BUILD First build. Few HW qeustions.

[maglin]

Hello. I've been thinking of getting a NAS for a few years and currently my storage needs are pushing me down this route. First let me explain what I currently have and my needs for this machine.

I currently am running a Plex server running on 4x 1TB WD Green drives and 2x 4TB Segate drives. I also have Sickrage, SABNZB, UTorrent, and Couch Potato running 24x7. I also have 2 SSD's for my OS as well as my VM's of which I usually have 6 running at all times. So the VM's kept my CPU load around 80% now and when Plex needs to transcode more than 1 video it starts to stall out so I want to off load all my media and Plex server onto a NAS. I wouldn't mind putting some of the VM's on the NAS to if possible but I don't want to run the NAS in a VM so that probably isn't going to happen.

I want to use the current 2x 4TB Seagate drives in the FN box. I usually will not have more than 2x remote streams transcodeing at any one time. I've read sticky's and build threads and different DIY solutions and have 2 routes I'm thinking of and need some advise from people that have been down this road. Also my budget is under $1000 if possible.

Choice 1:
MB- ASRock C2750D4I
CASE- SilverStone DS380B
PSU- Silverstone SFX ST30SF 300W
Memory- 2x Crucial 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory Model CT102472BA160B
OS Drive- SuperMicro SATA DOM
HDD- 3x Seagate 4TB 5900 RPM Drives

This stays inside my current budget but expand-ability is limited by the MB/CPU choice to 6 drives.

Choice 2:
MB- Supermicro X10SL7-F-B
CPU- Xeon E3-1241 3.5ghz 1150
Memory- Kingston KVR16E11/8I DDR3-1600 8GB/1Gx72 ECC CL11 Intel Chip Server Memory
HDD- 3x Seagate 4TB 5900 RPM Drives (only have to buy 1 more)

Don't know what else I should get for that. I know I can get pretty good deals on SuperMicro 2-3U cases on Ebay used for very good prices. This also will get me usually both PSU's for redundancy and a backplane. I already have 12 very nice 6ft' server racks that I repurposed into fancy shelves for my garage so I can just pull one of them and roll it into my basement. It has the pretty tempered glass doors on them.

Also power usage is somewhat of a concern. I'm sure option 2 will use more power over option 1. But it also also's for a lot more expand-ability down the road. So if you are willing to guide me I'll listen. Or if you happen to know a good deal I'm listening. Or if I don't need that much CPU or even MB please inform. I don't see doing much more than that I listed. Thank you.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I think you should get the 1231v3 cpu and save some money. You could also save a little money on the sl7 by going with the board that doesn't have the built in lsi card. I forget what it's called. But if you plan on having 10+ drives then go with the sl7. Also use crucial memory not Kingston.

 

[maglin]

Thank you for the recommendations. Adjusting now. I plan to run 3 drives at first in RAIDz1. Then I plan to add more 3 drive vDev's in RAIDz1 until I have 4 vDevs. I've read about mirroring and stripping using a RAID10 config but I'm not wanting to sacrifice that much drive space for resilvering time improvements. I don't need crazy transfer speeds as I only have a 1Gb network in my house and don't plan to upgrade it in the near future. As you see I don't want to throw a bunch of money at this but it's a needed device atm. I'm pretty sure that once I have it running I'll be adding storage drives every 5-6 months. Also that is the reason I'm looking at the X10SL7 over the X10SLL as I read I can flash the onboard SAS controller to IT mode and run up to 14 drives w/o having to add any more hardware. Also I believe some of the older SAS backplanes in 3U enclosures have up to 15 drive bays on the front panel. Which I can source on Ebay for a very good price. I've read that you can run these on a SAS2 controller but possibly at the SAS1 speeds which I don't think is needed even today unless you run SSD's.

I get that for only $70 more. It's it actually cheaper or about the same price ($70) to add a HBA (I think that is what it's called) later when I need more than 6 drive's and go with the X10SLL? I'm still new to purchasing server grade components other than PSU's. And I do know that a lot of components don't play well with other components on server equipment. So I want to get only what I need now and can save up to expand latter on. I guess I'm answering my own questions.

Also w/o running LACP can you run both NIC's to enhance network throughput when multiple sources are requesting data? I haven't run across that information. I don't want to run LACP and I don't want the setup headaches associated with that. I have a 10 port 1Git hub that I'm going to be running my Wireless N router from and also have my cable modem attached to. I'm working on the K.I.S.S. philosophy on this and just want a good running machine with minimal config time. Also I know system setup to a smaller degree as I've only dealt with MS networks.

Also something I'm looking to purchase in the near future is a tape back-up. Any suggestions on something affordable with good storage capacity/tape? I know they take forever to run but as of 2005 they where still the best form of back-up's and very cost effective. I figure I'll run a total back-up on a bi-weekly basis and daily on my sensitive data.

 

[maglin]

Also use crucial memory not Kingston.

Ok did some searching here is what I found for supported memory for the X10SLL. I can't find the exact memory match.

MEM-DR380L-HL01-EU16 Hynix HMT41GU7MFR8C-PB Hynix H5TQ4G83MFR 2 RoHS Low Profile

MEM-DR380L-SL01-EU16 Samsung M391B1G73BH0-CK0 Samsung K4B4G0846B-HCK0 2 RoHS Low Profile

I found on SuperMicro some Samsung Unregistered 16GB ECC PN- M391B1G73QH0-YK0 which is very close but not on the list. It's also not to pricey at $70 a stick. I didn't see any Crucial memory on the supported list so I don't know which one to get. I want to max out the memory so 8GB modules are required and SuperMicro only has registered Crucial modules which the MB doesn't support. That is if un-registered is the same as unbuffered memory. I didn't see any Hynix modules that even come close to the same part numbers. Also I think the X10SLL is a better fit. With all the components I'm looking right around $1100 which is very very close to my desired budget.

