BUILD Please Critique Home NAS Build ($1200-ish)

[erturne]

I'm going to build a NAS for my home. I've gone almost entirely paperless at home (I scan everything) so my entire life is stored on hard drives! I have about 1.5 TB of data including a modest music library that I'd like to expand, and without having ripped any of my DVDs.

Initially my goals are to prevent data loss or corruption, and share files with a few computers (desktop, laptops, etc). I'd also like to encrypt my important data like tax forms, bank statements, etc. We've had two break-ins in/thefts in my neighborhood over the past four years. If anyone ever walked off with my hardware with unencrypted data on it then I'd be completely screwed. Eventually I'd like to stream music and movies to devices around my house, set up a security camera at the front door, and get a DVR to record my shows.

With that in mind, I want to build a NAS that meets my immediate needs, and can grow to meet my long-term goals. Here's the hardware I'm thinking:

Motherboard: Supermicro MDB-X9SCL+-F
Memory: 2 x Samsung 8GB M391B1G73BH0-CK0 unbuffered ECC
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220L
Case: Xigmatek GIGAS Series CCC-MDTA-U01
Power Supply: undecided
Disks: 4 x Western Digital RED 2TB
UPS: APC BE750G

I'm planning on starting with one encrypted zpool with the four drives (RAID-Z2 ) in single vdev. The Xeon processor has AES-NI which should help with the encryption/decryption. The Supermicro motherboard and the Xigmatek case can handle 6 x 3.5" drives so I'll have room to expand my storage capacity.

We do get occasional power flickers and outages here, so I'm including an UPS in my build budget.

Looking on Newegg and Amazon I'm pricing all of this at $1238 USD plus shipping (assuming $50 for the PSU since I haven't picked one yet).

Anyone see any problems with my build, or have suggestions on how to improve it.

Thanks!

EDIT: Instead of three drives in RAID-Z1 + a spare drive, I'm going to use all four in RAID-Z2. This puts the kibosh on adding a second storage pool later, so the time will come when I'll need to migrate my data to a new (larger) zpool when I get more drives.

 

[cyberjock]

I'd go with a RAIDZ2 of 4 disks and not a RAIDZ1 of 3 disks. Read the link on RAID5 being dead, then realize RAIDZ1 is just dumb and go with RAIDZ2.

 

[erturne]

RAIDZ1 is just dumb and go with RAIDZ2.

Very interesting. I hadn't considered increased chance of a rebuild failure with these larger disks. It's been over 12 years since I did anything with RAID. Back then RAID5 was all the rage. ;)

 

[cyberjock]

RAIDZ1 is just suicide for your data today. Technically, it has been for years.. but who's counting?

 

[Thomas8675309]

Here's the hardware I'm thinking:
[snip]
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1220L

Where are you planning on buying that CPU? When I started planning my build a week ago, I also considered using the E3-1220L - the 20 watt max TDP appealed to me. But then I couldn't find anywhere to buy it. Newegg and Amazon didn't carry it last time I checked, and I couldn't find it at any on-line seller I'd heard of. A few places claimed to have it, but it turned out to be vapor-ware - if you ordered from them, they would then order it from Intel, supposedly. As I understand it, Intel never sold it in retail packaging - Intel only sold it as OEM, by the "tray." See here: http://ark.intel.com/products/53401/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1220L-3M-Cache-2_20-GHz . That doesn't mean you can't find it - you may be more resourceful than me - but I would be interested in learning where you did find it and whether the seller claimed to actually have it in stock.

Best regards.

Tom

 

[erturne]

Where are you planning on buying that CPU?

I've got a friend who works in a large data center that swears he can get one for me. Apparently they purchase from distributors in China. I'll give him a little time and see what he can come up with. Is there an alternative low-wattage CPU that would be suitable for the Supermicro MDB-X9SCL+-F motherboard? Support for AES-NI and 32 GB ECC RAM is important.

 

[Thomas8675309]

I've got a friend who works in a large data center that swears he can get one for me. Apparently they purchase from distributors in China.

That's probably as good a source as any - and probably better than a retail source.

Is there an alternative low-wattage CPU that would be suitable for the Supermicro MDB-X9SCL+-F motherboard? Support for AES-NI and 32 GB ECC RAM is important.

The need for AES eliminates the i3-3220T, which otherwise would fit your needs nicely (yes, it works on that board and with ECC RAM). There's the E3-1220Lv2, which seems harder to find than the E3-1220L. But your best bet may be to buy an E3-1230v2 and, if keeping the watts down is so important, turn off two of the four cores in the bios. You'll get slightly better performance than the E3-1220L and consume only a few more watts. You can buy the E3-1230v2 for $200 new if you look around, which is less than the prices I've seen quoted for the E3-1220L.

Best regards.

Tom

 

[erturne]

But your best bet may be to buy an E3-1230v2 and, if keeping the watts down is so important, turn off two of the four cores in the bios.

I had no idea you could turn off cores in the bios! Very cool. Thanks for the tip.

 

[erturne]

The Supermicro X9SCL+-F looks like it has a SATA RAID controller on it. When I set this up will I be using that, or will I just let FreeNAS set up software RAID instead?

 

[Thomas8675309]

The Supermicro X9SCL+-F looks like it has a SATA RAID controller on it. When I set this up will I be using that, or will I just let FreeNAS set up software RAID instead?

The latter.

Best regards.

Tom