Hardware Recommendation for Backup Server

[bent98]

Its been about 6 years not and I need to build something to backup my existing TrueNas Core 13.0-U6.1 server which has the following specs:

(See my post on the build)

Guide to Building an HPE ProLiant ML10 Gen9 FreeNAS Server

I wanted to upgrade my old FreeNAS server I built four+ years ago. After doing some research I quickly found out a lot has changed from four years ago and if you are going to build it you might as well use server vs consumer grade parts. Biggest expense is the motherboard and ECC memory. The HPE...

www.truenas.com

Drive Config:
1SSD drive to boot Truenas and then 7x8TB WD Red Pro 5400 RPM drvies in one pool
5 sata on board and 3 are attached to an SYBA SI-PEX40062 4 Port SATA III PCIe 2.0 x2 card. (1boot and 2 for the Pool)

Current System specs of orginal server
HPE ProLiant ML10 Gen9 Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-6100 CPU @ 3.70GHz. tranplant to Fractal Design R5
HPE 2x (1x16GB) Dual Rank x8 DDR4 Memory Kit 805671-B21
SYBA SI-PEX40062 PCI-Express 2.0 x2 Low Profile Ready SATA III (6.0Gb/s) Controller Card - $37.99
SanDisk SSD PLUS 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC
7x WD Red 8TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM
Fractal Design Define R5 Blackout Silent ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V
Intel Pro 1000PT Dual Port Gigabit PCI-e IHBA DelI l X3959


I want to put 4x22TB WD Red Pro drives with 2.5GB and 10GB Nework connectivity. Use case is to back up critical data about (5TB various files sizes) but the lion share is to stream 4K UHD files (32GB to 90GB) and TV Shows (1-15GB) and Mp3's

Im not doing any transcoding but want to have the ability to stream to 2 TV's at the same time and future prood it.

Some people are concerned by the Size of the Drives that Silvering and Scrub could take a long time. With the price of 8TB Red Drives vs 22TB, Cost is a concern and at the 22TB price per GB I cant afford buying a nunch of drives. Can someone please provide insight was the way to go?

I looked at the QNAP TVS-h874 box but its very Pricy and figure I can build something similar to what Ive been in the past for a lot less.

Any Advise would be much appreciated

 

[Constantin]

A lot of folk here are not fans of anything but LSI HBAs. That Sybex Is based on a Marvell chipset. I’d consider spending a little more and getting a genuine LSI on eBay from a trusted reseller.

Your system specs are a bit confusing - which one is the existing server with 8TB drives and which one is the one you want to use 22TB drives in? Can you please just spell out the new server config you want help on?

 

[Davvo]

I'm not clear if you are seeking to replace the existing seven drives RAIDZ2 pool of your system or you plan to build an additional machine in order to backup your RAIDZ2 pool.

If you are planning to build a backup server you might even accept the single-parity of a couple of 2-way mirror VDEVs; if you are planning to replace your current pool, I would suggest a single RAIDZ2 VDEV instead.

Mirrors have the advantage of faster/less stressful resilvering and have great expansion flexibility, but I am not sure I would use 22TB drives in a couple of 2-way mirrors... and as such, I do not feel confident suggesting you to try it out as your main pool; at the very least not without a hotspare in the mix... but at that point the space efficency gain from going RAIDZ2 wouldn't be marginal.

Regarding networking, skip the 2.5Gbps and go directly 10Gbps: doing so will allow you to avoid a lot of issues, and you can even find SFP+ cages that work with RJ45.​

10 Gig Networking Primer

This is a discussion of high speed networking for newcomers, with specific emphasis on practical small- to medium-scale deployments for home labs or small office users. It originated with a forum thread located here that has many pages of...

www.truenas.com

 

[Constantin]

I agree SFP+ is the way to go because of flexibility. 10GbE optical is ideal re cost, power, and heat. Copper is expensive and hot by comparison. QNAP offers a good external thunderbolt cage for SFP+ in case your media computer doesn’t have a SFP+ Port.

 

[bent98]

I'm not clear if you are seeking to replace the existing seven drives RAIDZ2 pool of your system or you plan to build an additional machine in order to backup your RAIDZ2 pool.

If you are planning to build a backup server you might even accept the single-parity of a couple of 2-way mirror VDEVs; if you are planning to replace your current pool, I would suggest a single RAIDZ2 VDEV instead.

