BUILD First FreeNAS Build Verification

[zerocool2007a]

Hello all – this build is the result of quite a bit of research on the forums as well as (recently) on the IRC channel. I did go by abrazier on IRC but recently changed to zerocool2007a (because who doesn’t love a good hackers reference, amiright?). I’ve been lurking for around one to two months and I’ve developed a ‘checklist’ of items to aid in building my FreeNAS setup. I have to thank everyone who has posted a how-to guide or a build log to the site because they were very helpful in helping me determine this ‘checklist’ and I’ve probably read and re-read so many posts it’s hard to keep them organized.

Tl;dr – Thanks to everyone who has posted on the forum as it was very easy to find a lot of the information I was looking for. Please feel free to critique my build below.

Part I – Hardware

MOBO - Supermicro X10SL7-F Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard – $250
CPU - Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor - got on sale at jet.com for $195
RAM - Changed to 2x Crucial CT2KIT102472BD160B 16GB (2x8GB) ECC RAM - $112 x 2 (32GB total) = $224
HDDs – 8x3TB Western Digital Reds (bought on Newegg sale $125 off) - $753
Case – Fractal R5 Blackout Edition - $110
PSU – SeaSonic SSR-450RM 450W - $70 (after $10 MIR)
Boot Drives – 2 x SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB Flash Drive - $23
Case Fans – 3 x Fractal Design HP14-PWM 78.1 CFM 140mm Fan (changing from 3 wire to 4 wire) - $57 - changed to only 1 extra Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 Black 140mm Case Fan - $14

Server Total (no storage) – $817 $886
Hard drives – $753
Total – $1,570 $1,639

*NOTE: I did end up ordering 32GB ram. I’m starting with 16GB of ram but I think I’ll eventually upgrade to 32GB. I already have the hard drives and CPU being shipped, the other items I would like to order soon. I also will be looking into a UPS in the near future.

Part II – Hardware Installation

I think the hardware installation is pretty straightforward if you’ve built a computer in the past. I would reference Pheran’s build (here), since he has already done an excellent job with pictures showing his MOBO in the R5. The one note I wanted to make here is that I need to make sure I order at least five (5) molex to sata adapters because I have five (5) 4 pin connectors on the PSU and I’ll need at least two (2) of them for my 7th and 8th hard drive (as the PSU only has 6 sata connectors) and one for the fan controller as well. I will also order a bunch of sata cables because they’re cheap and I’m OCD about them all matching (http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=8778). I know the PSU comes with four (4) sata connectors, but again I want them to be the same. Can never have enough cables sitting around the house too.

Part III – Startup / Burn In

1) Smoke Test (obviously)
2) Verify all the fans are spinning (check if any weird noises in general)
3) Configure power button to not shut off host immediately on press
4) Configure the boot priority to the USB drives and disable booting from the reds.
5) MemTest86+ (for a longggggg time of course)
6) Use the IPMI to upgrade the LSI firmware to IT mode (following Pheran’s build instructions)
7) Install hard drives, configure an instance of FreeNAS (will be blown away later) and do burn in testing for the hard drives (per qwertymodo’s guide located at https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/how-to-hard-drive-burn-in-testing.21451/). SMART and badblocks.

Part IV – FreeNAS Installation

Again I think Pheran has done a great job with photos going through the FreeNAS installation and I’ve played around with the installation on a virtual box and it seemed to be very straight forward. One note to remember is to select both USB flash drives when installation so I have mirrored boot devices. Once installed the first thing I’ll do is setup and confirm that the server can email me. Next I’ll build my RaidZ2 volume with all 8 x 3TB drives and then create my top-level data set. I should be looking at 14.17TB (12.89TiB) using the handy calculator located at https://jsfiddle.net/Biduleohm/hfqdpbLm/10/embedded/result/.


That’s all I have for now as the next steps are setting up permissions and building some datasets. This box will mainly be for backups, plex transcoding (2 or 3 simultaneous streams at times), house all my TV Shows / Movies, and a lot more I’m sure as I get going.

Any feedback / comments / critiques are more than welcome and I hope to be around for quite some time!

 

[Bidule0hm]

Woaw, you've done your homework, everything looks perfect ;)

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Yup, makes for a good executive summary of how to build a FreeNAS box.

 

[zerocool2007a]

Thanks for the replies. I'm planning on doing a guide of the whole build (including putting the hardware in the case for super new people to building computers). The guides with all the pictures and screenshots have been the most beneficial to me and I know someone who is just starting out could benefit from it before they dive in deep.

 

[BigDave]

I also will be looking into a UPS in the near future.

IMHO the 2 most important pieces of hardware are;

1. High quality PSU
2. Properly configured battery backup/surge protector

#1 for the protection of those expensive drives and the data that will soon be stored therein.
#2 for the protection of #1 and the proper shutdown during power outages.
After working as hard as you will to complete this Magnum Opus,
try staying worry free as you leave home on the eve of bad weather.
Wait, was that a flash of lightning off on the horizon...

Yes, I AM a glass half empty kinda person. but my glass never goes dry... ;) :p

 

[Deraga]

I found these for the hdd power. 4x SATA Power Splitter Adapter Cable
Might be better then the molex to sata power adapters

 

[OLKent]

Nice build! Looking forward to any pics you share!

