I'm looking at getting a new system that will fill the function of NAS and mini-server in my home.
The hardware will replace an ageing Synology 10-drive setup that is currently serving as mostly just a storage device.
In addition to that I want to serve mirrored SSD pool as an iSCSI target to local computers. (obviously not to more than 1 initiator at the same time)
Finally I would like to host a few limited VMs doing mostly light-weight work.
I would prefer to use a well supported Chelsio SFP+ PCI-E card.
The use of iSCSI and VMs suggest that I should avoid anaemic CPUs.
I am not sure if I will be running Truenas on bare metal or as a VM through something like ESXi.
With the above in mind, I value power efficiency and low noise when idle.
There are a lot of options but I have distilled it down to these picks.
Supermicro X11SCH-F
Should hopefully be able to scale up to handle the strain of 10GbE iSCSI and VM use while offering good idle W for when not in use.
Plenty (8) of onboard SATA ports combined with 2x m.2 slots.
ASRock Rack X570D4U
More powerful than option 1 in multi-threaded jobs, similar in single-threaded.
Plenty (8) of onboard SATA ports combined with 2x m.2 slots.
Uncertain ECC-support. Supposedly 1-bit corrections are handled but reporting is not supported.
Supermicro X11SSM-F
No m.2 for SLOG.
Only 1-bit ECC support.
X10SDV-4C+-TP4F
Great ECC support.
X10SDV-7TP4F
Great ECC support.
Has an onboard LSI 2116 controller for plenty of SAS2 ports, but it might be buggy?
Pricy.
A2SDi-H-TP4F
Limited PCI-E so stuck with onboard hardware for SAS/SATA and 10GbE.
Pricy.
Am I attaching too much value to having a Chelsio NIC?
Likewise, I am not sure how impactful multi-bit ECC support is.
Any guidance would be most welcome.
The hardware will replace an ageing Synology 10-drive setup that is currently serving as mostly just a storage device.
Build goals:
My plan is to serve SMB-shares with my media library, mostly consisting of movies stored on HDDs configured in a raidz2 pool. No need to transcode.In addition to that I want to serve mirrored SSD pool as an iSCSI target to local computers. (obviously not to more than 1 initiator at the same time)
Finally I would like to host a few limited VMs doing mostly light-weight work.
Caveats:
6-8 SOC SATA-ports will not be enough, so I will need a controller acting as an HBA.I would prefer to use a well supported Chelsio SFP+ PCI-E card.
The use of iSCSI and VMs suggest that I should avoid anaemic CPUs.
I am not sure if I will be running Truenas on bare metal or as a VM through something like ESXi.
With the above in mind, I value power efficiency and low noise when idle.
There are a lot of options but I have distilled it down to these picks.
Shared details
Product | Name |
---|---|
Case | Fractal Design Define R5 with 5 120 - 140 mm fans (Repurposed to server) |
CPU fan | Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 (Repurposed to server if compatible) |
RAM | 64 GB of QVL ECC RAM |
PSU | Seasonic Focus GX 650 |
HBA | LSI 9201/9207/etc HBA IT-Flashed |
SFP+ Adapter | Chelsio T520-variant. Well supported with hardware offload |
Spinning drives | 6 - 8 high capacity drives, undecided on brand and size |
Boot | Samsung SSD 850 PRO 128GB (Repurposed to server) or a SATADOM |
SLOG | Intel Optane M10 SSD M.2 2280 32GB |
L2ARC | I do not anticipate needing one |
Option 1:
Intel E-2236 (or E-2136 depending on availability)Supermicro X11SCH-F
Pros:
Has two PCI-E x8 (or longer) slots fitting an HBA and and SFP+ card.Should hopefully be able to scale up to handle the strain of 10GbE iSCSI and VM use while offering good idle W for when not in use.
Plenty (8) of onboard SATA ports combined with 2x m.2 slots.
Cons:
Does not appear to support ECC fully since multi-bit detection is not listed in the specs. Is 1-bit memory correction seen as adequate?Option 2:
AMD Ryzen 3700X (Repurposed to server)ASRock Rack X570D4U
Pros:
Has two PCI-E x8 (or longer) slots fitting an HBA and and SFP+ card.More powerful than option 1 in multi-threaded jobs, similar in single-threaded.
Plenty (8) of onboard SATA ports combined with 2x m.2 slots.
Cons:
Ryzen support in CORE and SCALE does not appear to be as mature as that of Intel. A common tip is to turn C-states off because systems are locking up while stepping between power states. Kernel 5.15 might help, but the changelog does not suggest anything related to idle crashes.Uncertain ECC-support. Supposedly 1-bit corrections are handled but reporting is not supported.
Option 3:
Intel E-1240 v6Supermicro X11SSM-F
Pros:
Has two PCI-E x8 (or longer) slots fitting an HBA and and SFP+ card.Cons:
Older and less powerful, not sure if it can handle higher iSCSI transfers and maybe higher power use? There are other choices but these are fairly pricy on Ebay.No m.2 for SLOG.
Only 1-bit ECC support.
Option 4:
D-1518X10SDV-4C+-TP4F
Pros:
Low power use.Great ECC support.
Cons:
Is it capable of handling 10GbE iSCSI and VMs?Option 5:
D-1537X10SDV-7TP4F
Pros:
Low power use.Great ECC support.
Has an onboard LSI 2116 controller for plenty of SAS2 ports, but it might be buggy?
Cons:
More powerful than the D-1518 but is it enough?Pricy.
Option 6:
Intel Atom C3958A2SDi-H-TP4F
Pros:
Interesting board with very low power use despite plenty of cores.Cons:
Limited single-threaded performance, so probably not ideal for 10GbE transfers and similar.Limited PCI-E so stuck with onboard hardware for SAS/SATA and 10GbE.
Pricy.
Dilemma:
I don't know what kind of hardware is needed to get 500-1000MB transfer speeds with iSCSI.Am I attaching too much value to having a Chelsio NIC?
Likewise, I am not sure how impactful multi-bit ECC support is.
Any guidance would be most welcome.