Hi guys,
First attempt at FreeNAS. I've been dreaming about a decent FreeNAS build for a few months, but this weekend I really buckled down and started doing some research/making spreadsheets of what I want to achieve. I'd like a sanity check from some veterans before I go ahead and blow a few thousand on something that doesn't work or is drastically different from what I need - which is problematic because I live in Australia, which isn't the best place in terms of hardware availability.
Type of use: Home - 2, maybe 3 devices streaming media, along with use as a dumping ground for my old files. Obviously I need to find an off-site backup solution as well.
Anyway, here's what I have in mind:
CPU-i3-6320
- I have no idea which of the i3s (i3-6100, i3-6100t, i3-6300, i3-6300t, i3-6320) I need for this build - naturally I'm leaning towards the one with the most grunt, but I don't even know if it's necessary. Is the cache and clock beneficial for FreeNAS? Or is extremely low TDP the way to go?
Mobo - AsRock C236 WSI
- Really wanted a mini-ITX solution without going all the way for the E3 prefix board - I couldn't find any Supermicro ITX boards (aside from Xeon Ds which are out of my price range). If there are serious issues with this particular board though/if anybody has had any terrible experiences with it, I'd like to know before I buy a $400 brick and get it shipped in from the States.
RAM - 2x8GB or 1x16GB Crucial DDR4-2133 ECC Unbuffered [CT8G4WFD8213 or CT16G4WFD8213]
- Had extreme difficulty finding the ECC RAM on the QVL for the C236 WSI, so I searched all around and found this on the website of a RAM specialist store. Not sure if the 1x16 version is compatible (I'd like the option to upgrade to 32 whenever), so I'll need to check with them when I get a chance.
Boot - Sandisk Ultra Fit SDCZ43 16GB (boot USB)
- Self-explanatory (non-garbage?) boot USB
NAS Drives - 4x WD Red 4TB / Seagate ST4000VN000
- Here is where I'm stuck. From what I can see, the C236 WSI has 8 SATA ports, but how to distribute these and get a decent drive topology is where I'm having trouble deciding. I know I don't want a L2ARC and ZIL SSD mirror cache because it'll have little impact on my home use, so I should have full use of all 8 ports. I want to preferably start off with 2-4 drives (my wallet won't really like it if I buy the whole lot at once, and neither will the vdev when everything starts failing at the same time). I would like to maximise the amount of space available whilst having a decent amount of redundancy.
1) 2-4 vdevs of mirrors?
e.g. VDEV 1 - 2 x 4TB, VDEV 2 - 2x4TB, VDEV3, VDEV 4 etc
2) RAID Z1 or RAID Z2?
I'm not sure how to configure this though, as 8 ports is in the odd space between the traditional RAID-Z1 5/9 or RAID-Z2 6/10, and I want to maximise the number of ports used.
- Second question - would mixing WD Reds / Seagate 4000VN000s and even HGST DeskStar drives create performance/redundancy issues? I have read about some individuals preferring to mix different vendor drives of the same capacity, along with purchasing them at staggered intervals to ensure batch defects don't become a problem.
Also, I'd like opinions on which of the following Case + PSU combos to buy:
1)
Case - Silverstone DS380B
- Has anybody had issues with the Hotswap function of this case? From what I understand, you naturally have to configure from within FreeNAS in order to disconnect/replace a drive, but aside from that, are there any other issues with the hotswap?
PSU - Silverstone ST45SF-G
- Just your classic 80+ Gold efficiency SFX PSU.
2)
Case - Fractal Design Node 304
PSU - Seasonic SSR-360GP
First attempt at FreeNAS. I've been dreaming about a decent FreeNAS build for a few months, but this weekend I really buckled down and started doing some research/making spreadsheets of what I want to achieve. I'd like a sanity check from some veterans before I go ahead and blow a few thousand on something that doesn't work or is drastically different from what I need - which is problematic because I live in Australia, which isn't the best place in terms of hardware availability.
Type of use: Home - 2, maybe 3 devices streaming media, along with use as a dumping ground for my old files. Obviously I need to find an off-site backup solution as well.
Anyway, here's what I have in mind:
CPU-i3-6320
- I have no idea which of the i3s (i3-6100, i3-6100t, i3-6300, i3-6300t, i3-6320) I need for this build - naturally I'm leaning towards the one with the most grunt, but I don't even know if it's necessary. Is the cache and clock beneficial for FreeNAS? Or is extremely low TDP the way to go?
Mobo - AsRock C236 WSI
- Really wanted a mini-ITX solution without going all the way for the E3 prefix board - I couldn't find any Supermicro ITX boards (aside from Xeon Ds which are out of my price range). If there are serious issues with this particular board though/if anybody has had any terrible experiences with it, I'd like to know before I buy a $400 brick and get it shipped in from the States.
RAM - 2x8GB or 1x16GB Crucial DDR4-2133 ECC Unbuffered [CT8G4WFD8213 or CT16G4WFD8213]
- Had extreme difficulty finding the ECC RAM on the QVL for the C236 WSI, so I searched all around and found this on the website of a RAM specialist store. Not sure if the 1x16 version is compatible (I'd like the option to upgrade to 32 whenever), so I'll need to check with them when I get a chance.
Boot - Sandisk Ultra Fit SDCZ43 16GB (boot USB)
- Self-explanatory (non-garbage?) boot USB
NAS Drives - 4x WD Red 4TB / Seagate ST4000VN000
- Here is where I'm stuck. From what I can see, the C236 WSI has 8 SATA ports, but how to distribute these and get a decent drive topology is where I'm having trouble deciding. I know I don't want a L2ARC and ZIL SSD mirror cache because it'll have little impact on my home use, so I should have full use of all 8 ports. I want to preferably start off with 2-4 drives (my wallet won't really like it if I buy the whole lot at once, and neither will the vdev when everything starts failing at the same time). I would like to maximise the amount of space available whilst having a decent amount of redundancy.
1) 2-4 vdevs of mirrors?
e.g. VDEV 1 - 2 x 4TB, VDEV 2 - 2x4TB, VDEV3, VDEV 4 etc
2) RAID Z1 or RAID Z2?
I'm not sure how to configure this though, as 8 ports is in the odd space between the traditional RAID-Z1 5/9 or RAID-Z2 6/10, and I want to maximise the number of ports used.
- Second question - would mixing WD Reds / Seagate 4000VN000s and even HGST DeskStar drives create performance/redundancy issues? I have read about some individuals preferring to mix different vendor drives of the same capacity, along with purchasing them at staggered intervals to ensure batch defects don't become a problem.
Also, I'd like opinions on which of the following Case + PSU combos to buy:
1)
Case - Silverstone DS380B
- Has anybody had issues with the Hotswap function of this case? From what I understand, you naturally have to configure from within FreeNAS in order to disconnect/replace a drive, but aside from that, are there any other issues with the hotswap?
PSU - Silverstone ST45SF-G
- Just your classic 80+ Gold efficiency SFX PSU.
2)
Case - Fractal Design Node 304
PSU - Seasonic SSR-360GP