AMD based system regularly freezes after a few days

[Jussi]

I have a FreeNAS server build on Asus F2A55-M LE mother board with AMD A6-6400K APU processor and Kingston 2 x 4G DDR3 memories. Mother board is based on AMD A55 FCH chipset.

My server freezes regularly after one or more days. It seldom freezes before one day and seldom runs more than a week. No error messages, nothing visible on the console display. Memory test seems to run forever without errors.

Any possibilities to get a stable system?

 

[m0nkey_]

It's AMD and it has a Realtek NIC. This is not a very compatible system for FreeNAS.

I suggest you take a look at the hardware recommendations guide in the resources section.

 

[DrKK]

Yeah I think in general the problem here is you are using bottom-end components. The A55 is the bottom end platform for the FM2. I do think the A6-6400K is a fine CPU, one of the best you can get under $50, but you've put it in a pretty piece-of-crap board. But yes, I don't think this hardware is good enough or stable enough for a proper FreeNAS server, sir. Almost anything could be wrong here.

 

[Stux]

Could also be power supply issues. This will be very hard to track down.

 

[Jussi]

I should have read the HW requirements before setting up the system :(
Anyway, my requirements are obviously not very high. I can replace the integrated NIC with Intel PCIe card. Probably I have to buy a new motherboard with Intel chipset. But I would not like to spend too much here.

Are there any working configurations with AMD chipsets?

 

[KrisBee]

Are there any working configurations with AMD chipsets?

Used this for several months, it wouldn't be energy efficient but then it wasn't in use 24/7:

AMD Phenom ii x4 960T + Asus m5a78l-m/USB3 + 8gb Kingston KVR1333D3E9S

That m/board really does support/use ECC RAM, and the realtek NIC worked OK, was able to saturate gigabit network etc. I had the CPU and m/board already, so just had to add ECC RAM. Depending what you were doing on your FreeNAS box, you could get away with a less powerful CPU. But compared to even sandybridge Intel you'll probably still be consuming more watts. Usual equation for total cost of ownership apply .. purchase costs + running costs, etc.

The HW requirement docs are heavily biased toward intel server grade kit using ECC RAM. There are other choices, but you should understand and accept the possible risks if, for example, you decided to build a system that did not use ECC RAM and with a consumer grade m/board. Risks that may be acceptable to a homer user could/would be unacceptable in a business environment.

 

[DrKK]

The HW requirement docs are heavily biased toward intel server grade kit using ECC RAM.

That's true, and not true. It implies that the bias is not thoughtful in nature, or that our prejudice is not justified or deliberate. Our almost universal preference for Intel in this case is the typically better hardware, the typically better support for Intel platforms in FreeBSD (and hence FreeNAS), the clarity with which server platforms can be ascertained and understood, and the (vastly) lower compatibility/trouble ratio we get with users who have elected to stick with a relatively modern Intel platform.

Trust me, we'd all love to have a reason to comfortably try AMD. We're not happy that we're over a barrel, effectively, by Santa Clara.

Bottom line: It is possible to use and build an AMD server for FreeNAS. We don't usually recommend it because the trivial amount of money saved does not neutralize what we perceive to be the higher hassle, random incompatibility, higher energy use, lack of clarity ratio. :)

 

[KrisBee]

That's true, and not true. It implies that the bias is not thoughtful in nature, or that our prejudice is not justified or deliberate.

Why did you assume that I thought there was no justification for what is in the HW recommendations? No value judgement was intended.

I believe I gave an honest answer to the one of the OP's questions re: AMD kit.

My HP microserver is not listed in the "recommended hardware", should I stop using it immediately for FreeNAS?

 

[anodos]

Why did you assume that I thought there was no justification for what is in the HW recommendations? No value judgement was intended.

I believe I gave an honest answer to the one of the OP's questions re: AMD kit.

My HP microserver is not listed in the "recommended hardware", should I stop using it immediately for FreeNAS?

