BUILD please critique my xeon build :)

[Robninja123]

Hello,

Thanks for letting me in FreeNas community! I am planning to build my first FreeNas.
Below i will list hardware and what i want to use it for, please critique my build.

Hardware

1. Case - Fractal Node 304
   
2. CPU - Xeon 1220v3
   
3. Mobo - SuperMicro X10SLM-F
4. PSU - 450 Corsair Bronze 80+ (i have this laying around)
5. Ram - Crucial ECC DDR 3 1600 16GB
6. HDD - WD Red 4x 4TB

In my opinion a pretty good build with quality components, if its not tell me.
This box will be setup, put in a closet and needs to give rock solid performance for a couple of years.

Usage
How will i use this hardware?

1. Try using ZFS Snapshots, something i didn't have before
2. RAID-Z2 for performance and 1 big HDD pool
   
3. File Sharing between 3 OS X machines, 2 Windows machines, 2 iphones and a tablet
4. BTsync for my own dropbox
5. Couchpotato
6. Transmission for torrent download
7. Sabnzbd for NZB
8. SickBeard
9. Plex server needs te able to stream 2 1080p 40mbit Transcoding
10. Owncloud for fileacces on the go

A maximum load my system will realistically see is;

1. 1 stream with plex at 1080p 40mbit transcoding to Ipad
2. 1 Mediastreamer accessing file server for 3D Blu Ray wich peaks @ 65mbits
3. Downloading NZB @ 5MB
4. Quickpar + Unrar BD50 movies
5. Running all the plugins i want Couchpotato,Transmission,sickbeard,Owncloud
6. Big File transfer to my NAS

I expect the NAS capable of this but wil quickpar+unrar max out the CPU? or it wont cause of HT?
I have never used a pc with HT.


LACP
The mobo has LACP support, with 3D Blu Ray it can spike to 65 mbs add in plex and/or file transfer and usage could be wel over 125 mbs. Now i know this would not happen all the time, but i have the support except a 100 euro switch, at this stage i don't mind that extra 100 Euro i can always buy that later.

RAID-Z2
I have read the powerpoint about FreeNas, in this document it says i can't add a HDD to vDEV once its created. For me this means i have got to buy 4x 4TB all at once ( 155 Euro x4= a lot of money) because i can replace but not add HDD to vDEV.

Creating a second set of vDev in the same Zpool is possible but that will be another 4 drives for RAID-Z2 which is not gonna happen, overkill on storage for my usage.

My last question! Are there any other plugin/Features i am not using that are great ?

 

[SirMaster]

3D BluRay might be up to 65Mb/s, but your network is going to be 1000Mb/s. There wont be a need for LACP for Plex, but you can still use it if you want. You would have to be playing 15 BluRays at 65Mb/s to saturate your single network link.

You said you picked RAIDZ2 for performance? Striped mirrors would be what you would choose if you were interested in performance.

You mentioned HT on the CPU? The 1220 doesn't have HT, get the 1230 if you want HT. I would recommend the 1230 if you are going to be doing a lot of Plex transcoding as it will perform a good bit better.

 

[Robninja123]

3D BluRay might be up to 65Mb/s, but your network is going to be 1000Mb/s. There wont be a need for LACP for Plex, but you can still use it if you want. You would have to be playing 15 BluRays at 65Mb/s to saturate your single network link.

Dumb 65mb/s isnt using 65/125MB 1gig link

You said you picked RAIDZ2 for performance? Striped mirrors would be what you would choose if you were interested in performance.

I know striped is faster then RAID-Z2 but i choose data redundancy above the speed gain i get compared to striping.
But you probably knew that already :D

You mentioned HT on the CPU? The 1220 doesn't have HT, get the 1230 if you want HT. I would recommend the 1230 if you are going to be doing a lot of Plex transcoding as it will perform a good bit better.

Can't believe i missed that, i ain't to familiar with xeon or server grade stuff for that matter.
The 1230 costs 50 Euro more, i understand its alot faster for certain procces and i feel like a fool have a Xeon and no HT.
But is it worth it for my setup? or is this overkill already?


Thanks for replying to me! much appreciated!

 

[SirMaster]

Yeah, RAIDZ2 is slightly safer than 2 mirrored vdevs.

As to whether a Xeon 1230 is overkill it's really up to you if you want 8 threads. I do a lot more with my server at home with virtual machines and I certainly utilize my 8 threads. The 1220 would be enough for your described uses though.

 

[Robninja123]

Yeah, RAIDZ2 is slightly safer than 2 mirrored vdevs.

As to whether a Xeon 1230 is overkill it's really up to you if you want 8 threads. I do a lot more with my server at home with virtual machines and I certainly utilize my 8 threads. The 1220 would be enough for your described uses though.

This is what i would like to know! i don't expect u to explain everything to me but i would like to know;

1. What do "YOU" accomplish using VM?
2. Does this enable to run diff OS in a virtual environment?(google doesn't show any hits so its probably retarded)
3. Are there possibility's with FreeNas that aren't included on the site? Like running a game server/mumble/teamspeak or ventrillo server? (to bad Itunes server ain't working anymore!)
4. Any good Threads i should read on this forum?

Thanks again! i really appreciate it!

 

[SirMaster]

Yes, you can run VirtualBox which is a Virtual Machine host on FreeNAS. In this you can run as many virtual machines as you have RAM and CPU power for. You can run any OS in these as you want and run any sort or server or services.

So if you run a game server inside a VM you would probably want a more powerful CPU, especially if the game server is running while Plex is transcoding for example.

My server is more of a multi-purpose server than just data storage and downloading and I offload lots of work and tasks to my server so I got a faster CPU because I do that kind of stuff.

I also modified my Plex so that one transcode takes up significantly more CPU power as to give me a much better image quality for a lower bit-rate, mainly for streaming over the Internet or to my phone over cellular. I can use less data and get a much better image quality.

 

[Robninja123]

Yes, you can run VirtualBox which is a Virtual Machine host on FreeNAS. In this you can run as many virtual machines as you have RAM and CPU power for. You can run any OS in these as you want and run any sort or server or services.

So if you run a game server inside a VM you would probably want a more powerful CPU, especially if the game server is running while Plex is transcoding for example.

My server is more of a multi-purpose server than just data storage and downloading and I offload lots of work and tasks to my server so I got a faster CPU because I do that kind of stuff.

I also modified my Plex so that one transcode takes up significantly more CPU power as to give me a much better image quality for a lower bit-rate, mainly for streaming over the Internet or to my phone over cellular. I can use less data and get a much better image quality.

From what i googled, using built in VirtualBox is tricky but doable!
I don't have to setup VM immediately, so i can learn more about the system. for the current build is VirtualBox stable ? and are there any guides ? Couldn't find a great guide only partial info :)

 

[cyberjock]

I own an E3-1230v2, and I have owned Xeons that didn't do HT. I'll say these statements from my own experience.

1. I will never buy a non-HT xeon again. Ever. For reasons I don't understand even in situations where it shouldn't have mattered, the system was just not as responsive as a system with HT.
2. My E3-1230v2 is just short of f'in amazing. I can't imagine needing more power than it has. Not to belittle people that buy more expensive CPUs than mine (their money and their choice) but I can find much better uses of that money personally. ;)

 

[SweetAndLow]

Your motherboard choice won't fit in your case. Uatx vs mitx.