Build questions for modified IX Systems FreeNAS box

[cankster]

I really liked the IX Systems FreeNas box on Amazon but for Plex I wanted the ability to transcode at least 3 preferably 4 streams. Do you guys see any issue with building something like this?

Case: Ablecom CS-T80
http://www.ablecom.com/product/?fPath=13&recordId=313

Motherboard:
ASRock C236 WSI Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C236

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182985



CPU: Xeon Processor E3 1245 V5

and 16gb of ecc ram

I have not seen anyone do this build but for $750 it seemed like a perfect all in one combination of NAS/Plex/Raid etc.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Cank

 

[BigDave]

1. No support for Xeon proc on that mobo:(
2. No support for ECC RAM on that mobo:(

Sorry:)

 

[cankster]

Lmao, I didn't even check, been looking at so many motherboards, I assumed since it was Supermicro that it was. I guess this one would be a suitable replacement for my list. Glad you pointed that out.

ASRock C236 WSI Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C236
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813599009

 

[Nick2253]

Have you looked at the Dell T20 or Lenovo TS140 yet? If you need 8 drives, they won't work that well, but if you need 4 or 5 drives, they'd work very well, and you can get them under $400. Usually, I bring them up in a budget discussion, so I'm looking at the models with Pentiums, but they both have Xeon options. Check Amazon; sometimes they have great deals.

 

[cankster]

I have, thanks for your response. Best deal I have found on a Dell T20 was $360. The build I proposed would be $650, both need ram of course for FreeNas. My build gets me over 10,000 passmark vs 7,400 I think for the Dell which gives me another stream or so transcoded from Plex. E3-1226 v3 vs E3-1245 v5 Xeons. I don't need more than 4 drives but I really like the way the IX systems case looks with the 4 hot swap drives etc, so I was considering paying a penalty to feel warm and fuzzy looking at that case vs the Dell's tower, and its much smaller which would not be a bad thing either. Hard to beat those 2 you mentioned though price wise, very hard. I was curious if anybody had set up a system like this with that case and skylake xeon and how it worked.

 

[cankster]

Specifically I was curious if anybody thought there would be any issue with heat and or the 250W power supply that comes with the case, powering those components, xeon vs the atoms that most seem to use. It seems like it should be fine, but I was hoping if someone had done something like this successfully it would be good comfirmation :). I was thinking it shouldnt hit more than about 175W. Was also considering this motherboard over the AsRock.

ASUS P10S-I Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C232

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BQ8QAG2/?tag=ozlp-20

 

[Nick2253]

I would run as far away from that PSU as you can. Most PSUs that come with cases are middling to terrible quality. And 250W is far too low for even 4 drives. Your peak load from the drives alone will be around 140W (spin-up takes a lot of current and power). Your processor's TDP is 80W, so that puts you at 220W, without considering the power needed by memory and fans (again, don't underestimate the spin-up load).

The PSU sizing sticky has the calculations you can run through, and some recommendations.

Heat is difficult to comment on, unless someone has experience with the case. I would look for reviews of the case.

 

[cankster]

Interesting. I had checked these reviews that seemed to show them at 4-7 watts for 8TB's, 2-4 watts for 3 TB's, starting up I guess would be a little more, but being this will not be turned off much, I allowed 40 watts. I could always buy a different psu for the case, but it was already getting expensive and it would have been nice to use the one they provided.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/red-wd20efrx-wd30efrx-nas,3248-8.html

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Storag...sumer-Helium-Hard-Disk/Latency-Percentile-and

 

[Nick2253]

Spin-up power use for drives is much higher than use/idle power draw. I don't doubt those drives see that power draw during normal use, but spin-up can use 2-2.5A on the 12V rail, which can be 24-30W, which is a lot more than you're thinking. Super efficient spin-up will still see around 1.75A on the 12V, and you're not going to see that in SATA drives.

Even if the PSU was large enough, I still wouldn't recommend it. Like I said, case manufacturers traditionally skimp on included PSUs. Unless you find an independent evaluation of the PSU that shows it performs appropriately during load, I would assume that it's garbage for a NAS.

 

[cankster]

I sure do appreciate your input. I read the sticky you pointed me to as well. This case is the SUPERMICRO CSE-721TQ-250B that is used for IX Systems FreeNas systems sold on amazon.com. So I was hoping the power supply and the case would be vetted by IX Systems since they chose it for their builds. Is there a particular flex power supply brand you like? They dont offer the regular brands it seems for those.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...fYqKAEGPuLAnIn2eqWWTkaAtgd8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Nick2253]

Supermicro is one of the few manufacturers that I would trust with power supplies. Their products are generally very high end.

Doing some more research, I discovered the relationship between SuperMicro and Ablecom. I know that SuperMicro gets a lot of manufactured products from Ablecom, but I don't know that I'd trust something with the Ablecom brand, unless I knew for sure that it was exactly the same product that SuperMicro was putting out.