First Build Hardware Advice (Supermicro Pre-Built vs. DIY)

[Solly]

I've been a long-time lurker here on FreeNAS forums and I've wanted to build my own NAS server for much longer than that. After months of saving, surfing, and sale-saboteuring, I believe I'm ready to start work on my first build. Thanks to this forum and the insightful content on it (special thanks to cyberjock, jgreco, and joeschmuck, among many others!) I feel as though I may be finally ready to get this show on the road. If I'm completely honest, however, I've likely made a few mistakes along the way and thought it might not be a bad idea to ask the experts before I make any more.

First and foremost, I plan to use this box to store my vast media collection. I also plan to store personal data, several disk images (for friends and family, the PC wrecking ball extraordinaires), software, emulators (ROMs and saves), research, 3D models, simulation data, and many large CAD files. It will serve eight PCs, four Chromecasts, two R-Pis, and a smart television running Plex. I would also like to run jails for a range of plugins including Plex, Teamspeak, Transmission, Sickbeard (or CouchPotato), CrashPlan, and transcoding video.

The main array will consist of 10x4TB drives in RAID-Z2. From what I gather, 2³+2 drives will offer optimal performance. There will be a dedicated 3TB transmission drive, which will be copied over to the main array on a weekly basis. In addition, there will be two SSDs: one 64GB drive for ZIL and one 250GB drive for L2ARC. This will all be fed by a 1500VA UPS for added redundancy. Finally, I plan to mount this bad boy on a Lack Rack Enterprise along with a 24-port HP managed switch.


Requirements:

• Rack-mountable, 2U-4U, ideally with at least 12 hot-swappable drive bays
• Support for more than 32GB ECC RAM
• Consumes <750W of power
  
• 100+ Mbps read with quick response following extended periods of inactivity
• Quiet - It will be 20 ft away from my bed
• Able to run the plugins listed above

Current equipment:

• 3x4TB Western Digital Reds
• 3x4TB Western Digital Greens (wdidle adjusted)
• 1x4TB Seagate
• 1x3TB WD Red (dedicated Transmission drive)
• 64GB Kingston SSDNow SSD (ZIL)
• 250GB Samsung 840 Evo SSD (L2ARC)
• Cyberpower 1500VA UPS

Equipment to Purchase:

• 3x4TB drives
• Additional ECC memory (totaling 48GB)
• PCI-E 4xSATA Expansion Card

______________________________________________________________


Now I'm left with two options. One offer I've received or to just build my own from scratch:
A. Pre-Built Supermicro Server ($299.24 /w $37.90 S&H)

• X8DTN+ Motherboard /w 2U Chassis
• 2x Xeon E5520 (Quad Core @2.26 GHz)
  
• 6x4GB ECC DDR3 1333MHz (Additional 6x4GB added later)
• 2x800W Power Supplies
• 12 Hot-Swappable Drive Bays
• SIMLP-3+ IPMI Remote Access Card

B. DIY Build ($600+)

• Rosewill RSV-L4500 @$100
• Supermicro X8DTi-F @$140
  
• Dual Xeon E5507 @$40
• 12x4GB (48GB) DDR3 1333MHz ECC @$240
• Power Supply ~$100

Thoughts?

 

[diehard]

The redundant PSU's from the Supermicro are invaluable, IMO

 

[Solly]

I could not agree more. Between the two PSUs and the UPS, I look forward to sleeping easier once this thing is built.