I am looking to build a FreeNAS box and would appreciate some help understanding what kind of hardware I require. I have browsed around the forums and read the suggestions. Most things I read are recommending expensive server-grade hardware. I understand that this is primarily for safety's sake because losing your data is a big deal.
For me it isn't so big a deal. I certainly don't want to lose my data, but even a complete loss I would probably value at around $1,000, but the majority of this is going to be video data, so scattered bit errors as long as they are not too common isn't going to be a big deal. To me this suggests that I'm better off with consumer grade hardware because the marginal cost for the marginal increase in safety isn't going to be worthwhile.
The machine will be used in a home environment. I intend to use it as a general bulk store and share location for the PCs in my house. I want to be able to stream to 2 media centers at a time (1Mbps is a typical bit rate for that). I also want to be able write to my NAS box from my security cameras at a total of about. I also want to handle some non-real-time type bulk copies such as pc backup images or random network share files. I'd also like to run a tor node on it if possible. I intend to use 6 3TB drives in one volume with RAID-Z (the single parity bit version). I want to encrypt everything.
Here is the hardware I'm leaning towards:
MB: Biostar Hi-Fi A85S3 - nothing special here, just the cheapest thing that supports the CPU I picked and has 6 sata ports
CPU: AMD A4-5300 - barely more expensive than some significantly lower power options. Fairly low TDP and supports AES-NI
Memory: Mushkin 997074 16GB - cheapest reputable (but non server/non ECC) brand at 16GB.
PSU: Corsair CX430M - should be plenty of headroom at 430W. Not a top tier brand, but reasonable quality for cheap.
All told this should come to a little over $200.
Does this sound like it'll get the job done? Anything seem like a bad idea? Any places I could get big improvements for not much money?
For me it isn't so big a deal. I certainly don't want to lose my data, but even a complete loss I would probably value at around $1,000, but the majority of this is going to be video data, so scattered bit errors as long as they are not too common isn't going to be a big deal. To me this suggests that I'm better off with consumer grade hardware because the marginal cost for the marginal increase in safety isn't going to be worthwhile.
The machine will be used in a home environment. I intend to use it as a general bulk store and share location for the PCs in my house. I want to be able to stream to 2 media centers at a time (1Mbps is a typical bit rate for that). I also want to be able write to my NAS box from my security cameras at a total of about. I also want to handle some non-real-time type bulk copies such as pc backup images or random network share files. I'd also like to run a tor node on it if possible. I intend to use 6 3TB drives in one volume with RAID-Z (the single parity bit version). I want to encrypt everything.
Here is the hardware I'm leaning towards:
MB: Biostar Hi-Fi A85S3 - nothing special here, just the cheapest thing that supports the CPU I picked and has 6 sata ports
CPU: AMD A4-5300 - barely more expensive than some significantly lower power options. Fairly low TDP and supports AES-NI
Memory: Mushkin 997074 16GB - cheapest reputable (but non server/non ECC) brand at 16GB.
PSU: Corsair CX430M - should be plenty of headroom at 430W. Not a top tier brand, but reasonable quality for cheap.
All told this should come to a little over $200.
Does this sound like it'll get the job done? Anything seem like a bad idea? Any places I could get big improvements for not much money?
