John3-6teen
Dabbler
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2016
- Messages
- 10
Greetings all from a FreeNas and Server Building Newbie. I am ready to order the components for my first ever home server, but I wanted to run it past this group first for comments and a few answers. I'm not new to computers or building them, just the whole server world. Over the past few months I've been reading, and reading, and reading, and then some more reading, so much that although I now have a fairly good understanding (I think) of what I'm doing I am also beginning to question the validity of some of what I think I've learned. It's all started to run together. Sooo....
I am building this server for my home to share files, backup laptops, tablets, phones, etc. Double as a Home Theater with Plex, Emby, CouchPotato, torrent streams, etc., and our own photos and home videos so it must be able to stream to several devices at once. I would also like to install a personal cloud to access files away from home. I don't mind a little overkill and would rather buy the right stuff the first time that will last for a while and something I can grow with if I decide to do more as I learn what can be done.
Here are the components I'm looking at so far:
MOTHERBOARD: SuperMicro X11SSH-LN4F
I was thinking about the X11SSM-F board, but I can get this one for less than $20 more.
Is there that much advantage to moving up?
Is there any disadvantage to the LN4F board? I know you loose one PCI-e 3.0 x8 slot in exchange for the M.2 connector and with this board you also have the addition of two Intel i210-AT GbE controllers.
Is it better to have the M.2 connector or the additional PCI-3 slot? (thinking of using for boot)
Is the M.2 connector capable of boot?
What are the uses for the additional two GbE controllers for a total of four?
PROCESSOR: Xeon E3-1240 v5 Processor
I was first looking at the E3-1230 v5, but again I can get this one for less than $20 more.
It appears to me that the only difference is in the speed and for <$20 I don't mind the upgrade.
Are there any other difference or known issues with this processor?
I'm still a little confused about the Core i3 vs the Xeon. Is the Xeon the better choice?
MEMORY: Samsung 16GB (1x16) DDR4-2133 (M391A2K43BB1-CPB)
I was going to start with just the one stick and probably add another later. Is there any harm in this approach?
Are there any cheaper options for RAM that are known to work with this board and FreeNas?
BOOT STORAGE: Transcend MTS800 32GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
OR: Supermicro SSD-DM016-PHI 16GB SATA DOM
The DOM is about $15 more, not a big deal. I understand that USB as boot is not an option at this time.
Which is the better approach for the boot drive M.2 SSD or SATA DOM?
Is there a better option than either of these?
If M.2 is bootable, and the better choice, is this Transcend SSD a good choice?
I will re-utilize (for now) an ATX case that I have on hand with a 450W PSU.
I also have (2) WD 4TB Red HDD's. I know I will need to pick up some more drives, but I don't quit grasp all the RAID nuisances yet. Is it better to have an odd or even number of drives? Which RAID solution is best suited for my situation? Any truly critical files I plan to also backup somewhere off the server.
I would like to re-utilize some other smaller drives I have sitting around for the Home Theater to use for those movies, tv-shows, etc. I have no desire to keep around after watching them i.e. I don't need to store them for backup or anything else. Is it possible to have these drives operate outside the drive pool for my regular RAID server?
After months of reading and trying to educate myself I'm now anxious to make the purchases and start learning first hand. I plan to build the system and play with the system for awhile before I start storing the important stuff on it in earnest at which time I will reformat and start from scratch if need be.
Thanks for any help and suggestions. Please go easy on the new guy.
I am building this server for my home to share files, backup laptops, tablets, phones, etc. Double as a Home Theater with Plex, Emby, CouchPotato, torrent streams, etc., and our own photos and home videos so it must be able to stream to several devices at once. I would also like to install a personal cloud to access files away from home. I don't mind a little overkill and would rather buy the right stuff the first time that will last for a while and something I can grow with if I decide to do more as I learn what can be done.
Here are the components I'm looking at so far:
MOTHERBOARD: SuperMicro X11SSH-LN4F
I was thinking about the X11SSM-F board, but I can get this one for less than $20 more.
Is there that much advantage to moving up?
Is there any disadvantage to the LN4F board? I know you loose one PCI-e 3.0 x8 slot in exchange for the M.2 connector and with this board you also have the addition of two Intel i210-AT GbE controllers.
Is it better to have the M.2 connector or the additional PCI-3 slot? (thinking of using for boot)
Is the M.2 connector capable of boot?
What are the uses for the additional two GbE controllers for a total of four?
PROCESSOR: Xeon E3-1240 v5 Processor
I was first looking at the E3-1230 v5, but again I can get this one for less than $20 more.
It appears to me that the only difference is in the speed and for <$20 I don't mind the upgrade.
Are there any other difference or known issues with this processor?
I'm still a little confused about the Core i3 vs the Xeon. Is the Xeon the better choice?
MEMORY: Samsung 16GB (1x16) DDR4-2133 (M391A2K43BB1-CPB)
I was going to start with just the one stick and probably add another later. Is there any harm in this approach?
Are there any cheaper options for RAM that are known to work with this board and FreeNas?
BOOT STORAGE: Transcend MTS800 32GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
OR: Supermicro SSD-DM016-PHI 16GB SATA DOM
The DOM is about $15 more, not a big deal. I understand that USB as boot is not an option at this time.
Which is the better approach for the boot drive M.2 SSD or SATA DOM?
Is there a better option than either of these?
If M.2 is bootable, and the better choice, is this Transcend SSD a good choice?
I will re-utilize (for now) an ATX case that I have on hand with a 450W PSU.
I also have (2) WD 4TB Red HDD's. I know I will need to pick up some more drives, but I don't quit grasp all the RAID nuisances yet. Is it better to have an odd or even number of drives? Which RAID solution is best suited for my situation? Any truly critical files I plan to also backup somewhere off the server.
I would like to re-utilize some other smaller drives I have sitting around for the Home Theater to use for those movies, tv-shows, etc. I have no desire to keep around after watching them i.e. I don't need to store them for backup or anything else. Is it possible to have these drives operate outside the drive pool for my regular RAID server?
After months of reading and trying to educate myself I'm now anxious to make the purchases and start learning first hand. I plan to build the system and play with the system for awhile before I start storing the important stuff on it in earnest at which time I will reformat and start from scratch if need be.
Thanks for any help and suggestions. Please go easy on the new guy.