Newbie looking to build a server

[jdebuhr]

I am looking to build a NAS server. I have built Windows machines in the past, set up a few Raspberry PIs, but this is new territory for me . I was given a Dell T320, it is collecting dust in my basement and would like to set it up for a NAS. I am a complete newbie when it comes to setting something like this up. Is it even worth it? If I go this route I will be asking a lot of questions

I am not sure if this is the right forum, so I apologize if I am in the wrong spot.

If I understand right, this can do more than just store data, I currently am running PLEX and Channels on a WIn10 machine, if I could move those to the NAS that would be great. Ultimately I would like it to be storage as well that can be accessed from Apple devices (Macbooks and possibly iOS of iPhone and iPad) along with PCs

here are some of the specs for this server:
PERC H710 Adapter RAID Controller, 512MB NV Cache
Raid 5 for H710P/H710/H310
Intel Xeon E5-2420 1.90GHz, 15 M Cache, 7.2GT/s QPI, Turbo, 6 C, 95W
4GB RDIMM, 1333 MT/s,
3 -1TB 7.2K RPM SATA 3Gbps 3.5in Hot-plug Hard Drive
On-Board LOM 1GBE (Dual Port f or Racks and Towers, Quad Port for Blades)

Thanks for any advice in advance

 

[NugentS]

1. Do not use RAID - you need to make sure the HBA is in IT Mode and not IR mode
2. You need more memory - 8GB minimum
Other than that it should be good. You will need to boot of something though - preferably not a USB flash drive

 

[jdebuhr]

1. Do not use RAID - you need to make sure the HBA is in IT Mode and not IR mode
2. You need more memory - 8GB minimum
Other than that it should be good. You will need to boot of something though - preferably not a USB flash drive

Yeah I did read the H710 is not a good selection, not that I had a choice, it was free. Can I use that card? or do I need to find something else?
I figured more ram is needed, will probably do 16-32, depending on cost.

For bootable drive, what is suggested if not a USB?

 

[jdebuhr]

Correction, I removed the cover and there are QTY 4 4gb DIMM so That would be 16gb total

 

[NugentS]

Yeah I did read the H710 is not a good selection, not that I had a choice, it was free. Can I use that card? or do I need to find something else?
I figured more ram is needed, will probably do 16-32, depending on cost.

For bootable drive, what is suggested if not a USB?

Get an M.2 to USB adapter and a cheap second hand M.2 from Ebay and use that. There is nothing wrong with USB per se, just with using "cheap" USB flash drives. I use a couple of M.2 16GB NVMe from ebay to boot one of my NAS's.

As for the 710, if you can flash the card to IT mode then use it. If you can't then replace it

 

[salty_penguin]

Define “worth it”? It’ll cost you zero dollars to go ahead and configure TrueNAS on your machine. It’ll run on 4gb of RAM, though it’s not recommended.

If you want 1-2Tb of slow Plex service over a 1Gbe network connection, see if it works for you.

TBH, I dont know what else you could really run on that machine... ZFS itself is going to be a bit too resource intensive. Upgrading parts (ram, disks, hba’s, network, etc) will undoubtedly be less economical than purchasing a complete pre-owned system much more suited for the task. But don’t do that until you’ve tested it out on what you’ve got.

 

[jdebuhr]

Well it does have 16gb of Ram. Not 4gb like I first listed. It has 4gb Dimm modules (quantity of 4 though)

Will the system still be too slow? As for Plex I have it, but it does not get used often enough, I use ChannelsDVR daily though

 

[NugentS]

Not the fastest CPU's in the world. But that's an easy fix from the second hand market. It will however work with the existing CPU's. If you find you are running out of CPU cycles, then just replace them
16GB is > the minimum but be aware that TN loves ARC

 

[jdebuhr]

So how does the 10Gbe work with a 1 Gbe network work out? isn't still limited by the network? what am I missing?

 

[salty_penguin]

Well it does have 16gb of Ram. Not 4gb like I first listed. It has 4gb Dimm modules (quantity of 4 though)

Will the system still be too slow? As for Plex I have it, but it does not get used often enough, I use ChannelsDVR daily though

If youre on a gigabit LAN, you’ll hit a peak transfer rate at about 112MB/s just on network limitations alone.

With 3 x 1TB HDD’s in a raidz1, you should “generally” expect to achieve that.

This is assuming consecutive reads/writes of a large file from a single user. Copying, querying metadata, writing lots of medium-small files, etc, will probably cut that that down significantly.

Since you already have the hardware, go ahead and see what happens!! :)

You don’t lose points when you break things in your home lab... plus, if you ever do decide you DO want to throw money at upgrades, you will have made any initial mistakes while it was cheap to do so.

Who cares if it’s slow?

My first freenas box in 2019 was made from HDD’s a friend gave me, a PC I bought off craigslist for $55, and some internal drive brackets from microcenter.

My 2nd freenas machine started when I bought a new case (4u rackmount) and transplanted the parts. The motherboard in the 2nd machine was from a $25 dell optiplex. I had to manually jump pins on the mainboard for the power buttons to work. I upgraded parts as I could afford it, and finally have a happy little beast thats the core of my home network.

Now I’m planning my next machine to be even faster and more responsive, and plan to “retire” my current one as an offsite backup with ZFS replication.

Go and get your hands dirty

 

[jdebuhr]

Having a challenge installed the OS on the NVMe I have connected to the USB. However, the unit has the RD1000 which was originally a backup drive (500GB) could I use that?

WhenI first tried I put the image on the NVMe but looks like I need the NVMe to be empty and boot from USB which it did not like. I probably need to clear the NVMe and boot from USB and hope the installer sees the USB (NVMe) drive for install

 

[jdebuhr]

Bit of a delayed update but here it goes:
- Got the machine running on the NVMe and seems to run fine..
- H710 was put into IT mode based on a google search and some reading.
- I started with 16gb of RAM, now at 48GB, if I do another 32GB I will need to remove 8GB ( due to slots)
- I have been able to make SMB shares, Time Machine space (for the mac user in my house)
- Playing with MineOS Jail for my son. that has been an experience but it is working

Next questions are around networking. the Machine has 2 1GB Ethernet ports. I see many people running 10GB.. how is that setup? does it require the main router (IP Address host) to be 10GB as well? not that this will be done in the short term, but curious as to the equipment and setup suggested

 

[Alecmascot]

I see many people running 10GB.. how is that setup?

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