 x Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" (RAIDZ2, will only need to buy 2 of them)

Case: Fractal Design Node 804 MicroATX Mid Tower Case (case with plenty of room, dedicated SSD mounting points and good reviews and looks cool)

Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS SGX 450 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply (plenty of power with upgrade room, open to suggestions with this)

Extras:
I will be looking at a small UPS to keep the NAS on in an event the power failed, open to suggestions there as well.

Open to suggestions on internal cables and brands.
 

Chris Moore

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Everyone this is my first post on the forums
Welcome to the forum.

This actually looks to be a fairly good starter system. I would recommend an APC UPS, mainly because I have had good service from mine. This is the model I use:


It provides a good amount of time for system shutdown if that is needed and there is software built-in to FreeNAS to allow the NAS to monitor the condition of the USP and shutdown the NAS if the battery is low.
 

witherford

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Dec 27, 2019
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Welcome to the forum.

This actually looks to be a fairly good starter system. I would recommend an APC UPS, mainly because I have had good service from mine. This is the model I use:


It provides a good amount of time for system shutdown if that is needed and there is software built-in to FreeNAS to allow the NAS to monitor the condition of the USP and shutdown the NAS if the battery is low.


Cheers thanks for the info, can you see any issues with going for the 700VA version of the UPS you have recommended?

I was going to update my post as i have read the link below and ixsystems recommended APC for a UPS:
https://www.ixsystems.com/blog/hardware-guide/
 

G8One2

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witherford

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Thanks for linking that, but i have already read it. I am asking people what they think of my proposed setup and if their is any improvements.
 

John Doe

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setup looks good.
I would go with 1x 16gb RAM instead of 2x 8 or so. It iwll save power and in case you want to upgrade, you will have more slots free.

Do not underestimate how hungry ZFS is.
ssfsfsfsfs.JPG

I used the delivered heatsink and I am fine with it. just try it out, you can fix it later if it is insufficient.

I have the same case like you mentioned. Case is okay, but I would not buy again. It consumes just way too much space, btw. the inside could be much smaller in my opinion. But I haven't found a case which is still available and really good for a Freenas system.
 

witherford

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setup looks good.
I would go with 1x 16gb RAM instead of 2x 8 or so. It iwll save power and in case you want to upgrade, you will have more slots free.

Do not underestimate how hungry ZFS is.
View attachment 34873

I used the delivered heatsink and I am fine with it. just try it out, you can fix it later if it is insufficient.

I have the same case like you mentioned. Case is okay, but I would not buy again. It consumes just way too much space, btw. the inside could be much smaller in my opinion. But I haven't found a case which is still available and really good for a Freenas system.

Thanks useful information, i will go with your recommendations.

Just clobbering the cash together to get it all bought.
 

LVLouisCyphre

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Dec 22, 2019
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Memory: 2 x Kingston 8 GB DDR4-2666 Memory (start with 16GB and if i need more the board takes up to 64GB) (or should i go with 16GB Sticks?)
Yes, don't waste your money on the smaller DIMMs unless it's for budgetary reasons especially if you're running ZFS. Anytime I build or find a good deal on a used system I put the largest memory modules it supports. I picked up a Lenovo Thinkserver TS430-0388 and a pair of HP Microserver G7 N54Ls on eBay for a good price. The memory in them is the bare minimum. It's pretty much getting scrapped and the max is being tossed in them.
I will be looking at a small UPS to keep the NAS on in an event the power failed, open to suggestions there as well.
APC. You can find refurbished APC Smart UPSes on eBay or from major UPS rebuilders and sellers with a decent warranty here. I would go with APCs that use a Smart slot that support WebSNMP cards. I don't know what the sterling pound standard is for UPSes is in the UK. APC is pretty much the gold standard here on this side of the pond. It appears APC does have offices in the UK so they should have UPSes that use native UK home 220-240VAC power. One of the things you want to be able to do with a smart UPS is monitor input power.

My previous residence had flaky power. An old coal burning power plant was shutdown by NV Energy which I believe compromised the integrity of the power grid in the immediate area. Anytime there was a storm that passed overhead, it took down the power in that one grid; the entire neighborhood went dark including some traffic lights. It fried a desktop that was on a surge protector. I dread to think what it would have done to FreeNAS.
 
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witherford

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Yes, don't waste your money on the smaller DIMMs unless it's for budgetary reasons especially if you're running ZFS. Anytime I build or find a good deal on a used system I put the largest memory modules it supports. I picked up a Lenovo Thinkserver TS430-0388 and a pair of HP Microserver G7 N54Ls on eBay for a good price. The memory in them is the bare minimum. It's pretty much getting scrapped and the max is being tossed in them.

