Suggestions on first build

[trilepton]

Hi all,

I'm planning on building a FreeNAS box. This would be my first build so I'd appreciate your suggestions and recommendations. In addition to being a NAS, I'd also like to run a jail web server. The web server will be for personal use, so it will get very little traffic.

My proposed part list (I tried to list everything so I don't miss something minor):

• Supermicro X9SCM-B LGA1155 MicroATX Server Motherboard
• Intel Pentium Dual Core G2030 LGA 1155 Processor BX80637G2030
• 8GB Crucial Single DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11 Unbuffered ECC UDIMM 240-Pin Server Memory CT102472BA160B
• Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case
• Corsair Builder Series CX 430 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply
• 4X 2TB WD Red drives (in a RAID-Z2 configuration)
• 8GB USB flash drive
• A UPS (need suggestions)
• Anti-static wrist band

Are the above parts compatible with each other? I tried my best but it would be nice to get confirmation.

Can I also get suggestions on a UPS? I would like one that can talk with FreeNAS to gracefully shut down the system when on battery. Do I need to check for a specific power rating?

 

[Jailer]

Any particular reason you are going with older hardware? I'd go with newer x10 board and socket 1150 CPU if it were me.

You're going to get more than a few people telling you not to use freenas for anything exposed to the outside world. I personally don't know enough about that to comment, just have seen it posted several times be people much more knowledgeable than I am.

 

[trilepton]

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't realize it was older. I guess I could go with X10SLL-F-O and Pentium G3220? Regarding the server, I'm thinking it would be fine since it would be running in a jail and if the firewall is set up properly.

 

[Ericloewe]

Crucial recommends CT102472BD160B for Supermicro X10 motherboards.

 

[Jailer]

Also if you plan on doing more than just using your build as a NAS then you should really consider adding more memory.

 

[Squit]

Can confirm myself.

16gb ram is needed I was running 8gb and had problems with jails and services turning on after reboot etc.

I'm running a g2200 and runs plex fine transcoding 2 1080p fine. The anniversary edition would be fine.

I grabbed a z97 board as it has the latest Intel chipset and has out of box support for broadwell. I grabbed the gigabyte z97p d3. Has 6 x 6gb/s sata ports and bios ui is pretty good. Supports up to 32gb ram. 4 slots

 

[sremick]

I grabbed a z97 board as it has the latest Intel chipset and has out of box support for broadwell. I grabbed the gigabyte z97p d3.

This is a consumer-level board with some unnecessary hardware, some low-end hardware, and wholly unsuited for use with a server OS, especially a non-Windows OS. You're paying for excessive chips (video and audio) you're not using burning watts, and the low-end craptastic Realtek chipset powering your network jack is handicapping your network throughput. And while you've paid for junk you don't want, you're missing stuff you do want on a server such as IPMI.

Has 6 x 6gb/s sata ports

Unnecessary overkill on a consumer NAS server unless you've got 10GB ethernet and are doing fancy things with your drive setup.

 

[Squit]

This is a consumer-level board with some unnecessary hardware, some low-end hardware, and wholly unsuited for use with a server OS, especially a non-Windows OS. You're paying for excessive chips (video and audio) you're not using burning watts, and the low-end craptastic Realtek chipset powering your network jack is handicapping your network throughput. And while you've paid for junk you don't want, you're missing stuff you do want on a server such as IPMI.

Unnecessary overkill on a consumer NAS server unless you've got 10GB ethernet and are doing fancy things with your drive setup.

All im doing is sending files and streaming plex, i get 110mb/s constant so there is 0 handicap there. video and audio is disabled in the bios. I COULD of paid 3x times as much but for me there was 0 point.

You say 6gb/s are overkill? they have far better protocol and electrical characteristic, also has better I/O performance and is standard on all new intel chipsets. So why not have it lol

 

[danb35]

All im doing is sending files and streaming plex, i get 110mb/s constant so there is 0 handicap there. video and audio is disabled in the bios. I COULD of paid 3x times as much but for me there was 0 point.

