First home FreeNAS build

[Mr White]

Hey everyone!
I wanted to build my home NAS for quite some time, and after some research decided to go with FreeNAS.

So, what I want from my NAS:
1. First thing, that pushed me to building NAS is Blu-ray backups. I have pretty big collection of Blu-ray movies and I want to rip them so they would be available for all home users. Also it would be preferable to save them without compressing them (30-40 Mbps streams) with maximum 3 simultaneous transcoding streams .
2. To make my own cloud storage.
3. And, of course, home network file shares.

This is hardware I plan to purchase (which kind of turned unexpectedly pretty expensive):
- Mini ITX case - Fractal Design Node 304 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...ractal_Design_Node_304-_-11-352-027-_-Product
- Mini ITX motherboard - ASRock E3C236D2I https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cm_re=ASROCK_E3C236D2I-_-13-599-005-_-Product
- 3.0 GHz CPU - Intel Xeon E3-1220V6 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...e=Intel_Xeon_E3-1220V6-_-19-117-790-_-Product
- Cooler - Titan DC-155A915Z/RPW https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835192025&cm_re=Titan_DC-155A915Z/RPW-_-35-192-025-_-Product
- 16 GB ECC RAM - Crucial CT16G4WFD824A https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cial_CT16G4WFD824A-_-2BA-0041-00006-_-Product
- Three 4.0 TB HDD in RaidZ1 - Seagate ST4000VN008 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...re=Seagate_ST4000VN008-_-22-179-005-_-Product
- GPU - ASUS GeForce GT 710 https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...SUS_GeForce_GT_710-_-9SIAD7H6NW4813-_-Product
- Power Supply - Sea Sonic Electronics FOCUS Plus Gold 650W https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...c_FOCUS_Plus_Gold_650W-_-17-151-186-_-Product
In future I plan to expand RAM and add another 3 HDDs.

So, guys, help me find bottlenecks in my setup.
Also consider that I am kind of limited to hardware available locally.

 

[wblock]

The video card is not needed, the motherboard has a native video chipset that will provide video even if the processor does not have it. (At least as I read those specs.)

Not sure about the fan. If there is room, the stock Intel CPU fan works well and there is little point replacing it.

 

[Mr White]

Thanks for reply!
I was not sure about video card, but I guess you right. Motherboard indeed have ASPEED AST2400 2D Graphics controller
I will probably buy OEM CPU, so I will need fan
Main question is will this CPU handle 3 transcode streams?

 

[diedrichg]

I second what wblock said. It'll handle up to (4) 1080p transcodes with its Passmark score of 8010.

 

[Chris Moore]

- Cooler - Titan DC-155A915Z/RPW

I would be concerned that this will not provide enough cooling without running at a high RPM which might make it loud.

- Three 4.0 TB HDD in RaidZ1

In future I plan to expand RAM and add another 3 HDDs.

Usually, we don't suggest using drives larger than 1TB in RAID-z1. I would say that (if price permits) you should start with all six drives in RAID-z2 because it is a better configuration for reliability than two RAID-z1 vdevs.

 

[Mr White]

I would be concerned that this will not provide enough cooling without running at a high RPM which might make it loud.

Do you have any recommendations?

Usually, we don't suggest using drives larger than 1TB in RAID-z1. I would say that (if price permits) you should start with all six drives in RAID-z2 because it is a better configuration for reliability than two RAID-z1 vdevs.

Yeah, I understand that, but I want to start somewhere without spending too much.
Also I have a question about RAM. FreeNAS requires at least 8GB of RAM. And there is guideline about 1GB of RAM per 1TB. Is it 1TB of all vdevs or 1TB of all HDDs? And those two requirements independent or should I sum them? E.g. for 12TB do I need minimum 12GB of RAM or 8+12=20GB of RAM?

 

[Nick2253]

FreeNAS requires at least 8GB of RAM. And there is guideline about 1GB of RAM per 1TB. Is it 1TB of all vdevs or 1TB of all HDDs? And Those 2 requirements independent or should I sum them? E.g. for 12TB do I need minimum 12GB of RAM or 8+12=20GB of RAM?

You don't sum them; they're kinda the same thing. Given your workload, you should be good with 16GB of memory.

 

[loch_nas]

Do you have any recomendations?

There are a lot of options. It depends on the space of the chassis. You could use a cooler with a 120mm fan. But with a bigger cooler some parts of the mainboard become very hard to reach, especially in small cases like the Node 304. So I would recommend a cooler with a 92mm fan.

