First NAS build for home backups

[mrmike123]

Hello this is my first time in this forum so I hope its in the right place
Im going to use an old PC as a NAS for backing up me and my families computers (4PCs 1 macbook)
My old pc has;
2x500GB drives 1X128GB SSD which is going to be used for NAS OS
AMD 4150 bulldozer
8GB DDR3 1600MHz ram
My questions are these;
Would anyone recommend a 2tb western digital green for NAS use?
Also how viable is this system and is Free NAS the best or simplest option for backing up several PCs on a network, (is it easy/simple to perform windows backups across a network?)
Thanks in advance!

 

[sremick]

Do more reading, my friend. There are a number of serious issues with your proposed setup.

• You don't install the FreeNAS OS onto HDDs. You install it onto a USB flash drive
• AMD CPUs have known issues and are advised against
• You need ECC RAM
• Information about using the WD Green drives is in abundance on these forums

Because these are major issues, not hidden and discussed frequently, I'd go FULL STOP on your plans and read and research for a few more weeks to get yourself up to speed.

 

[mrmike123]

Wow thanks for the heads up.
Btw I wrote that OS bit wrong (shouldn't be posting at 2:40 am), its going to be on an 8GB flash drive
Are the AMD CPUs bad for all NAS solutions or is it a freeNAS?
I think I might invest more into it at another time, thanks for the help

 

[danb35]

AMD's support for FreeBSD (or FreeBSD's support for AMD, take your pick) is spotty at best. I ran FreeNAS 8 and 9 (through 9.2.something) on an AMD chip, but it isn't something I'd recommend.

 

[Chris Dawalt]

mrmike123 - I am new to FreeNAS too and it sounds like you're wanting to do what I am now doing. Here is some background info from my introduction: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/new-to-freenas.25120/

The ideal setup is of course to use the hardware outlined in the manual. Sremick is certainly correct that you should read up as much as you can about FreeNAS - read the manual and also read through cyberjock's info: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/hardware-recommendations-read-this-first.23069/.

There are some very knowledgeable people on this forum and while I don't want to go against their recommendations, I will say that my system works fine despite my sub-par hardware, including the AMD CPU. But I also keep my data backed up in a separate series of hard drives which are independent of the FreeNAS. So I am using the FreeNAS as sort of a 'gathering point' for all my local computers. Once a week I back everything up to the FreeNAS, then I sync it with the other backup hard drives. The more I use FreeNAS, the more I like it, so at some point in the future my plan is to put a system together with the proper hardware.

I can't say how your CPU will perform, but mine so far has been fine. 8GB of RAM is the minimum, and you can't have too much RAM, so if you have the ability to increase your RAM (motherboard and wallet capacity), do it.

 

[sremick]

AMD does not do everything 100% by the book and cuts various corners. The effects of this is often either compensated for, masked or not really made apparent or critical when running Windows. However, the nuances come to the surface when running things far less-tolerant such as a server OS. Of particular note is AMD not really properly supporting ECC RAM the way they should. I don't understand the low-level details as much as Cyberjock does, however what I read was enough to turn me away. And i used to be a big AMD proponent myself. Considering how important ECC RAM is to a FreeNAS/ZFS server, it makes sense not to take unnecessary risks with your data. Intel is the safer bet, and you tend to get more power for less watts that way as well (another factor that was important to me with my build).

 

[joeschmuck]

AMD CPUs are fine provided you stick with the correct ones as some had been reported to not work properly with FreeBSD (what FreeNAS is based on) but those were some of the APU units.

At the OP,
If you are building a simple backup unit for your home I would recommend you clearly defining to yourself exactly what you want from the unit and then choose your parts.

The hardware you proposed using (with the exception below) is fine for a simple home backup device of your home computers.

Exception list: You are not running ECC RAM which although isn't a physical requirement it is highly recommended.

As for using Green drives, that is fine, many people use them. You need to figure out up front how much storage space you will need before purchasing your drives and what RAIDZ level you will be using or maybe you will only go with a pair of mirrored drives, it's up to you.

In a nut shell, will your hardware work, certainly, it will for all FreeNAS versions past and current but it may not for FreeNAS 10, however I suspect it will work fine as a simple backup device. Of course you could just choose FreeNAS 9.2.1.9 and stick with it forever, again assuming it will only be a backup device.

Before building your system run MemTest86+ on your machine for a few days to ensure you have not RAM failures. This is why we say use ECC RAM but if you will not then run the test for a long time and also put it on a good quality UPS so your system can shut itself down in a controlled way during a power outage.