Time to replace my old server; how's something like this look?

[yeliaB]

After eight years of 24X7 use, my old FreeNAS box is due for replacement.

It's currently handling Time Machine backups for several Macs, storage for all my shows and movies, and Plex in a jail for viewing said shows and movies.

In the future, I'm looking to do more experimenting with virtualization, and so anticipate running 1-2 different relatively-low-compute virtual environments on a regular basis, and might waltz a few others in and out of the box from time to time as well.

Here's what I'm looking at for the major components:

Motherboard: Intel Server Board S1200SPL
My old server was built using the "build it using a quality workstation mobo" school of thought with an Intel motherboard; I figured I'd stick with a brand that has done well by me, and kick things up a notch to one of their entry-level server boards.

Processor: Intel Xeon E3-1245V5 3.5GHz 8MB Smart Cache
I'll admit that choosing this was one part "I've not kept up with Intel's naming conventions to know what the hell it all means", one part "it fits the socket on the mobo", and one part "it's slightly more expensive than the mobo, which has proven to be a good ratio for me previously". ;-) My old server has an Intel Core i7-920 Processor (8M Cache, 2.66 GHz), and runs a steady-state load average of roughly .5 though, as I noted above, I'm going to be playing around more with virtualization in the future and expect things to heat up a bit, CPU-wise.

RAM: Crucial CT8374170 (DDR4 PC4-19200 • CL=17 • Dual Ranked • x8 based • Unbuffered • ECC • DDR4-2400 • 1.2V • 2048Meg x 72)
I've never had a problem with Crucial so I'd like to stick with it. This would give me a total of 32GB spread over two banks, and leaves two slots open for a mid-life "kicker" should performance start sagging in the future.

Power Supply: Antec HCP-850 Platinum
Again, I've had good luck with the Antec supply on my old server, so I'd thought I'd get this new one; its modular design would keep clutter to a minimum, and help airflow through the box.

Drives: (8) Western Digital RE4 4TB (WDC WD4000FYYZ)
These are currently in use on my old server; my plan is to move them over and continue to use them, swapping them out as SMART dictates.

Enclosure: Antec
I don't recall the model number, but it's the one I've been using on my old server, so I'll continue using it. It's been augmented with three SATA 4-bay cold-swap inserts, each with its own fan; the case itself has a one fan in the back, and a large (200mm?) fan on the top. Never had cooling problems, so I'm thinking I should be good keeping it (after throwing some new fans in, of course).

I realize that I'm over-speccing (and yes, gold-plating), but when it comes to servers, I like low-drama configurations, and these kinds of choices eight years ago gave me low drama. That said, I'd love to hear everyone's feedback!

 

[Spearfoot]

Greetings! Welcome to the forums!

I don't believe many FreeNAS users have experience with the Intel mobo you've selected, but it supports ECC RAM and Xeon processors, so it ought to work. You might check the FreeBSD hardware compatibility list to be sure. In case you haven't noticed, there are quite a few Supermicro fanatics around here... :D

Same thing regarding Antec PSUs -- most folks here are Seasonic fans. I use a 'vintage' Antec Sonata case with upgraded Antec PSU for my test system (see 'my systems' below for details). But if I had to replace it today, I'd buy either an EVGA or a Seasonic.

The E3-1245 v5 CPU you've selected has built-in graphics support. FreeNAS is typically run headless, so you might save a buck or two by selecting a model without the graphics support, e.g., the E3-1240 v5 is essentially the same chip sans graphics processor.

I think you're on the right track, and will end up with a system that'll serve you well for many years. Good luck!

 

[yeliaB]

Thanks for the feedback, Spearfoot!

I'll definitely make sure the motherboard is ok from the FreeBSD compatibility side of things; should've thought of that myself. I noticed the Supermicro fanaticism, but I won't hold it against y'all! ;-) I had a truly horrific experiment with a Supermicro-built system back in the early '90s, but after ~25 years maybe I should give them a look. What motherboard of theirs would be a decent match for this intel one? I'd like to have 8XSATA, a couple NICs, and 64GB max memory over four slots...

Excellent catch on the CPU--that's what I get for not taking the time to understand Intel's latest naming convention!

Thanks again!

 

[Spearfoot]

Thanks for the feedback, Spearfoot!

I'll definitely make sure the motherboard is ok from the FreeBSD compatibility side of things; should've thought of that myself. I noticed the Supermicro fanaticism, but I won't hold it against y'all! ;-) I had a truly horrific experiment with a Supermicro-built system back in the early '90s, but after ~25 years maybe I should give them a look. What motherboard of theirs would be a decent match for this intel one? I'd like to have 8XSATA, a couple NICs, and 64GB max memory over four slots...

Excellent catch on the CPU--that's what I get for not taking the time to understand Intel's latest naming convention!

Thanks again!

You're welcome!

Here's the whole list of Supermicro LGA 1151 Skylake mobos, several of which have 8 x SATA ports and twin NICs. If you need more than 8 SATA ports, some have built-in SAS controllers which, when combined with the mobo's PCH ports, give you as many as 14 ports. Wheee!

 

[snaptec]

I have an intel mobo as a Test Server.
Running linux kvm and passthough a hba to the freenas vm. Works flawlessly.
But for every production Server I only use supermicro, theyre just working.

Spearfoot already posted the list. Grab one of them :)



Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

 

[Ericloewe]

You're welcome!

Here's the whole list of Supermicro LGA 1151 Skylake mobos,

The Resources section has a much more digested version of that list, condensed to the boards that matter.

It can be hard to figure out exactly what is going on with Supermicro's many models, so I did the research so that others didn't have to.

 

[yeliaB]

Thanks, all! (and thanks to Ericlowe -- that list is quite a bit to chew on!)

 

[yeliaB]

I just wanted to do a quick follow-up, because the worst thing in the world is to Google your way to someone in the same situation as you, but then they never mention how it all worked out for them.

Because I'm the kind of guy that actively ignores the sage wisdom given by others (seriously, thank you everyone!) I ended up going with something similar to what I originally mentioned:

The motherboard ended up being an Intel S1200SPO (no built-in graphics support, but the same as the S1200SPL otherwise), and the processor ended up being an Intel Xeon E3-1240 V5 (no on-chip graphics).

And...

...it worked fine (well, minus two drives--with over 40,000 hours on them--that decided now would be a good time to start getting forgetful).

So a big thank you for putting up with the Intel motherboard heretic! :)

 

[Spearfoot]

So a big thank you for putting up with the Intel motherboard heretic! :)

You're very welcome!

I like to think the world is big enough for all motherboards to peacefully co-exist in harmony and... well, you get the idea.

 

[yeliaB]

Well said, Spearfoot, well said... ;)

 

[Ericloewe]

We don't call people who use different hardware heretics. We call them guinea pigs. More charted paths are only a good thing.

Of course, there's little point in charting some trails, since they so obviously lead to pain (shouldn't be the case).

 

[yeliaB]

Indeed, Ericloewe!