Are my parts good?

[YamiFrankc]

Hello, I am thinking of doing a FreeNAS build to replace my current NAS setup (a Linux machine with one 3TB drive in a Samba share). My uses are going to be storage of my media and documents, Plex, and Transmission (or other torrent client). I'm not sure if this part matters much but I will be editing 4K videos stored in the NAS from my computer, this works good with my current setup so I guess it will be good with FreeNAS too.

• CPU: Xeon E3 1231 v3 -- I already have this CPU, so this part won't change.
• Motherboard: Supermicro X10SLL-F https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/xeon/c220/x10sll-f.cfm
• RAM: 2x8GB from the QVL
  
• Case 1: SilverStone CS380 http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=709&area=en
• Case 2: Fractal Node 304 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811352027
• Boot device: Recommended USB stick from hardware guide
• PSU: 750W 80+ Bronze Corsair CX series

Storage I'm not entirely sure what is best for me yet, I will be moving the 2.5TB of data in my current NAS to this new build. That motherboard has 6 SATA ports, so I was thinking of getting either 6 2TB (WD Red or Seagate Ironwolf) and run them in RAIDZ2, or getting 3 2TB for a RAIDZ1 vdev and 2 3TB ones to add a 3 3TB RAIDZ1 vdev when I finish transferring data from my current 3tb drive (not NAS grade). Or going all out and buy 6 3TB for a RAIDZ2, my guess is that you are going to recommend this last option :p.

For the case, I like the Silverstone because it has 8 hot swappable drive bays, but I'm not sure if they are going to work with FreeNAS, and I only have 6 SATA ports in the motherboard. Other than that the Fractal Node 304 seems adequate for me.

I would like to have more storage space in the future, is buying a disk shelf and a IBM M1015 the best option there? All shelves seem really expensive by themselves, I wonder if there are better cost effective ways of adding storage when you run out of SATA ports other than replacing your drives with bigger ones.

Thanks

 

[wblock]

I'd recommend a better power supply, a gold rated Seasonic. If enough SATA ports are available, an SSD is a better choice for a boot device than a USB stick.

Hot swappable bays might not be worth the hassle. It should not be necessary to swap drives that often.

The IBM M1015, the Dell H200, and the Dell H310 are all based on the same chip and very similar. Flashed with IT firmware, they are effectively the same thing. I have H200 and H310 cards, and prefer the H310 because mine runs noticeably cooler than the H200.

 

[Chris Moore]

Boot device: Recommended USB stick from hardware guide

There have been some failures of USB sticks because some of them just are not well made. I had two fail on me in a single year. For this reason I am now using a pair of the smallest capacity laptop style HDD I could buy new in a mirrored pair. At the time I setup my current build, that was 40GB drives, and you don't need big or especially fast drives, but I suggest staying away from the USB stick for a boot device. Some people are even using a single SSD as a boot device because the modern ones are so very reliable. It can be a small one, because it is only used for the OS and nothing else. Just a suggestion.
If you do decide to go the USB stick route, definitely use a pair. The initial installer will allow you to select both and it will create the mirror during the install process.

That motherboard has 6 SATA ports

Don't limit your thinking to the SATA ports on the motherboard. It is easy to add another controller.
As for the drives, you might want to take a look at this resource:

Disk Price/Performance Analysis Buying Information 7-Feb-2017
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...e-performance-analysis-buying-information.62/

I would go with the six drive RAID-z2 and I like the Seagate 4TB drives.

 

[tvsjr]

And forget RAID-Z1 for drives of 1TB or larger.

 

[YamiFrankc]

Thanks for your replies guys, I decided to go with the Fractal Design Define R5, it has 2 2.5 bays for SSD, 8 3.5 HDD bays, and two 5.25 bays that I can later use to add more 3.5 spaces. I also decided to go with a SSD for boot device, currently seems like it is going to be a 60gb one for $30, but if I find a cheaper one I am going to get it.
I should be able to get 8 more drives with this SAS9211-8i(https://www.amazon.com/SAS9211-8I-8...0&sr=1-1&keywords=LSI+SAS+9211-8i&tag=ozlp-20) card and a couple of SAS breakout cables, right?

 

[Chris Moore]

You might want to consider the following hardware

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?posts/439901

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[AVTechMan]

There have been some failures of USB sticks because some of them just are not well made. I had two fail on me in a single year. For this reason I am now using a pair of the smallest capacity laptop style HDD I could buy new in a mirrored pair. At the time I setup my current build, that was 40GB drives, and you don't need big or especially fast drives, but I suggest staying away from the USB stick for a boot device. Some people are even using a single SSD as a boot device because the modern ones are so very reliable. It can be a small one, because it is only used for the OS and nothing else. Just a suggestion.
If you do decide to go the USB stick route, definitely use a pair. The initial installer will allow you to select both and it will create the mirror during the install process.

This was another question I was going to bring up.....I have had USB stick failures too, including one that just died and won't even work anymore. Don't get why they can't make these sticks reliable. I have a small 60GB SSD that's not in use on any system....perhaps I can use this for the FreeNAS install? If I can scrounge up another SSD of the same size somewhere I could mirror those too.

 

[Chris Moore]

I have a small 60GB SSD that's not in use on any system....perhaps I can use this for the FreeNAS install?

Absolutely. It would be even better if you have a mirror, but it is less important with a SSD because even the old ones are more reliable than the USB sticks.
If you decide to add a second one, it doesn't need to be exactly the same as long as it is larger. That is true for any disk replacement. Matching is great, but you can use a larger disk in a pinch.