Mirrors have the advantage of faster/less stressful resilvering and have great expansion flexibility, but I am not sure I would use 22TB drives in a couple of 2-way mirrors... and as such, I do not feel confident suggesting you to try it out as your main pool; at the very least not without a hotspare in the mix... but at that point the space efficency gain from going RAIDZ2 wouldn't be marginal.

Regarding networking, skip the 2.5Gbps and go directly 10Gbps: doing so will allow you to avoid a lot of issues, and you can even find SFP+ cages that work with RJ45.​

10 Gig Networking Primer

This is a discussion of high speed networking for newcomers, with specific emphasis on practical small- to medium-scale deployments for home labs or small office users. It originated with a forum thread located here that has many pages of...

www.truenas.com

I want to build an additional server. The one I have is 6 years old so, Drives and Hardware are getting up there. Do you have a configuration in mind?

 

[Constantin]

The resources section has many recommendations re suggested motherboards. For a pure file server, the X10SDV-2C-7TP4F should be considered. Low cost, lots of SATA ports, SFP+, and much more. Especially for SMB, where high clock speed is a must.

 

[Davvo]

Or if you want something beefier, smaller, or newer: X11SDV-4C-TLN2F for a small sized board without SFP+ or the TP8F version for a Flex-ATX board with Dual 10G SFP+ and tons of other ethernet ports.

 

[Constantin]

Definitely more performant but also way more expensive. All comes down to how many drives the OP wants to attach over time. If it was my media server, I’d consider a pool with Z2 VDEVs with 6 drives each at 10-12TB a pop. Used He10s can be had for $80 a pop with a 5 year warranty from go hard drive dot com. Low power performance at a bargain price.

 

[Constantin]

If there is budget, go for 128GB RAM and add a cheap 1TB SSD as a persistent Metadata-only L2ARC. Makes browsing a lot quicker.

 

[Davvo]

If there is budget, go for 128GB RAM and add a cheap 1TB SSD as a persistent Metadata-only L2ARC. Makes browsing a lot quicker.

Not needed for a backup server that will likely be spun down though.

 

[bent98]

Not needed for a backup server that will likely be spun down though.

what about case and CPU

 

[Davvo]

All the options we linked you use a soldered CPU.
Case depends on how many drives you want, which in turn depend on how much space you require.

 

[bent98]

I guess 8 drive case is good. Still confused as to what drives to use. Really wanted to go bigger to keep cost down

 

[Davvo]

The Fractal Node 804 gives you 10x 3.5'' slots and 2x 2.5'' slots. Micro ATX and no hotswap though.
Alternatively, there are quite a few good full ATX cases as well.

 

[Constantin]

I guess 8 drive case is good. Still confused as to what drives to use. Really wanted to go bigger to keep cost down

If you want to keep the cost down, 22TB is not the way to go re: hard drives. They're $400 a piece if you shuck them, $600 on internal basis. The used 10TB drive I pointed you to is $80 w/a 5 year warranty. So you'd get the 20TB for $160 instead of $400.

 

[bent98]

If you want to keep the cost down, 22TB is not the way to go re: hard drives. They're $400 a piece if you shuck them, $600 on internal basis. The used 10TB drive I pointed you to is $80 w/a 5 year warranty. So you'd get the 20TB for $160 instead of $400.

I looked at the place you were advising but I see a lot of bad reviews, stating they are supplying used hard drives and selling them as new .

 

[bent98]

The Fractal Node 804 gives you 10x 3.5'' slots and 2x 2.5'' slots. Micro ATX and no hotswap though.
Alternatively, there are quite a few good full ATX cases as well.

I was looking at the Fractal R7. The R5 held up well for me. How is the airflow on the Node 804?

 

[Constantin]

Go hard drive only sells used. They provide the warranty. I have had zero issues with the returns I had with the place, it was easier than dealing with an OEM, the last time I had to return a drive.

 

[Davvo]

If you don't give us a budget or a size target it's hard to correctly point you.

 

[bent98]

Go hard drive only sells used. They provide the warranty. I have had zero issues with the returns I had with the place, it was easier than dealing with an OEM, the last time I had to return a drive.

I see. thanks for clarifying. Id still rather have new.