Bought some parts, what did I do wrong?

[stefanks]

Or maybe everything makes sense :) All components new.

• X11SSH-F-O
• Xeon E3-1230 V6
• 825TQ-R720LPB Chassis
• 2 x Samsung 16GB M391A2K43BB1-CRC
• Intel Optane 32GB M.2 MEMPEK1W032GAXT for boot device

Still to buy: 8xHard Drives

What am I missing? Any small components I'm just not aware of? Heatsink? Wires/connectors? Thermal Paste? Special screwdrivers?

And a few more questions:

1. What are some useful FreeNAS features that are not possible with this build, that I will be missing out on?
2. Is it possible to assign different VLANs to the two LAN Ports on my motherboard, so that different jails could choose which VLAN to use? If not, could I somehow add some hardware that would enable this, like another ethernet controller?
   
3. Thinking of a single RAID-Z2 for the 8 hard drives. Any reason not to?
4. I'm not following the rule of "RAIDZ2 should have the total number of drives equal to 2^n + 2". Will I have a serious performance hit?

Thank you!

 

[Chris Moore]

Or maybe everything makes sense

Location is meant to be a useful value. I can't give you useful guidance on what you might be able to purchase, or where to purchase it, if I don't know, at least, what country you are in.

Intel Optane

Optane is for fast, high read/write endurance, operations. I don't see why you want that for a boot drive in a NAS. It doesn't help your system perform better.

What are some useful FreeNAS features that are not possible with this build, that I will be missing out on?

It is better to start with what you want to do and ask what hardware is appropriate. Sometimes the entire build might be wrong for what you want to do, but we wouldn't know because we don't know what you want.

Is it possible to assign different VLANs to the two LAN Ports on my motherboard, so that different jails could choose which VLAN to use?

VLAN is virtual, ports are physical. It is two different things.

Thinking of a single RAID-Z2 for the 8 hard drives. Any reason not to?

No.

I'm not following the rule of "RAIDZ2 should have the total number of drives equal to 2^n + 2". Will I have a serious performance hit?

It is about how the blocks layout on the drives and what you end up with is wasted space due to padding. Last time I looked into it, 6 drives in a vdev was most efficient, but it isn't very bad to go to 8. The difference is pretty minor. I use two vdevs of 6 drives each and it works very nicely for me.

You might want to review these resources regarding hard drive purchase:

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

ZFS Drive Size and Cost Comparison Spreadsheet
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/zfs-drive-size-and-cost-comparison-spreadsheet.38092/

 

[stefanks]

Thanks! I'm currently in the US.

Just chose optane because it was a fairly cheap choice, and the only avaialable at 32GB in the form factor I need. Will I run into problems with it?

Usage will be for: a) RAW photo storage - a very important multi-TB collection b) Easily accessible media c) Unfrequently accessed data hoards

 

[Chris Moore]

Just chose optane because it was a fairly cheap choice, and the only avaialable at 32GB in the form factor I need. Will I run into problems with it?

It shouldn't create a problem. I imagine you wanted to keep all the SATA ports open for use with the hard drives. I don't like using USB for a boot drive, so using the M.2 slot for a boot device makes sense. If the Optane was the least expensive option in an M.2 format, it should work just as well as any other SSD.
I would probably have gone with something like this:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2RP70V0312
Then used a regular SATA device for my boot drive.

Usage will be for: a) RAW photo storage - a very important multi-TB collection b) Easily accessible media c) Unfrequently accessed data hoards

I wouldn't say that this build would keep you from doing it, but have you considered using Plex to stream video to a Smart TV?

 

[stefanks]

I have a Kodi-box (connected by HDMI to a receiver) that I envision connecting to the NAS by using NFS.

Trying to avoid Plex if I can.

 

[Chris Moore]

Xeon E3-1230 V6

PS. If you are buying the boxed processor, I don't recall if the included fan will fit in a 2U chassis. Not much clearance. I always go with 3U or 4U chassis so I can have a tower cooler on the CPU. Cooler and quieter that way. You may need to get one of these, but check the fit on the stock cooler first:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAE1B6807906
It is a passive heatsync that relies on the airflow from the chassis fans to keep it cool.

 

[Chris Moore]

Trying to avoid Plex if I can.

I don't understand why, but to each their own. The system you have specked has plenty of resources to do some virtualization.
You can have FreeNAS hosted virtual machines connected to a vlan, there is a lot of flexibility. Have fun with it.

 

[stefanks]

Why use non-free software if there is a free alternative?

 

[Chris Moore]

Why use non-free software if there is a free alternative?

Plex doesn't cost anything, I used it for a couple years before I bought a Plex Pass and you don't have to buy one at all.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200288566-what-is-plex-pass/
I bought a lifetime pass because I wanted to enable certain features and I have been using it long enough since I paid that one-time fee that I think of it as being free again.
I looked into Kodi before I went with Plex. I found Kodi too cumbersome.

All components new.

If you bought it all new, the thing you did was pay too much for the chassis:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SuperMicro...H-7F-2U-BareBone-Server-w-Trays-/382401448557
and it is very likely that you could have had all the function you will use for $600 (or more) lower cost.

 

[anmnz]

I'm not following the rule of "RAIDZ2 should have the total number of drives equal to 2^n + 2". Will I have a serious performance hit?

Matt Ahrens pretty thoroughly debunked this idea a while back: https://www.delphix.com/blog/delphi...or-how-i-learned-stop-worrying-and-love-raidz

Loosely: the reasoning behind the "2^n+p" rule is not valid when ZFS compression is enabled, and even where it is valid, you'd normally get much more benefit by turning on compression than by following that rule.

 

[stefanks]

Just bought 8 WD Red NAS 10TB WD100EFAX, from two different suppliers.

 

[pro lamer]

it possible to assign different VLANs to the two LAN Ports on my motherboard, so that different jails could choose which VLAN to use?

Are the physical ports going to be on the same subnet? Is your plan a kind of QoS? Like: let's assign jail1 to LAN1 and jail2 to LAN2 and thus don't let application1 jailed in jail1 eat all the throughput by the means of having the LAN2 throughput still available if application1 saturates LAN1?

I would probably have gone with something like this:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2RP70V0312

Does it work with PCI-e m.2?