Hi Everyone,
I'm working on my first FreeNAS build. I've been reading through the forums and would like some feedback on components I've selected along with advice on other components. My goal here is to build a medium sized NAS that could grow to a larger NAS as my media collection grows.
I currently have a HTPC that I built in 2008 and really haven't upgraded aside from hard drives. I'll continue to use this to play media from the NAS but in the future I'll probably build a more compact HTPC. Both hard drives are filled to the max and I have a pair of 500GB hard drives with content on them collecting dust so I'd like to consolidate the media from those in the NAS. For reference, here are the current HTPC specs:
SILVERSTONE GD01B-R ATX Case
ECS A780GM-A Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 Brisbane Dual-Core 2.7GHz Socket AM2 65W
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W 80 PLUS Certified P/S
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Western Digital Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
Western Digital Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (32-Bit)
If I could reuse any of the above components that would be cool. However, I'm more interested in choosing the right components for the NAS. I thought about reusing the Silverstone case but it's a pain to work with when it comes to adding/removing components. Part of the reason I originally selected this case was for looks as it currently sits in my living room under the TV. But for the NAS it will likely be out of sight so I don't care too much about what it looks like. I also thought about reusing the power supply but I'd prefer to use an 80 Plus Gold power supply. Maybe the hard drives could be reused but I plan on buying new, larger capacity ones.
I have a couple new components laying around that at one point I planned to use but never did. Not sure if they could be reused as I don't know if a SSD has a place in a NAS and the hard drives are only 640GB.
Crucial M500 CT240M500SSD1 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (1x)
Western Digital Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (2x)
For the NAS I've currently purchased a Case, 3 Hard Drives, and Power Supply. Since I've already purchased these I'd like to work with them but if it makes sense to go with something different them I'm all ears. I'm hoping I selected a Case that will allow me to add more hard drives as my media collection grows. Part of the reason I purchased 3 hard drives was because I got them as a bundle for $465 which I thought was a good deal and they seemed to have good reviews. I also didn't want to buy a bunch of hard drives now when they'll likely go down in price and up in capacity in a couple years when I'm potentially ready to upgrade my NAS. In my preliminary research I was toying with the idea of a RAID5 setup, but reading through the forums, that doesn't seem to be recommended. I'll admit I still have some learning to do when it comes to the different RAID setups. It seems like RAID-Z1 is similar to RAID5 but RAID-Z2 is recommended. I'd probably need to increase the number of hard drives to accomplish RAID-Z2?
NZXT Source 210 S210-001 Black
HGST Deskstar NAS H3IKNAS40003272SN (0S03664) 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" HD (3x)
Rosewill CAPSTONE-450 450W 80 PLUS GOLD
I was thinking of going with 8-16GB of ECC RAM but I wasn't sure if I should get 1x8GB, 2x4GB, 4x4GB, 2x8GB, or 1x16GB. I started looking at Server Motherboards from Supermicro but haven't decided on one yet. For CPU I was thinking one of the i3's but something I'm confused about is whether there is already a CPU integrated in the Supermicro Motherboards or if you need a separate CPU? I'll also add a 8-16GB flash drive to run FreeNAS. Any advice for selecting these components?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I'm looking forward to this build and I'll make sure to post pics along the way if anyone is interested.
-Mike
I'm working on my first FreeNAS build. I've been reading through the forums and would like some feedback on components I've selected along with advice on other components. My goal here is to build a medium sized NAS that could grow to a larger NAS as my media collection grows.
I currently have a HTPC that I built in 2008 and really haven't upgraded aside from hard drives. I'll continue to use this to play media from the NAS but in the future I'll probably build a more compact HTPC. Both hard drives are filled to the max and I have a pair of 500GB hard drives with content on them collecting dust so I'd like to consolidate the media from those in the NAS. For reference, here are the current HTPC specs:
SILVERSTONE GD01B-R ATX Case
ECS A780GM-A Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 Brisbane Dual-Core 2.7GHz Socket AM2 65W
Antec earthwatts EA500 500W 80 PLUS Certified P/S
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Western Digital Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
Western Digital Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (32-Bit)
If I could reuse any of the above components that would be cool. However, I'm more interested in choosing the right components for the NAS. I thought about reusing the Silverstone case but it's a pain to work with when it comes to adding/removing components. Part of the reason I originally selected this case was for looks as it currently sits in my living room under the TV. But for the NAS it will likely be out of sight so I don't care too much about what it looks like. I also thought about reusing the power supply but I'd prefer to use an 80 Plus Gold power supply. Maybe the hard drives could be reused but I plan on buying new, larger capacity ones.
I have a couple new components laying around that at one point I planned to use but never did. Not sure if they could be reused as I don't know if a SSD has a place in a NAS and the hard drives are only 640GB.
Crucial M500 CT240M500SSD1 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (1x)
Western Digital Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (2x)
For the NAS I've currently purchased a Case, 3 Hard Drives, and Power Supply. Since I've already purchased these I'd like to work with them but if it makes sense to go with something different them I'm all ears. I'm hoping I selected a Case that will allow me to add more hard drives as my media collection grows. Part of the reason I purchased 3 hard drives was because I got them as a bundle for $465 which I thought was a good deal and they seemed to have good reviews. I also didn't want to buy a bunch of hard drives now when they'll likely go down in price and up in capacity in a couple years when I'm potentially ready to upgrade my NAS. In my preliminary research I was toying with the idea of a RAID5 setup, but reading through the forums, that doesn't seem to be recommended. I'll admit I still have some learning to do when it comes to the different RAID setups. It seems like RAID-Z1 is similar to RAID5 but RAID-Z2 is recommended. I'd probably need to increase the number of hard drives to accomplish RAID-Z2?
NZXT Source 210 S210-001 Black
HGST Deskstar NAS H3IKNAS40003272SN (0S03664) 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" HD (3x)
Rosewill CAPSTONE-450 450W 80 PLUS GOLD
I was thinking of going with 8-16GB of ECC RAM but I wasn't sure if I should get 1x8GB, 2x4GB, 4x4GB, 2x8GB, or 1x16GB. I started looking at Server Motherboards from Supermicro but haven't decided on one yet. For CPU I was thinking one of the i3's but something I'm confused about is whether there is already a CPU integrated in the Supermicro Motherboards or if you need a separate CPU? I'll also add a 8-16GB flash drive to run FreeNAS. Any advice for selecting these components?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I'm looking forward to this build and I'll make sure to post pics along the way if anyone is interested.
-Mike