No. Intel is not "required". Recommended means that you can choose differently, but you should be aware of the caveats. See RFC2119. :)

 

[Jussi]

I disabled the internal Realtek NIC and installed an Intel based PCIe NIC. Looks promising. At least the performance is now limited by network (1 G). Stability will be seen.

 

[Jussi]

I have to ask this question:

Which one is more reliable: a cheap network storage unit, like Zyxel NSA-325 or a cheap consumer motherboard based FreeNAS server with Intel chipset?

 

[Stux]

I'd trust the integrity of the ZFS based system.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I have to ask this question:

Which one is more reliable: a cheap network storage unit, like Zyxel NSA-325 or a cheap consumer motherboard based Freenas server with Intel chipset?

Cheap FreeNAS build would be a Dell t20 or Lenovo ts140. And those would smoke and zyxel device.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Jussi]

Anyway, looks like a cheap FreeNAS would be better than a cheap network storage.

I understand that a business critical server has to be built on professional hardware. However, server for home use could be built with consumer HW.

Professional HW uses error correcting ECC RAM. I wondering what is the probability of a random memory error and what are the consequences of such errors in a ZFS based system.

 

[danb35]

Cheap freenas build would be a Dell t20 or Lenovo ts140. And those would smoke and zyxel device.

...and there's an HP Microserver under US$200 at tigerdirect.com with an i3-6100. No, a decent FreeNAS build doesn't have to be expensive at all.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Anyway, looks like a cheap Freenas would be better than a cheap network storage.

I understand that a business critical server has to be built on professional hardware. However, server for home use could be built with consumer HW.

Professional HW uses error correcting ECC RAM. I wondering what is the probability of a random memory error and what are the consequences of such errors in a ZFS based system.

You are going about this wrong. You want server grade hardware, which can be consumer friendly. This hardware also all supports ecc and costs about the same if not cheaper sometimes. And will be much better quality than that gaming crap.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Jussi]

Anything wrong with this one:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/HP-ProLiant-...hash=item5445cc69db:m:m_kexHR4tszNsHaKODK42YQ

 

[m0nkey_]

Anything wrong with this one:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/HP-ProLiant-...hash=item5445cc69db:m:m_kexHR4tszNsHaKODK42YQ

It's still AMD. Look at the G8 model. At least you can get an Intel Pentium, i3 or even Xeon version.

 

[danb35]

Anything wrong with this one:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/HP-ProLiant-...hash=item5445cc69db:m:m_kexHR4tszNsHaKODK42YQ

It is probably adequate, but old and slow.

 

[Jussi]

This conversation makes me think.

I respect the huge competence gathered inside the FreeNAS community. You guys really know how to make a highly reliable, safe and effective professional server. But I also see a clear opportunity for FreeNAS to fill the personal file server market with a simple solution running on old hardware. I would love to see this opportunity taken seriously. Boring it may be, though.

For me it is not enough just to say that for a server you need server-grade hardware. Or to avoid possible corruption in the file system you have to have ECC memory. I need real evidence of the real problems caused by consumer hardware and normal memory. Like how often and what kind of corruption is in real life caused by non-ECC memory. Instability is an understandable problem and probably difficult to predict. And again, would be nice to hear some facts. Like how big portion of AMD based installations have stability problems.

There must be a big need for a simple open source file server system built on old useless hardware. Pretty much everybody has pieces of hardware laying around. My short personal experience with FreeNAS strongly indicates that crap hardware is useful for file server purposes. Performance is excellent and I have seen no other problems than stability.

Enormous amount of everyday personal and business applications is running on crap hardware. I cannot see data integrity as a big problem, except when caused by hard disk failures. For me this means that the same hardware should be useful for personal file servers. Business critical applications like company ERP systems are a completely different story.

Linux based systems I have seen running on different hardware platforms have all been rock solid with absolutely no problems. What makes FreeNAS so special?