FreeNAS Build

[DennisG]

Hello,

I'm currently planning my first FreeNAS Build. Since I don't want to spend too much, I configured it to be upgradeable in the future. This is the hardware I planned to use:

CPU: Intel Pentium G4400

Motherboard: Supermicro X11SSL-F

Memory: Samsung 8GB DDR4-2133 ECC (M391A1G43DB0-CPB)

Hard Drives: 3 1TB WD Red in a RAIDZ1 configuration

Case: Nanoxia Deep Silence 2

Power Supply: be quiet Straight Power 10 400W or Seasonic G-450

Is the Samsung Memory all right? I chose it over Crucial because it's on the motherboard's compatibility list.
I plan on adding another memory stick in the future and a stronger CPU if I need more performance. I'm not sure if I should get a fourth HDD for a RAIDZ2 configuration. I also haven't decided on a boot drive yet. I thought about getting one or two Lexar USB Drives.
What do you thing of my hardware choice?

 

[Ericloewe]

Is the Samsung Memory all right?

Of course.

I would recommend you start with a 16GB DIMM, though. 16GB is the sweet spot for home users.

Hard Drives: 3 1TB WD Red in a RAIDZ1 configuration

I'm not sure if I should get a fourth HDD for a RAIDZ2 configuration

Definitely highly recommended, though not an absolute requirement.

I thought about getting one or two Lexar USB Drives.

That should be ok.

 

[DennisG]

Which of the two PSUs would you use? Would either one be sufficient if I added more drives to have a total of six for example?

 

[jgreco]

Which of the two PSUs would you use? Would either one be sufficient if I added more drives to have a total of six for example?

There's a great sticky on proper power supply sizing in the hardware forum.

 

[Ericloewe]

Which of the two PSUs would you use?

G-450, no contest.

Would either one be sufficient if I added more drives to have a total of six for example?

Six drives total? Sure, no problem. Eight too.

 

[jgreco]

G-450, no contest.

Six drives total? Sure, no problem. Eight too.

Eight is getting really tight, a 550W would be better for that. See https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/proper-power-supply-sizing-guidance.38811/

 

[DennisG]

I doubt that I'll put 8 drives in my system.

I would recommend you start with a 16GB DIMM, though. 16GB is the sweet spot for home users.

If 16GB are the sweet spot, wouldn't it be alright if I bought one 8GB DIMM now and added another one later? I don't think I'll put in more than 32GB of RAM.

 

[jgreco]

If 16GB are the sweet spot, wouldn't it be alright if I bought one 8GB DIMM now and added another one later? I don't think I'll put in more than 32GB of RAM.

Yes, if you're reasonably certain of that. Performance is better with more memory, though.

 

[DennisG]

I received the components yesterday und assembled them successfully, but in the BIOS I don't have any indication that ECC is enabled. Is that normal?

 

[jgreco]

Probably. Very likely the system only supports ECC.

 

[DennisG]

Can I somehow check if ECC works? I didn't find anything useful.

 

[jgreco]

That's a topic of much debate without solid reliable answers. Short form? Probably not.

 

[Dice]

If 16GB are the sweet spot, wouldn't it be alright if I bought one 8GB DIMM now and added another one later?

It might be worth checking if X11 compatible with single memory setups? They indeed advocate dual channel setup.

 

[Ericloewe]

It might be worth checking if X11 compatible with single memory setups? They indeed advocate dual channel setup.

Sure it is. I should know, I'm running one. ;)

 

[jgreco]

It might be worth checking if X11 compatible with single memory setups? They indeed advocate dual channel setup.

Yes, that should be fine.

 

[Dice]

Good.
Would've been a shame if something like that would've slipped by :)

 

[DennisG]

I just tested my NAS with a 16GB DIMM vs a 8GB DIMM and I didn't see any performance improvement. When would I see a performance improvement with 16GB?

 

[jgreco]

Usually with additional RAM, you'll see better write performance, and also as the pool fills, things will be faster because more of the metadata ZFS thrives on remains cached, which is something that's a bit hard to notice until you're on the wrong side of it. The problem is it doesn't translate to "benchmarkable improvements"; it's something we know based on the "Hey my NAS is slow -> Try adding more memory -> Holy cow" thing we see on a fairly regular basis.

 

[DennisG]

I tested the 8GB DIMM, the 16GB DIMM and both and I only got about 33MB/s write performance with either setup. Should I keep the 16GB DIMM anyway? I'll return one of them, but I haven't decided which one.

 

[pirateghost]

I tested the 8GB DIMM, the 16GB DIMM and both and I only got about 33MB/s write performance with either setup. Should I keep the 16GB DIMM anyway? I'll return one of them, but I haven't decided which one.

There is never too much RAM. Keep the 16