My First FreeNAS

[CrazyBrewer]

Hello all! Long time stalker, first time poster. I have read over the hardware recommendation guide many times and I want to finally build my FreeNAS server. Now before I spend about $1,500 USD (my final/ultimate build has been inspired by Drkk's build) I want to use components I have on hand to test it out get used to the UI/setting permissions/playing with scripts, plugins etc. Anything I put on this temp setup will not be critical data. I have decades of experience when it comes to gaming pc's but not on the server side.

Now for where I am coming from. I currently have a QNAP that I bought about 2 years ago. It is my central storage for personal files, pics, windows backups, movies and music. Total use right now is just over 9 TiB and the only thing that haven't backed up is my movie collection that took a few months to rip. If I lose that data it'll suck but I can always rerip it. Speaking of which, about 80-85% of my media is ripped so I don't see my current use going up that much. The CPU on it is not enough for transcoding 1080p so I have a separate PC set up just for that. I want to combine the 2.

My current spare hardware
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5
CPU: Pentium G4560
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 2x8GB DDR4-3000
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX
HDD: Various drives from 500GB to 2TB
PSU: EVGA SuperNova G2 550W
Boot Drive: I have a plethora of spare USB sticks

Remember the above is just so I can play around with FreeNAS. I know when it comes to VDevs the smallest size drive that determines the space available. ie if I have 1x500GB and 2x1TB drives in a VDev it will use the 500GB size and only if I upgrade that drive to 1TB will the VDev 'expand' (correct me if I'm using the wrong terminology)

I will eventually go to
Mobo: Supermicro X11SSM-F or X11SSL-CF depends on my pool
CPU: Pentium G4560 (since I already own it)
RAM: 1x16GB stick off the QVL or from Crucial
Case: Fractal Design R5
HDD: 8x4TB WD Reds (most likely)
PSU: EVGA SuperNova G2 550W (own it)
Boot: SanDisk Plus 240GB (own it, will be taken from my transcoding PC)


My use for FreeNAS will not change from my current needs which is a file server, Windows backup location, and plex server. I do not see myself getting into VMs at all. Once I do get a final server up and running the QNAP will serve as cold storage backup until I can build another FreeNAS unit. As a plex server it'll only be transcoding 1-2 1080p streams. When it comes time I'll start another thread on my final build.

So I guess my question is, will my spare parts run FreeNAS?

 

[Jailer]

I'd say welcome to the forums but based on your first post you've obviously been lurking a while and doing your research.

Your test bed and chosen future hardware look like great choices for your intended usage. I wish more users would run a test setup/VM before jumping in head first and wondering why things went sideways on them.

Just one question. Do you plan on running multiple streams with Plex and if so will they be direct play or transcoded? If you plan on transcoding multiple steams frequently you may want more CPU. If not your chosen CPU should work very well for you. The good part is you can try with what you have and upgrade only if needed. Otherwise your chosen hardware looks fantastic and would be a good starting point for any new user.

 

[BigDave]

Anything I put on this temp setup will not be critical data.

This is a good because your current hardware doesn't use ECC RAM and will expose your data to the possibility of bit errors.

ie if I have 1x500GB and 2x1TB drives in a VDev it will use the 500GB size and only if I upgrade that drive to 1TB will the VDev 'expand'

This is correct.

So I guess my question is, will my spare parts run FreeNAS?

For your current intended use case, the listed hardware should work.

 

[CrazyBrewer]

Do you plan on running multiple streams with Plex and if so will they be direct play or transcoded?

Generally there is only 1 stream that gets transcoded at a time with the rare 2 streams at once. All my movies are in a lossless .mkv format so blurays are huge. I might/should eventually transcode them down so they can be direct played and take up less space. Currently I stream to android phones and Chromecast.

Thanks for quick feedback Jailer and BigDave. :)

 

[Inxsible]

As a plex server it'll only be transcoding 1-2 1080p streams.

Do you plan on running multiple streams with Plex and if so will they be direct play or transcoded? If you plan on transcoding multiple steams frequently you may want more CPU.

Even for 2 simultaneous transcodes, the chosen CPU should be fine. Each transcode requires about 2000 Passmark and Pentium G4560 has 4930. So it should be just about enough for 2 simultaneous transcodes.

I wouldn't go buy a "bigger" processor if your needs are not going to change anytime soon.