Dell R710 Questions about what I need.

[pwnerman]

Hello,

I am not an expert and I have come here for help. I was on here a few months ago inquiring about if buying a Dell R710 on the cheap from eBay would work with FreeNas. I was looking to built a NAS to store all my data with a bunch of drives I could access all the time without having my main rig PC on all the time. I held off but now my storage in my PC is running out and I need a better option.

It would seem to fit everything I need. The PC power is there unlike an even more expensive option from QNAP or other companies and the price is low because of all the old stock. They use Zeon processors and you can get tons of ECC ram on the cheap which FreeNas apparently loves lots of. I mean what isn't there to like besides the size, energy usage and noise but that last one is apparently that of an actual PC which doesn't bother me. I actually sleep with mine right next to me all the time and the others don't bother me either.

So this is what I'm here to ask you the experts.

I want to buy this R710 right here at this link. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerE...49609600?hash=item2a6eec5980&autorefresh=true

I was made aware on my other question that I would need a H200 RAID controller flashed into IT mode. I plan on using 3-4 TB HDD's. Is this my best option for FreeNAS?

I also know I will need some other small parts like some HDD caddies and I plan on getting some more RAM but is there anything else you guys see that I'm missing that I would need to have a nice FreeNas system?

I also want to know what is the best way of installed FreeNas. Should I use one drive for an SSD or is a USB stick sufficient? I have never done this type of computer work before so info about this would be helpful.

Final question. Is this idea of mine a good one for a NAS? I know it's most likely overpowered and so on but for the money I don't see anything else which would compare power and RAM wise so if there is let me know.

I welcome all suggestions and answers.

 

[Ulises]

Hi there,

I have 2 R710's and they are the best i have put together for freenas, well mine are running ESXi, but that is a totally different story if you dont know how or what you need for it to work.

Anyways, just get yourself an h200 or m1015 to connect to the hdd backplane and you are set, than pretty much install freenas on the internal usb port.

 

[Ulises]

By the way, the r710 you are looking at, has a perc 6i which means you will have to also get new cables to interconnect the m1015 to hdd backplane, if it had an h700 (which it doesnt) you wouldnt need to get new cables.

Just a bit of info, the r710 hdd backplane is split in 2 sections, drives 0 to 3 use one cable and drives 4 and 5 use the second cable.

 

[pwnerman]

By the way, the r710 you are looking at, has a perc 6i which means you will have to also get new cables to interconnect the m1015 to hdd backplane, if it had an h700 (which it doesnt) you wouldnt need to get new cables.

Just a bit of info, the r710 hdd backplane is split in 2 sections, drives 0 to 3 use one cable and drives 4 and 5 use the second cable.

yes I know the perc 6i doesn't work with FreeNas. I mentioned the H200 because I know it can be flashed into IT Mode. Does the H700 work with FreeNas as well? Also when you mentioned the splitting on the backplane where is drive 6? there are 6 drive bays

 

[Ulises]

perc6 and h700 are raid cards , no good for Freenas, I only mentioned the perc6 to let you know you will need new cables to interconnect an h200/m1015 to the hdd backplane.

Drive count goes from 0 to 5, not 1 to 6.

 

[pwnerman]

perc6 and h700 are raid cards , no good for Freenas, I only mentioned the perc6 to let you know you will need new cables to interconnect an h200/m1015 to the hdd backplane.

Drive count goes from 0 to 5, not 1 to 6.

see you are helping me learn more and more already. Thanks. I think I'm going to go ahead and buy it thanks