Sanity check on first build

[Juliean]

Hey folks, I'd appreciate another sanity check on the hardware for my first attempt at a FreeNAS build. This will be a a home mass storage server, mostly music (for Plex), photos, general backups, etc. Not planning on running any jails at this time - I already have another house server, running ESXi with various VMs, and Plex and such will live there. Three people in the house, so not too many concurrent connections.

I got some feedback on one pass over the hardware earlier, and have respecced - this uses a newer generation of components than originally planned (Supermicro X11 vs X10) but they seem to actually be cheaper to find - the X10 boards seem to be a bit pricier these days - and can support more RAM. Advice very welcome.

Case: Supermicro 825TQ-R700LPB (Rack mount 2U case with 8 3.5" hot-swap bays and two more non-swap bays). Already own this, so building around it.
MB: Supermicro X11SSM-F . I went with a board without an on-board RAID controller as it seems easier to buy a pre-flashed expansion card rather than cross-flashing the on-board to IT mode. Looks like it's cheaper, too.
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1275v6 - I probably don't really need a Xeon, and can save money here, but it just feels wrong putting a non-Xeon into a server like this...
CPU Cooler: Supermicro SNK-P0046A4 - this is the cooler SM recommends for this board in a 2U case.
RAM: Samsung modules from the MB approved vendor list. 16GB modules, ECC. Not sure whether to go to the limit with 64G of RAM or if 32G will be enough (planning on getting the 16GB modules even if I go to 32G, so as to make upgrading possible).
HBA: Found this LSI 9240-8i pre-flashed to IT mode, or something similiar from eBay, pre-flashed. Don't want to deal with flashing.
Boot device: 2x Supermicro SATADOM SSD-DM064-SMCMVN - 64G each. The 32G is probably enough, but the price difference is negligible. Again, probably overkill, but these seem a better bet than USB sticks or even small SSDs.
Data drives: 8x WD Red, either 8TB or 10TB, in a RAIDZ2 configuration. Probably going to shuck some Elements/Easystore units. May wait till thanksgiving and see what's on sale, since this is 50% of the total system cost here....

I don't think I need SLOG or L2ARC drives for my application? Please correct me if I'm wrong. :)

Thoughts? I know I can go with an X10 or even X9 based systems (and the X9s can support more RAM), but the prices on those seem to actually be higher, at least for new. I'm very hesitant to go used or even refurb for things like MBs and CPUs - am I being unreasonable here?

I'd especially appreciate confirmation that the HBA I chose is the right choice for the application - this is the part I'm least sure of.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

MB: Supermicro X11SSM-F . I went with a board without an on-board RAID controller as it seems easier to buy a pre-flashed expansion card rather than cross-flashing the on-board to IT mode. Looks like it's cheaper, too.

I use this board, its a solid board. It also supports port bifurcation on one of the 8x slots if you ever want to add 2 M.2 drives as SLOG devices.

RAM: Samsung modules from the MB approved vendor list. 16GB modules, ECC. Not sure whether to go to the limit with 64G of RAM or if 32G will be enough (planning on getting the 16GB modules even if I go to 32G, so as to make upgrading possible).

I'd start with 32GB of 16GB modules and then watch your ARC hit ratio, if it is low add 32GB more.

HBA: Found this LSI 9240-8i pre-flashed to IT mode, or something similiar from eBay, pre-flashed. Don't want to deal with flashing.

That one looks fine. I won't lie, I'm partial to this seller.

Boot device: 2x Supermicro SATADOM SSD-DM064-SMCMVN - 64G each. The 32G is probably enough, but the price difference is negligible. Again, probably overkill, but these seem a better bet than USB sticks or even small SSDs.

Love my SATADOMs, saves a lot of space. They will get hot, but I just set the SMART warning temps a bit higher.

I don't think I need SLOG or L2ARC drives for my application? Please correct me if I'm wrong. :)

I would wait on those to see if you need them. If you go with a SLOG you can go standard SATA SSD if you want. You can go for PCIe SSDs if you don't need all the PCIe slots, or, as I said earlier, you can pick up an PCIe3.0x8 -> 2x M.2 and use two M.2 SLOG devices.

Before you go L2ARC max out the ram, it performs better but is a bit pricier.

I'm very hesitant to go used or even refurb for things like MBs and CPUs - am I being unreasonable here?

I've had great luck with used mobos, cpus, NICs, and HBAs. I wouldn't go used on the drives. You can save a LOT of money going used on these parts.

I'd especially appreciate confirmation that the HBA I chose is the right choice for the application - this is the part I'm least sure of.

If it is indeed crossflashed you should be all set, though the location of the ports will be a PITA to get to your drives. The one I linked will work well also. I just linked it to support that seller; I've had great luck with them in the past.

Given your use cases I think this will work just fine. If you do a lot of sync writes you may find performance lacking; in which case a SLOG might help.