APC. You can find refurbished APC Smart UPSes on eBay or from major UPS rebuilders and sellers with a decent warranty here. I would go with APCs that use a Smart slot that support WebSNMP cards. I don't know what the sterling pound standard is for UPSes is in the UK. APC is pretty much the gold standard here on this side of the pond. It appears APC does have offices in the UK so they should have UPSes that use native UK home 220-240VAC power. One of the things you want to be able to do with a smart UPS is monitor input power.

My previous residence had flaky power. An old cold burning power plant was shutdown by NV Energy which I believe compromised the integrity of the power grid in the immediate area. Anytime there was a storm that passed overhead, it took down the power in that one grid; the entire neighborhood went dark including some traffic lights. It fried a desktop that was on a surge protector. I dread to think what it would have done to FreeNAS.

Excellent input thank you! i will add this into my notes when i come to buy all of the equipment.
 

KrisBee

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If you've not seen this already, another take on a node 804 FN build: https://ramsdenj.com/2016/01/01/freenas-server-build.html might make for a useful comparison. The detail about cooling could be of particular interest. My preference would be for a Fractal R4/5 tower case.

I'm not a plex user, but the number of concurrent streams and if they are 4K and/or if transcoding is involved might mean the i3 will struggle. Plenty of plex posts on this forum and elsewhere to look at in that subject.
 

artlessknave

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Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 60 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (will host the Freenas OS, i hate the idea of a USB stick as it can get knocked out of the port) (may go with 32GB if their is a big enough cost saving)
this depends on the USB stick, a sandisk cruzer fit is virtually impossible to get out of the port when you WANT it out...
sandisk often has USB drives that are SSD's, or are very close to SDD's, and thus are pretty reliable. the main thing is wear leveling, which most USB drive lack.
I would go with 1x 16gb RAM instead of 2x 8 or so. It will save power and in case you want to upgrade, you will have more slots free.
you want 2 sticks, dual channel does in fact make a noticeable difference (though 3 and 4 less so), so 2x16 GB is ideal, and you can upgrade to board max sometime in the future
I dread to think what it would have done to FreeNAS.
while the hardware can absolutely get fried, freenas, and zfs, wouldn't really care much, the only thing datawise that can be lost is in transit data (writes), all existing data will be fine as long as the drives are - zfs is copy-on-write, so all data already written is untouched until its replacement with the changes is commited to disk, and then, and only then, the old blocks are marked free (well, unless snapshotted then it all stays).
(should i use the heatsync it comes with?)
the heatsync that comes with intel/AMD procs is, by design, sufficient within reasonable parameters (not overclocking, not 1u, not in an oven, etc).


casewise, http://www.u-nas.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17640 is very good, 8 drives, hotswap, mATX, smaller than the 804. its a bit tight to work in but for what it does it was quite excellent, build quality is very solid. its biggest weakness is that PCIe cards are limited
 

witherford

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Dec 27, 2019
Messages
19
If you've not seen this already, another take on a node 804 FN build: https://ramsdenj.com/2016/01/01/freenas-server-build.html might make for a useful comparison. The detail about cooling could be of particular interest. My preference would be for a Fractal R4/5 tower case.

I'm not a plex user, but the number of concurrent streams and if they are 4K and/or if transcoding is involved might mean the i3 will struggle. Plenty of plex posts on this forum and elsewhere to look at in that subject.


Thanks ill take a look.
 

witherford

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Dec 27, 2019
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this depends on the USB stick, a sandisk cruzer fit is virtually impossible to get out of the port when you WANT it out...
sandisk often has USB drives that are SSD's, or are very close to SDD's, and thus are pretty reliable. the main thing is wear leveling, which most USB drive lack.

you want 2 sticks, dual channel does in fact make a noticeable difference (though 3 and 4 less so), so 2x16 GB is ideal, and you can upgrade to board max sometime in the future

while the hardware can absolutely get fried, freenas, and zfs, wouldn't really care much, the only thing datawise that can be lost is in transit data (writes), all existing data will be fine as long as the drives are - zfs is copy-on-write, so all data already written is untouched until its replacement with the changes is commited to disk, and then, and only then, the old blocks are marked free (well, unless snapshotted then it all stays).

the heatsync that comes with intel/AMD procs is, by design, sufficient within reasonable parameters (not overclocking, not 1u, not in an oven, etc).


casewise, http://www.u-nas.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17640 is very good, 8 drives, hotswap, mATX, smaller than the 804. its a bit tight to work in but for what it does it was quite excellent, build quality is very solid. its biggest weakness is that PCIe cards are limited

I will probably pick that case over the fractal, i will take your suggestions into consideration, thank you!
 
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