SOLVED Dell PowerEdge FS12-NV7

[Renaud11232]

Hello,

I've been looking for parts to build a cheap but reliable NAS for a while now and I came accross these refurbished servers on ebay :
https://www.befr.ebay.be/itm/Dell-P...hash=item5d66538bc6:m:mUgQWRzNZqRgjI5pb2veKQw

I didn't find much online about them, so I wanted to know what other people think.

Some specifications :
CPU : 2x AMD Opteron Quad Core 2.1GHz
RAM : 32Go ECC DDR2
HDD Controller : Dell PERC6/i
NIC : 2 Gigabit NIC's

(Full specifications are on the ebay listing)

One issue i've found is the RAID controllers which does not allow to use HDD without setting up arrays.
That's why I would replace them with an IBM ServeRaid M1015 flashed to IT Mode (https://www.befr.ebay.be/itm/IBM-Se...368610?hash=item239cf83922:g:3hIAAOSw73NatnAV)

Also, is DDR2 fast enough for a FreeNAS build ?

I'd probably use 3 WD Red HDDs. I'm not quite sure about the size yet.

Thanks in advance for any answer/advice/alternative.

 

[kdragon75]

Chris will have more to say but something like a Dell R720 works great. Just toss the Perc6 and get a perc H200 and cross flash to LSI firmware. It might be a bit more expensive but will be better supported and easier to find parts for.

 

[Mirfster]

The FS12-NV7 is basically the AMD version of the FS12-TY (Intel CPU)

The FS12-TY is basically a customized version of the Dell C2100

FWIW, I would avoid the FS12-NV7 and use the FS12-TY (or C2100). I use them exclusively and even wrote a long post about them a while ago: Ode to the Dell C2100/FS12-TY

Feel free to give it a read. ;)

 

[Renaud11232]

Wow, thanks for these suggestions.
The R720 seems too overkill for me (and my bank account) :(
But the FS12-TY combined with the PERC H200 sounds like a great deal.
Thanks again.

 

[Phil_02]

I have a FS12-TY now but if I were to do it again, I would have got the Dell R510. I never had an issue with my FS12-TY/C2100 but modularity of the R510 would be handy. I have two H310's flashed to IT mode and two L5640s currently in my FS12-TY. The platform worked well though an all-in-one setup with a FreeNAS VM on ESXI, as well as the current design of FreeNAS on bare metal and bhyve running my VMs.

 

[Chris Moore]

Hello,

I've been looking for parts to build a cheap but reliable NAS for a while now and I came accross these refurbished servers on ebay

Some specifications :
CPU : 2x AMD Opteron Quad Core 2.1GHz
RAM : 32Go ECC DDR2
HDD Controller : Dell PERC6/i

Also, is DDR2 fast enough for a FreeNAS build ?

I'd probably use 3 WD Red HDDs. I'm not quite sure about the size yet.

Thanks in advance for any answer/advice/alternative.

The biggest problem with Opteron is that any Opteron processor system is going to be too old to be power efficient and anything with DDR2 memory is just going to be a power hog. They burn more power and generate more heat than newer equipment even though you might be able to do the job with it, not saying that you can't, but it's not going to be efficient at all and it won't be long before you regret having use it to begin with.
The reason is not for more capable equipment, but for more efficient equipment.

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