FreeNAS build for small NGO

[hedwig]

Hi!
I would be happy to have your opinion on a planned FreeNAS build. This will be my first FreeNAS build, but I have some years experience as a sysadmin.

This is the starting position:
I'm working for a small NGO in Germany. They have an office with about 10 employees.
Most computers are running Linux. Home directories (personal files) and organization data are stored on a Linux Server, about 2TB, slowly increasing.
User Authentication is done using an LDAP Server on the same box.
The Server is about 10 years old, I think, as are the two Hitachi disks in Raid1 and it's all consumer grade hardware.
Data is still alive, but one of the two disks is showing some minor SMART errors.
(At least there are incremental daily backups)

Budget:
So this year I got a budget of 2000€ (about $2400) for a new server.

Focus:
I think the focus should be on reliability and data safety, as we cannot work if the server goes down.
Low noise and low power consumption would be nice, but are secondary aims.
We have a server rack with a UPS and a pfSense router in an extra room.

Planned Functions:
- The new server should hold all the shared data and the home directories (2 TB and rising).
- Samba sharing (there are 2 Windows boxes)
- daily snapshots (maybe 1 year into the past)
- remote backup to the cloud
- remote sync to second office over vpn
- Authentication server (FreeIPA in docker container)
- Web server for office documentation (mediawiki in docker)
- Saltstack Server for auto config of office computers (in docker)
- Maybe owncloud/nextcloud server (in docker)
- RAIDZ2
- hopefully another 10 years of service

Planned Build:
Chassis: Supermicro SuperChassis 825TQ-R720LPB --> 528,15€
Motherboard: Supermicro X11SSM-F --> 183,59€
CPU: Intel Core i3-6300, 2x 3.80GHz, boxed --> 112,94€
RAM: 2x 16GB Samsung DDR4-2400 ECC DIMM CL17 Single --> 334,64€
Boot: 2x Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB --> 169,66€
HDDs: 6x HGST Deskstar NAS 4TB --> 680,70€

Total: 2009,68€
(prices are from German seller mindfactory)

Questions:
- Does the planned build look good?
- Has anyone here tried setting up a FreeIPA server in a container on a FreeNAS server?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chris Moore]

You can use samba as a domain controller in the latest version of FreeNAS.
That might be a better choice?
With the functionality you are looking for, I would say that you should have a Xeon.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[danb35]

Docker exists on FreeNAS only by way of creating a Linux VM. There's a built-in template for RancherOS, or there's the bhyve hypervisor that will let you run whatever other flavor of Linux you like to host your dockers. If you really want/need to run all that in Docker, make sure that VM is adequately resourced. Alternatively, I think most of us would suggest setting up those apps in one or more jails, which would be a more resource-efficient method.

As to your hardware, I'd concur that more cores would be a good thing. On your chassis, I'm not a fan of the -TQ backplanes, as drive cabling becomes a rats' nest, though I guess with only 8 bays it isn't too terrible. Are you sure you aren't going to want more than 8 bays? Because the 826 chassis will give you 12 bays in the same 2U rack space.

 

[Chris Moore]

- hopefully another 10 years of service

I would say that the plan should be to replace the server in 5 to 6 years. It is possible to get 10 years, but that should never be the plan.

Budget:
So this year I got a budget of 2000€ (about $2400) for a new server.

Because of your limited budget, and how much capability you want from the system, you would be well served to seek second hand / retired data-center gear. If you can pickup a server that is only 3 or 4 years old, it will absolutely last more than 5 additional years and you can get a lot more server for the money.

 

[Maelos]

I like what I am currently running and it sounds like it could fit your needs too at a smaller budget to boot. (My signature has the specs and a link to my build log).

I don't have experience yet, but it is my interpretation that FreeNAS is not the best hypervisor. You can use ESXI (VMware) for this, but you need to do it correctly. In this way you can have a FreeNAS VM dedicated to storage and backup, with separate systems to use as needed.

An example (not sure on availability in Germany) - $678.00+70 to ship https://www.ebay.com/itm/3U-8-Bay-S...-E5-2630-V1-32GB-RAM-FREENAS-GPU/132522818204
This would give you:

Supermicro 3U 8x 3.5" Drive Bays 1 Nodes (8 drive bays)
Motherboard: X9DRi-LN4F+ (cheap ram, 4 Ethernet interfaces, room to expand RAM and PCIe devices)(https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C600/X9DRi-LN4F_.cfm)
Backplane: CSE-SAS-833TQ SAS833/835 BACK PANEL (requires 1 SATA link per drive :-/, covered below with LSI 9211)
2x Intel Xeon E5-2630 V1 Hex (6) Core 2.5GHz (plenty of power, 12 cores, 24 threads)
2 x 16GB DDR3 (a good bit of ram, many slots to expand (14 more to use))
LSI 9211-8i HBA Controller IT mode for FREENAS <- means it can handle the 8 drives. Add another $20 for two mini SAS to 4x SATA cables (8087?)
2x 1280Watt Power Supply PWS-1K28P-SQ (<-platinum rated, "quieter" version)
Rail kit (usually $50-70 by itself)

This is just another option, though biased to what I like and am building. Add the drives as you stated and there should be plenty of room to go. Be warned though, visualizing FreeNAS, while possible, is not recommended by some in the community. There are quite a few posts about it and how to do it correctly. Please feel free to ask questions. I may not have the experience, yet, but I can point you to resources here or people who do.