For power SATA splitters, i was looking at these. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002N2EHVQ/?tag=ozlp-20

 

[zerocool2007a]

Nice build! Looking forward to any pics you share!

For power SATA splitters, i was looking at these. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002N2EHVQ/?tag=ozlp-20

Thanks for the link! Those should be perfect and I'll only have to use 4 of them for my HDDs leaving 2 free on the PSU.

 

[jgreco]

For power SATA splitters, i was looking at these. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002N2EHVQ/?tag=ozlp-20

Not recommended. Find a friendly electronics shop, buy them a case of beer, and they'll probably be happy to make you a decent wiring harness that doesn't involve bodged together connectors. Those SATA power connectors are dodgy and connecting a male and female together is just bad news. A nicely soldered together harness will be more reliable

"Don't Do That."

 

[zerocool2007a]

Not recommended. Find a friendly electronics shop, buy them a case of beer, and they'll probably be happy to make you a decent wiring harness that doesn't involve bodged together connectors. Those SATA power connectors are dodgy and connecting a male and female together is just bad news. A nicely soldered together harness will be more reliable


"Don't Do That."

jgreco, how did that happen?! Also, is a molex to sata adapter okay to use then?

 

[jgreco]

I don't know, it's just a random picture from the Internet. But this sort of thing DOES happen. Molex is slightly better because it was designed in an era when we had full height 5.25" drives, so the connector is definitely able to handle some serious power. Unfortunately these days they use flimsy wire, not the 16AWG that ought to be used, so the wiring itself can burn up too.

The argument that I'm making, though, is that your typical SATA power connector lacks the ability to handle the amount of power draw that two drives might impose.

So what I'd suggest is to take some of your unused modular whips, perhaps the Molex ones, and see if you can find some friendly electronics shop guys who can build you a few new harnesses. You can even do this at home if you're handy with a soldering iron, though with those stupid "all black" cables you've got to be uber-careful not to mix up the pins (fry all your drives!). An electronics shop that works on PC's is likely to have the right kind of pins where they can actually crimp new pins to insert into the existing "modular" plug, which is most desirable especially if they use 16AWG wire when doing so. 16AWG will trivially be able to safely power four 2.5" drives. Then you add a few SATA power plugs to the cable. These are available as insulation displacement style connectors, but I'll tell you that it can be easier to get some inexpensive power Y's and chop them up to get nice molded SATA connectors. I typically use the molded ones when I'm working in 1U cases where the verticality aspect of the IDC style is annoying...

In any case, the point here is that you shouldn't use power Y's where possible.

 

[jgreco]

Oh and yes the use of inexpensive power Y's does imply some splicing and soldering. Experience suggests that this is actually one of the most reliable ways to construct these things. Put it in some cover sleeving with some heat shrink and it looks very nice.

 

[Deraga]

I am glad you gave some advice on the sata power splitters.

 

[jgreco]

No problemo. You can Google on Google Images for "sata power fire" too and look at all the purty pictures of how craptacular those connectors are.

 

[CheckYourSix]

Did you get everything up and running smooth?

 

[zerocool2007a]

Did you get everything up and running smooth?

Everything is up and running smooth as butter! Sadly real life has gotten in the way of me detailing my complete build. I currently have almost all my data transferred over from my old home server and I'm running Sickrage, Plex, Headphones, Owncloud, and Couchpotato. I've also got all my scrubs, smart tests, reports to be emailed to me, and config backups scheduled and they're working perfectly. I also setup my box to automatically send items downloaded from Sickrage, Headphones, and Couchpotato to my seedbox and this works perfectly! I'm still trying to think of new ways I can use the server but haven't had much time lately.

*Edit: I'm also looking to purchase a UPS before the end of the year. I still have a lot of research to do as to which one to buy though.

 

[jgreco]

We're glad you're not having to post a picture of a SATA power connector flameout. ;-)

 

[zerocool2007a]

We're glad you're not having to post a picture of a SATA power connector flameout. ;-)

So are the people in my apartment complex and my wife :)

I think I've also decided on a UPS, the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD...I'm planning on putting my FreeNAS box, cable modem, router, and small network switch on the battery backup. I'm going to use it to have the FreeNAS box down shutdown about 30 seconds after I lose power. The other items I'm not too concerned with them turning off after all the battery power is drained.

 

[CheckYourSix]

I'm going to use it to have the FreeNAS box down shut down about 30 seconds after I lose power. The other items I'm not too concerned with them turning off after all the battery power is drained.

Sounds good. You might want to wait a little longer, depending on how long it can support the system for. In my area, getting a 1-2 minute power outage happens about once a month. It would drive me nuts for it to shut down and have the power come back online right after.

On another note, why would you use Sickrage over Sonarr? Sonarr puts it to shame. Give it a try.

 

[zerocool2007a]

Sounds good. You might want to wait a little longer, depending on how long it can support the system for. In my area, getting a 1-2 minute power outage happens about once a month. It would drive me nuts for it to shut down and have the power come back online right after.

On another note, why would you use Sickrage over Sonarr? Sonarr puts it to shame. Give it a try.

Yeah if the power goes out here its usually out for an hour and I can always use IPMI to turn the server back on if I'm not home. I tried Sonarr and actually didn't like it as much as Sickrage, might be because I only use torrents and the support for indexers on Sonarr was lacking.