AMD E-350 Thread (now in new forum?)

[headconnect]

AMD E-350 Thread

Update:
I thought I'd update the primary post for new users in order to share some of the configurations various FreeNAS users have with the E-350 chip in an organized and informative way. With any luck we can also try to update this with some benchmarks under various scenarios so that people have a better idea of what they'll achieve under various configurations. Currently waiting on table support in the forums to make things pretty, but I'll kick this off myself with my configuration:

Headconnect
Name: Erebus
FreeNAS Version: 8.0.1 BETA
Case: Fractal Design Array R2
PSU: 300W SFX 80 Plus (see case)
Motherboard: ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe
Memory: 2x4GB (8GB total) 1333MHz Kingston KVR1333D3N9K2/8G
Boot Device: Transcend JETFLASH 700 16GB (in USB2 mode)
Network Card(s): 1. Builtin Realtek 8111E, 2. Intel Gigabit CT PCIe
Expansion Card(s):
Disk(s): 5x 2TB 5900RPM Seagate ST2000DL003
Configuration: RAID-Z1, 4k blocks

Performance:
(this is to be decided and discussed seperately, we need to standardise these measurements as much as possible)

• CIFS (to/from windows)
• DD (internal)
• NFS
• AFP?

Issues:
Updated (easily and successfully from UI) from 8.0 Release to 8.0.1 Beta for UI-based 4K drive support (and deleted/recreated my pool), otherwise none at all :)
________________________________________________________________________

Bohs Hansen
Name: JCube
FreeNAS Version: 8.0.1 BETA 2
Case: Fractal Design Array R2
PSU: 300W SFX 80 Plus (see case)
Motherboard: ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe
Memory: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz 8GB (2x4GB) CL9 (CMX8GX3M2A1333C9)
Boot Device: Kingston SSDNow S100 16GB SATA
Network Card(s): Builtin Realtek 8111E
Expansion Card(s): ASROCK SATA3 Card (2p PCIe x1 Marvell 88SE9123 / 88SE9120) - INCOMPATIBLE
Disk(s): 4x 2TB 5900RPM Seagate ST2000VX002
Configuration: RAID-Z1

Performance:
(this is to be decided and discussed seperately, we need to standardise these measurements as much as possible)


Issues:
RAM incompatible with this mainboard and current bios. Bohs has received a bios from Asus which has resolved the issue with the memory - this is not publicly available, so referr to this post for more information [post]2202[/post]. <- post updated with contact information if you have the same issue!
SATA card found to be incomatiple with BSD 8.2. Check [post]2911[/post] for more info, and potential hope.
________________________________________________________________________


Original Post:
I thought I'd reply to the original AMD E-350 thread on the sourceforge phpbb, but for some reason after trying to reply I got shot into an infinite redirect loop - so I tried going back to the forums from freenas homepage, and it threw me over here. So - I though I might as well start up the thread again. For reference, the previous thread is located here:

https://sourceforge.net/apps/phpbb/freenas/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=10128

Now, for my contribution

I'm also planning on going for an E-350 based setup, main reasons to go this way is that I want a mini-ITX setup (should be self explanatory, small footprint, etc). The reason I prefer this over an Atom setup is simply that, based on the Atom configurations I've seen from motherboards available here in Norway are:
- AMD cpu is ever-so-slightly faster, but should otherwise be considered equivalent
- The motherboards themselves support more memory (8gb max vs. 4gb max in atom-based mini-itx configurations I've been able to find)
- Generally more SATA ports
- If SATA ports are equivalent, intel-based boards generally have a mix of SATA-II and SATA-III ports to fill up the sum
- The AMD board I'm looking at has 6x SATA-III ports, keeping it nice and fast for future considerations

More subjectively, I'm also choosing an E-350 configuration because I can then mirror my other purchase - same configuration, just built with an SSD to serve as an XBMC machine (i.e. 'completely' silent and fit for purpose). That way I might at least have some redundancy (no point in having an XBMC machine if the FreeNAS goes down, so in case of emergency on FreeNAS hardware for some reason, should be potentially possible to switch it over to the XBMC machine and use apple-tv2 or something to watch tv/movies until i can get it completely fixed).

In any event, I'll post my intended specs for consideration.

1. Case: Fractal Design Array 2 (mini-itx, 300w psu included)
2. Motherboard: ASUS E35M1-I Deluxe (6x SATA-III, 2x DIMM (max 8gb), Realtek 8111E (I know, I know) 10/100/1000 NIC, etc)
3. Memory: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz 8GB (2x4GB) CL9 (CMX8GX3M2A1333C9)
4. Disks:5x Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB (ST2000DL003, 5900rpm, SATA-III, 4096 Blocks)

Additionally, I'll be adding a Transcend JETFLASH 700 16GB USB3 memory stick (though running it in usb-2 mode apparantly still 'great' performance) to run FreeNAS 8 from.

When it comes to the networking, I haven't heard 'good things' about the integrated realtek's, and all posts point to getting a 'cheap intel' PCIe gig NIC. That's a problem.. while it's $30 on newegg, the same one costs $120 here in norway - so I'll be trying out a TP-LINK TG-3468 PCIe Gigabit Adapter instead (either that or D-Link which states it's actually running realtek in the back...)

