About to build my first DIY NAS. How does this look?

[Tronmech]

I'm looking at building a home NAS for PC and phone backups, and potentially to use as a "home lab" NAS that may run *A* light duty VM, using whatever the final OS decision dictates (KVM/VirtualBox/etc.) It's an ATOM, I'm not expecting barn burning performance, but I need a quiet compact unit because of where I want to put it.

Yeah, I can likely do this using an Intel-based QNAP box, but given the quality issues being reported in their current mobile apps (most of the reviews in the last month are *really* bad), I don't see the point of paying the price premium when getting my hands dirty for the first time in a while may give me something more versatile. Synology seems OK, but the mobile apps seem to have a similar review profile lately (maybe Oreo support is iffy), and their 2-4 bay NAS devices have limited RAM capacity.

Excluding disks, this is what I've come up with. I checked the various pre-built servers from SuperMicro, but I didn't like their motherboard/cpu/memory limit mix. The motherboard model is picked from the case's compatibility list, so I think I have that covered.

I could just install CentOS or Ubuntu on the thing and run with it, but I rather like the idea of using ZFS for files bit rot protection.

The motherboard's 6 SATA ports at least allow me to use a low-storage internal drive for the OS, and the USB3 onboard port gives me the possibility of booting the thing from a USB key. It's nice to have the flexibility, and putting the usb drive internal makes for fewer accidents.

https://smile.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/dl/invite/hXBtoIy

 

[Chris Moore]

It's an ATOM

I don't think you did you reading first...

FreeNAS Hardware Requirements
http://www.freenas.org/hardware-requirements/

FreeNAS® Quick Hardware Guide
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/

Hardware Recommendations Guide Rev 1e) 2017-05-06
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

Slideshow explaining VDev, zpool, ZIL and L2ARC
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/

Terminology and Abbreviations Primer
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/terminology-and-abbreviations-primer.28174/

https://smile.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/dl/invite/hXBtoIy

Can't look at this. It wants a login.

 

[Tronmech]

So, Amazon wishlists are being stupid... I had read the requirements, which is why I wound up selecting what I did. Intel's Atoms have improved, and aren't entirely SOC's now.

Motherboard:
Supermicro Mini ITX A1SRI-2558F-O Quad Core DDR3 1333 MHz Motherboard and CPU Combo
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HS4NLH...olid=1O7ZWGWGKING9&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Case:
Supermicro Superchassis CSE-721TQ-250B Mini-Tower with 250W Power Supply
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00REWHHN...olid=1O7ZWGWGKING9&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

RAM:
Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L 1600 MT/S (PC3-12800) Unbuffered SODIMM 204-Pin Memory - CT2KIT102464BF160B
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007B5S52...olid=1O7ZWGWGKING9&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

At least one, but most likely 2 of these to start with:
WD Red 4TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 GB/S 64 MB Cache 3.5-Inch - WD40EFRX
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EHBERS...olid=1O7ZWGWGKING9&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I have extra keyboards and monitors literally lying around to get the initial load done.

Just found out that I'll need to learn a different Hypervisor if I want to put a VM on it. Not a problem, I'm already at least passingly familiar with 3 and my Google-Fu is pretty strong.

Yeah the RAM isn't ECC, but it's a home rig, not an enterprise one, though the VM may be an AD Domain Controller. Not sure yet...

The case for the FreeNAS mini looks awfully familiar...

 

[Chris Moore]

I have extra keyboards and monitors literally lying around to get the initial load done.

It has IPMI, so you should never need to connect a keyboard, mouse, monitor or CD drive to the system; it can all be mapped remotely over the network interface. I have two wires in my NAS, power and LAN

 

[Tronmech]

It has IPMI, so you should never need to connect a keyboard, mouse, monitor or CD drive to the system; it can all be mapped remotely over the network interface. I have two wires in my NAS, power and LAN

Well, I don't expect to need to either. But I thought I needed a console for setup. Have to look again @ the install docs.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

 

[Chris Moore]

Well, I don't expect to need to either. But I thought I needed a console for setup.

IPMI gives you a remote console (in a window) from your computer, over the network. The last two Supermicro systems I setup, I never had to connect anything besides the network and power.

