BUILD First Build -- Please Critique

[captivus]

Hello all,

I've planned a build for a small business NAS. I'd like to configure mirrored VDevs for redundancy, and deploy a 2 TB NAS running FreeNAS on the following hardware:

Case -- CoolerMaster Elite 130
PSU -- Corsair CX 430 Watt
Hard Drives (4) -- WD Blue 1 TB 7200 SATA
Motherboard -- ASRock AM1H-ITX
CPU -- AMD Sempron 3850 APU 1.3Ghz Quad Core
RAM -- Crucial 8GB PC-12800 ECC RAM
Flash Storage -- USB 2.0 4GB flash drive (for OS partition)

Also, I'd welcome criticism as to the lack of a ZIL in the above config.



Thank you,

captivus

 

[AlainD]

Hi

Running OpenZFS (and thus FreeNAS) without ECC-ram is asking for a complete dataloss. OpenZFS is designed for serious server grade systems and has no protection against memory errors itself.

 

[captivus]

AlainD,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I've reconfigured the above build to include 8GB of ECC RAM. It was foolhardy to propose a build without it. Thanks for the advice!

 

[AlainD]

Hi

You're MB doesn't support ECC ram according to it specs.

Like I already wrote :
OpenZFS is designed for serious server grade systems and has no protection against memory errors itself. OpenZFS without complete ECC protection is asking for problems.

 

[Ericloewe]

You'd be better off with WD Greens or Reds. Blues run hotter and don't really add anything useful.

I'd also recommend a better PSU, like a Seasonic G-360.

 

[Knowltey]

AlainD,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I've reconfigured the above build to include 8GB of ECC RAM. It was foolhardy to propose a build without it. Thanks for the advice!

You can't simply just put ECC RAM into anything. You need to verify that both your processor and motherboard are able to support ECC RAM as well.

 

[rustyfork]

I'm relatively new to this scene, but I'll try to give you some feedback from what I've learned over the past few days.

1. The Sempron line of AM1 processors do not seem to list ECC support. I believe it is the Athlons (5350/5150) which include it explicitly.

2. The motherboard you selected does not list support for ECC memory (http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AM1H-ITX/?cat=Specifications).

3. ECC is finicky business, and many people on these forums have cited AMD's lack of documentation regarding ECC. Therefore, it may be wiser to go with an Intel solution to be on the safe side.

Considering your ITX chassis in mind, a possible alternative to your CPU/Mobo might be this SoC board from ASRock:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157417
Coupled with this RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239702

Other options include pairing a Haswell Celeron or Pentium with boards that take standard DIMMs, such as this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157466

There are others from ASRock as well as Supermicro that come in ITX form factors.