Newbie here (please help to decide guys!)

[670739]

Most modern power supplies automatically sense the range and adjust internally, even years ago they would have a mechanical switch, but the cable to connect to the wall might be incorrect. This might be better to obtain locally or from a retailer that has the correct cable to the wall included.

Yeah, I think I'll buy power supply locally too, can you please advice what brands and specifications is better to pick? I can buy this one here, is it good:
Corsair CX650 (CP-9020122-EU) ATX 20+4pin?

 

[Chris Moore]

I can buy this one here, is it good:
Corsair CX650 (CP-9020122-EU) ATX 20+4pin?

It is only "80 Plus Bronze" rated. That means the efficiency is not as good, especially at low load. I had selected a "80 Plus Gold" rated supply largely because of the efficiency rating.

Here is a link to a resource that will give you some advice on the power supply selection:

Proper Power Supply Sizing Guidance
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/proper-power-supply-sizing-guidance.38811/

I usually go a bit over sized with my power supply selection to allow for future hardware upgrades without need to change the power supply. The brand is not a must, other companies make good supplies also. I think that 650 watts would be enough for what you are doing, but you might want to check the numbers for yourself.
The other thing to think about is that you will want a high efficiency supply, which is why I picked a "Gold" rated supply. The system will likely run around 100 watts or less at idle while it will spike much higher during boot or when under load. So the supply needs to be efficient at providing power when the demand is low. Some people even go with a "Platinum" rated supply, but I don't know if they are really cost effective when you figure the extra cost of the initial purchase.

I think that I would go with one more like this:
https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Supernova-Modular-Warranty-220-G3-0650-Y1/dp/B01LYGFRL6/

PS. The modular cables are nice because you can have just the cables you need and no extras.

 

[670739]

It is only "80 Plus Bronze" rated. That means the efficiency is not as good, especially at low load. I had selected a "80 Plus Gold" rated supply largely because of the efficiency rating.

Here is a link to a resource that will give you some advice on the power supply selection:

Proper Power Supply Sizing Guidance
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/proper-power-supply-sizing-guidance.38811/

I usually go a bit over sized with my power supply selection to allow for future hardware upgrades without need to change the power supply. The brand is not a must, other companies make good supplies also. I think that 650 watts would be enough for what you are doing, but you might want to check the numbers for yourself.
The other thing to think about is that you will want a high efficiency supply, which is why I picked a "Gold" rated supply. The system will likely run around 100 watts or less at idle while it will spike much higher during boot or when under load. So the supply needs to be efficient at providing power when the demand is low. Some people even go with a "Platinum" rated supply, but I don't know if they are really cost effective when you figure the extra cost of the initial purchase.

I think that I would go with one more like this:
https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Supernova-Modular-Warranty-220-G3-0650-Y1/dp/B01LYGFRL6/

PS. The modular cables are nice because you can have just the cables you need and no extras.

Thank you for explaining, you're really help me here :)
I'm gonna take this 220V from Amazon

One more question, what version of freenas software would you recommend to use?

 

[Chris Moore]

One more question, what version of FreeNAS software would you recommend to use?

I am still using the previous version, FreeNAS 11.1-U6, for now but I will likely upgrade after a few more people have said that the new version is working properly.
I have always lagged behind the latest version because I am more worried about stable operation than having the latest feature.

 

[670739]

I am still using the previous version, FreeNAS 11.1-U6, for now but I will likely upgrade after a few more people have said that the new version is working properly.
I have always lagged behind the latest version because I am more worried about stable operation than having the latest feature.

I see, so you recommend to begin from FreeNAS 11.1-U6?

