FreeNAS Mini XL Hardware

[mrichardson03]

Just a quick note for folks who were eyeing this case... be careful. I've got a Mini XL and it's struggling to cool the drives acceptably. I've got 8 WD Red drives that are idle other than running long SMART tests, and two drives are at 46 C and only one is under 40 C.

 

[Mirfster]

I've got 8 WD Red drives that are idle other than running long SMART tests, and two drives are at 46 C and only one is under 40 C.

TBH, I personally question a lot of the temps that others may say are too high.

I know I will more than likely get a lot of flak for this but in all reality even the vendor specs for the WD80EFZX states:

So to me if the drives are ~45C they are still within "Operating Temps" and still have ~15C wiggle room (heck even ~25C if you wanted to push it to the "Non-Operating" threshold)...

Yeah, it would be great if they were closer to 0C and I understand that running cooler is better for drive longevity... but not all of us have dedicated AC for the Server(s) or live in the South Pole. ;)

Okay, I'm ready to take my beating now... :p

 

[mrichardson03]

I live in Atlanta, GA and it's August. Pretty sure the temperature isn't comparable to the South Pole.

As a point of comparison, the Fractal Design case sitting next to this system has 6 drives under 32C.

 

[Bidule0hm]

TBH, I personally question a lot of the temps that others may say are too high.

I know I will more than likely get a lot of flack for this but in all reality even the vendor specs for the WD80EFZX states:
View attachment 13167

So to me if the drives are ~45C they are still within "Operating Temps" and still have ~15C wiggle room (heck even ~25C if you wanted to push it to the "Non-Operating" threshold)...

Yeah, it would be great if they were closer to 0C and I understand that running cooler is better for drive longevity... but not all of us have dedicated AC for the Server(s) or live in the South Pole. ;)

Okay, I'm ready to take my beating now... :p

Operating is not equal to longest life possible.

The low 30's sweet point and the 40 °C limit are based on the Google paper and members' posts here (I've seen more than one time checksum errors because a drive was in the 50's °C) so the data is pretty reliable on this question :)

 

[Mirfster]

Points taken. Me and my hot drives will slink back to our dark (yet warm) cave. ;)

Eidt: Should have been "flak" instead of "flack" for all you grammar police...

 

[Ericloewe]

I know I will more than likely get a lot of flak for this but in all reality even the vendor specs for the WD80EFZX states:

HDD manufacturers have a habit of... embellishing their datasheets. @Bidule0hm measured real spin-up currents that are even beyond their generous tolerance for maximum power.

Eidt: Should have been "flak" instead of "flack" for all you grammar police...

Right, there's no 'c' in "Flugabwehrkanone". Also....

Eidt:

;)

 

[Mirfster]

Lol, I suck at typing....

 

[mrichardson03]

So to update my update, it seems the case fan that comes with the unit is a bit weak. I swapped out the fan and ran badblocks tests, getting a 40C average disk temp with a Noctua NF-F12, and 35C average with a Noctua NF-F12 Industrial PPC 3000 running at 75%. The drives higher up in the case run hotter because there's not a fan right behind them, but with enough oomph it seems to be fine.

 

[Phong]

This looks to be the case: http://ablecom.en.taiwantrade.com/product/8bays-tower-chassis-791976.html
I've been in touch with the folks at Ablecom/Antron and their pricing is actually pretty competitive with the U-NAS and SilverStone cases, especially if you buy 50+ units. The 400W Flex PSU is a $90-$100 add-on option.

 

[JDM]

This looks to be the case: http://ablecom.en.taiwantrade.com/product/8bays-tower-chassis-791976.html
I've been in touch with the folks at Ablecom/Antron and their pricing is actually pretty competitive with the U-NAS and SilverStone cases, especially if you buy 50+ units. The 400W Flex PSU is a $90-$100 add-on option.

Who have you reached out to? I've been trying to get a hold of that case as well. Anyway to get a single one shipped into the US? Haven't had luck getting a response from Ablecom.

 

[Phong]

Who have you reached out to? I've been trying to get a hold of that case as well. Anyway to get a single one shipped into the US? Haven't had luck getting a response from Ablecom.

