BUILD First FreeNAS Build

[eshr]

Hey all, I am looking to make my first build and have tried to do all the reading I can but figured it would be smart to run over my hardware selection. My workload is mostly as a media server - transmission, plex and the such.
I already have 2x 3TB WD-Reds ready to get me started. The rest of the hardware is here.

Case: Fractal Design Node 304 (Svart)
Motherboard: ASRock E3C236D2I
CPU: Intel Core i3 6100 3,7GHz Socket 1151 Box
Memory: Crucial DDR4 PC17000/2133MHz ECC Reg CL15 16GB (CT16G4RFD4213)
PSU: Fractal Design Edison M 550W

Any comments would be super appreciated before I start buying.

Also, I have also taken a look at the slightly cheaper Asus P10s-I Mobo as another option. Thoughts on that?

Thanks!

 

[Dice]

Welcome to the Forums.

1. i3-6100 is a solid choice unless you plan to stream simultaneously to multiple devices.
2. The memory you've selected is not compatible. You are looking for an ECC UDIMM, not ECCRDIMM (REG).
3. Did you read the newbie guides? If not, it is probably a good time now.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...guration-for-small-freenas-deployments.27062/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/zfs-primer.38927/

4. Do you have any intentions of acquiring additional storage space?

Cheers,

 

[eshr]

Thanks Dice! And Thanks for the feedback!

Welcome to the Forums.

1. i3-6100 is a solid choice unless you plan to stream simultaneously to multiple devices.

This should do me fine then. I assume more cores for more workload?

2. The memory you've selected is not compatible. You are looking for an ECC UDIMM, not ECCRDIMM (REG).

Thanks for the heads up - this is exactly why I wanted to post in here.
What about this as a replacement:
Kingston ValueRam DDR4 PC17000/2133MHz ECC CL15 2x8GB (KVR21E15D8K2/16)

I have been reading that Kingston RAM is not desirable for NAS builds but this is the only Unriegistered ECC that I can get in Sweden right now. Perhaps going down to DDR3 and a different mobo would be smarter?

3. Did you read the newbie guides? If not, it is probably a good time now.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...guration-for-small-freenas-deployments.27062/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/zfs-primer.38927/

Thanks!

4. Do you have any intentions of acquiring additional storage space?

I could see myself expanding in the midterm. I have about 2TB of data right now so I will need to expand in the next few months as that grows.

Thanks again!

 

[Dice]

I will need to expand in the next few months as that grows.

It is imperative to read the newbie guides, in particular the one by Cyberjock (see my signature).
After the read, you'll have your head full of new obstacles to plan for.

Cheers /

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

slightly cheaper Asus P10s-I Mobo as another option. Thoughts on that?

Stick with the ASRock.

I already have 2x 3TB WD-Reds ready to get me started.

I have about 2TB of data right now so I will need to expand in the next few months as that grows.

You'll be starting out more than 2/3 full, when overhead is accounted for. Consider starting with 4x 3TB WD Reds. If you plan to grow your storage piecemeal, then striped mirrors are very convenient. If you don't need the flexibility of mirrors, consider RAIDZ2 for the extra reliability. Either way, figure out now how you will backup the data you care about.

 

[eshr]

Stick with the ASRock.

Thanks, I figured as much.

You'll be starting out more than 2/3 full, when overhead is accounted for. Consider starting with 4x 3TB WD Reds. If you plan to grow your storage piecemeal, then striped mirrors are very convenient. If you don't need the flexibility of mirrors, consider RAIDZ2 for the extra reliability. Either way, figure out now how you will backup the data you care about.

This seems like a smart idea. Reading the newbie docs makes it sounds like adding drives to a pool is not really feasible - rather one can replace drives in the pool with larger ones. Am I understanding that correctly?

 

[Bidule0hm]

You can add drives to a pool but not to a vdev. This means you can add another RAID-Z2 vdev to a pool who has already one RAID-Z2 vdev but you can't just add one or two drives to the existing vdev.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

And that's why striped mirrors are so convenient for piecemeal expansion.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Am I understanding that correctly?

The part you may be missing is the distinction between a vdev and a pool.
A pool is made up of one or more vdevs.
A vdev is made up of one or more physical drives.
You can expand a pool by adding vdevs.
You can expand a vdev by replacing drives with larger drives.

 

[Bidule0hm]

If the structure it still unclear after @Robert Trevellyan post I made a graphical representation here: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/comprehensive-diagram-of-the-zfs-structure.38865/ ;)

 

[BBarker]

I use that motherboard as well as Kingston RAM (2 x 8gig UDIMMs) for a media server and small amount of data backup and it works really well. You may want to consider getting two more 3TB drives and either using RAIDZ2 for your pool or create two mirrored vdevs and put them in the same pool. Your current setup in mirror would get you over 80% storage usage with just an additional 250gigs or so of data with the current 2TB you have and FreeNAS does not do well once you cross that capacity threshold.

I initially had some confusion regarding pool vs vdev until I considered that vdev meant virtual device. Virtual devices can consist of one or more physical (disk or solid state) drives and pools can consist of one or more virtual devices. You could have a pool with one vdev that consisted of one drive but that would defeat the purpose of having a NAS which in my opinion is data safety and redundancy coupled with easy local access. My initial setup is a two mirrored drives in a vdev for my media pool. I will eventually add another two mirrored drives to expand the pool once it becomes 70% full.

Also, the motherboard does have IPMI so you can control some features remotely. Not sure which fans the case you are considering comes with, but if you can make sure they are PWM fans, you can control the case fan speeds to get the best results cooling vs noise using a remote computer. There are even scripts that can adjust the case fan speed based on temps once you establish a baseline.

 

[eshr]

Thanks for the advice everyone. My plan now is to buy 1-2 more drives thanks to the advice. To be honest, my data is all recoverable (possible but would be a bit of a pain) so I am thinking Z1 over Z2.

I am considering swapping out the Mobo/Processor for one of these though...

Supermicro A1SAI-2550F
or
ASRock C2550D4I

The thoughts of such a low powered processor is hard to turn down for such a small case. Seem to have good reviews.
Thoughts on this?

 

[Dice]

Supermicro A1SAI-2550F
or
ASRock C2550D4I

The thoughts of such a low powered processor is hard to turn down for such a small case. Seem to have good reviews.
Thoughts on this?

I think it is a way better option to aim for X11SSL-F or add a little bit of cash to get a X11SSM-F (for the additional ports).
X11SSL-F + i3-6100 is pretty much comparable in terms of price (the difference will barely get you a pizza) to the A1SAi-2550F. But a boatload more flexible.
Have you found mullet.se?

 

[eshr]

I think it is a way better option to aim for X11SSL-F or add a little bit of cash to get a X11SSM-F (for the additional ports).
X11SSL-F + i3-6100 is pretty much comparable in terms of price (the difference will barely get you a pizza) to the A1SAi-2550F. But a boatload more flexible.

Thanks for the info!

Have you found mullet.se?

Now I have. I generally use PrisJakt for all my shopping needs, but this is a great site for server components though. Thanks for the resource. Any other secret Swedish stores you would recommend?

 

[eshr]

As a follow up, I have built my NAS and I couldn't be happier. I did end up settling on the ASRock C2750D4I and 4x3TB WD Reds. Its running great, low power, fast and quiet.

Thanks a bunch for the help everyone!

 

[Wallybanger]

I just built a box using the 16gb kingston value ram sticks and it's working fine so far.