Hardware advice - home use, nothing over the top, limited budget

[mc999]

Hi All!

I'm looking at setting up a home NAS with nothing over the top for expectations. Let me explain that. I want a NAS to store my media which will be streamed to 2 (max 3) devices, a place to store important documents and family related stuff (photos, vids, etc) and for back-up of 2 Windows machines. No access outside local LAN required. For media streaming/organisation I'll be using Plex (some transcoding may be required due to device not handling ripped format stored on NAS). My storage needs are modest at the moment but will grow in time (as it does for everyone!) but nothing astronomical.

I've read the various hardware requirements posts so am familiar with what is recommended and what-not. Budget is a concern but I have looked at commercial offerings such as Synology and QNAP and find the specs for these on my budget ceiling a little underwhelming.

Just wanted to get some advice on what I'm hoping to purchase (and with suggested replacements from you the Community and FreeNAS users).

First off I'm not in North America or even close so prices are very different here (in Oz) - but I've got some gear in mind that hopefully fits the budget and gets my build at an acceptable level.

Below is hardware I already have:
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini
Power Supply: Seasonic 450W
HDD: 3 X2TB WD Reds

Below is what I would like to purchase and what cost is in $AUS
MB: (A) Supermicro X9SCL-+F ($159) Or (B) X10SLH-F-O ($199)
CPU (A): Either Xeon E3-1225V2 ($200) or Pentium (not sure which model though)
CPU (B): Some Pentium model.. Any ideas?
RAM (A): 8G (or 16G if at good price) of whatever ECC RAM the board requires.
RAM (B): Crucial CT102472BD160B (found post on this website that this is godo RAM for the MB - $94 for 8G stick)

And that's it really.

Those items hit the budget... or thereabouts...

I have considered an ASrock C2550D4I board but cost is roughly over $400 plus RAM... Not sure if that's a better fit or not...

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm all ears...

Thanks!








No need for add-on cards

 

[danb35]

The X9SCL is a fine board; I ran one as a FreeNAS server for a couple of years without a problem. If you're going to transcode, I'd feel like a Pentium might not quite have the horsepower you'd want. An i3 would likely be fine, but Intel's now saying that that generation of i3 doesn't support ECC, despite their saying it did when I bought mine. So unfortunately you're probably stuck with a Xeon. Don't bother with one of the xxx5 parts, though--the integrated GPU isn't needed, and won't be used, with FreeNAS and an IPMI motherboard. For RAM, just go to crucial.com and see what they recommend for your board. IIRC, they ship worldwide.

The Avoton parts (C2550/C2750) are nice, and very good performance per watt, but they're expensive. If energy efficiency is critical, they can be a good choice, but otherwise you can do better for your dollar.

 

[mc999]

danb35 - Thanks for replying so quickly and the recommendations... Only reason I suggest the E3-1225 is that it's well priced (on ebay) - the closest in cost I've found is E3-1220V3 @ $295 (brand new). True I won't need the integrated GPU but almost $100 difference makes me think about the spend... Thanks for crucial link, just checked and they are pretty well priced indeed on the site!

Just a query about he MB.. this is the link --> http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Supermic...-1200-Famil-/182135563317?hash=item2a68202435 : The PCI/PCIe slots don't look like PCI/PCIe slots.. or am I missing something?

Update: I think I've selected the wrong MB.. That link I have posted.. teh MB is an LGA 1155 MB but the CPU I looked at was for a 1150 MB... did a quick search for a Xeon for the X9 board and the price shoots thru the roof... eeek.. I think the X10 is the board I need (or can afford!)... this is the link for the X10 board: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Supermic...-O-Shipping-/182135553146?hash=item2a681ffc7a

 

[danb35]

Certainly nothing wrong with the 1225, so if that's less expensive than the 1220 you might as well get that. The picture with that listing appears to show three PCIe slots, and it seems to match the photo on SuperMicro's product page.

 

[mc999]

I think I must be going crazy... have had a few late nights of late looking things up and reading lots of doco... I just had to recheck - the X9 board is 1155 and the Xeon on ebay is also 1155 (a E3-1225v2)... The X10 is 1150 and can get a new Xeon e3-1220v3 for $295.

OK... back on track now!

 

[danb35]

You may also want to consider the go-to options for inexpensive servers here in the States, the Dell PowerEdge T20 or the Lenovo ThinkServer TS140. The T20 starts under US$200; the TS140 under US$300. It'd probably be worth checking if they're available there, and for how much.

 

[mc999]

Hmmm... I had considered a HP MicroServer Gen8 but getting one with 8+G RAM increased cost considerably.. and had read various posts about noisy fan (unless you hung a hdd off the ODD SATA and then pointed the onboard RAID controller to this - using AHCI mode made the fan excessively noisy) and the N56L (Gen7) had a lower powered AMD Turion which may not have had enough oomph. Any thoughts on these?

How noisy are the PowerEdge or ThinkServers? I really don't want the NAS to be very loud - that would do my head in!

I'm checking prices on ebay now...

 

[danb35]

I'm afraid I can't help on noise levels, as I've never used either of those. IIRC, @Robert Trevellyan runs a T20; maybe he can chime in.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

How noisy are the PowerEdge or ThinkServers?

Never used a ThinkServer, but one of the things I like most about my T20 is that it's so quiet (it's currently 2" from my left foot). When I shut it down, I notice a slight reduction in ambient noise level, but the only sound I notice it when it's on is disk activity.

