BUILD Building 1st FreeNAS - Ready to order parts ?

[Phe0nix]

I would like to be able to steam/transcode to multiple Roku 3 boxes and would like an opinion on how many Roku 3's i could steam/transcode to given my hardware selection.
I'm building this only for use with Plex. I was also wondering what is the best way to ensure my data is safe. If my data is always at risk i would spend less on multiple drives for FreeNAS and buy HDD's to backup data to prior to adding to the NAS. I can't do both i have to do one or the other.

Node 804 ( supports better airflow and accepts uATX )
Supermicro X10-SL7-F ( want room to grow in future if needed )
Intel Xeon E3 1230V3 Haswell 3.3 Ghz Quad Core LGA 1150 ( supports ECC, prefer 1231V3 but unsure if system would boot to the newer processor without BIOS update )
16GB Crucial Memory CT102472BD160B 8 GB X2 ( ECC ram not on QVL list but all i used to use and Crucial reports it as working with X10 )
Seasonic SSR 450RM 450W ATX 12V 80 Plus Gold Modular Haswell ready ( 6 Sata,20+4 pin,4+4 pin for CPU )
( 5 ) WD RED 5400 rpm SATA III ( both 3 & 4 TB WD reds 0.038 per GB ( $114 3TB and $155 4TB ) )

Node 804 - $99
X10 & CPU combo deal - $450
Ram - $122
PSU - $79
HDD's - $570
_________________
$1320


Edit was looking at Reviews on the Seasonic and many had it die soon into life. Thinking of changing to any power supply 80 plus gold 24 pin power and 8 pin cpu with 6 sata connectors.

Maybe this : Seasonic V/S Enermax

SuperMicro just emailed me back on the CPU :

Question : Will this board boot with the following processor installed without needing a bios update ?

CPU Intel E3-1231 v3 3.4GHz 8MB L3 Cache 80W Server Processor BX80646E31231V3

Response : "Yes it will support Intel E3 1231v3 processor without the need to update the BIOS version."

 

[SirMaster]

How much is that RAM costing you?

You can get RAM that is on the QVL for a good price here: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=D38GRE160S

 

[marbus90]

I hope you don't plan on z1. It's too risky with drives bigger than 1TB. Utilizing "consumer" drives like the Red, you're likely to see a Read Error during rebuild of the only redundancy drive and the data is lost. Therefore at least z2 on 6 drives.

Then there's the decision to stick to 6 SATA drives max and use a cheaper board without the LSI controller.

 

[Phe0nix]

If i flash the LSI controller to IT mode I would be fine with the X10SL7 as Z2 runs better in IT mode vs IR.

 

[marbus90]

z2 has nothing to do with controllers used. 6disk z2 runs on Intel SATA just fine.

Only options where to consider the SL7 is:
1. 8-10 2.5" drives in 1U
2. expanding trough adding another redundant 6drive z2 vdev
3. re-using it for virtualisation on ESXi with the need for a hw raid controller

 

[Phe0nix]

1. New to all this so dont know what 1U is.

2. Im fine using 6 3.5 hdd's via Z2 .

3. Know what a raid card is but ESXI I have no idea what that is or virtualization

 

[marbus90]

You should check on following mobos:
X10SLL-F
X10SLL+-F
X10SLM-F
X10SLM+-F

Sometimes there is a deal on one of the boards which would make them the cheapest. For your use case those are perfect.

 

[Phe0nix]

So here is what i've got now with no LSI controller. If i needed to expand by adding more Vdev's to my Zpool I won't be able ( unless I purchase the M1015 ) to but i can use larger drives within the existing Vdev.
I understand the X10SL7-F is ideally for more than 8 drives and i only planned on 5 ( expanded to 6 for redundancy ) but once I fill those 6 i could have added 4 more via creating a new Vdev for a total of 10.

SuperMicro X10SLL-F combo $418
Intel Xeon E-1245V3 3.4 Quad Core combo
Crucial 16GB Ecc CT2Kit102472BD160B $178
Fractal Node 804 $99
Enermax 430W 12V PSU $89
( 6 ) WD RED 5400 rpm SATA III $684

Total $1468

 

[Ericloewe]

A few additional comments:

The Seasonic G-Series are definitely the best reasonably-priced PSUs in the 300-500 Watt range. The Enermax is a CWT design. CWT is a crummy to decent OEM. I imagine this unit is close to the Corsair CS Series. The Seasonic G-Series platform has notably better outputs than either of these, (possibly a better warranty), and significantly better component selection (Japanese capacitors throughout, for instance). The only thing better are the fanless Seasonic Platinum models.

The Xeon E3-1245 v3 is a bad choice, as it has an iGPU, which will never be used. These are the Xeons you should consider.

If you plan on expanding "soon", the X10SL7-F is a better option, since it's cheaper than running out to buy an M1015 later.

 

[Phe0nix]

Thank you for your reply Ericloewe, sounds like your saying i should stick with my original hardware ( X10SL7-F & Xeon E3 1231V3 CPU ) configuration i was just about to order based on the other posts.

 

[danb35]

Only options where to consider the SL7 is:
1. 8-10 2.5" drives in 1U

What? This seems really nonsensical to me. The recommendation for or against the SL7 board has nothing to do with the form factor of your disks or your chassis. Leaving virtualization aside, the use case where the SL7 would be recommended is one in which you will be using more than six disks, or anticipate that you will in the future. If you anticipate the need for more than six SATA ports, the SL7 will be less expensive than another board plus an HBA.

Since this seems so nonsensical to me, I have to wonder if I'm just misunderstanding you. How do you see 2.5" disks (vs. presumably 3.5" disks), or a 1U chassis, as being relevant to the choice for or against the SL7?

 

[Phe0nix]

I know that going with either the SL7 or the SLL has nothig to do with the form factor as they are both MicroATX boards. The reason for the suggested change was to omit the LSI controller as he was thinking i would never expand and therefore have
no need for a LSI controller so a different board was suggested. I did state in my original post in parentheses to the right of my selected board that I wanted room to grow. I never planned on using 2.5" disks only 3.5" . I see you found the section of this thread that mentions Virtulization and 1U and i'm wondering if you also saw that i'm new here and didn't know what Virtulization or 1U was. Since you place the word "Chassis" after 1U I now know what it is and my chassis matches both boards so your correct it makes no difference in the decision to use one or the other and i never thought it did.
I feel under i'm under attack here and i've only asked questions sorry you don't agree with my decision to stick with the SL7 but i'd like to go back to my shopping cart and place my order after i find a quality power supply like Ericloewe suggested.

 

[danb35]

@Phe0nix, my post isn't directed to you, but to @marbus90. His point about 2.5" disks and 1U made (and still makes) no sense to me, which is why I asked him to clarify. The SL7 is, by all accounts, a fine board and should serve you very well, and I'm not at all questioning or disagreeing with your choice of that board.

 

[Phe0nix]

Sorry don't know how i came to think it was directed towards me other than being so tired from my 12 hour shift and in a hurry to get the parts ordered in time so they would arrive while i'm on my days off.