Parts (Used or new) vs. 2nd hand server for upgraded FreeNAS setup

[tophee]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for some advice to help me buy parts or a second hand server to update my current (mothballed) FreeNAS box for actual usage. I've been traveling for the past 2 and a half years and have generated a lot of data - both photographs and video and on returning home I need somewhere to store my images and work on them (either on my laptop or desktop).

My first FreeNAS box was made from old desktop parts - no EEC memory and 5 x 2TB hdd. It was perfect as a media server -then I wasn't concerned about having EEC memory as all I was storing was some TV, music and movies. Now my needs have changed - I need EEC memory as my data is less replicable (I do have off line backups though). I will be using the server as somewhere I can store photographs and videos for editing.

I am UK based and my initial searches leave me scratching my head and frightened for the state of my wallet. The much recommended Supermicro motherboards appear to be very few and far between here and so, so expensive. When looking on ebay for second had servers my head starts to spin. New parts (that I've found) are just out of my price range.

I have been looking at this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Pow...sh=item2aa0aaa347:g:crgAAOSwPc9WyHOQ#viTabs_0

I plan to upgrade the 2Tb hdd to 4Tb hdd when funds allow though it would be good if the server had enough space to have both sets of hard drives in it. Should I be using a rack mount server (as above) or a tower configuration?

I've been out of the loop for sometime and really could do with some help.

Cheers
Chris

 

[BigDave]

Should I be using a rack mount server (as above) or a tower configuration?

What is your noise level tolerance and where will the machine be located?
Typically rack mount servers are noisy buggers, while towers tend to be less so.

Help us, help you...
With only one question asked in all that writing, it's kinda hard to make suggestions.
While I understand that you would like to have...
a) More storage
b) More redundancy
c) ECC memory

Our first (and largest) hurdle is, what is your budget?

How much storage would you like to end up with or need 36-60 months into the future?

Is there more long term travel plans with tons of data brought home?

 

[tophee]

Hey BigDave,

Thanks for replying.

The big question is cost. Ideally I'd be spending no more than £500 excluding additional hard drives. I don't really have the budget for an expensive system completely future proof system, but it is likely that only one user will be accessing media for editing, though some media serving is likely. I am only able to cover the costs of travelling at the moment when in cheaper countries and being reasonably frugal (not drinking a lot or often and cooking for oneself where possible).

Ultimately I would like to have more hard drive space, but by deleting old TV shows and movies I should have enough storage for the near future. Though at some point I will be adding more hdd's and aiming for as much as I can.

Ideally quieter is better, but once I'm back in my house I could find a space for a noisy server out of the way - in my garage for example. I have some components I can reuse if I go with a tower system.

 

[scrappy]

A 1U server is going to be extremely noisy—likely more so than you would imagine. If you can, try finding a 2U at a minimum if it meets your budget needs. Even so, a 2U is fairly loud. However, if kept in your garage, basement, or, in some other way isolated from your living space, you should find a 2U rack server noise bearable. Good luck finding something that meets your needs. You are not alone here posting how expensive it is in Europe to acquire used servers.

 

[BigDave]

This falls within your budget and can have up to 8 drives.

 

[Ericloewe]

A 1U server is going to be extremely noisy

Not just noisy, ear-piercingly-high pitch from the tiny fans.

 

[Kerat]

I would look into:
1. a good low to middle end home CPU.
2. A motherboard that:
A. Supports ECC memory
B. two PCIE 8x or higher expansion ports
C. 8 or more SATA connectors if not doing a separate HBA.
D. If possible an Intel onboard NIC.
3. 8-16 GB of ECC memory
4. A Power supply that supports 2x your calculated max power draw (there are power supply calculators online.)
5. A case that supports your size motherboard and 8 or more drives.

EDIT: 6 a good deal on 8 enterprise or NAS grade hard disks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mtt122]

If you are near a major metropolitan area, check if there are any local computer stores that sell used server equipment. I am in the US, and live near a major city. There is at least one shops here that repairs computers and sells used servers they get from businesses here (they also sell on eBay, but shipping is significant). I purchased a 2U Supermicro X9SCM-F, E3-1240V2, 32GB ECC, dual NICS, IPMI, power supply etc, for the equivalent of 267 pounds. The fans were loud at 100%, but you can turn them down and it was not bad. I did end up replacing them with a lower RPM Supermicro fan for 56 pounds for all 4 fans. So a total of 323 pounds. It is pretty quite now. If noise is an issue and you want to go with slower fans, stick to 5400 RPM NAS drives as they run cooler. Only six drives but you can always add an HBA and DAS storage later if needed. If your willing to go with less memory it gets even cheaper.

I normally buy parts and build myself, but in this case buying the whole server was cheaper than buying the parts individually. It is easier to find individual parts for newer models, but fiding individual parts of some of the older stuff was hard. DDR3 ECC unbuffered memory was the hardest. Hard to find and/or was expensive.

Or spend the money up from on a larger enclosure, more expensive board, etc.

Edit: After looking at the server link you posted, you may want to look for servers with a CPU that does 3Mhz or higher. SMB is single threaded (the share protocol you may be using). The E3-1240V2 I got is 3.4Mhz for example. If it is just going to be a backup or file server, you do not need multiple CPUs or a whole lot of cores. Go with a single Xenon, with a higher clock (for the single threaded things like samba and rsync, I think rsync is single threaded). And as other have said, 1U will be loud with little you can do about it (and I believe it only allows for a passive CPU heatsink). 2U is manageable.

 

[tophee]

Thanks for your feedback guys.
@BigDave - that was an excellent find. I'll be back in the UK in a few weeks and will keep an eye on the page.
@scrappy & @Ericloewe Yikes! High pitched extreme noise does not sound fun. Perhaps aim for a U2 enclosure or reuse my tower as suggested by @Kerat
@mtt122 Usually I would self build, but I was getting confused in identifying the necessary parts. I've not been keeping up with tech of late. And I'm using a mac for editing purposing and linux for pretty much everything else.

 

[Ericloewe]

CPU that does 3Mhz or higher

I imagine the opposite would be quite the feat in 2018. ;)