 

[mc999]

Just checked on ebay... these aren't too badly priced at all. At least the Pentium version anyway. Adding more RAM as these have only 4G (either up to 8G or 16G) price is comparable to the parts listed above. Except no Xeon... a Xeon is offered but price goes beyond budget.

Robert --> Thanks for the feedback about noise that really helps having some real world comparison... I like a quiet machine.. I'm not looking at having it do much more than storage and streaming so want it to be quiet.. I don't want to think I'm working in a server room when at my desk...

Thanks for the feedback guys! Good ideas indeed! Oh and btw the ThinkServers are nowhere near my budget!!

Question: I'd have to turn off/not use the inbuilt hardware RAID yeah?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Just checked on ebay... these aren't too badly priced at all

Can't see any reason to buy a T20 on eBay when they're only $179 direct from Dell.

more RAM

Tip 1: buy 8GB stick(s) to avoid replacing them later.
Tip 2: consider adding "SATA Power Cable for Installation of Optical Drive or more than 4 Hard Drives" to your initial order, in case you ever want to populate the 2.5" bays.

Question: I'd have to turn off/not use the inbuilt hardware RAID yeah?

It's off by default.

The machine close to 100% plug-n-play for FreeNAS - the only BIOS setting I remember changing is the boot device selection.

 

[Jailer]

If you plan on running Plex you might want to figure 16GB of ram into your budget. Or if you go with the T20 add 8GB more for 12. 8GB is the bare minimum for reliable operation of just FreeNAS as a file server.

 

[mc999]

Robert: $179 from Dell USA.. I'm in Australia... not available on Dell site in Oz... have to contact Sales... unless Dell USA will ship to me! But when I select Dell USA I'm redirected to Oz site.. :(

Jailer : Was going to up RAM to 16G anyway - thanks for the advice

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

not available on Dell site in Oz...

:(

 

[mc999]

I'll give Dell a call (Live Chat) tomorrow at work.. it's 00:30am here at the moment.. seems like they don't work this late! Lazy buggars... ;)

I'll see was cost difference is between my parts selection i.e. Supermicro ($159 free shipping)+ 16G Crucial RAM (~$170 with shipping) + Xeon E3-1225v2 ($200 free shipping) and the Dell PowerEdge T20 similarly spec'd - I'm guessing the parts will be cheaper and I won't need to find a "home" for what I have already. But will see...

Thanks for the feedback guys - Hmmm.. just checked you have a Pentium in your Dell Robert... guessing it must suffice? Then again you have 32G RAM.. nice.

BTW - I have installed freeNAS on a spare box I have to see how it performs and ease of management... Must say I did like it! Nothing flash in the machine either not server grade components anyway... ASRock H77M, i5 3470, 8G RAM, onboard NIC... network performance (just copying file) was OKish, although streaming to my nVidia shield on wireless mind you was pretty good! Just to be upfront I have compared other NAS software offerings (OpenMediaVault, RockStor and XPenology) and found freeNAS to be on par for ease of use with XPenology... OMV gave me grief but didn't try latest beta and haven't fully tested RockStor. But I do like freeNAS which is why I want to get the right components for it so it can shine. I do have some Linux experience which made it easier using the other offerings. I have zip, nada, nulla, no experience with BSD family or ZFS. But I'm not doing anything over the top with the NAS so will learn along the way.

Anyway time to fly and sleep on the suggestions here.. Have a very early start!

 

[Mirfster]

But I'm not doing anything over the top with the NAS so will learn along the way.

Just be sure to take some time to read up. Kinda sucks when you set everything up and start putting data on it then realize that you have made some erroneous decisions along the way.

There are tons of great threads and I know if can seem kind of overwhelming. For a starter, you can peruse through the items linked in my sig.

BTW, Welcome!

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

you have a Pentium in your Dell Robert... guessing it must suffice? Then again you have 32G RAM.. nice.

I was lucky and got a great deal on the RAM. Modern CPUs and ZFS can do amazing things if you give them enough RAM to work with.

 

[mc999]

Would the Pentium be OK for one stream to be transcoded? I see that Plex outlines a PassMark of 2000 for a stream and the Pentium scored around 3900. And if no transcoding will be required (the Shield seems to have enough ooomph not to need this at least for the video formats/resolutions I have) then the Pentium should do fine yeah?

Well just checked with Dell Oz via Live Chat and no T20 's available here BUT hey they said they do have T130's.. of course they do!!!

So going down T20 path - it's either ebay or the highway...

But going Supermicro MB + RAM + CPU (either Pentium to reduce cost or Xeon to fully cover Plex requirements) is still viable.

:)

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Would the Pentium be OK for one stream to be transcoded?

In my experience, yes. See https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/newbie-first-freenas-build.43624/#post-288409

 

[mc999]

In my experience, yes. See https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/newbie-first-freenas-build.43624/#post-288409

Thanks for that! My transcoding requirements might be a little higher or should I say may require more grunt as I have a collection of media with subtitles which I've read require more processing power.

That said, I have ordered the Xeon and am waiting for the store where MB can be purchased from to "open" up... They are updating their website at the moment so no sales.

Quick question though regarding the Supermicro X9SCL-+F and the Xeon - from Supermicro website it states that the E3-1220 V2 are supported only with a BIOS > 2.0.. Errrr.. So if the board arrives and does not have that version or above will it actually work with the Xeon in place? How would I update the BIOS in this case? Or is it just certain features of the CPU won't work with the BIOS update? Don't want to get it and am stuck!

Edit: does anyone know why the CPUs with integrated a not recommended to be used (noted on super micro website)?? Is it just due to extra power being used