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[Eli Johnson]

I am going to build a new FreeNAS server using the ASRock C236 WSI mobo. The Xeon E3-1220 V5 is what I have been looking at and it fits all the criteria below except for the 80W TDP. I am wondering if there is another cpu out there that:

1) Is adequate to run FreeNAS, ZFS storage only no transcoding etc... (2-8 cores, how many and what frequency is really necessary?)
2) Is low power consumption (less than 35W TDP or so)
3) Supports 7+ SATA 3 6GB/s ports (5-3.5" and 2 caching SSD's)
4) Supports PCIe 3.0 x8 or better (to be used for 10GBe to turn this system in to a DAS rather than NAS)
5) Supports at least 32GB ECC memory
6) Doesn't break the bank (the Xeon E3 costs about $220 right now which is, eh...its is acceptable to me but less would of course be better)

Edit: The motherboard needs to remain Mini-ITX

Thanks!

 

[snaptec]

https://www.supermicro.com.tw/products/motherboard/Xeon/D/X10SDV-4C-7TP4F.cfm
1) should have enough power
2) exactly 35w
3) yes with onboard Controller
4) 10gbe onboard
5) 128...
6) that depends, what do you pay for cpu / mobo / 10gbe Card vs. This mobo.


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[Eli Johnson]

Sorry, I added Mini-ITX...thought that was implied since that is what the board is and I was only looking for the processor.

 

[danb35]

As @al451 said, why the limit on TDP? If it's just that you want a low-power system, OK, but the chip's TDP will not be the power used most of the time. I'll also note that at 32 GB of RAM, your system won't really benefit from even a single L2ARC (cache) SSD, much less two of them.

As noted, nothing in your state use case really calls for a Xeon, or even an i3. A Pentium G-series would likely be plenty, and considerably cheaper too.

 

[nojohnny101]

I have been using the G3258 for my use case scenario which sounds pretty similar to yours. I have 3 to 4 active Plex users along with 5 to 6 shares remote and local.

The G3258 has easily been able to handle all of this.

 

[Curufinwe_wins]

If you are not trans-coding just get a atom c2550 system...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GG94YDS/?tag=ozlp-20

Use it myself, absolutely phenomenal little board. You probably never need a HBA card with 12 sata ports, extremely low power consumption, supports 64GB ECC DDR3.

It's only weakness is transcoding power.

Also 10gbe cards use pcie 2.0 x8. Even though I wish they came out with a 3.0x4 link instead.

 

[nojohnny101]

I have the ASRock c2550 and it is a very capable board/CPU. iXsystems puts the c2750 variant in the FreeNAS mini. It now runs a backup FreeNAS box that I replicate to from my main box.

When it was my main box, I had 4-6 datasets and shares (mix of local and remote) and it could handle 2 plex transcodes and the CPU was only about 40% utilization.

 

[Evertb1]

I have been running a system with an Intel Core i3-4130T, 2.9GHz, 3MB, S1150 for 3 years now. First on a Windows 2012 server (in a non ECC system). It was running a Serviio media server and transcoding a fair bit for a HTPC and several other clients. The processor was doing a very good job with it and the streaming went always smooth. Since about 3 months I am running the same processor on a Supermicro motherboard for a Freenas box (with ECC memory of course)and it is still doing great. I have Plex running and the streaming is OK (Servvio on the Windows box had more capabilities but you can't have everything). The moral is of course that you don't have to break the bank to have an adequate CPU for your use case. By the way: I got it for a steal but there is really no need to buy the T version of a processor. You won't have any real power saving and you will pay for it with some (not much) performance loss.

