BUILD Freenas on Dell Poweredge T110?

[RichTJ99]

Hi,

I picked up a Dell Poweredge T110 with the Xeon E3-1230v2 last week on a "slickdeals" alert I have setup for Dell ($230). It came with 4gb of ram & i have a few drives sitting around.

I think it might be a good "backup" server for my main freenas server.

I am debating a few things though:

1. Need to get ram - not sure what i can use (ECC, registered, etc).
2. Is this a good candidate?
3. Should I get a new case / what type of case?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[gpsguy]

For RAM, just go to www.crucial.com. Find your server using their drop down menus to find the right memory. You can't go wrong with them.

BTW, I would suggest 8GB sticks.


Sent from my phone

 

[RichTJ99]

So in terms of recommended hardware, is this OK? Is it the correct type of ECC ram?

 

[gpsguy]

I presume it was the Dell Poweredge T110 II. If so, it will accept up to 32GB of RAM. Yes, it will accept ECC RAM - that's what you want to use with FreeNAS.

http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/poweredge-t110-ii

By purchasing 8GB sticks of RAM, you'll eventually be able to upgrade to 32GB if need be.

I don't know if the Dell motherboard will work in a standard case or not.

I'd say it was a fantastic deal! Normally, one might pay that for the CPU alone.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Like @gpsguy I'll assume you got a T110ii (a regular T110 will only accept 4x4=16GB of RAM.) Should be more than capable of acting as a backup server, assuming your storage needs don't exceed what you can build with 4 drives.

3. Should I get a new case / what type of case?

Can't think why you would want to replace the case. What is your reasoning?

 

[RichTJ99]

It was this one: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/p...5a9d29e07bd2a2ec30000&ven3=570802571358237064

It does look like a poweredge II. It looks like it has some sort of IPMI interface but I cant get to it via web, i can ping it though.

I picked up a piece of ECC (8gb) for my HP N40L microserver but didnt get around to putting it into the box so it seems to have worked for this poweredge. I guess i can get a few more sticks.

EDIT
I was thinking of changing the case to a smaller unit as i expect no more than the 6 hard drives it can support (5 internal, 1 estata).

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Yes, that's the T110ii.

I picked up a piece of ECC (8gb) for my HP N40L microserver ... I guess i can get a few more sticks.

For a backup-only server, you could start with the 12GB you have now and see how it goes.

I was thinking of changing the case to a smaller unit

Seems like unnecessary hassle to me, and you might run into fit issues. Nowadays Dell tends to tailor-make their cables for the case, which keeps things neat, but might be problematic if you change the layout.

 

[flyinfitz1]

I agree with all stated here. Take a look at the Lenovo TS140 too. I have one and love it.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I've got a couple of these. Good systems but limited to four internal bays without modification, similar to the TS140. Board has 5 SATA ports, sixth is eSATA so you'd have to Frankenstein something to loop it back internally which could result in dropouts. Could pick up a cheap HBA if you're insistent on getting six drives in the thing.

For the BMC, try something like Supermicro's IPMIView, I believe that can do some simple management of it (power cycle, health checks, etc)

Good deal on it.

 

[flyinfitz1]

HoneyBadger is right the drive bay limitation is the worst part. Overall its an excellent entry level system in my opinion.

 

[HoneyBadger]

If they had all six ports available internally it would be significantly better, then you could just use the optical bays/ziptie/random mounting options to make a nice 6-disk RAIDZ2. But yes, good entry-level systems, especially since they can be found cheaply like the TS140.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Could pick up a cheap HBA if you're insistent on getting six drives in the thing.

But pay attention to potential cooling problems, e.g. if you repurpose the 5.25" bays as hard drive bays. I had a 2 into 3 in mine for a while, but ultimately decided to trust the Dell engineers as far as how best to use the system.

If they had all six ports available internally it would be significantly better

Don't dismiss the eSATA port too quickly. It's very useful in combination with a drive dock, e.g. for replacing drives with larger drives to expand a pool.

 

[RichTJ99]

So i am coming back to this topic. I like the case & PC - it has become by ESXi box with 32gb of ram. I am now changing its function to a Freenas backup box. I like the system but think I want to get a new case to put the insides. I dont think the case has good airflow. Is this a standard mobo? can i just move it to a regular mid tower case?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Is this a standard mobo?

I wouldn't count on it. Some careful measurement of things like mounting hole locations is probably a good idea.