Hardware Sanity Check Request

[Phil Williams]

You must make sure that those are not SMR drives

Will do.

Does everything else look ok?

 

[joeschmuck]

Storage: Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400 RPM Internal Hard Drive (£86.82 @ BT Shop) x8 for storage (Raid Z2)

Roughly 20TB usable (16TB maximum recommended, leave 20% open)
I totally agree with @ChrisRJ to make sure those are not SMR.

Wired Network Adapter: Intel EXPI9402PTG2P20 2 x Gigabit Ethernet PCIe x4 Network Adapter (£40.00 @ Amazon UK)

Why? Isn't the four gigabit ports on the motherboard enough? One should be enough actually.

Memory: Kingston Server Premier 32 GB (1 x 32 GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 Memory (£86.98 @ MoreCoCo)

We need actual model number or part number info. This is too basic. It has me asking if this is ECC RAM. Based on the info here it is not. Highly recommend ECC RAM if you are using this server as a backup. Nothing is more fun that restoring a backup just to find out it's corrupt.

Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 250 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£38.86 @ BT Shop) - boot

Don't do it.

Motherboard: Supermicro X11SCL-LN4F Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£456.00 @ Amazon UK)

Um, why this motherboard? It only has up to 6 SATA ports, that includes the M.2 card. This means you are a few ports low.

CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Processor (£165.00 @ Amazon UK)

A CPU with built in graphics? On a motherboard that will not use it? Well I don't think it would.

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler (£119.95 @ Amazon UK)

That is a beast! You would be doing better to use a smaller factory sized fan. They work great for a NAS use case.

Case: Fractal Design Define R5 ATX Mid Tower Case

Nice Case! I wish I had one. It just looks so clean and sleek.

Power Supply: be quiet! Straight Power 11 650W 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£106.31 @ Box Limited)

Nice power supply. It "should" be fine for 8 drives but you might be pushing it. I'd shop for an 800 Watt myself if I were going to install 8 to 10 hard drives.

So while I'm sure you did some kind of research, I think you fell short. I found to many incompatibilities.

Your basic system looks similar to mine (ESXi System 1). Do yourself a favor, price out those parts, maybe look up a newer Xeon chip in the same family, but mine if fast, and i use it for a lot more than just a NAS. So is it future proof? Is there a such thing? I bought a good system that will last a long time. you do not need a Xeon chip, there are others. But the Xeon provides all the number crunching I need. If I could stuff my hardware into the Define R5 case, but then again, my High Air Flow case is nice too and didn't break the bank.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

I like the Xenon processors on server boards because it gains 4-bit ECC vs. normal 1-bit ECC, and given how ZFS heavily uses memory and memory actually encounters errors fairly often it makes sense to keep errors to a minimum.

Somebody called us "beard-strokers" last week because we plan out a system, then if we don't like it we make it better--they thought this was a waste of time. Really though, it's just like buying that system and putting it together and finding out it doesn't work as imagined, but without having to actually buy the parts, wait on delivery, spend the time getting them working, troubleshooting issues, then buying more stuff....it just cuts to the chase of getting the right stuff to do the intended job.

A good UPS filters power and prevents brown-outs, saving your data in that regard. Really, line power is like eating fast food every meal, it works, but not well, and eventually you'll realize the full situation.

I use SAS controllers instead of mainboard SATA because the LSI controllers are so stable. That did necessitate a PCIe fan in the case so the LSI stays cool, but such is life--if the NAS can't reliably store data what good is it.

No, I don't have to do all that, but I don't have to use TrueNAS instead of LVM either. My goal is to get the data stored, reliably, permanently. If the data you pull out isn't going to be what you stuck in there, why are you storing it in the first place?

 

[Phil Williams]

16TB maximum recommended, leave 20% open

Yep that's what I came out with. Allowing 20% but also growth over the next few years.

Why? Isn't the four gigabit ports on the motherboard enough? One should be enough actually

Yeh .
was an afterthought. Not really required.

We need actual model number or part number info. This is too basic

This is it: https://www.ebuyer.com/1566054-king...erver-32-gb-ddr4-3200-pc4-25600-ksm32ed8-32hc

Don't do it.

Nvme. Ok why? Lol
My thinking was using on board storage wouldn't take up a sata slot?

Um, why this motherboard

I'm dropping to 6 drives instead of 8 and using nvme for boot.

A CPU with built in graphics? On a motherboard that will not use it?

Yeh dithered on this for a while. Decision was based on compatibility and processor requirements rather than graphics.

That is a beast! You would be doing better to use a smaller factory sized fan

Basing this on heat dissipation plus keeping noise down.

Nice power supply. It "should" be fine for 8 drives but you might be pushing it.

Should be able to go higher. Again noise reduction was a concern.