 

[Eli Johnson]

Well, i have thought about it and I am still going to go with the ASRock C236 WSI mobo because its newer tech, has PCIe 3.0 and offers me a wider range of processors (not embedded) to choose from. For now I will go with the Pentium G series cpu since it appears that it will be all i need. As for the RAM I will only go with 16GB of ECC memory rather than the originally planned 32GB. This setup leaves me a lot of room for upgrades should they become necessary later for transcoding or whatever. Now all i need to do is figure out how to properly configure a couple 10GBe SFP+ cards in FreeNAS/Windows 10 and I will be in business for a DAS setup. Thanks for all your help.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Well, i have thought about it and I am still going to go with the ASRock C236 WSI mobo because its newer tech, has PCIe 3.0 and offers me a wider range of processors (not embedded) to choose from. For now I will go with the Pentium G series cpu since it appears that it will be all i need. As for the RAM I will only go with 16GB of ECC memory rather than the originally planned 32GB. This setup leaves me a lot of room for upgrades should they become necessary later for transcoding or whatever. Now all i need to do is figure out how to properly configure a couple 10GBe SFP+ cards in FreeNAS/Windows 10 and I will be in business for a DAS setup. Thanks for all your help.

Your choice in motherboard doesn't make any sense. "Newer tech", what are you talking about? Everything is newer if you buy current stuff. the X11 boards or any other server board that supports syklake are all 'newer tech'. They all support PCI 3.0 and some even have m.2 support. You are dead set on this workstation board for no actually reason other than 'you like it'. Making purchases on emotion is usually a bad thing.

 

[Eli Johnson]

Your choice in motherboard doesn't make any sense. "Newer tech", what are you talking about? Everything is newer if you buy current stuff. the X11 boards or any other server board that supports syklake are all 'newer tech'. They all support PCI 3.0 and some even have m.2 support. You are dead set on this workstation board for no actually reason other than 'you like it'. Making purchases on emotion is usually a bad thing.

Instead of steering things a different way to a non-workstation board as you say, you just made some assumptions without knowing all the facts and made some statements that really aren't correct. If you would like to point me in a different direction that still meets my requirements (Mini-ITX, 32GB ECC RAM, PCIe 3.0 & 7+ SATA) then please do and I will decide if its what I am looking for...till then, DON'T! And I do mean, DON"T!

 

[Mirfster]

till then, DON'T! And I do mean, DON"T!

Eh? What does this even mean? Ever heard that saying regarding honey and vinegar?

 

[Eli Johnson]

Seriously, do not hijack a thread for no reason other than to post...if you have nothing helpful to add at this time just as the other guy didn't, then just don't post.

 

[Mirfster]

Well, i have thought about it and I am still going to go with the ASRock C236 WSI mobo because its newer tech, has PCIe 3.0 and offers me a wider range of processors (not embedded) to choose from. For now I will go with the Pentium G series cpu since it appears that it will be all i need. As for the RAM I will only go with 16GB of ECC memory rather than the originally planned 32GB. This setup leaves me a lot of room for upgrades should they become necessary later for transcoding or whatever. Now all i need to do is figure out how to properly configure a couple 10GBe SFP+ cards in FreeNAS/Windows 10 and I will be in business for a DAS setup. Thanks for all your help.

Seems to me that you have already made your decision, so why would anyone care to bother?

 

[Eli Johnson]

Nevermind....not worth the effort anymore...thanks to actually helped...adios!

 

[maglin]

You don't need PCIe 3.o to use a 10GbE card. They have been in use for a decade I believe now. Also putting "caching" SSD's on this system will slow it down. You don't have the memory to support or warrant it. Not sure why mini-ITX is a must as you never explained why. Which we don't have to know but it's strange and not the norm.

I don't believe it was mentioned but workstation boards come with extra parts and features that do nothing for FreeNAS and only use more power. They also don't have any form of headless management, so a monitor and keyboard are still needed from time to time.

You never mentioned the PSU you where going to use, or I missed it. Throwing out the 2 SSD's and assuming you are going to use USB boot device, and you then use 7 HDDs you will need a 450 watt PSU at a minimum and the go to is a G550 I believe in most systems. It's rock solid with excellent QC.

I think your attitude is uncalled for. You asked questions. Received answers most with explanations why. Then you said :

Well, i have thought about it and I am still going to go with the ASRock C236 WSI mobo because its newer tech

Makes me wonder why you asked in the first place. There are at least 3 new "My new Build" threads a week here. You could have just read those.

And about the DAS thing. It's still a NAS. For a cheap DAS you use a SAS2/3 controller in your PC and just run it external to a JBOD enclosure housing a bunch of drives. Easily done in windows. probably just use RAID10 for performance/cost/redundancy in that order. Good luck with your build.