Anyway, sorry about the links - just thought it would be easier for you to click your way through than for me to paste all relevant and irrelevant specs (and I might not even be looking in the right direction as to what is actually relevant and what's not).

So - the point of this post, from my side, is to try to get some feedback on this. My goal from the disks is to try to:

1. Get as much space out of it as possible, while keeping it somewhat redundant (space > redundancy as long as i can tolerate at least 1 disk failure)
2. Keep performance high (streaming 1080p video /while/ performing moves and such, possibly mounting up space for testing some databases, etc)

This is going into a purely home environment (home being occupied by myself and my wife, with occasional friends popping by), and sharing a 24p gig switch with other devices, of which 3 are permanently-on servers which will be using the NAS regularly for transfers, storage, backup, photo storage and retrieval, and 4-8 are laptops and the like which will be mostly going through the wireless router (I'll be sorely disappointed if I can't at least saturate a 54mbit connection).

So - the specs I've posted above are what I've arrived at. My biggest worry are the drives.. I'm used to running minimum 7200rpm disks, but cost/space is bringing me down to this (WD black 2TB are literally twice the price of these segates). My alternative, and I can stretch that far, is WD20EURS, but that's 50% more cost again, and I can't see any technical performance benefits, only experienced forum users stating their happiness with them (I'm a strong believer in HardDrive Voodoo, believe it or not, I still have an 80GB IBM Deathstar running happily - so I. Will. Make. These. Live). In any event, this switch is a risk i'm personally willing to take, if only to actually be utilising the SATA-III (I like pairing identical technologies even though there's not a chance in hell to be able to exploit its performance with these drives I think)

 

[BakCompat]

I agree with your considerations on hardware except for XBMC, as I do not use it myself any more. I actually gave my last xbox away quite some time ago... ;)

Your views of the mobo are correct. My current box is an Atom 510, which only has 2 sata ports and one pci port. I bought a Promise TX4 to add 4 sata ports and run 4 drives off of it. Otherwise, I would have preferred the new AMD setup, but it wasn't in existence at the time I bought the Atom board. :(

Hard drives shouldn't matter too much in spindle speed, as newer gen hard drives have higher areal densities, allowing more GB per platter. Most of the current drives are still 500GB per platter, but some are now 667GB per platter.. So some 2TB drives have transitioned from 4 platters to 3 platters internally. This higher areal density at the same spindle speed (lower in "green" drives) still yields quite a good speed.Your expected uses should not saturate the data bandwidth under most conditions. If you REALLY want to saturate the bus, I'm sure you will be able to do so! ;)

The WD Black are top quality, but you're right.. the price keeps them out of contention for most people.

My box was running 4x2TB WD20EARS drives in FreeNAS 0.7.5543. I just completed moving all data off it to other storage so I can wipe them all and rebuild them with FN8. There are several issues with these drives as they lie in firmware about their sector size. Some other advanced format drives also lie in firmware. I dunno about the Seagates specifically. Check beforehand and make sure they are ok for your desired configuration.

 

[jfr2006]

Hi:

Fantastic case! Pitty it only allows mini-itx boards and 6 drives..it at least there was one for m-atx boards and at least 8 discs. If anyone knows of something similar but for 8 discs and m-atx boards, please let us know!

 

[headconnect]

Yup, the case is indeed brilliant.. imagine four of those stacked as requirements increase :)

In any event - i'm starting to thing that this thread should actually be in the 'Hardware Discussion' forum in 'Help And Support'. I only placed it here because I clicked on 'How-to Guides' first instead of help and support on the main forum view.

I'm moderately flexible on the config until I order the box (in about ten days time I predict) - so if anyone sees any obvious flaws in the configuration I'm going for, I'd still love to hear about it :)

BackCompat: good to see someone else going for the 'simpler' solution - I'd love to see how you fare going over to FN8 :)

 

[James]

Moved with a redirect

 

[matthewowen01]

i would warn that it's horribly underpowered if you want any kind of speed. the e-350 is comparable to an atom 330.

This user is seeing very poor results for Samba and FTP.

http://forums.freenas.org/showthread.php?31-How-to-boost-network-speed

 

[headconnect]

Indeed, I've been reading that thread with some concern as well - though also with the thoughts 'if windows can handle cifs transfers without completely overloading the system, why can't freenas?!'. In any event, while comparable, it is a generation faster. I just can't get over the fact that you need a xeon class cpu to be able to serve files to the end-user quickly through protocols they recognize ;)

Anyway - I recognize the cpu as the (probable) most limiting factor for network performance, though I also intend to spend some time trying to optimise for it.

 

[matthewowen01]

I'm not 100% sure but i believe that samba is is inside the kernel for windows and outside of the kernel for freebsd, crossing that barrier takes a significant amount of time.

the e-350 performs about 15% faster than the atom 330. you don't need a server grade system to run freenas, my last box was a 45 watt amd 4450e and could handle gigabit just fine, it's about 75% faster than the atom 330.

