Will it FreeNAS - consumer hardware survey

[rfielder]

My first FreeNAS server is up and running, and seems stable and reliable so far. Details of the server are in the signature of this message.

As you can see, I went Supermicro, ECC, and Xeon for that build. I understand why this type of hardware is preferred by many (most?) here, and the reasons for this.

However, I suspect there are those running FreeNAS on consumer hardware here. I was wondering how many are doing this and what hardware is used.

My just-retired Windows Home Server box ran for over 10 years on consumer hardware. The hardware is so old that I am just going to scrap it when I rebuild the box. However, it was reliable to the day I turned it off in spite of the lack of ECC and the motherboards limitation of a max of 4Gb RAM.

Who is running FreeNAS on consumer hardware? What hardware are you using? Why did you choose to go this route, rather than server type motherboard and ECC memory?

Thanks in advance!

 

[acp]

My first FreeNAS was on consumer type hardware. That was quite some time ago. The reason why at the time was it was cheaper and I didn't know better. My second FreeNAS was on a ASRock Server board with an Haswell Xeon. I'm still using that system today. However if I was building a system today it would be using Supermicro board. I had some issues with ASRock. While I got it working, I found Supermicro boards easier to use as the support is better. My VM Farm servers are on Supermicro boards.

 

[joeinaz]

For me there are two scenarios where one could consider using consumer hardware to build a FreeNAS solution;

1. The data involved is not "mission critical"; I could see putting my movie collection on consumer hardware. Records of my business transactions and other customer data I would not trust to consumer hardware.

2. If the data on the consumer hardware is frequently and reliably backed up (with multiple versions); While data should ALWAYS be backed up, with consumer hardware the frequency of the backup may need to increase.

In any case, with the price of older hardware falling, it can be cost effective to now consider a system with ECC memory...

 

[rfielder]

While I appreciate the information and opinions presented so far, I am not sure the original question has been understood.

I do not want to start a debate about using consumer hardware, and I am not looking for advice about using consumer hardware.

I was hoping to hear from anyone who is currently using consumer hardware to run FreeNAS. That is why I called this discussion a "survey".

 

[rfielder]

2. If the data on the consumer hardware is frequently and reliably backed up (with multiple versions); While data should ALWAYS be backed up, with consumer hardware the frequency of the backup may need to increase.

It is my intent to build a second FreeNAS server with much less capacity than the server I now have running.

This FreeNAS server would be backed up to the main FreeNAS server every night.

In any case, with the price of older hardware falling, it can be cost effective to now consider a system with ECC memory...

Unfortunately, finding used hardware is less of an option for me. I still have restricted mobility, and will for a while. Plus, I am not crazy about buying sight unseen from an online source.

 

[Adrian]

One of my machines is a very old (8 years?) HP microserver:
HP N36L Microserver, 8 GB
AMD Athlon(tm) II Neo N36L Dual-Core Processor
4 * 2 TB WD Red as RAIDZ1
2 * mirrored Sandisk Cruzer Fit 1.00 boot USB sticks
FreeNAS-11.2-U6

It is a sacrificial server for FreeNAS updates and yet another partial replication target. It copes with its workload. It was unusably slow with Corral.

 

[rfielder]

One of my machines is a very old (8 years?) HP microserver:
HP N36L Microserver, 8 GB
AMD Athlon(tm) II Neo N36L Dual-Core Processor

FreeNAS on an Athlon? Neat!

 

[Adrian]

I like Microservers from the hardware point of view, but I discovered that after a brief period you had no access to firmware updates unless you had a support contract. After discovering that I bought no more. I do not know if this is true of current models.

 

[rfielder]

I like Microservers from the hardware point of view, but I discovered that after a brief period you had no access to firmware updates unless you had a support contract. After discovering that I bought no more. I do not know if this is true of current models.

Adrian

Thanks for the reply.

Is Microservers a brand name?

 

[Adrian]

Adrian

Thanks for the reply.

Is Microservers a brand name?

I was referring to the HP Proliant Microserver. This is described as an "affordable compact entry level server specifically designed for small offices, home offices, or small business environments". Very compact (so awkward to upgrade memory or add a card), well built, and sometimes very cheap when cashback deals are available. Currently at Generation 10 on AMD Opterons. I see reviews ranging from good to bad. Nowadays I would not touch them as you still need to buy a support contract to get firmware upgrades after the 1st month. Search the forum for references to them.

