BUILD Cheap and Easy (New Dad) Build

[bmcclure937]

Background
I am a long-time FreeNAS user... dating back before the iXsystems days. I was very active on the forums and was a junkie for the latest builds! At a certain point I was unable to keep up but my FreeNAS continued to run strong and meet my needs. In fact, my little NAS continues to chug along without any issues but I feel like the time has come to build/buy a successor.

My current system is still running FreeNAS 0.7.x (now known as NAS4Free) and hums along 24/7/365 as a media server (running SABnzbd, SickBeard, Couch Potato) and file server. It is a humble little dual core machine with 16GB RAM and 4x1TB drives in RAIDZ1. I have a small APC Back-UPS connected in case of a power outage.

The time has come to finally replace my aging FreeNAS 0.7.x system. I am a new father so free time for tinkering is limited these days. I would normally prefer to build my own system from scratch based on community recommendations but just do not have the time to dedicate to a proper build. So that leaves me with the option to buy...

Requirements

• Budget: $450 (or lower) without storage drives
• My FreeNAS Uses:
  • Media Server (one or two 1080p streams simultaneously to Kodi clients)
  • Plugins (SAB, SB, CP, etc.)
  • File Server

My Chassis Options

1. Lenovo TS 140 (Core i3 CPU)
   • Amazon ($270)
   • NewEgg ($250)
2. Dell PowerEdge T20 (Pentium CPU)
   • NewEgg ($324)
   • Amazon ($189)
   • Amazon ($379 - Intel Xeon, includes 1TB HDD meh)
3. Lenovo TS 440 (Xeon CPU)
   • saw these recommended on the forums but cannot find reasonable price
4. ... anything else... ?

Planned Upgrades/Other Items
Right out of the box I intend to upgrade the RAM and purchase a new USB flash drive for boot media. Is there anything else I should consider?

• 16GB Crucial ECC unbuffered server RAM
• 2x Transcend 32GB JetFlash (boot media)

Questions

1. Is it still OK to boot from USB flash drive?
2. Should the boot media be mirrored now that it is ZFS in FreeNAS 9.3 (use 2x USB flash drive)
3. Should my storage pool be 3x3TB drive in RAIDZ1 or is RAIDZ1 no longer recommended?
4. Any other recommendations for pre-built FreeNAS servers?
5. Can anyone using these setups recommend the best way to maximize HDD storage? e.g. the TS140 has a 5.25" optical drive, can I remove this and install an adapter to put additional fan and HDD?

 

[Houe]

For reference i probably have around $800 to $850 in my system:
TS440, E3-1225V3, 8GB ECC, 4x4tb seagate and HGST, 80GB intel SSD (already had), 450 watt gold

I picked up the TS440 for $300 from Tigerdirect during their Christmas sale. However, if budget is a concern I think I'd lean towards the TS140 as a cheaper option if 4 drives would suffice. With the TS440 you have to buy caddy trays at ~$15 each. I chose the TS440 for future expansion (starting with 4 drives and moving to 8 in the future). However, moving to 8 drives when that happens will still cost a fair amount (HBA card, 4 drive backplane, and 4 caddys, prob. $260 + drives). Now from my understanding I think a Pentium might struggle with 2 streams at 1080p - someone correct me if i'm wrong. Maybe a TS140 + i3 would fit the bill.

I run 4x4TB raidz2 since my data is fairly important. But remember you still need backups. I know raidz1 is frowned upon around here but if a person keeps up to date backups and does regular scrubs I think a person would be fairly safe with raidz1. To lose a raidz1 here are the scenarios I think are most dangerous:
1. two drives fail (2nd drive might fail during the stressful resliver)
2. one drive fails + bit rot on another drive (regular scubs make the bit rot less likely)
3. server stolen or destroyed (fire, power surge, etc.)

Scenario 2 is why a lot of people dislike raidz1. But it still is a double failure event and periodic scrubs should reduce the chance it would happen simultaneously with a drive failure. In the event any of the above scenarios do happen you go to offsite backup. It all depends on how much protection you want, how valuable the data is, and of course budget. Hope this helps.

 

[anodos]

Is it still OK to boot from USB flash drive?

yes

Should the boot media be mirrored now that it is ZFS in FreeNAS 9.3 (use 2x USB flash drive)

It doesn't have to be, but it can be helpful.

Should my storage pool be 3x3TB drive in RAIDZ1 or is RAIDZ1 no longer recommended?

Most people don't recommend RAIDZ1. I'd consider adding a drive and doing RAIDZ2.

Any other recommendations for pre-built FreeNAS servers?

FYI, dell has the T20 on sale for $179 here: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-t20/pd
you can use some of those savings to get another drive.

Can anyone using these setups recommend the best way to maximize HDD storage? e.g. the TS140 has a 5.25" optical drive, can I remove this and install an adapter to put additional fan and HDD?

