I just came across an Intel I7 6700 at work for free along with ten 2TBs HHDs. I know none of them are Nas grade hardware. But I'm not storing super important data. So I wont need ECC Ram either. I would like to make a FreeNas for shared files, Backups and use it as the storage array for the Hypervision I'm going to make in the near future that will house a plex server and a few VMs. I currently have a Fractal Design r6 that will house the FreeNas it can hold up to 10 drives but I'm not sure what Memory to get or Motherboard to make it all work I would also need a PSU too. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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FreeNAS Parts I'm a Noob
- Thread starter Craigk19
- Start date
There is alot or hardware guides on the forum.https://www.ixsystems.com/community/resources/
The fact you have 10x2TB is a start.
You used the words BACKUPS. I suggest you make a proper freenas from the get go.
If you want to just play around then it doesn't matter what you throw together. find a board that matches the socket for a 6700.(LGA1151) and add some ram.
If you even think for a second this is something you are going to put some time into and want to expand on, please do it right the first time.
8 gigs of ecc ram( 1gig per TB)
intel Netwrok card.
Im not sure if the ml10 is still around but you could get it for 135$ upgrade the psu, add 4 more gigs of ram and you have yourself a very solid starting point. remember that you can only use about 5 drives in it because it is a small case.
The fact you have 10x2TB is a start.
You used the words BACKUPS. I suggest you make a proper freenas from the get go.
If you want to just play around then it doesn't matter what you throw together. find a board that matches the socket for a 6700.(LGA1151) and add some ram.
If you even think for a second this is something you are going to put some time into and want to expand on, please do it right the first time.
8 gigs of ecc ram( 1gig per TB)
intel Netwrok card.
Im not sure if the ml10 is still around but you could get it for 135$ upgrade the psu, add 4 more gigs of ram and you have yourself a very solid starting point. remember that you can only use about 5 drives in it because it is a small case.
Chris Moore
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The importance of the data really has nothing to do with ECC memory. ECC memory is more about preventing system crashes and protecting your data is a fringe benefit. If you really must start with hardware it's not fully compatible, then I guess that's what you must do, but it sounds to me like you have the option to buy good hardware to start.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264134007066
with this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/312574426439
and this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/292340926325
ECC memory is not significantly more expensive, and sometimes it is even less expensive, that the "high performance" memory they sell for gaming rigs. Don't fall into the trap of, "my data isn't important, so I can buy crap hardware"...
There is no way to beat free is there... Getting all those drives for free is a gift, but I would worry about their health. I built several systems with used drives and I had high failure rates. I was not able to afford a batch of new drives until 2018 after starting my adventure with FreeNAS in 2011.
I would sell this on eBay and use the money from that along with some of my own to buy proper server hardware like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264134007066
with this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/312574426439
and this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/292340926325
ECC memory is not significantly more expensive, and sometimes it is even less expensive, that the "high performance" memory they sell for gaming rigs. Don't fall into the trap of, "my data isn't important, so I can buy crap hardware"...
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Chris, Thank you very much for the advice I'll see what I can get this CPU sold for and go your suggested route. If I can get the proper hardware for it from the get-go it seems like a much better idea to me. Yesterday when I was looking through the hardware guide and pulling up the parts on eBay they were all around the $200 mark per part. your list is much more feasible.
I would still need something like an HBA LSI 9207-8i to support the drives correct? That MB has PCIE 2.0 x8 slots and the HBA is a PCIE 3.0 x8 does that mean it will not work? It can only handle up to 8 drives so I could hold two of the drives and use them to cover any drives that fail. Until I can purchase new storage in the future?
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Chris Moore
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It is because I went with slightly older hardware but it is still fully capable of doing storage.
I would go with this one because it is a good model at a good price, but you will need to upgrade the firmware to the latest version:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6G...9205-8i-P15-IT-Mode-From-US-Ship/192639052923
Take a closer look at the specs:
https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C202_C204/X9SCM-F.cfm
The two slots closer to the CPU are 3.0 and the two that are closer to the edge of the board are 2.0, so you can use the slot closest to the processor for the SAS controller to get full performance. I have two of these system boards myself and they work quite well.
That is actually a good idea, but you can run 256 drives from a SAS controller using SAS expander units.
What is?
I really appreciate that!
Added to list of parts to buy!
This is my first time ever with an HBA and I didn't even know that was possible. I was just looking at getting these cables and making that work for 8 drive ill look into SAS expander units just to have the knowledge though.
the 10 drives I have that are only 2TBs they are half Seagate 7200 drives and the other half is Western Digital Green drives. So this should work for a while until some time in the future I can switch over to Western Digital Red drives. That might be a few years down the road though.
You are making this a very easy process for me and I can't tell you how thankful I am!
Chris Moore
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Those are the correct kind of cable, but they are less expensive here:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Mini-SA...d-Breakout-Internal-Cable-3-Feet/372255907421
I try to help make it an easier process for anyone that wants it. If you have any questions, please be sure to ask and take some time to read through the links from my signature because there is a massive amount of great info linked there.
See Once again bring the overall price of this set up down again for me!
I've already dug into a few of them this morning. I found I'll need at least a 650w gold power supply which is looking to be the only piece missing from my cart on eBay at the moment. My current set up has an EVGA QA 750w Gold that I could move over to it and get a new PSU for my ESXi box that will have very little in it after I make this FreeNas box!
My current ESXi box has an i7-3770k with a Z77 motherboard with 24GBs of Ram and after the move will only have a 250Gbs SSD in it so it won't need much power at all.
:)Just a heads up!
as you are replacing drives with the reds, you might want to phase out the WD greens. Look around on the forum for feedback about the greens. The R/RW head parking can be problematic.
I will look into that for sure!
zvans18
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https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/hacking-wd-greens-and-reds-with-wdidle3-exe.18171/
This will be useful for at least as long as you have the greens but for other WD drives as well.
Great article!! and will be doing that for sure to extend the park time. This forum is one of the best I've ever experienced so far!!
Wanted to follow up with this article, because my original thought was FreeNas for my DataStore for my ESXi box and as well as backups of our home machines. https://sysally.com/blog/how-to-create-iscsi-storage-for-vmware-esxi-with-free-nas-11/
Is this a good write up and should I be using ISCSI I've seen I might need a SLOG drive for writes to the FreeNAS as well? I really need a dummy guide I know hardware very well but I guess this is showing how little I know about the rest :/
FYI was able to sale the CPU on eBay for $205 but after fees came out to only $170, currently selling a 4790 to hopefully get another $130ish to complete this project.
Is this a good write up and should I be using ISCSI I've seen I might need a SLOG drive for writes to the FreeNAS as well? I really need a dummy guide I know hardware very well but I guess this is showing how little I know about the rest :/
FYI was able to sale the CPU on eBay for $205 but after fees came out to only $170, currently selling a 4790 to hopefully get another $130ish to complete this project.