 

[DJ9]

Check out Crucial's website for a list of compatible memory with your motherboard.
https://www.crucial.com/

 

[maglin]

I found the sticky with memory for the X10's that had the Crucial memory PN's. I was just looking at SuperMicro's list of compatible memory. I found what I need. Also did some research at work. I'm going to be buying my stuff in the next week or 2.

Case- SuperMicro 3U CSE-PT933-PD382
MB- X10SLL+-F-O
CPU- Xenon E3-1231 3.5ghz (retail as I plan to use the provided HSF)
RAM- 2x Crucial CT102472BA16B 2x8GB ECC
OS Disk- SuperMicro SSD-DM016-PHI
HDD- 3x Seagate 4TB 5900 RPM drives

What is the average resilver time for a 4TB drive in a 3 disk RAIDz1 that is at say 70% capacity? I'm reading it can be a very long time and hammer the remaining drives increasing the possibility of another disk failure during the resilvering process. So after I'm up and running I'm thinking of adding 4 more drives in a stripped mirror RAID10 array. Only lose 25% space wise which seems large at first but long term when it's expanded to 14 drives won't be that big of a deal and resilvering will be hours instead of days. Why I'm asking about the time it takes if anyone has already had to do this.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I found the sticky with memory for the X10's that had the Crucial memory PN's. I was just looking at SuperMicro's list of compatible memory. I found what I need. Also did some research at work. I'm going to be buying my stuff in the next week or 2.

Case- SuperMicro 3U CSE-PT933-PD382
MB- X10SLL+-F-O
CPU- Xenon E3-1231 3.5ghz (retail as I plan to use the provided HSF)
RAM- 2x Crucial CT102472BA16B 2x8GB ECC
OS Disk- SuperMicro SSD-DM016-PHI
HDD- 3x Seagate 4TB 5900 RPM drives

What is the average resilver time for a 4TB drive in a 3 disk RAIDz1 that is at say 70% capacity? I'm reading it can be a very long time and hammer the remaining drives increasing the possibility of another disk failure during the resilvering process. So after I'm up and running I'm thinking of adding 4 more drives in a stripped mirror RAID10 array. Only lose 25% space wise which seems large at first but long term when it's expanded to 14 drives won't be that big of a deal and resilvering will be hours instead of days. Why I'm asking about the time it takes if anyone has already had to do this.

Most people wouldn't run 4tb drives in a raid z1 configuration. The probability of having a read error during resilver is high. If that happens you lose the entire pool. I would suggest using 6 disks in raidz2 or 7 disks in raidz3.

 

[maglin]

With a SATA DOM I have 5 ports available. Maybe I should just get the SL7 and use a reverse breakout cable for the SAS and hook into the SAS2 backplane and either setup a Stripped Mirror vPool. I don't have the funds to go with a 6 disk RAIDZ2 att.

Question: I'm thinking about future storage expansion here. I searched for this and can't find it but I think I have it right in my head. So you can not remove or replace with a different schema a vdev from a vpool correct? So if I have a RAIDv1 vdev and say 2x RAID10 vdev's in a single vpool I can't remove the Raidv1 vdev to replace with a RAID10 vdev. If that is the case I assume the only way to change it is to build a new pool and migrate the data? This will effect some of my build decisions now if that is the case and from my reading I believe it is. I've only have about 20 hours worth of reading on Primers, Manuals, and forum posts.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

So you can not remove or replace with a different schema a vdev from a vpool correct?

Correct.

 

[maglin]

Here are the component list I'm looking to purchase/purchased.

Case- SuperMicro 3U CSE-PT933-PD382 (already purchased, has a 15 bay SAS2 backplane)
MB- X10SLL+-F-O
CPU- Xenon E3-1231 3.5ghz (retail as I plan to use the provided HSF?)
RAM- 1x Crucial CT102472BA16B 8GB ECC
HBA- IBM SERVERAID M1015 (purchased and will flash to IT mode)
OS Disk- 2x SuperMicro SSD-DM016-PHI
TAPE Backup - LTO3 single SAS drive for OS and sensitive information (400/800GB tapes should be plenty for me atm)

This is going to be my initial purchase. I still went with the X10SLL over the X10SL7 due to better cable managment and the ability to replace a failed HBA. I'm going to text it out with 4x 1TB WD green drives in RAIDz1 just to test out the system. I'm planning on adding more RAM in very short order. Should I purchase a different HSF for the CPU? I've read various things on this. Some people experienced high load temps (60*C+) but that isn't to hot and why I ask the question. If so what HSF should I get. I'm plan to order the HW in the next day. I plan to purchase as much as I can through SuperBizz. The RAM and DOM I have to get through either NewEgg or Amazon. Any advise on any more changes are welcome.

 

[maglin]

So I just ordered all my equipment. I haven't changed anything other than only getting one DOM and running a single 8GB stick of RAM for now. Next month I'll get the other 24GB of RAM along with the other DOM to mirror my install. I hope to have the system up and running in the coming weeks. Hope to have it operational after I do all the disk tests.

In the next few months I plan to get a UPS as well. I'm looking at APC Smart-UPS ATX 500 Power Supply SMT750RM2U as It seems to work out and is expandable. If there is another UPS I should be looking at over this one please let me know.

 

[jgreco]

The probability of having a read error during resilver is high. If that happens you lose the entire pool.

Note, you don't lose the entire pool, you end up with an unrecoverable block. That might or might not be a bad thing for the pool, but it is not guaranteed to kill the pool.