 

[headconnect]

Hmm.. I'll consider that for the future, since this won't be a 'silent' box by any measure, should performance be too low on the E-350, it won't be a too massive investment to switch out motherboard and CPU (considering the case, i'm expecting to have some issues with heat with 5 HD's in addition to fanless MB/CPU combo). It's not my intention to criticize freebsd for having 'lower' smb performance - hell, if i manage to get it to work 'safely' it shouldn't be a problem for me to map the NAS in win7 using rsync (this is just simply uncharted waters for me), and use AFP on the macs (they'll mostly be on wireless anyway) - and that /should/ take care of some of the performance issues. Only downside is that any guests would most likely be using cifs, but hey, they're not my target audience anyway :)

For now anyway - I'll stick with the asus e35m1-i deluxe setup and keep true to this thread. A few reasons:
1. I'm curious as to how it will work, and I bet others with the same 'requirements' as myself may be interested in this kind of HW
2. I'll be using the exact same setup, just replacing all the HD's with one crucial M4 SSD, for the 'sister' box running win7 and XBMC - gives me a bit of hardware redundancy should the need arise
3. the only practical alternative to this kind of setup for me is to repurpose one of two mid-towers (I think I'll be shot if i bring another full-format case home, even if it's HTPC styled) and upgrading some ram and adding external disk controllers and running freenas (as I'm testing it out today) in virtualbox. I'd prefer to have a dedicated solution, and preferably in this format as well for potential portability (taking 8TB storage to the cabin running on solar power? always good for those stormy days :))

 

[HolyK]

1. I'm curious as to how it will work, and I bet others with the same 'requirements' as myself may be interested in this kind of HW
2. I'll be using the exact same setup, just replacing all the HD's with one crucial M4 SSD, for the 'sister' box running win7 and XBMC - gives me a bit of hardware redundancy should the need arise

Totally! I'm planning almost same setup (Zacate MB, 8GB RAM, 5x WD green 2TB, 330W PSU), but still testing FreeNAS in vmware. So when you set up yout BOX, please give us some real information how Zacate stands for NAS ;)

Thanks!

 

[tigger490]

I have basically the same setup as you:
ASUS E35M1-M Pro
8GB Memory
9 x 2gb Samsung HD204UI drives in a RaidZ2.
Four of the drives are connected to a Syba SY-PEX40008

I first setup the system with 5 drives connected to the mb sata ports in a raidz2. This performed well, I never tested raw speed using dd, but over cifs, I was able to get an average of about 70-75 Mb/sec writing and 90 or so reading. Now, with the 9 drives in the system, I get a little bit slower performance, I am assuming because of the syba card, so I average around 60Mb/sec writing and 85Mb/sec reading. I've not benchmarked anything, I'm just basically quoting numbers off what I see reported by windows, so take that for what its worth.

I have looked at my top processes when writing, and samba usually sits at around 42% or so.

 

[headconnect]

Tigger - that post just made my day :) Those are exactly the kinds of figures that I'm hoping for, and excellent to see that they're attainable over cifs in the setup i'm after :) I can't place my order until the 10th, and currently it seems some of my components will be out of stock until the 19th and 21st - but I'll probably be able to source them from other places (while checking out different sites, i also managed to find an intel pcie nic in norway for less than 60 USD - win!).

Just making sure - are you using the onboard realtek 8111e NIC or do you have something else added? To be honest, when we're talking NAS - raw speed generally doesn't matter in a 'home' environment (unless the plugin system makes adding some extremely i/o intensive operations to the system worthwile), the limitation will most generally be cifs/afp performance.

I think I might start a new thread for 'benchmarking best practices' though - seeing all of us with different (if only slightly different) configurations, it would be interesting to be able to compare apples and oranges in such a way that we can see the full spectrum in between :) Perhaps that's something to consider as a feature request for the UI as well (simple standardised benchmarks).

 

[jfr2006]

Thanks for the numbers, tigger :D You made my day too :D

 

[tigger490]

Hey headconnect and jfr.. glad I could help

Yes, I am using the onboard realtek nic

I am _extremely_ happy with the performance that I am getting, but I'm coming from using some WD mybook nas devices where I was lucky to get 8Mb/sec

 

[jfr2006]

By the way: You don't have any power measure device, so you could measure the power consume of your system?

 

[tigger490]

By the way: You don't have any power measure device, so you could measure the power consume of your system?

My UPS shows current power draw, I'll take a look at it tonight (not sure how accurate it is though). I looked at it in the past, I just don't remember for sure what it was.

 

[jfr2006]

Ok. If you see it, then it would be nice to have some value. And of course, let me also know if your voltage is 120V or 240V ;) Thanks!

 

[dougoftheabaci]

That's nearly identical to the system I was planning on building. Glad to know it will work! I can't wait until I have the money to build this bad boy.

 

[matthewowen01]

Fantastic Tigger, glad to hear the 350 is fast enough to get you decent speeds.

 

[jfr2006]

My stuff has arrived. All i need now is the memory. Anyway,, using the memory of my desktop (2 DDR3 1333 2GB sticks), and without any hard drives, this system has a power consume of 8W :D :D :D :D