Neophyte in Need (Hardware Recomendations)

[SockPuppet]

Greeting all,

This is my first ever attempt to build a personal home server, and in fact the first time I've ever attempted to use a non-windows operating system. So please go easy on me as this is all extremely new to me. Though you will find me willing and eager to learn. Anyway, without further preamble, what I wish to do is construct a home server for mass storage of pictures, music, movies, games, etc. I would like it to be able to run Plex and transcode without issue. It must also be able to connect to my desktop PC with a 10gb Ethernet connection. The max number of theoretical individuals who might be accessing the server to use Plex simultaneously are four. Of paramount importance is the reliability and endurance of the server. I would like it to last for at least ten years if not more. The hardware I am considering is as follows:

(8) Exos X16 14tb SATA HDDs part number ST14000NM001G (Primary storage)

(2) Intel DC P4101 SSDPEKKA128G801 M.2 2280 128GB PCIe NVMe 3.1 x4 64-Layer 3D TLC NAND Enterprise Solid State Drive (Boot device)

(1) LSI 9300-8i PCI-Express 3.0 SATA / SAS 8-Port SAS3 12Gb/s HBA - Single--Avago Technologies (Host Bus Adapter)

(2) StarTech ST10000SPEXI 10G Network Card (one for my desktop PC)

(4) 16GB ECC RAM (64gb total, Make and model will be determined by which motherboard/CPU I select, may scale up to 128 if necessary)

All of these are subject to change based on your recommendations, I am not wed to any of these components. (Though I have already purchased the 8 HDDs it would be only a minor inconvenience to return them if the alternative was more attractive) I would greatly appreciate your input as to what Motherboard and CPU I should purchase and any other thing I have overlooked. I do not think I'd benefit greatly from an L2ARC or SLOG based on my usage but I defer to your greater knowledge.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

 

[blanchet]

The StarTech ST10000SPEXI uses an Intel X550-AT chip. I am not sure that it is still supported by FreeBSD.
A Chelsio T540 or Intel X540 would be preferable for TrueNAS Core.

 

[jgreco]

Please head on over to the 10 Gig Networking Primer for a better strategy for 10G.

https://www.truenas.com/community/resources/10-gig-networking-primer.42/

It's not an area where you want to just buy some random thing and then hope for a good outcome.

 

[Snow]

I do not think I'd benefit greatly from an L2ARC or SLOG based on my usage but I defer to your greater knowledge.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Unless you know you will need it, most of the time this will just slow the system down.

(2) StarTech ST10000SPEXI 10G Network Card (one for my desktop PC)

Yeah that is a bad idea And a good way to waste a lot of money. Do not be like me or others and spend 2-3k to find out you need to spend 3k more to fix your Jacked up 10Gb network. That only gets slightly above 1Gb speeds. Like jgreco said above you really want to go with stuff that is known to work with the systems you plan to bring in to the plan. It is just not about FreeNas here.

Also one thing you may want to think about is a UPS. it is not needed but a very good idea.

 

[ThreeDee]

setup in sig has been flawless since I set it up over 6 months ago running 24/7 with as many as 8 users streaming off of my Plex jail at once (all 1080p content though).. I have a relatively cheap setup that works great.

 

[SockPuppet]

Hi all,

Thank you so much for your replies, you've given me a lot to think about. I am considering the Asus WS C246M PRO motherboard and an Intel Xeon E-2136 CPU. Since that motherboard's chipset supports 8 SATA connections would I not need a host bus adapter? I only plan to connect 8 HDDs for now, but is there some other reason why I might need/want an HBA?. Also the motherboard only has a single M.2 connector. How important is it to mirror TrueNAS 12 Core across two drives? Is it a significant benefit for reliability? For the 10GB Ethernet I will definitely get either a Chelsio or Intel network card but I need to do more research on that. Also I do currently have a CyberPower BRG1500AVRLCD uninterruptible power supply and it does have the option to connect to the server via USB. Does TrueNAS 12 Core support the automatic shutdown feature in the event of power failure on that device? Is there another device that is more recommended?

Thank you again for taking the time to read this.

 

[demon]

Why that ASUS board? It's got no IPMI, but a bunch of desktop-specific functionality that will just eat power. Why not a SuperMicro X11SCH-LN4F? The prices are similar.

 

[SockPuppet]

Why that ASUS board? It's got no IPMI, but a bunch of desktop-specific functionality that will just eat power. Why not a SuperMicro X11SCH-LN4F? The prices are similar.

Oh nice, I like that board much more, especially since it has two M.2 connectors. Thank you for telling me about it. I am curious, for that motherboard it says the M.2 connectors use a PCI-E 3.0 x4 interface. I have seen other M.2 drives that say the interface is SATA III. Does that mean they would be incompatible?

 

[jgreco]

M.2 is just a connector. It is possible that either SATA or NVMe runs over it. You have to make sure that you pick what your board supports. NVMe is a lot faster and also becoming somewhat cheaper.

 

[SockPuppet]

M.2 is just a connector. It is possible that either SATA or NVMe runs over it. You have to make sure that you pick what your board supports. NVMe is a lot faster and also becoming somewhat cheaper.

Understood, thank you.

I am considering RAM now, this RAM:

Supermicro 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 2666 (PC4-21300) Server Memory (MEM-DR416L-HL01-EU26)

16GB DDR4 2666 Server Memory Cas Latency 19 1.2V 2Rx8 ECC UDIMM Supermicro Certified

store.supermicro.com

Says it is compatible with the SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SCH-LN4F-O motherboard. I have three questions regarding this RAM, is it registered or unbuffered, does it matter whether I get registered or unbuffered RAM and finally is 64gbs of RAM enough or should I get 128gbs?

 

[ThreeDee]

says UDIMM right there, lol

is it registered or unbuffered, does it matter whether I get registered or unbuffered RAM ?

You wouldn't be able to run RDIMM's with that motherboard.

 

[SockPuppet]

says UDIMM right there, lol


You wouldn't be able to run RDIMM's with that motherboard.

D'oh! So that's what that means. Thank you, I understand now.

 

[G8One2]

Pick a supermicro board, and go to the supermicro website to see the specifications of the board you choose. There are links that show tested memory and hardware for whatever specific board you choose. No need to roll the dice on trying to pick compatible hardware.

 

[Snow]

I just got a X11SCA-F-O I Love it, Only problem is it does not support Ecc on core intels, but it does on the Xeon's. That Ups should be fine. TrueNas does support the shut down command's. I had a different use case for my x11. It is being used as a NVR Server. A HBA is really only needed when you start to go over 8+ Disk's or Use a Backplane.

 

[demon]

Only problem is it does not support Ecc on core intels

By "core intels", I assume you mean the i5/i7(/i9?) models? None of them have ever supported ECC. Intel Ark will confirm this. Some i3s do support ECC with an appropriate PCH, but other Core i-series models don't and never have.

Edit: Based on your signature apparently it's the one with the Core i7-8700K.