BUILD Evolution of this build with DDR4 ?

[raid40000]

Hi,

I gathered some data from months ago on #freenas and this forum and I made a part list that made sense to me for a FreeNAS build that has to be used for virtualization (not heavy duty) and sharing folders and media.

This was the idea:

-Motherboard: X10SL7-F
-Processor: Xeon E3 1231V3 3,4Ghz
-RAM: 32GB ECC DDR3 RAM (crucial)
-Case: IPC 3U-3316L wich is rackmount
- (+ some 4TB WD RED, gold rated PSU,etc.)

But the RAM for that would be DDR3 and there is DDR4 now and presumably better processors.

What would you put instead of the Supermicro X10SL7-F that has DDR4 support ?

With the latest version of FreeNAS and with a budget of 2.5K

 

[CookiesLikeWhoa]

If you were looking to move to DDR4 then you would need to change your motherboard and your processor.

This seems to be the "go to" mother board for freenas: http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C600/X10SRL-F.cfm (X10SRL-F). You would then need to get one of the Xeon E5-16xx V3/V4 processors. I personally have that same board and a E5-1650 V3.

You, of course, will also need to change the ram you are using as well.

 

[jgreco]

If you were looking to move to DDR4 then you would need to change your motherboard and your processor.

This seems to be the "go to" mother board for freenas: http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C600/X10SRL-F.cfm (X10SRL-F). You would then need to get one of the Xeon E5-16xx V3/V4 processors. I personally have that same board and a E5-1650 V3.

You, of course, will also need to change the ram you are using as well.

That's a bump up in class from "entry level Xeon" to "large single socket E5 Xeon". The poster might not want that sort of bump.

You can also move to the X11SS* boards, which are still E3, but sport DDR4. There are several neat variations on the X11SSH*. http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/#1151

However, don't get obsessed over DDR4. Memory speeds in a NAS are not a significant factor. I'll put up a Sandy Bridge (2011-2012 era) Xeon E3 against a modern Skylake E3 any day and you won't easily tell them apart, UNLESS you max out the RAM on the Skylake.

 

[CookiesLikeWhoa]

Completely forgot about those :/ terrible too because I have a X11SSH-TF in use.

Biggest advantage I've seen with DDR4 over DDR3 is just density. But if you're not looking to do some crazy amount of RAM, then DDR3 seems like it would the cheaper alternative.

 

[jgreco]

Completely forgot about those :/ terrible too because I have a X11SSH-TF in use.

Biggest advantage I've seen with DDR4 over DDR3 is just density. But if you're not looking to do some crazy amount of RAM, then DDR3 seems like it would the cheaper alternative.

Depends. But as I've been saying for awhile now, aside from the RAM bump, there's not a lot that's super compelling about the newer stuff. Everything since Sandy has similar performance and power, so if you look at the X10SL7 and you're saying "damn I wish they had that in X11" just because you're thinking "X11 > X10", you're making a mistake. We're still running a lot of Sandy/Ivy here and the only thing that's causing me to re-evaluate that is Xeon D with the same or somewhat better power consumption, and its ability to go to 128GB (but slower cores).

 

[raid40000]

thanks for your responses @jgreco @CookiesLikeWhoa.

Re: Xeon, I do not need anything fancy, however ECC DDR4 is probably cheaper RAM now since they want to push to it and faster, plus Skylake is great in general and I will start with 32GB RAM (max on the board 64GB). After some guidance on the channel and reading stuff I believe this Supermicro could be a good board: X11SSH-CTF with any Xeon E3-1200 v5.

I am told I would have to set FreeNAS 9.10 with Skylake but the LSI on the motherboard should work and it supports modern CPU and RAM, less power consumption. I am planning on 12 bay 2U case, I totally give up on 3U as it is overkill for my needs so I will get another intertech case and I have to gather what PSU should I get together with an UPS. The board is a bit expensive I must say, but has an LSI SAS3 controller 8x ports and SATA 6G 8x ports that is supported by FreeNAS apparently.

I will take a look to those X11SS boards anyway, to see if the price is good since it supports DDR4 but as you say even my original build would totally work fine for a 12 bay setup (3TB WD red disks).

Any comments are welcome.

 

[raid40000]

Actually: just realized I may not need 10Gbe so maybe the http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C236_C232/X11SSL-CF.cfm X11SSL-CF version would do ?

Any comments about that one ?