 

[Chris Moore]

There have been a few people today reporting problems with the recently released FreeNAS 11.2-RELEASE version. It is entirely possible that it could work flawlessly for you. I have it running on similar hardware for testing. If you choose to install it, do plenty of testing before you start loading your data onto the system. Here is a link to a good guide:

Uncle Fester's Basic FreeNAS Configuration Guide
https://www.familybrown.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=fester:intro

Also, there are some other links that might be useful to you:

Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/building-burn-in-and-testing-your-freenas-system.38/

Github repository for FreeNAS scripts, including disk burnin
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...for-freenas-scripts-including-disk-burnin.28/

solnet-array-test (for drive / array speed) non destructive test
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/solnet-array-test.1/

Useful Commands
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/useful-commands.30314/#post-195192

We have a lot more experience with the existing version 11.1-U6 and it is working. The new version 11.2-RELEASE is just out a few days ago and we don't know yet if we can count on it being safe. Not that the data would be at risk, but there could be difficulties that are not known.

 

[670739]

There have been a few people today reporting problems with the recently released FreeNAS 11.2-RELEASE version. It is entirely possible that it could work flawlessly for you. I have it running on similar hardware for testing. If you choose to install it, do plenty of testing before you start loading your data onto the system. Here is a link to a good guide:

Uncle Fester's Basic FreeNAS Configuration Guide
https://www.familybrown.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=fester:intro

Also, there are some other links that might be useful to you:

Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/building-burn-in-and-testing-your-freenas-system.38/

Github repository for FreeNAS scripts, including disk burnin
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...for-freenas-scripts-including-disk-burnin.28/

solnet-array-test (for drive / array speed) non destructive test
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/solnet-array-test.1/

Useful Commands
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/useful-commands.30314/#post-195192

We have a lot more experience with the existing version 11.1-U6 and it is working. The new version 11.2-RELEASE is just out a few days ago and we don't know yet if we can count on it being safe. Not that the data would be at risk, but there could be difficulties that are not known.

I think I'll go with FreeNAS 11.1-U6 if it's more stable, thank you for the links, will check them out too:)

 

[Bozon]

There have been many situations where the USB drives have failed causing the system to crash. SSDs are much longer lived and I would expect them to be more reliable. I have SSDs that are in their third system and still working without any problem.

Although, I have seen some articles that talk about using cheap USB drives for boot drive and then mirroring it. So if you can't get a cheap SSD then that might be an option.

Here is an article that talks about using cheap USB drives for booting and how to mirror them.
https://blog.briancmoses.com/2016/04/mirroring-the-freenas-usb-boot-device.html

However, Chris has about 1 million times more knowledge about FreeNAS than I do (I'm probably low balling this), so if in doubt go with what Chris says.

 

[Chris Moore]

Although, I have seen some articles that talk about using cheap USB drives for boot drive and then mirroring it.

Notice that the article was in 2016.
USB memory sticks were once the recommended option for booting FreeNAS. That way all the SATA ports could be reserved for storage drives.
The problem was, under the right circumstances, they would fail and when they fail, it is usually catastrophic and without warning. I had two fail on me in less than one year. If you have a backup of your configuration files, it isn't so hard to recover from, but it is a pain that can easily be avoided by several other options. There is a small cost to avoid the pain, but I think it is worth a few extra dollars. While you can pickup a 16GB USB memory stick at many stores, for around $8 each, you can order a quality Intel SSD used from eBay for around $15. The theory is SSDs are going to last longer and be less likely to have any errors.
Is it worth saving the money? Your system, you decide.

 

[Bozon]

Notice that the article was in 2016.
USB memory sticks were once the recommended option for booting FreeNAS. That way all the SATA ports could be reserved for storage drives.
The problem was, under the right circumstances, they would fail and when they fail, it is usually catastrophic and without warning. I had two fail on me in less than one year. If you have a backup of your configuration files, it isn't so hard to recover from, but it is a pain that can easily be avoided by several other options. There is a small cost to avoid the pain, but I think it is worth a few extra dollars. While you can pickup a 16GB USB memory stick at many stores, for around $8 each, you can order a quality Intel SSD used from eBay for around $15. The theory is SSDs are going to last longer and be less likely to have any errors.
Is it worth saving the money? Your system, you decide.

You are correct, and at around $15 dollars for a used SSD, it is hard to make an argument for cost savings using USB drives. I do like the idea of mirroring the boot drive.

