First FreeNAS build to replace old Synology 212+

[Scotty O]

Hi all,
I am looking to building my first FreeNAS system to upgrade an old Synology 212+ 2 bay unit. Below is my list of equipment that I am considering for the build and I will be looking for some feedback.The primary function of the NAS will be:

1. File Server for home and 4 users. I will not be using any RAID in the system. HDD will be used to back up one another with a monthly swap out off site storage.
   
2. Plex media server
3. DVR using something like HD Homerun
4. Blueray/DVD ripper to digitize my movie library (About 500+ discs)

Current Prices: 12-Feb-2018

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240 Processors BX80677E31240V6 $270
RAM: 2 x Kingston ValueRAM 8GB 2133MHz DDR4 ECC CL15 DIMM 2Rx8 (KVR21E15D8/8) 2x$110
Motherboard: Supermicro Motherboard Micro ATX DDR4 LGA 1151 X11SSH-F-O $235
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 Titanium Gaming Case Cases FDCADEFR5TI $109
Power Supply: EVGA Supernova 220-G2-0550-Y1 Fully Modular Power Supply $92
Power Supply: Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-650FX 80+ Gold Full Modular $90
Boot drive: Flash Drive Glide 3.0 $26
Hard Drives: 4x4TB HGST Deskstar 7200rpm 128MB Cache SATA III 3.5" Internal NAS Drive Kit 4x$139
Blue Ray Drive: LG WH16NS40 Super Multi Blue Internal SATA 16x Blu-ray Disc Rewriter $59

TOTAL Cost: $1,567 Update $1,565

 

[wblock]

First, no RAID? Do you mean a stripe of four 4TB drives? That will be really fragile. Or just no RAID card?

Second, I have that very power supply. I am not particularly happy with it. While it works, I found multiple bad SATA power connectors on multiple modular cables. That makes for maddening troubleshooting. When putting the supply back in the case after removing it to get the serial number for a warranty claim for the cables, I discovered the poorly-threaded black screws had both damaged the threaded mounting holes and themselves. After a long wait on hold for EVGA tech support, it hung up on me when it got to be my turn. Today, I received an email reply saying that it was not made by them, because their serial numbers were sixteen digits and I had only found 12. (It was the wrong one, they are hard to read on the side against the case while still installed).

I don't know how that compares to Seasonic's warranty service, I've never had to put in a warranty claim for a Seasonic power supply. Guess what will be replacing this supply.

 

[Scotty O]

First, no RAID? Do you mean a stripe of four 4TB drives? That will be really fragile. Or just no RAID card?

I am not not familiar with the term "stripe". My current strategy on my 2 bay is having 2TB of main data which does a back up to the other drive. I swap this out every month with a 3rd drive where I keep this at a different house. I guess this is manual way of "Cloud" backup LOL.

Also, thanks for the feedback on the power supply. I look into another one. I would like to have the wires separate like this one and only plug in what I need.

 

[wblock]

The ZFS term "stripe" is what others call RAID0. All the capacity is available (four 4TB drives would give about 16TB of space), and the data is split between them. If any single drive fails, the entire volume fails, because there is no redundancy.

 

[Scotty O]

The ZFS term "stripe" is what others call RAID0. All the capacity is available (four 4TB drives would give about 16TB of space), and the data is split between them. If any single drive fails, the entire volume fails, because there is no redundancy.

Thank you for that. I would plan on having 2 volumes each at 4 TB with 2 drives to back each of them up. If I have a drive failure, I will have a backup. If I don't have access to the data for a couple of days, it's ok that is why I would choose no RAID.