BUILD First NAS build - Much advice wanted please!

[Dwayneson]

Ok thank you. I just found the comment regarding speed in another post in these forums :)

So here is my build, finally.

Case - Fractal Design FD-CA-DEF-R5-BK Define R5 Black
Motherboard - SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SSM-F-O
CPU - Intel Core i3 6100
Memory - Crucial 16GB DDR4-2133ECC UDIMM
Boot drive - 2x SanDisk Cruzer Fit CZ33 16GB USB Flash Drive
Storage - 4x WD 4TB Red
PSU - Seasonic G-450 450W 80Plus Gold

Hopefully this will suit my needs. Please provide comments anyone.

I have left 4 vacant SATA slots so that I can expand with another 4x WD 4TB Red if necessary in a few years or so.

Thank you
Dwayneson

 

[Bidule0hm]

You may want to replace the USB sticks with a SSD, much more reliable ;)

 

[Dwayneson]

Eek. I was hoping I wouldn't get that comment lol. That's what my original build had but then I changed up to usb flash drives so that I had 4 slots and bays vacant to duplicate the 4x4TB pool later on. Otherwise I'm left with 3 vacant slots and bays which is not as useful unless I am missing something.
Thanks
Dwayneson

 

[Bidule0hm]

That's ok, as long as you know what you're doing you're fine ;)

 

[Dwayneson]

Hi Bidule0hm,
That's the problem, I don't lol. I'm just trying to learn as much as I can as I go along.
Ssd is preferred from my research, as you suggested, but I just don't know if there is a way around the problem I mentioned in the post above?
Thanks for your advice.
Dwayneson

 

[Bidule0hm]

A mirror of USB sticks if fine, it's just that a SSD is better but not mandatory ;)

In any case don't forget to backup your config file.

 

[Dwayneson]

OK thank you again. Your help is much appreciated.
Dwayneson

 

[nojohnny101]

@Dwayneson
you've gotten some really good advice on here already so i'm not login to re-hash that myself. I just waned to post and add a vote of confidence to using USB drives for your boot device.

is an SSD better? yes
is a USB cheaper to start off with? yes
are you already ahead of the game by mirroring your boot device with another USB incase of failure? yes

start with USB, you can move to SSD when you have the money and have played with your system for a while. you're good.

 

[Dwayneson]

Hi nojohnny,
Thank you for your advice. I'll stick to my USB's and save the SSD as an option for later on like you said.. hopefully there's no need for it for my use though :)
Now I'm just waiting for all my hardware and next step is to build (first time) and start the steep freeNAS learning curve!
Dwayneson