I posted the article because it was mentioned favorably in a freenas.org blog post from last week about SATA DOMs ( https://www.freenas.org/blog/sata-doms-over-usb-drive/ ). However, SATA DOMs don't seem to make much sense because of their very high price compared to used SSD's that you are recommending. About $45 dollars for a 16G model on newegg.

 

[Chris Moore]

You are correct, and at around $15 dollars for a used SSD, it is hard to make an argument for cost savings using USB drives. I do like the idea of mirroring the boot drive.

I posted the article because it was mentioned favorably in a freenas.org blog post from last week about SATA DOMs ( https://www.freenas.org/blog/sata-doms-over-usb-drive/ ). However, SATA DOMs don't seem to make much sense because of their very high price compared to used SSD's that you are recommending. About $45 dollars for a 16G model on newegg.

I like SATA DOMs in concept, but the cost is the problem for me. If you have the money, like I sometimes do at work (it isn't my money) then the purchase decisions are different. When someone comes to the forum asking about building a system to use in their business, I also give a slightly different answer because most businesses want to (insist on) buy new hardware; where most home users want something reliable that isn't going to break the bank and are more likely to consider quality used hardware.
For a while I was maintaining three documents (low, medium and high) that had builds targeting different price / performance ranges.
I mostly like the used SSDs because many that are being sold, as long as they were a quality item to begin with, have a lot of life still in them and are likely just being replaced for something with more capacity. FreeNAS doesn't need a large capacity boot device, if I recall correctly, 8GB is the minimum and 16GB is generous. I have a 40GB boot pool on one of my servers that I have been using for around four years without deleting any of my old boot images and it is still less than half full.
Anyhow, there are a lot of options, you can even use spinning disks for the boot pool and no matter the media, you can always make the boot pool a mirror vdev from the initial installation forward or add a mirror to a single drive at a later time.
There are lots of options for FreeNAS in general, not just the boot device, and I try to weight them and provide a good suggestion that will be trouble free for the user. My goal, is that the system would not have any failure during the expected service life. Shooting for six years.
Are you looking to make a build for yourself?

 

[Chris Moore]

I posted the article because it was mentioned favorably in a freenas.org blog post from last week about SATA DOMs ( https://www.freenas.org/blog/sata-doms-over-usb-drive/ ).

PS. That article is funny (to me) because I have worked in storage for since the late 90s and I share many of the sentiments of the writer.
I really got a good laugh from this bit.

I have worked on filesystems, on and off, for some decades. This has also meant that I have had to deal with all sorts of storage media, and the primary lesson I’ve learned after 20 years is: ALL STORAGE MEDIA ARE HORRIBLE. They’re slow or expensive or both; they change data randomly; they stop working the moment you NEED the data on them; none of them have the lifespan of a gnat flying through an asbestos-laced cloud of chlorine gas.

 

[Bozon]

I like SATA DOMs in concept, but the cost is the problem for me. If you have the money, like I sometimes do at work (it isn't my money) then the purchase decisions are different. When someone comes to the forum asking about building a system to use in their business, I also give a slightly different answer because most businesses want to (insist on) buy new hardware; where most home users want something reliable that isn't going to break the bank and are more likely to consider quality used hardware.
For a while I was maintaining three documents (low, medium and high) that had builds targeting different price / performance ranges.
I mostly like the used SSDs because many that are being sold, as long as they were a quality item to begin with, have a lot of life still in them and are likely just being replaced for something with more capacity. FreeNAS doesn't need a large capacity boot device, if I recall correctly, 8GB is the minimum and 16GB is generous. I have a 40GB boot pool on one of my servers that I have been using for around four years without deleting any of my old boot images and it is still less than half full.
Anyhow, there are a lot of options, you can even use spinning disks for the boot pool and no matter the media, you can always make the boot pool a mirror vdev from the initial installation forward or add a mirror to a single drive at a later time.
There are lots of options for FreeNAS in general, not just the boot device, and I try to weight them and provide a good suggestion that will be trouble free for the user. My goal, is that the system would not have any failure during the expected service life. Shooting for six years.
Are you looking to make a build for yourself?

Yes, I have decided on a couple of things.

