BUILD 1st FreeNAS Box Build - Build List Review

[tmetal]

Hello All-

I am getting ready to order components for my first FreeNAS box build. I have been reading for the last couple weeks through as many posts on here as I could. I have compiled a list below of what I am thinking of using for my first build. I intend to use the box for the follwing:

• Foremost for data security - Have lost too many internal desktop drives which resulted in lost data
• Storing of movies, photos, documents etc... ( I currently have a mish mash of external drives and internal drives totalling about 5TB of storage and I am utilizing about 2/3 of that).
• Streaming - I have Plex server installed on a desktop and have used that to stream to Roku's on TV's and I also have a dedicated HTPC on the main family TV. In reading through all the posts I am very intrigued by the Plex plug in for FreeNAS and could see wanting to be able to view movies from phones/tablets in the future. I assume this will involve transcoding on the server end so my hardware choices reflect that below (Not really sure how transcodes maybe 2-3 max at a time).
• Not sure what else but it seems I keep discovering new things. Would like to be somewhat future proof with realizing the board I selecting will only allow up to 6 HDD but I don't see needing more than that. I could always go to larger capacity drives if needed down the road.

Here is the list I have so far:
PSU: SeaSonic G Series 550-Watt ATX12V/EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply SSR-550RM

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230V3 Haswell, 3.3GHz, 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150, 80W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80646E31230V3

Case: Fractal Design Node 804

MB: Supermicro Motherboard Micro ATX DDR3 1600 LGA 1150 Motherboards X10SLL-F-O

Memory: Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3L 1600MT/s (PC3-12800) DR x8 ECC UDIMM 240-Pin Server Memory CT2KIT102472BD160B

HDD: QTY 6 - WD Red 3 TB NAS Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD30EFRX

USB Drive: SanDisk Cruzer Fit 8GB USB 2.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive- SDCZ33-008G-B35

I am thinking putting the drives in a ZF2 array would be best.

What am I missing?
What SATA cables are recommended?
Do I need to add additional fans to the case to keep the HDD cool?
Any recommendations to swap anything out on the list?

I greatly appreciate any assistance you folks can give me. Obviously not a cheap build. I currently have the the above priced out at $1485

Thanks!!!

 

[mjws00]

This build is pretty much a gold standard build. The Supermicro board will likely come with suitable sata cables (I use mine). I wouldn't bother with fans until you've fired up the box and seen actual temps. Typically we run pretty cool, so stock often works great.

Run Z2. You might want a matching usb stick or two as 9.3 supports mirrored boot devices. Or even a Sata DOM if you want to be like the cool kids.

Can't go wrong with a build like that.

 

[Ericloewe]

If you want to use the Crucial RAM, I'd recommend you get an X10SLL+-F (or X10SLM+-F or X10SLH-F or X10SL7-F), since those have Micron/Crucial on their QVL.

The X10SL7-F is particularly nice if you're already planning on expanding.

 

[tmetal]

If you want to use the Crucial RAM, I'd recommend you get an X10SLL+-F (or X10SLM+-F or X10SLH-F or X10SL7-F), since those have Micron/Crucial on their QVL.

The X10SL7-F is particularly nice if you're already planning on expanding.

Is there a more preferred memory to use? What would be the advantage to switch to one of the other X10 boards in regards to using the crucial memory? Thanks!

 

[Ericloewe]

Is there a more preferred memory to use? What would be the advantage to switch to one of the other X10 boards in regards to using the crucial memory? Thanks!

The X10 RAM sticky answers your questions. Link is in my sig.

 

[DKarnov]

If you're in the US at least, the Xeon 1231V3 is 100mhz faster than the 1230 for a whopping 3 dollars more.

The 804's stock config only has I believe one fan in the PSU/HDD half, set to exhaust, so your only air movement on that side comes from that and the PSU fan (assuming your PSU has a fan and that it runs at low load, of course.) I personally would throw an intake fan in there, but it's not a critical day one item, you can see how temps are or try moving that exhaust fan into an intake position, etc.

 

[R.G.]

The 804's stock config only has I believe one fan in the PSU/HDD half, set to exhaust, so your only air movement on that side comes from that and the PSU fan (assuming your PSU has a fan and that it runs at low load, of course.) I personally would throw an intake fan in there, but it's not a critical day one item, you can see how temps are or try moving that exhaust fan into an intake position, etc.

Good advice. That's what I did on my 804.

The stock position for mine was two of the three stock fans on the motherboard side. I left the exhaust fan on the motherboard side and set up an intake and an exhaust fan over the drives. I used seven drives, four nearest the intake fan and three at the exhaust side. The drives show a temperature rise at idle of about 4-6C over ambient. They rise another 2-3C 45 minutes into a scrub. I got max temps under 37C during a 1+ hour scrub.

Fractal apparently set up the 804 expecting gargantuan graphics adapters, maybe two or three of them, to be in the motherboard side. That's just not the case with a FreeNAS setup. I had an old Coolermaster T3 that I put on the Xeon E3. This was massive overkill, I suspect. CPU temps maxed out at about 45C in this same run.

I used one of the scripts recommended in this forum to spit me an email with all four CPU temps and the SMART temp reports from the disks every minute for ten minutes, every five minutes for a while, then every 15-20 minutes, then charted the rise in a spreadsheet to see how fast disks can change temps. The cooling in the 804 made me squint fine differences. :)