BUILD Double Check Request: Small Home Build

[MilitantDM]

I have been wanting to build a proper file server for home use for some time and I am getting about ready to pull the trigger on it. I have done a fair bit a research on the subject, but I know I still have a lot to learn. I was wondering if the erudite members of this community could confirm if I'm on the right path.

In particular, I wanted to make sure that my CPU/motherboard pairing will be compatible with ECC memory, as I understand it is highly recommended for ZFS use. I know the motherboard will be fine for ECC, but I have been unable to find a definitive answer regarding the CPU (my google-fu has failed me).

4x Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive WD20EFRX 2TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
1xRosewill CAPSTONE-450 450W Continuous @ 50°C, Intel Haswell Ready, 80 PLUS GOLD, ATX12V v2.31 & EPS12V v2.92, SLI/CrossFire ...
1x SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCL-O LGA 1155 Intel C202 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard
1x Intel Celeron G1610 Ivy Bridge 2.6GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80637G1610
1x Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) ECC Unbuffered Server Memory Model KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G

 

[DrKK]

I love it.

Welcome to the club sir. That is a perfect small home FreeNAS.

 

[DrKK]

one thing to consider.

If you replace the X9 mobo and G1610 with an X10 mobo (say, X10SLM+-F) and a G3220, you'll spend like $20 more, and you'll have the most up-to-date socket and a slightly better CPU.

 

[MilitantDM]

one thing to consider.

If you replace the X9 mobo and G1610 with an X10 mobo (say, X10SLM+-F) and a G3220, you'll spend like $20 more, and you'll have the most up-to-date socket and a slightly better CPU.

Thanks for the pointer. I'm looking at two of the X10 mobo's on newegg, and I'm a little confused what the advantage of the X10SLM+-F is over the X10SLM-F-O. I would assume there should be an advantage, since it costs ~$40 more, but when comparing the features it seems like the latter is a better deal. Something I'm missing?

Mobo Comparison

 

[DrKK]

Yeah I didn't look too deeply into it. Is there a difference in the NICs perhaps? The cheaper one might have a Realtek + one Intel instead of two Intels, and the cheaper one might not have IPMI on it.

 

[MilitantDM]

Yeah I didn't look too deeply into it. Is there a difference in the NICs perhaps? The cheaper one might have a Realtek + one Intel instead of two Intels, and the cheaper one might not have IPMI on it.

Looks like the cheaper one has 2 Intel NICs, while the more expensive one has 1. They both have IPMI as well. Not sure about the logic behind the pricing, but I'll likely be going with the X10SLM-F-O and the G3220.

Thanks for the advise! Nice little bump in specs with a minimal effect on price point.

 

[DrKK]

That's exactly what I'd do in your shoes.

I know you will enjoy it.

I don't know what your case is, but, if you've got 4 drives, and you want a small footprint, check out the Bitfenix Phenom M. beautiful case, my hard drives are all sub 25C in temperature 24/7.

 

[MilitantDM]

I don't know what your case is, but, if you've got 4 drives, and you want a small footprint, check out the Bitfenix Phenom M. beautiful case, my hard drives are all sub 25C in temperature 24/7.

That is a beautiful case. Sadly, the case is being sacrificed on the altar of affordability. I have an old microATX case lying around that I'll be reusing. It used to house a small gaming rig and it faired alright in that capacity.

 

[DrKK]

By the way, you can call those guys in California at SuperMicro. It's not a terribly huge operation, and those guys WILL talk to you, and know their product, and tell you exactly what the differences are. They'll even have an engineer call you back.

 

[cyberjock]

I'm not a fan of the X10s yet. The USB3 is causing grief and there's no solid evidence of the outcome of the 9.2 changes on the X10s that I've read. Some people are having weird problems where they MUST do a shutdown and cold boot every time they want to reboot FreeNAS. It is likely to eventually get fixed. The question is when.

I'd recommend you get a single 8GB stick over 2x4GB sticks for future expansion. And honestly, if money isn't ultra super tight I'd probably just get 2x8GB sticks to ensure you get good performance with your pool.

 

[Dusan]

Thanks for the pointer. I'm looking at two of the X10 mobo's on newegg, and I'm a little confused what the advantage of the X10SLM+-F is over the X10SLM-F-O. I would assume there should be an advantage, since it costs ~$40 more, but when comparing the features it seems like the latter is a better deal. Something I'm missing?

The difference is in the network controllers. -F has one i217LM and one i210AT controller, +-F has two i210AT controllers.

 

[JohnK]

I just would add that for the same price I would recommend Seasoniv 360W PSU.
Also as Cyberjock mentioned, you can boot the SuperMicro with one ram module so going with 1x8 GB makes more sense.
I also had the problems with the X10 he mentioned, but since disabling the usb3 in the BIOS I have had no problems with 9.1.1. I cannot speak for 9.2.