Yes, it is possible. I was referred to their local US partner "Antron Electronics" in CA. They don't have any stateside yet, but there are 30pcs in stock at their overseas factory with an 8-10 week lead time. The pricing I got was for $300 @ 50pcs with a 400W FlexATX PSU included. I was toying with the idea of coordinating a group buy, but I don't really have the time for that right now...

 

[DaveY]

I'm in for one if you do a group buy

 

[JDM]

Yes, it is possible. I was referred to their local US partner "Antron Electronics" in CA. They don't have any stateside yet, but there are 30pcs in stock at their overseas factory with an 8-10 week lead time. The pricing I got was for $300 @ 50pcs with a 400W FlexATX PSU included. I was toying with the idea of coordinating a group buy, but I don't really have the time for that right now...

Do you have a contact email, name, or phone number? There seems to be a couple Antron Electronics that come back in search. The most promising one I had the email bounce back (sales@antronelectroncis.com). The others seem to sell LED light ballasts etc.

 

[echeng]

So to update my update, it seems the case fan that comes with the unit is a bit weak. I swapped out the fan and ran badblocks tests, getting a 40C average disk temp with a Noctua NF-F12, and 35C average with a Noctua NF-F12 Industrial PPC 3000 running at 75%. The drives higher up in the case run hotter because there's not a fan right behind them, but with enough oomph it seems to be fine.

I am just setting up a FreeNAS Mini XL. I'm going to swap the fans out, and am wondering if you have an update with an optimal noise/airflow compromise? I'd love for the FreeNAS' fans to spin up based on drive temp and have seen some scripts that will do this with other motherboards. Does anyone here have a way to set sensor thresholds + control fan speeds? Thank you!

 

[irate.overlord]

Nick, this might be a stupid question, but what is the minimum bulk quantity they will sell? We might be able to do a group buy. I'm sure you can find enough people on this forum to fill an order if its like 10 minimum. Heck, maybe we could get a massdrop.com group buy.

 

[irate.overlord]

I see you guys were way ahead of me. It looks like mini XLs motherboard is similar to this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HIDQG6E/?tag=ozlp-20
So if you bought that and two of the 16GB RAM kits that Amazon says is usually purchased with it:

Mobo $450
Ram $210
Case $300

Assuming the PS comes with the case, you could build your own mininas XL for $1000 (including an add in $40 for OS drive of some sort, USB maybe?). So you would get an XL for the price of regular diskless mininas, saving yourself $350. But, I might have overlooked something which would reduce that margin. And supporting iX systems and receiving support from them is worth something, too. I guess I mostly made this post for myself to write everything down and get the numbers out there. If I missed anything, I'll be happy to update this.

 

[Nathan Urbanowski]

I'm a little late to the party, but my search for an Ablecom CS-T80 brought me here. I was hoping to find one for my first FreeNAS build and came up with the same results everyone else has.

I made an account to toss my hat into the ring for a group buy if somebody ends up coordinating.

 

[masetime]

I am just setting up a FreeNAS Mini XL. I'm going to swap the fans out, and am wondering if you have an update with an optimal noise/airflow compromise? I'd love for the FreeNAS' fans to spin up based on drive temp and have seen some scripts that will do this with other motherboards. Does anyone here have a way to set sensor thresholds + control fan speeds? Thank you!

Did you ever figure out a way to do this? Or how to control the Mini XL's fan speed at all?

I would love to know how since, my drive temps are currently:

49
42
55
51
48
50
51
56 degrees C.

Ambient temp is 76.

 

[Thinkcat]

Ambient temp is 76.

You are running it in a hot sauna? But the case is close to the floor, or below stove anyway, since the drives are relatively cool compared to the ambient?

Or you have the ambient temp in °F and the drive temps in °C, the ambient temp being 24 °C, which should be quite acceptable.

I am also looking for a case, anything from 6 to 8 drives, and that doesn't sound good.

The upper rear portion of the Ablecom CS-T80 looks like plain sheet metal. Is there anything that would prevent detaching the rear panel and drilling holes for another 120 mm fan? According to studies I once did about fan laws, it makes 20 dB more noise to double the airflow of one fan, but only 3 dB more noise to use two instead of one.

 

[Thinkcat]

As a point of comparison, the Fractal Design case sitting next to this system has 6 drives under 32C.

Which Fractal Design model is it?