Nobody's suggesting you pay 3x as much. I don't find that exact board at my usual US-based vendors, but what I find that looks similar runs about $110-120. Twice that much, ~$240, will get a SuperMicro X10SL7-F, which is a distinctly superior board (specifically with the 14 SATA/SAS ports). Something more comparable would be the X10SLL-F for $169. So it's a $50 premium over the board you're suggesting, nowhere close to 3x as much. The Supermicro boards support ECC, which is strongly recommended for use with ZFS. The X10SLL-F gives you the same 6 SATA ports (4 x 3 Gbps, 2 x 6 Gbps). Both boards give you IPMI, which makes remote management much easier than boards without it. They give onboard video adequate for text-based server use, so you don't need a CPU with any built-in video. They have Intel LAN chips, which are much better supported in FreeBSD than the Realtek chips used by many consumer-grade boards. I could go on, but I think the point is made.

You say 6gb/s are overkill? they have far better protocol and electrical characteristic, also has better I/O performance and is standard on all new intel chipsets. So why not have it lol

The IO performance is irrelevant here for two major reasons: (1) your disks will barely saturate SATA1, much less SATA2 ports--SATA3 doesn't get you anything more from your disks; and (2) you're serving this all over 1 Gbps Ethernet anyway, so even if you could get the data off your disks faster, that just means it'd be buffered into RAM sooner waiting for the network. Of course, if you have an all-SSD pool and are using 10Gbps Ethernet, you may see some benefit--but that doesn't describe most people here. SATA3 isn't bad, and I agree it's worth getting if you don't have to give up anything else for it, but it's of minimal, if any, value in this application.

 

[trilepton]

Crucial recommends CT102472BD160B for Supermicro X10 motherboards.

Thanks. I see in your RAM thread that it's rebranded Micron MT18KSF1G72AZ-1G6E1 so items sold under both Micron and Crucial numbers should be fine?

Also if you plan on doing more than just using your build as a NAS then you should really consider adding more memory.

I don't think a personal server would be as resource intensive as plex transcoding. But I could try it with 8GB and scrap the idea or get more memory if I experience issues.

 

[Ericloewe]

Thanks. I see in your RAM thread that it's rebranded Micron MT18KSF1G72AZ-1G6E1 so items sold under both Micron and Crucial numbers should be fine?



I don't think a personal server would be as resource intensive as plex transcoding. But I could try it with 8GB and scrap the idea or get more memory if I experience issues.

In this case, it's irrelevant, since Supermicro hasn't tested Micron RAM - but Crucial does guarantee it will work. Crucial is typically easier to acquire.

 

[trilepton]

I've selected a UPS. This is an updated list, also incorporating the other suggestions.

• Supermicro MBD-X10SLL-F-O MicroATX LGA1150 Server Motherboard
• Intel Pentium Processor G3220 3.0 GHz LGA 1150 BX80646G3220
  
• Crucial 8GB Single DDR3L 1600MT/s PC3-12800 DR x8 ECC UDIMM 240-Pin Server Memory CT102472BD160B
• Rosewill CHALLENGER ATX Mid Tower Case
• Corsair Builder Series CX 430 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply
• 4X 2TB WD Red drives (in a RAID-Z2 configuration)
• 8GB USB flash drive
• APC BE750G UPS
  
• Anti-static wrist band

 

[Karla]

Hi,

Have you figured the cost yet? I'm also considering my first NAS build. I'm mostly worried about the first three items on the list. I already have a case and one WD Black 3 TB drive.

 

[trilepton]

Hi,

Have you figured the cost yet? I'm also considering my first NAS build. I'm mostly worried about the first three items on the list. I already have a case and one WD Black 3 TB drive.

I haven't started shopping yet but I'm estimating everything will sum up to $800 - $900. Browsing around, it seems the prices are: cpu ~ $60, motherboard ~ $170, and RAM ~ $98. I'll update once I start purchasing.

 

[trilepton]

Does anyone suggest the Rosewill REDBONE instead of the Challenger? I like that the the drive bays are parallel to the side rather than perpendicular. But several reviews say that it's flimsy and arrived with dents.