I really like this case:

http://www.u-nas.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17640&cat=249&page=1

And I would like to have 64 Gigabytes of memory, and moderate cost, and power consumption.

I am a software person, with a computer engineering minor, which makes me just knowledgable enough to be dangerous. You know, all theory, and no practical experience.

I like the idea of getting a Micro ATX board with an LSI Controller.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1WK-0010-002M5

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LSI-SAS-92...item1eea11df01:g:b7oAAOSwKqlblndU:rk:111:pf:0

It is when I get to choosing a processor for this that I start to bog down. Also, is there a good older board that takes DDR3 memory?

Then I think about getting an all in one like one of these:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813140012
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157475

My current use case is as a File Server, Back up Server.

I have a FreeNAS system running on HP Micro Server for a long time with no issues ever, but it is only Z1, and I want to go to 8 drives and Z2 or Z3.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859108164

 

[Chris Moore]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LSI-SAS-92...item1eea11df01:g:b7oAAOSwKqlblndU:rk:111:pf:0

This is a functionally equivalent card, that would be a better choice because it has a newer chipset and uses PCIe 3.0 instead of the older PCIe 2.0 system interface.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/142124364588
However, the system board you linked to:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1WK-0010-002M5

It has an integrated controller, so I don't think you would need a separate card unless you want to use a different system board?

I encourage you to start your own thread where you can get input from other members of the community.

If you are interested, there are a couple of other threads about building in that chassis, like this one:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/first-build-u-nas-nsc-810a-chassis-case.59612/

You might want to look at what they have done. One of the good ideas on that thread was to have the fans act as intake, instead of exhaust, blowing air out through the drive bays instead of pulling air in from the front.

 

[670739]

.

Hi, just bought Motherboard that you recommended (offered them 150 and they accepted the offer :) and 2 SSD's for mirroring that you recommended too.
Thank you once again for the help!
I think I'll buy all the components first and hdd's last, so I'll be able to test the system before putting the hdd's in.

 

[Chris Moore]

Hi, just bought Motherboard that you recommended (offered them 150 and they accepted the offer

Congratulations on getting a good deal there!

I think I'll buy all the components first and hdd's last, so I'll be able to test the system before putting the hdd's in.

Don't forget to do burn-in testing on the hard drives before loading data on the system. Here is a good guide for how to setup a new system:

Uncle Fester's Basic FreeNAS Configuration Guide
https://www.familybrown.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=fester:intro

 

[670739]

Drive Controller: SAS PCI-E 3.0 HBA LSI 9207-8i P20 IT Mode for ZFS FreeNAS - - US $44.88
https://www.ebay.com/itm/192639052923

Hi, I bought almost all components except this one, the link you give me says LSI 9205, but the description 9207, can you please advice what would be better to buy?
Thank you once again for your help:)

 

[670739]

Memory: SAMSUNG 16GB Samsung PC3L-12800R DDR3L 1600 Registered ECC Server Memory - - US $51.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/183022002934

and also this seller is gone on vacation and I missed to buy this ddr, can you please advice where to buy the same memory, thanks

 

[rvassar]

Hi, just bought Motherboard that you recommended (offered them 150 and they accepted the offer :) and 2 SSD's for mirroring that you recommended too.

Nice. I've actually been on the prowl for one of those. I went with the smaller X9SCL, and am starting to regret it. The cost of unbuffered ECC RAM is pushing the prices down on the junior socket (Xeon E3, i3, etc..) boards. But it becomes false economy once you need more than 16Gb of RAM.

On the FreeNAS version - Since you're starting from scratch, you may wish to start with 11.2. It does have some UI quirks. I would carefully consider what you intend to run on the NAS, particularly with respect to Jails. FreeNAS 11.2 brings in some new jail features. I also had some issues with the software repositories, trying to run 11.1-U6 jails after 11.2 hit release status.

 

[Chris Moore]

Hi, I bought almost all components except this one, the link you give me says LSI 9205, but the description 9207, can you please advice what would be better to buy?
Thank you once again for your help:)

The one I originally pointed out sold, but this should work instead:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6G...0-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/123499957094
Shipping might just take longer than expected.