Can't say much on this point. Overall, your best bet is to figure out how many drives you want in your server from the get-go. You can't add drives to a vdev once it has been created, which makes expansion at a later date annoying. If you want 6 drives, then buy spend a bit more for a case that can easily accommodate and cool 6 drives. I think the PSUs in these little entry-level servers may be hard-pressed to handle more drives than the chassis specs anyway.

 

[bmcclure937]

For reference i probably have around $800 to $850 in my system:
TS440, E3-1225V3, 8GB ECC, 4x4tb seagate and HGST, 80GB intel SSD (already had), 450 watt gold

...

Thanks for the reply. Appreciate it.

yes

FYI, dell has the T20 on sale for $179 here: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-t20/pd
you can use some of those savings to get another drive.

The Dell T20 deal looks solid but is for the Pentium CPU. Think I would at least like a Core i3. Upgrading the T20 to the Xeon makes it $490 because they also include a stupid 1TB drive... wish I could get a Xeon with no HDD.

 

[anodos]

FYI, found a TS440 here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HEK9A8M/?tag=ozlp-20

 

[bmcclure937]

FYI, found a TS440 here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HEK9A8M/?tag=ozlp-20

Do you think the Xeon TS440 with RAM upgrade ($490 total) is better than the TS140? What benefits would this offer me?

 

[danb35]

The only benefit to the TS440 that I can think of is that you can put 8 drives in it. This may or may not be important to you.

 

[anodos]

Do you think the Xeon TS440 with RAM upgrade ($490 total) is better than the TS140? What benefits would this offer me?

TS440 has more expansion ability (you can buy a second hard drive cage and add another 4 drives), but is significantly larger and heavier. It also has a 450W PSU. Honestly, with the scale you're looking at a TS140 is probably better. You might be able to get by with the i3 version and save some cash.

 

[flyinfitz1]

I have your requirements and went with the TS140, upgraded to 12GB of RAM and 4x3tb WD Red drives. I think I spent near 800. Have had literally 0 problems. Love it. Check out this thread.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/lenovo-thinkserver-ts140-ftw.34721/#post-252341

 

[ChriZ]

...Now from my understanding I think a Pentium might struggle with 2 streams at 1080p - someone correct me if i'm wrong. Maybe a TS140 + i3 would fit the bill.

With kodi, CPU is not a problem, because it requires no transcoding. Two 1080p streams will most probably result to no more than 5% usage of that Pentium...

 

[bmcclure937]

With kodi, CPU is not a problem, because it requires no transcoding. Two 1080p streams will most probably result to no more than 5% usage of that Pentium...

May also run some Emby on the FreeNAS as well... some light transcoding. Think the Core i3 would be good for that.

 

[flyinfitz1]

Im glad I went with the i3 over the G3220. I rarely see my CPU over 50%.

 

[bmcclure937]

Im glad I went with the i3 over the G3220. I rarely see my CPU over 50%.

Do you use Emby at all or transcode any media?

 

[bmcclure937]

Quick Update

I ordered the TS140 chassis and 16GB ECC RAM (Crucial). New router has also been purchased!

Any folks who have a TS140 care to share how you installed 4 HDDs in the case successfully? It is my understanding that there are 2x3.5" HDD drive bays available and the remainder are 5.25" bays that will require an adapter.

There are plenty of adapters out there but I would love some community input before purchasing one. I want the drives to have proper cooling for long lifespan.

 

[flyinfitz1]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HLZXH2/?tag=ozlp-20

heres the caddy I purchased for the 5.25 bays. It works but took some tweaking to get perfect in to the case. As I remember the first 3 drives were fairly easy but the fourth took some time in the 5.25 bay.

Which router did you go with?

 

[bmcclure937]

Alright. No worries without a fan for air flow?

I chose Netgear R7000. Should meet my needs.

 

[flyinfitz1]

Ill look when I get home and take some pics of how I set it up.

 

[bricebm]

I actually swapped my ts140 into another case. The board is matx. This gives me the ability to easily run four drives noe and to expand to more disk in the future by purchasing a larger power supply, and hba.

 

[bmcclure937]

Happy New Year! Thanks everyone for your help.

Just waiting for my TS140, RAM, USB drives, and router to arrive. In the meantime, I am looking for nice, cheap storage options.

I have an alert created on SlickDeals for WD Red 3TB drives but was wondering if anyone had other recommendations. Also still debating between RAIDZ1 and RAIDZ2. I only want a max of 4 HDD right now so doing RAIDZ2 with 4 drives will yield less than half in usable storage space due to formatting and parity drives.

 

[gpsguy]

Just byte the bullet now and buy 4TB or even 6TB drives.

Sure they cost a bit more, but in the grand scheme of things, what will you do, when you outgrow the 3TB drives?