 

[CraigD]

Will the CPU get enough air over it?

Any reason for the ITX board?

Have Fun

 

[Chris Moore]

Will the CPU get enough air over it?

Probably not.

 

[garm]

FreeNAS brings the configuration database and the web interface to the table. Those are the main selling point over rolling your own *BSD or *nix server. When you find yourself in the situation of having to restor your system, you will that installing FreeNAS and loading your saved config far surpasses what ever the situation would be if you where running something else.

 

[pro lamer]

Will the CPU get enough air over it?

Probably not.

We have some threads with mini itx builds where one attaches a fan on top of a fanless heatsink. for example this https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...eon-d-1521-overheating-on-stress-tests.62130/ IIRC https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-node-304-x10sdv-tln4f-esxi-freenas-aio.57116

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[garm]

ECC RAM isn’t about “enterprise” requirements.. it’s about not loosing your stuff. If you value the data on your NAS then get ECC sticks, if you don’t why bother with a NAS at all?

 

[pro lamer]

There are folks here that happily use non-ecc but since your board supports ecc I'd buy ecc ram

EDIT: on the other hand I've seen once a post warning "if you loose your pool and use non-ecc ram you may be refused help [by the post author]" :(

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[Tronmech]

Will the CPU get enough air over it?

Any reason for the ITX board?

Have Fun

The ITX build is because I need compact and unobtrusive. The main case fan is literally just above the motherboard in this case. And since this isn't an i7, I think I'll have enough air. Yes, I'll have to monitor it, but that's a given.

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[Tronmech]

ECC RAM isn’t about “enterprise” requirements.. it’s about not loosing your stuff. If you value the data on your NAS then get ECC sticks, if you don’t why bother with a NAS at all?

When your budget choices are cheap no brand Chinese "ecc" ram or trusted brand non-ecc ram, I'll take the on-brand modules. It's a home nas, not a business grade one. When budget permits, I can move to ECC, but the objective was to come in near or below the price of a QNAP 4 bay NAS and get more flexibility.

ECC SODIMMs are rare as hen's teeth on Amazon, and EVERYTHING is for sale on Amazon. That rarity translates into a pretty hefty price premium.

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[garm]

The Kingston ValueRAM sticks for that board is no more expensive then any other 8GB ECC stick..

 

[Tronmech]

The Kingston ValueRAM sticks for that board is no more expensive then any other 8GB ECC stick..

Meaning that the ram is literally 2x the price of non ecc ram. Yes, it would be nice to have, but given that it would blow my budget to smithereens, let's not go there right now. We're talking budget NAS here, and bang for the buck is important.

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[Tronmech]

Meaning that the ram is literally 2x the price of non ecc ram. Yes, it would be nice to have, but given that it would blow my budget to smithereens, let's not go there right now. We're talking budget NAS here, and bang for the buck is important.

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Then I read Uncle Fester's guide, and the ZFS link in there that describes exactly what non ecc memory can do to a ZFS pool (can you say "shredder?"). I'd rather not scramble files on read, and have that scrambled data written back to the disk. Rather defeats the purpose of the device.

It would be safer to cheap out on drives than on the RAM. OK, I'll go ECC...

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[pro lamer]

Do you mean a scrub of death? It has recently been identified as a myth in our forums! (By one of the non-ecc ram happy users I guess/IIRC)

I can't remember who it was but I have the url http://jrs-s.net/2015/02/03/will-zfs-and-non-ecc-ram-kill-your-data/

EDIT:
Having said that - what cheap drives would you use then?

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[Ericloewe]

RAM errors are nasty regardless of filesystem. It's not inconceivable that you'll end up with worse results on ZFS, but you're far more likely to be as well off or even better off than with a traditional filesystem.

Of course, this should be a purely academic discussion, because a system with ECC RAM is not the monstrously expensive thing many people assume it to be.

 

[Ender117]

It has IPMI, so you should never need to connect a keyboard, mouse, monitor or CD drive to the system; it can all be mapped remotely over the network interface. I have two wires in my NAS, power and LAN

last time I build a supermicro box, I need to enter the BIOS locally to enable IPMI, so I think you need at least once.