BUILD Double check my build (before I order) please?

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Texandy

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Originally, I was going to use my previous PC (gigabyte board with AMD Phenom II cpu) for this, but the more I read, the more I decided it would be best to stick a crowbar in my wallet, bit the bullet, stop mixing metaphors, and just go with the recommended hardware.

So I read through the fantastic hardware sticky written by cyberjock and here's what I came up with:

MB: Supermicro Motherboard Micro ATX DDR3 1600 LGA 1150 Motherboards X10SLL-F-O

CPU: Intel Core I3-4160 Processor 3.60 GHz, 2-Core LGA1150 Socket, Hyper-Threading (BX80646I34160)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LV8U0VE/?tag=ozlp-20

RAM: Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3/DDR3L-1600MT/s (PC3-12800) DR x8 ECC UDIMM Server Memory

According to the ARK page, intel says that CPU supports ECC. cyberjock mentions in his hardware guide "The *only* i3s that support ECC and are reasonably priced are Haswell i3 CPUs" and that some of the I3 entries on ark about supporting/using ECC were actually in error!

On the Amazon description it indicates as being a "Haswell" However, when I look it up on the ARK site, it says nothing about Haswell but does list it as supporting/using ECC.

So, am I safe with the components I've chosen?

For the rest of it, I've already got a good power supply, several WD Red 3 tb drives, and my trusty old chieftec (depleted uranium? lead?) case that weighs about a million pounds.

I'm new here, so if I'm committing any forum sins, I apologize.

Thanks


eta: Primary purpose of this machine will be to backup old movies and plex stream to the family room TV.
 

bjurewicz21

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Some more details on the purpose of the machine would help to determine if these are the right components for your build.

You say plex streaming to tv. Will it only be one stream? Will it require transcoding or will it be streaming?
Streaming means that the client (your tv) can understand the original file, and that the file does not need to be converted in order to be played on the device. Transcoding on the otherhand is when the server will need to convert the video during playback in order to allow the device to understand and play the video file. Transcoding will take more cpu power then streaming. (according to plex transcoding a 1080p video will require a passmark of 2000)

How many hdds will you be using and in what format (radiz1, raidz2, or raidz3)?

What is considered a "good power supply" for one application may not be considered a "good power supply" for a different application, especially if you are aiming to minimize the power draw. So what type of powersupply do you actually have?

Yes the CPU is a haswell which is denoted by the first digit being a 4 meaning that it was the 4th generation and thus a haswell processor.
 

danb35

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Your components sound fine, and your CPU should be fine, including transcoding if necessary for a single stream. I don't know how many streams it would support, but a single stream, even in HD, shouldn't be a problem at all.

Do you have more than 6 drives? Do you plan to get more than 6 drives? If the answer to either of these is "yes", strongly consider an X10SL7-F instead--the integrated HBA works well with FreeNAS, and it's less expensive than getting the SL7 + an HBA.
 

Texandy

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Specifically, I'll be using the amazon fire stick plex app.

Only one stream (just the fire stick/TV) And direct stream or transcoding, depending on the specific file. I'm not super familiar with the fire stick, so I don't know what codecs/file formats it uses naturally. That's something to pay attention to tho, thanks.

I was planning on four, 4.0 terabyte WD reds in raidz2. (bought 2 awhile back, need to buy 2 more) In a single vdev within a single zpool, that should give me 8 terabytes of storage with the ability to lose 2 disks without loss of data, correct? That's probably overkill, but I might also use the NAS as a backup storage location for other more important but less bulky data (CAD files, e-books, car maintenance logs, etc)

Power supply is a corsair tx850w
 

danb35

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Corsair power supplies in general don't seem to be terribly well-regarded around here, but it should work well enough and can always be replaced later if necessary. It's easily twice the size it needs to be for your build.

Your pool configuration sounds fine. If you can manage six disks instead of four, your RAIDZ2 will be much more efficient (it'll double in capacity, using only 33% of the total for parity rather than 50%), but at that point you'll be maxing out your motherboard. And if you're storing media, you'll probably find that it grows exponentially.
 

bjurewicz21

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The amazon fire stick is much like a chromecast and can handle most video file formats. For a single stream or transcode you could save some money and go with a less powerful cpu.

The i3 4160 has a passmark just over 5000, meaning that you could easily handle 2 1080p transcode streams or many more direct streams as they require very little cpu power.

I agree with danb35 you should really consider moving up to 6drives, even if you drop it down to 3tb drives to try and negate some of the expense. Generally 3tb drives are the best bang for your buck anyways and go on sale much more often the 4tb drives (generally around once a month i get a notification that 3tb reds are on sale). You could use the 2 4tb drives you have with 4 new 3tb drives, which would cause freenas to basically use them all as 3tb drives. Then if needed you could replace the 3tb drives with 4tb drives and grow you pool once all drives become 4tb.

2x4tb + 4x3tb= 20tb total which becomes 12tb usable in raidz2 (the 4tb drives will function as 3tb drives until all drive become 4tb)
6x4tb= 24tb total which becomes 16tb usable in raidz2

In regards to power supply you won't be getting the efficiency out of that power supply as the setup should be under 200w when under load with only 4 drives. That means you are only using 23% of the available power and psu are most efficient at 50%, but then its up to you if you want to invest in the psu or not. http://powersupplycalculator.net/
The most recommended psu on here is the Seasonic 360 or 450 (many people step up to the 450 because it is modular thus allowing for better airflow by removing unused cables.)
 

Texandy

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Thanks for the advice. I've got a kill-a-watt meter wall wart I can use to determine what I'm actually using in an average day, first. If it turns out the system is only running at idle for most of the day, then a more efficient power supply will probably not be very cost-effective.

I did some quick math, and determined that at 12 cents per killowatt hour, and 60 watts of wasted electricty vs the more efficient power supply, I'd be spending 17 cents a day. At a 60 dollar price difference between what I can buy the new power supply for and what I can sell the old one for, that amounts to a little less than a year for it to pay for itself. Not counting the slightly reduced load on the house air conditioner. But that assumes the system is being used 24/7. If it's just idling most of the day, that 60 watts of wasted electricty is likely to be considerably less, I think.

Efficiency is not my only concern, tho. If someone with experience tells me the Corsairs aren't reliable for this application (Or I'd be safer going with a new power supply instead of relying on a 3 year old one), then I'll probably switch. It's not that much more of an expense considering the $400 minimum I'm spending on hard drives alone.

You're right on the hard drives.
 
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