Advice on new build

[T0las]

Hi,

I am new here and would like your valuable assistance to assess my (possible) future build for my freenas server. It's going to be used for backup and photo/video/music storage mainly, maybe some Plex but 1 (or 2 max) simultaneous 1080p stream to Iphone/iPad or with no transcoding for my PC and my Samsung SUHD JS9000 TV (who should handle the decoding on their own?).

I consider starting with 4 x 4 TB in RAIDZ1 and will expand with an additional 4 x 4 TB RAIDZ1 when I will need more room. I would have liked to go with 8x 4TB RAIDZ2 but it's over my budget at the moment.
Also I have a 3U 8 HotSwap bay case that fits in my rack ready to receive this build.

MB: ASRock E3C236D4U (This is a mATX but I can go up to ATX as it fits my case if needed)
CPU: Pentium G4500 (Socket 1151) + Stock cooler
RAM: 2 x Kingston 8 Go ValueRam server 2133MHz DDR4 ECC Reg CL15 DIMM SR x8
PSU: Seasonic G-450 80Plus Gold (would the G-360 be enough ? what about the fact that there are not enough cables for power) ?)
HDD: 4x WD RED 4TB
USB: SanDisk Cruzer Blade 16Go

Including what I spent on my rack chassis, this fits exactly in my 1,500 EUR budget limit.

Let me know what you think.
Thank you.

T0las

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Bonjour et bienvenue.

4 x 4 TB in RAIDZ1

If you're making an informed decision to use RAIDZ1 with drives larger than 1TB, then go ahead. If not, consider stretching your budget to 6x 4TB in RAIDZ2.

2 x Kingston 8 Go ValueRam

Kingston RAM is not well respected in these forums, but perhaps you have trouble sourcing alternatives?

Seasonic G-450 80Plus Gold

Have you checked the power supply sizing guidelines? I think they were posted by @jgreco.

 

[T0las]

Bonjour et bienvenue.
If you're making an informed decision to use RAIDZ1 with drives larger than 1TB, then go ahead. If not, consider stretching your budget to 6x 4TB in RAIDZ2.

Thanks Robert for your response.
I am considering alternatives maybe 8 x 2TB (or 3 TB) RAIDZ2, but yes budget is already pretty stretched unfortunately.

Kingston RAM is not well respected in these forums, but perhaps you have trouble sourcing alternatives?

Could you suggest an alternative brand to the Kingston RAM ?

Have you checked the power supply sizing guidelines? I think they were posted by @jgreco.

I have but not 100% sure what my actual psu requirement would be. Most calculators I have gone through give me a recommandation of about 275W PSU but I read I might need more when drives are spining etc.
If someone could confirm G-450 is the right one for this build I'd appreciate it.
I want to keep the cost down and electricity bill as low as possible.

Thank you.

 

[viquène]

Salut,

My build is almost exactly the same, and works perfectly :

- ASRock E3C236D4U
- 2 x 16GB DDR4 ECC Kingston (KVR21E15D8/16)
- Pentium G4400
- Seasonic G-450
- 2x SanDisk Cruzer Fit 16GB (mirrored)
- 3* 6TB WD Red RaidZ1
- 3* 1.5TB old samsungs RaidZ1
- BeQuiet Pure Rock
- Fractal design Define R5
- additional front fan : BeQuiet SilentWings 2
- Eaton Protection station 800

The PSU handles all that in silence, and the Kingston memory (KVR21E15D8/16 bought on alternate.fr) is compatible with the mobo.

For now, I don't transcode, so I can't talk about the Pentium transcoding ability...

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Could you suggest an alternative brand to the Kingston RAM ?

Crucial is a well-respected brand - they are part of Micron, which is a manufacturer. You should be able to order worldwide from crucial.com.

I read I might need more when drives are spining etc.

Drive spin-up is by far the heaviest load. I haven't run the numbers, but if you're between a G-360 and a G-450, and you plan to add more drives later, the G-450 seems like the right choice.

 

[nojohnny101]

all good advice so far. if you can squeeze for 2 more drives and go with raidz2 then you should, especially if you are keeping critical data on here that don't want to lose (of course you should have a backup anyways, but i'm saying this knowing full well it seems most people don't).

here is a good read for opinions about raidz1:
Raidz1 discussion

also here is the PSU sizing thread you should read and go through:
PSU Sizing guide

good luck!

 

[Ericloewe]

RAM: 2 x Kingston 8 Go ValueRam server 2133MHz DDR4 ECC Reg CL15 DIMM SR x8

Far worse than it being Kingston, you're trying to use Registered DIMMs with an LGA115x processor. That won't work. You need UDIMMs.

 

[T0las]

Far worse than it being Kingston, you're trying to use Registered DIMMs with an LGA115x processor. That won't work. You need UDIMMs.

Indeed. I realized that before ordering and went with the UDIMM Kingston equivalents (The Crucial are not easily available where I am) since ASRock E3C236D4U doesn't support RDIMM. But I had clearly missed this at first !

Also I have decided to extend my budget with a comprise to go with 8x 3TB RAIDZ2.
I should receive my parts next week and start assembly + playing with Freenas :)

Thank you everyone for your comments.