Here is a item from the German side of eBay: https://www.ebay.de/itm/Supermicro-...x-16GB-RAM-LSI-SAS-vmware-Server/222863430810

I believe this server has a similar processor, but a much more RAM, two more drive bays, and a newer LSI RAID card (not sure if this works with FreeNAS).

 

[hedwig]

Thank you, Chris, danb35 and Maelos!

You are right: jails it is then for most of the network services.
And I think, I will aim to get a 4-core Xeon instead, still roughly in budget.
For the number of drives: I think 8 should be enough, because we are really not storing any movies or sth.

@Maelos: It sounds like a good deal, but then one would have to ship it to Germany.

 

[hedwig]

I have found a used SuperChassis 825TQ-563LPB on German ebay for 200€
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Supermicro-...3LPB-8-Bay-3-5-2u-Server-Gehause/282837964890
A possible downside would be only one power supply.

 

[Maelos]

I would try to get a combo deal with Chassis, Mobo, CPU, and RAM. The X10 and X11 series motherboards are what are currently being used and implemented in the Enterprise environments, so X9 and earlier can be found for cheap. This is how I found my combo. I also am not sure you would want a 2U enclosure with 7000 RPM fans (loud). A consumer enclosure with regular fans may suit your needs better (10 disks and under).

 

[Jatrabari]

I would say that the plan should be to replace the server in 5 to 6 years. It is possible to get 10 years, but that should never be the plan.

How much is this dependent on work load like home NAS versus small versus big business NAS?

 

[Chris Moore]

How much is this dependent on work load like home NAS versus small versus big business NAS?

It does depend on the work the system will be put to and how important it is to the organization. For example, in my home NAS, I will keep it until it can't do the job any more and I am not very concerned about any component failure other than the disks, because that is where my (important to me) data is stored. But that is a different beast because it is from my own pocket.

In a businesses, they should have regularly planned life-cycle replacements so that older hardware that is less efficient and (due to age) more likely to fail can be replaced with newer hardware that is (usually) under warranty and is less likely to create a negative impact of business productivity. I have worked in businesses where this was done on a 3 to 5 year plan and they planned to replace equipment when the warranty ran out (or shortly after) because they didn't want to spend corporate revenue on repairs. I am working for a government organization now and their life-cycle planning often leaves something to be desired because the people in charge are not as knowledgeable as they should be, bureaucrats, so we only manage to get new hardware when we cry loud enough, long enough.

However, for a business, it should be calculated into their cost of doing business and money should be set aside. It may be a bitter bill to swallow, especially if they have not had the mind-set in the past, but the organization needs to create what is called a 'sinking fund' where money is set aside each month toward the purchase of replacement equipment so that when a replacement is needed, the money is available and they need to ensure the 'cash' is not spent on anything else. They should do that for any large investment of corporate resources. For example, they will need a new roof one day, everything breaks in time. If the old roof had a 20 year guarantee from the builder, and it cost a half million dollars to have installed, accounting for inflation, they should anticipate paying no less than a whole million to replace it in 20 years. That means they should they should set aside $4166.67 each month in a 'sinking fund' (hopefully earning interest) so they have the cash available to buy a new roof when the time comes. This allows the organization to earn interest on the money instead of needing to take a loan and having to pay interest on the money instead. In the US, they can write off the cost of the roof in either case, so the government ends up paying for a portion of the roof. The hard part is to not use the money for some other unplanned activity like the CEOs next vacation.

The point is, you should not plan for a computer to last 10 years. Manufacturers like Dell and HP give 3 year warranties and will usually extend those warranties out to 5 years, but not more than that. The reason, they know that the likelihood of a failure starts increasing after that point and they want to avoid the risk of needing to give out parts for such an old system. They also don't want to keep parts in stock for such old systems due to warehousing costs. If it is the only server and they 'depend' on it being available (the data being available) because they can't do their work without it. Really, in that case, they need a backup server so they can still access their data when the primary server is down. It is just not good planning to expect a single system to always be up.

You can save a lot of money through purchasing a system that has been retired, but is not too old, and easily get 3 to 5 years of good use out of it while the company saves to buy a newer server next time, but the planning for the next purchase should start during the acquisition phase of the current procurement. It is like tires for your car, you know they will wear out and need to be replaced, it should be planned for instead of being a shock when it happens. Proactive planning as opposed to not planning and having to react as if you are stunned and amazed when the equipment breaks.

 

[Maelos]

I agree with Chris and can share similar stories. I have two similar sayings that complement this. As Doug from Stormwinds Studios stated "There are only two types of systems, one that is broken and one that is going to break." If you combine that with the 7 Ps (Piss Poor Planning Precedes Piss Poor Performance), you reap what you sow (is that 3?).