Here some examples of common choices:

budget:
Thermalright True Spirit 90 M Rev. A

premium:
Noctua NH-U9S
or
Noctua NH-D9L

The Noctua coolers are famous for good cooling while staying very quiet. But premium quality mostly has premium prices. A cooler with a smaller price should do the job aswell.
And always have a look on ebay. There are a lot of adequate coolers with decent prices.
If you have a look on ebay: You need a cooler for socket 1156,1155,1151,1150 (all have the same sizing).

 

[Mr White]

There are a lot of options. It depends on the space of the chassis. You could use a cooler with a 120mm fan. But with a bigger cooler some parts of the mainboard become very hard to reach, especially in small cases like the Node 304. So I would recommend a cooler with a 92mm fan.

Here some examples of common choices:

budget:
Thermalright True Spirit 90 M Rev. A

premium:
Noctua NH-U9S
or
Noctua NH-D9L

The Noctua coolers are famous for good cooling while staying very quiet. But premium quality mostly has premium prices. A cooler with a smaller price should do the job aswell.
And always have a look on ebay. There are a lot of adequate coolers with decent prices.
If you have a look on ebay: You need a cooler for socket 1156,1155,1151,1150 (all have the same sizing).

Well, since i don't need video card I can spend more on other parts
What do you think about Noctua NH-L9I? I don't really want big cooler in small case like this

 

[Nick2253]

I don't really want big cooler in small case like this

Why not? Bigger cooler generally means quieter cooler. Fractal Design has a great article about compatible coolers: http://support.fractal-design.com/s...hat-size-cpu-coolers-will-fit-in-my-node-304-

 

[loch_nas]

And a top-blow cooler doesn't help the overall air-flow in my view. A top-blower is good for the mainboard components, but in a chassis, where the main purpose is to cool the hard disk drives, I would let all fans blow into the same direction -> backwards.
And those coolers I've posted are not big. They're really cute baby coolers.
If you want to know what's big, then have a look at Noctua NH-D15 or Thermalright HR-22. They are real monsters :D

Those 92mm coolers just use the socket space, that's why I think they're perfect, because you don't run into any compatibility issues with them.

 

[Mr White]

A top-blower is good for the mainboard components, but in a chassis, where the main purpose is to cool the hard disk drives, I would let all fans blow into the same direction -> backwards

Yes I agree. One thing that bother me is cable management.
Noctua NH-U9S looks tempting

 

[loch_nas]

Cable management in such a chassis is anyway a challenge, independent of the cooler.
But if you take your time you'll manage that.

And here you have a good orientation of how to manage the challenge, thnx to Stux:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...node-304-x10sdv-tln4f-esxi-freenas-aio.57116/

And there are really worse cases than the Node 304 for cable-management.

 

[Mr White]

And here you have a good orientation of how to manage the challenge, thnx to Stux

lol, these photos only raise my fear of cables interfering with tower cooler fan

 

[loch_nas]

If you make a clean install there won't be any problem. And if you get too nervous you can buy a fan grill :)

 

[loch_nas]

What do you plan for boot device? My tired eyes cannot see where you mentioned a boot device.

 

[Nate5425]

I like your build. I am brand new at all this and I am still debating between an 804 (or similar tower from Fractal Design) or the 304.

 

[Mr White]

What do you plan for boot device? My tired eyes cannot see where you mentioned a boot device.

I plan to use USB 3.0 16 GB stick. I have plenty of them

I am still debating between an 804 (or similar tower from Fractal Design) or the 304

Node 804 is pretty cool. Though it is probably too big for what I want from my NAS and has features I don't need (window, optical disc slot, five expansion slots). And I will debate that 304 is probably more efficient for HDD cooling.
Sad thing is that there isn't too many choices for >4 HDD setups in MiniITX cases. Good thing that Fractal Design make one. I have Define R5 case for my PC and that case is great

 

[loch_nas]

If you have enough space you shouln't cut your options by using Mini-ITX. Mini-ITX mainboards are mostly very limited.

You could use a Node 804 or even a R5 to use a Micro-ATX mainboard, which gives you a lot more options.
With such a Micro-ATX mainboard you could get a HBA card or you could even get a mainboard with a built-in SAS-controller and then you would be able to swap that USB-Stick with a cheap SSD, which is a lot more reliable.

 

[Mr White]

If you have enough space you shouln't cut your options by using Mini-ITX. Mini-ITX mainboards are mostly very limited.

You could use a Node 804 or even a R5 to use a Micro-ATX mainboard, which gives you a lot more options.
With such a Micro-ATX mainboard you could get a HBA card or you could even get a mainboard with a built-in SAS-controller and then you would be able to swap that USB-Stick with a cheap SSD, which is a lot more reliable.

Sure, bigger case and motherboard can be beneficial. But in my case I don't have much room for big device.