 

[jgreco]

It should be fine. If you're looking for the onboard HBA, your other option would be http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C236_C232/X11SSH-CTF.cfm which is also a reasonable choice but adds in 10 gig copper. Because most of the "deals" out there for 10G aren't copper, that's more something that matters for a few years down the road than today, I think.

 

[raid40000]

I ordered Intel 1151 Xeon E3-1245v5 Box 3.5 GHz 8 MB Cache CPU and the Supermicro X11SSH-CTF , 32 ECC RAM (Crucial).

That should be powerful enough from that perspective, and in the future I can use 10Gibabit ethernet if needed.

 

[kurokage]

I ordered Intel 1151 Xeon E3-1245v5 Box 3.5 GHz 8 MB Cache CPU and the Supermicro X11SSH-CTF , 32 ECC RAM (Crucial).

That should be powerful enough from that perspective, and in the future I can use 10Gibabit ethernet if needed.

i have freenas with X10SL7-F base build and
want to make new one with X11SSH-CTF as base for 10gbe copper and vm test.
ordered everything except memory
can i ask crucial series number, product, or link ?
anybody running freenas 9.10 stable on this board?

 

[raid40000]

I got 64GB RAM for the board here: http://eu.crucial.com/eur/en/ct2k16g4wfd8213 Crucial ECC RAM from their website, they send using unregistered mail which is annoying but no problem other than delays.

CT2K16G4WFD8213

Unrelated: but maximum care when updating BIOS, their tools are broken at least for the update I used which is 1.0a, also the recovery totally corrupted it.

i have freenas with X10SL7-F base build and
want to make new one with X11SSH-CTF as base for 10gbe copper and vm test.
ordered everything except memory
can i ask crucial series number, product, or link ?
anybody running freenas 9.10 stable on this board?

 

[Mr_N]

whats the goto mobo/cpu to move upto 64+GB RAM? (Similar power to my current setup in sig)

 

[Stux]

64GB or more than 64GB?

64GB, pick a SuperMicro X11 board and a skylake CPU

More than 64GB, Xeon D platform or an E5 platform x10 series with an E5-16xx CPU.

 

[Mr_N]

Given I'm at 32GB now if i was going to upgrade it would have to be to a mobo that was going to take more then 64GB so I wouldn't need to update again until something wears out :)

So something like: X10SRA-F ?

 

[kurokage]

I got 64GB RAM for the board here: http://eu.crucial.com/eur/en/ct2k16g4wfd8213 Crucial ECC RAM from their website, they send using unregistered mail which is annoying but no problem other than delays.

CT2K16G4WFD8213

Unrelated: but maximum care when updating BIOS, their tools are broken at least for the update I used which is 1.0a, also the recovery totally corrupted it.

thank you for reply
btw i check all suported X11SSH-CTF memory using compatible tool on crucial web and found CT7982803, http://eu.crucial.com/eur/en/x11ssh-ctf/CT7982803#productDetails
that the same memory?
i found VLP type too. Very Low Profile?
can i use this so that memory is not collide with the cpu cooler ( some big cpu cooler like noctua, be quite, etc)??

 

[raid40000]

@kurokage unsure about the Very Low Profile, the one I got and linked fits fine and has no problem with the regular Intel fan, and probably some bigger ones. Noctua,etc. I would say no problem.

The size is like your traditional PC RAM, Kingston or whatever... I doubt you need to worry about the profile. Also the board needs the exact PINs,etc. Do not buy memory for laptops.

 

[Stux]

Given I'm at 32GB now if i was going to upgrade it would have to be to a mobo that was going to take more then 64GB so I wouldn't need to update again until something wears out :)

So something like: X10SRA-F ?

Yes. Be sure to double check the specs are suitable. But you can get a nice high clock speed e5-16XX Xeon for the 2011-3 sockets

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/#2011

 

[Mr_N]

so many cpu versions its getting confusing lol
might have to wait until the E5-16xx v4 comes down a bit in price/ is more available :)

 

[Stux]

I got my 1650v4 from superbiiz

E5-16XX CPUs don't support LR-DIMMS, v4 e5s support DDR4 2400

 

[kurokage]

@kurokage unsure about the Very Low Profile, the one I got and linked fits fine and has no problem with the regular Intel fan, and probably some bigger ones. Noctua,etc. I would say no problem.

The size is like your traditional PC RAM, Kingston or whatever... I doubt you need to worry about the profile. Also the board needs the exact PINs,etc. Do not buy memory for laptops.

lol...you right. thank you. can wait to test 10gbe speed:)