My pair were originally bought to be a firewall and ESXi server (to experiment with when $JOB were initially too cheap to provide me with much). I moved to pfSense appliances (most recently from Netgate) and ditched my FreeBSD+ZFS machines for Hyper-V VMs (mainly used for mail with mutt) and, after successful experimentation with the FreeNAS on the Microserver, for iXsystems FreeNAS Minis. See my signature. I no longer enjoy wasting my time on administering complex self configured FreeBSD systems on consumer grade hardware. Far more effective to use designed for the task appliances from good suppliers. Expensive, but I value both my time and my data.

 

[sabi-tech]

I'm using FreeNAS on a home 'consumer' grade machine i built from spares in the office. Total cost was about £100. Specs are below:
Asus H81-i PLUS
Intel i5 4590T
Noctua NH-L9i
2x 8gb 2133 Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3
1x 256 SSD in external USB3 enclosure (to be changed for NVME on PCIE card)
4x 3TB Wd Red HDD (RAIDZ Single drive faliure)
3D-Printed HDD Brackets
EVGA Supernova 1000w G3
Kolink Satellite Plus Case

I use this for serving media to my Raspberry Pi (currently running xbmc but will be plex soon) and as a backup location.

 

[rfielder]

I'm using FreeNAS on a home 'consumer' grade machine i built from spares in the office. Total cost was about £100. Specs are below:

Interesting! Thanks for posting.

 

[rfielder]

I was referring to the HP Proliant Microserver.

Thanks! I should have clued in to this, given your previous post.

I take it the cost of a support contract was greater than the money saved when getting them on sale?

Would the one you had running use ECC memory?

 

[Adrian]

I recall that the support contract was expensive.

The memory is single bit ECC.

Code:

[root@hpnas ~]# dmidecode -t memory
# dmidecode 3.1
Scanning /dev/mem for entry point.
SMBIOS 2.6 present.

Handle 0x0014, DMI type 16, 15 bytes
Physical Memory Array
        Location: System Board Or Motherboard
        Use: System Memory
        Error Correction Type: Single-bit ECC     <-----------------------------------
        Maximum Capacity: 8 GB
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Number Of Devices: 2

Handle 0x0016, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0014
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 72 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 4096 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM0
        Bank Locator: BANK0
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 1333 MT/s
        Manufacturer: Manufacturer00
        Serial Number: SerNum00
        Asset Tag: Not Specified
        Part Number: ModulePartNumber00
        Rank: Unknown

Handle 0x0018, DMI type 17, 28 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x0014
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 72 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 4096 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM1
        Bank Locator: BANK1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 1333 MT/s
        Manufacturer: Manufacturer01
        Serial Number: SerNum01
        Asset Tag: Not Specified
        Part Number: ModulePartNumber01
        Rank: Unknown

 

[sabi-tech]

Interesting! Thanks for posting.

Thanks for having me on here.
So I actually decided against plex, as it turns out its not what I thought it was and adds a layer of complication I felt I don't need.
I now have the nas running SMB shares (removed NFS) and I have FTP enabled. This seems to suit my needs. I am running ddns on my router so it's even accessible externally

 

[Adrian]

I now have the nas running SMB shares (removed NFS) and I have FTP enabled. This seems to suit my needs. I am running ddns on my router so it's even accessible externally :)

How are you keeping the baddies out?
Most IPV4 addresses have their interesting ports probed for vulnerabilities.

 

[sabi-tech]

I have to say that there are probably some holes, I'm just working on having decent firewall protection and my pihole capturing most sniffs. If you have any recommendations I'm open to suggestion but performance on consumer kit seems to be tip top only thing I with I had was hot swap bays :p

 

[blooper98]

If you're interested in more..

Motherboard & CPU: ASRock J3455
Memory: 16GB non-ECC
Case & Power Supply: APEX MI-008
HDD: 2x 4TB WD Red

I'm running an Emby and Nextcloud instance, SMB shares, and rsync my data (nightly) to Backblaze. pfSense box to keep the baddies out (probably?).

Should have gone for a better case & power supply, but it was cheap ^.^

 

[rfielder]

If you're interested in more..

Thanks!

 

[HoneyBadger]

I recall that the support contract was expensive.

Most of them are; the key difference is that while HP will not permit you to download firmware/BIOS or other similar fixes without a service contract, on the contrary, Dell (quite confident) and Lenovo (I believe?) don't have any such restrictions, so you can fairly fearlessly buy their equipment off-lease or discounted at entry-level, and have fewer concerns about being denied a critical update without paying through the nose for it. You can also DIY with Supermicro and get similiar results.

I now have the nas running SMB shares (removed NFS) and I have FTP enabled. This seems to suit my needs. I am running ddns on my router so it's even accessible externally

I hope there is some manner of VPN or SSH tunnel in play here because exposing SMB and/or FTP directly to the Internet is asking for trouble.