New "budget" NAS box. Will it be OK?

[Neosphere]

Hello again,

so after reading a lot for the past 24 hours and abandoning some insane requirements I think I could build a much better NAS than my current QNAP 470 Pro and still not give away too much.
I totally stole HW components form m0nkey_ so thank ;) I think I can safely skip slog and l2arc for now.

Home FreeNAS Server
==========================
CHF171 - Case: PC-Q25B Mini-ITX Cube OR Fractal Design Node 304 (not yet 100% convinced, maybe Chenbro SR30169)
CHF177 - RAM: OWC DIMM 32 GB DDR3-1066 ECC DR Quad-Kit
CHF401 - Mainboard: ASRock C2550D4I
CHF17 - BOOT: Sandisk Ultra Fit V2 (16GB, USB 3.0)
CHF129 - Power: Seasonic Platinum 400 Fanless (400W)
CHF512 - 4x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf --> 1x RAID 1 for personal docs and photos an 1x RAID 1 for media files (movies and tv series)
===
CHF1407 = about USD1458

Would it run? What can I optimize for Plex Media Server transcoding?
For silent operation: Replace the case fan?
Which ultra silent CPU fan should I use if any?

Could I also put the ITX mainboard inside ATX case like Fractal Design Node 605 or buy ATX board?

 

[m0nkey_]

Would it run? What can I optimize for Plex Media Server transcoding?

Looks good. Just make sure the RAM is on the QVL to ensure good operation. I also have the same PSU, couldn't be happier with it.
AS for Plex, it'll cope with one, maybe two transcoding sessions.

For silent operation: Replace the case fan?
Which ultra silent CPU fan should I use if any?

Noctua. Probably the best fans you can get if you want them to be quite. I use them in all my machines.

Could I also put the ITX mainboard inside ATX case like Fractal Design Node 605 or buy ATX board?

Of course. You may need to move the standoffs to make sure the motherboard fits correctly.

 

[danb35]

I'm sure it's more expensive in .ch than in .us, but the HPE Proliant ML10 appears to be the current bang-for-buck leader here. Under US$200 including an i3-6100 and 4 GB of RAM. The RAM would need to be expanded to run FreeNAS, but it is otherwise pretty much turnkey. It doesn't give you the tiny, silent, pretty appliance though--but it would cut your cost in half.

 

[Neosphere]

I found two HPE Proliants with ML10 in the name. You mean the HPE Proliant ML10 837829-421 with XEON X3? It's CHF429 in CH. So I could put the following inside for an upgrade.

CHF177 - RAM: OWC DIMM 32 GB DDR3-1066 ECC DR Quad-Kit
CHF17 - BOOT: Sandisk Ultra Fit V2 (16GB, USB 3.0)
CHF129 - Power: Seasonic Platinum 400 Fanless (400W)
CHF512 - 4x 4TB Seagate Ironwolf --> 1x RAID 1 for personal docs and photos an 1x RAID 1 for media files (movies and tv series)

This would cost me CHF1264 with the HPE Proliant. Not bad.
A bit strange that I can't find information on the main board inside that brick. OK, this gives some info.

Looks good. Just make sure the RAM is on the QVL to ensure good operation. I also have the same PSU, couldn't be happier with it.
AS for Plex, it'll cope with one, maybe two transcoding sessions.

Noctua. Probably the best fans you can get if you want them to be quite. I use them in all my machines.

Of course. You may need to move the standoffs to make sure the motherboard fits correctly.

- Which noctua did you use for your CPU? Or do you passively cool it?
- Why didn't you go with the ASRock board with CPU onboard? Is your setup much faster?

 

[danb35]

You mean the HPE Proliant ML10 837829-421 with XEON X3

I mean this one.

 

[Neosphere]

Seems to be impossible to get it in CH.

 

[Stux]

1x RAID 1 for personal docs and photos an 1x RAID 1 for media files (movies and tv series)

Might as well just use a single pool on a 4-way RaidZ2. Same space, much better redundancy (2+ drive failures to lose data). Easier administration

 

[Inxsible]

The Avoton build will give you smaller, possibly cooler looking cases -- but they have premium cost. The ML10 gives you a tower, but all you have to do is bump up the RAM and add drives. So, I think the ML10 would come out to be cheaper overall.

You could also consider adding in an additional USB and create a mirror of the boot disk as well. Not necessary, but good to have a bit of redundancy in the boot disk too.

But I like both builds. Much better than the overkill system you were trying to build with the Supermicro board which came around $2500 :)

 

[Neosphere]

Well the ML10 can't be purchased in Switzerland for the money and in this version :/ Additionally the requirement of transcoding 4 Plex streams at the same time can't be achieved with that processor. So this will probably be my setup, please comment one last time.

Home FreeNAS Server
==========================
CHF80 - Case: Fractal Design Node 304
CHF177 - RAM: OWC DIMM 32 GB DDR3-1066 ECC DR Quad-Kit
CHF200 - Mainboard: SuperMicro X10SLL-F LGA1150
CHF306 - CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1246 v3 (LGA 1150, 3.50GHz)
CHF32 - BOOT: 2x Sandisk Ultra Fit V2 (16GB, USB 3.0)
CHF129 - Power: Seasonic Platinum 400 Fanless (400W)
CHF888 - 6x 4TB WD Red --> RAID-Z2 for personal docs and photos an Plex media files
CHF100 - Few Noctua fans.
===
CHF 1912 = USD 1981

Doesn't feel "budget" anymore :/

 

[Stux]

Obselete board is obselete. Limited to 32GB and won't fit in that case.

 

[Inxsible]

What happened to your Avoton build with the AsRock board? You changed it again to Supermicro to increase costs?

 

[Neosphere]

Ups... the board isn't ITX anymore.
Well, because I need a more powerful CPU for Plex streaming I somehow have to get other board and Avoton is just not enough for transcoding of 4 streams.

 

[adrianwi]

Surely the newer Supermicro boards and Intel Xeon's would be a better bet, giving you up to 64GB of RAM? My build isn't dissimilar to your proposed build, but I know if I was building mine today I'd want some headroom for more RAM.

My box has been running perfectly for the last 2 years, so what you're proposing will work fine and transcode 5-6 1080p streams, but 2 years is a long time in the tech world. I wouldn't build the same machine again today.