Build consideration

[Tomson124]

Hey everyone :)

I am completly new to FreeNAS and pretty new to NAS in general. Currently I am still deciding between a prebuilt Synology one and DIY FreeNAS.
I generally love tinkering with hardware and software, but in this case it should function as a backup server for my workstation. With also room for some shared files, so I can easily switch to the notebook for working with the files.
The main problem I have is, I have no real idea of where to start hardware-wise. I did read the "hardware recommendations" PDF but still I am kind of lost, as e.g. used servers or used server hardware is generally really rare in Germany or if found really expensive, like twice what a good prebuilt NAS would cost.
Do you have any suggestions for this use case?
I thought about spending 450-500€ max for the system (excluding drives). The capacity would be around 4 - 8TB, current plan was 3x 2TB as RaidZ1.
Currently my files are around 1TB but with the new camera and the RAW files, the usage is increasing pretty fast.

 

[Alecmascot]

I run a couple of Dell T110 II. They are available in ebay.de and the odd seller in the UK ships to DE.

 

[Tomson124]

Those look really good for the price I think, but there are 3 different controllers available in the T110 II one that supports Hardware RAID and two software raid ones. I do understand this right, that it doesn't matter for FreeNAS which one is built in, as you can set the H200 controller to IT-Mode?

 

[Alecmascot]

I have flashed h200s

 

[Stevie_1der]

The main problem I have is, I have no real idea of where to start hardware-wise. I did read the "hardware recommendations" PDF but still I am kind of lost, as e.g. used servers or used server hardware is generally really rare in Germany or if found really expensive, like twice what a good prebuilt NAS would cost.

Some weeks ago, there were large amounts of bundles consisting of Supermicro X10SLL-F, Xeon E3-1230v3 and 32GB ECC RAM for about 240€ on ebay Germany.
Some larger company must have exchanged their gear.
Now, they are all gone, but I'm sure some similar offer will come again.
And next time, I'll get one of those, too.

I thought about spending 450-500€ max for the system (excluding drives).

Add a Fractal Design Define R5 or R6, or Node 804 chassis, and a Seasonic Focus Plus Gold PSU, and that's it for up to 5 data HDDs and a boot SSD.
For more data drives, add a HBA like Dell H200 or H310, or HP H220 for around 60-80€.
Perfect match for the budget, if such offers come up again.

The capacity would be around 4 - 8TB, current plan was 3x 2TB as RaidZ1.

3x 2TB in RAIDz1 will give you 2.8TiB usable space (you shouldn't fill your pool more than about 80%).
But generally, for drives larger than 1TB, RAIDZ2 is recommended instead.
4x 6TB, 5x 4TB or 6x 3TB in RAIDz2 configuration will give you 8TiB usable space.

 

[Tomson124]

Thanks for the tips.
You mean something like this: https://www.ebay.de/itm/Server-Kit-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 or the same with 32GB RAM for 249€?

 

[Stevie_1der]

Exactly like this, only the prices have increased by 20€ to 30€ since these were available the last time...

 

[Tomson124]

So using this build and adding a Controller for some more drives, I could also do a Esxi server with FreeNAS in one VM and e.g. a CI-Server on another one. That way I could get rid off my old small home server, too and save some electricity costs.
Sounds neat. And even if I don't do Esxi, with 32GB RAM I would be good for a while regarding the NAS.