Nice Case!

Went with the r6 in the end as the r5 is in short supply.

 

[Etorix]

I partially concur and partially disagree with @joeschmuck here.
Extra 1 GbE NIC is unnecessary, and the cooler is oversized (Intel stock cooler should even be enough!).
"Server Premier" should be ECC RAM.
Any cheap NVMe SSD is fine for the boot drive (being NVMe means it won't use a SATA lane).
The i3-8100, with iGPU makes sense if you plan to do transcoding with Plex—BUT you'll need a C246 chipset for that, C242 does not support iGPU transcoding. (If you picked the 8100 because it happens to be cheaper than the 8100F that's all fine!).
Which brings up the next point: A C246 board (X11SCH) with 8 SATA ports would be much better for 8 drives… Check prices per TB. You may end up being better with 4-6 larger drives than with 8*4 TB.

 

[Phil Williams]

Just realised my updated list states 8x 4TB. It should read 6x

 

[Phil Williams]

The i3-8100, with iGPU makes sense if you plan to do transcoding with Plex—BUT you'll need a C246 chipset for that, C242 does not support iGPU transcoding. (If you picked the 8100 because it happens to be cheaper than the 8100F that's all fine!).

Yup that was it. I have a separate Plex box for transcoding.

 

[ChrisRJ]

Any cheap NVMe SSD is fine for the boot drive (being NVMe means it won't use a SATA lane).

The last part may depend on the motherboard. There are models out there, where putting in an M.2 SSD will deactivate one SATA port. But I don't remember if that is the case only for SATA-based M.2 SSDs or also ones that use NVMe. Either way, something to look out for IMHO.

 

[Phil Williams]

The last part may depend on the motherboard. There are models out there, where putting in an M.2 SSD will deactivate one SATA port. But I don't remember if that is the case only for SATA-based M.2 SSDs or also ones that use NVMe

So I think I'll be OK, the motherboard manual lists the M.2 slot as PCI-E 3.0 x4. The board only has one M.2 slot and checking the manual (which confusingly referees to three models), I've got the following diagram:

So this says to me that usiong the 2nd M.2 slot would disable SATA6?

 

[ChrisRJ]

So this says to me that usiong the 2nd M.2 slot would disable SATA6?

It can be read as indicating this. But there should be an explicit warning in "prose" somewhere in the manual.

 

[Phil Williams]

Yeh couldn't find anything. I might bin this board and go for the X11SCH-LN4F with 8x sata. That way it won't matter if one is disabled. Thanks for the heads up though :)

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

In 100% of the Supermicro boards I had on my desk so far you only "lose" a SATA port if you place an M.2 SATA drive on the board, but not if you use NVMe. Makes sense, too To provide SATA compatibility one of the controller ports is rerouted if necessary.

 

[Etorix]

The last part may depend on the motherboard. There are models out there, where putting in an M.2 SSD will deactivate one SATA port. But I don't remember if that is the case only for SATA-based M.2 SSDs or also ones that use NVMe. Either way, something to look out for IMHO.

I have yet to come across a motherboard which deactivates SATA when using a M.2 NVMe drive.
Normally the single SATA I/O lane is shared, not the four PCIe lanes—and the former is not taken out of the latter.

 

[joeschmuck]

Nvme. Ok why? Lol
My thinking was using on board storage wouldn't take up a sata slot?

So I'm not cruzing this forum every day but I've seen reports of a NVMe boot drive not being recognized by the bootloader when installing TrueNAS. It may not still be a thing, but I see no need to take that risk. That is the only reason I say no to a NVMe boot drive. And I also knew the motherboard you selected would not meet your needs so buy one that has enough SATA ports to support the build properly.

If I'm wrong as of today, sorry for that. I'm not up to date on everything sadly.

 

[Phil Williams]

Absolutely nothing to apologise for, your feedback thus far has been invaluable :)

I was originally going to go with an 8x disk setup but I've reduced that to 6x. I'm also leaning towards the X11SCH-LN4F board as it has 8x SATA ports so I can mount an SSD drive for boot. The NVME was more me being clever for clever sake I think!

 

[joeschmuck]

NVMe is new to most of us and we all like to play with new stuff. I'm guilty as well. I build a new personal computer to replace my 12 year old unit, which was actually perfectly fine still, but I wanted to play with some new stuff and NVMe was part of it. I have a 1TB NVMe drive as my main drive and I stuffed in a 1TB SSD for VM usage. It's slower than the NVMe but the is okay. I don't do anything fast.

But I like the small and fast NVMe's and I want to buy another one, just to have it. I have no need for it.

X11SCH-LN4

Very popular here. Good solid board. I highly recommend buying good stuff for the NAS, otherwise it's a risk. No corner cutting and I don't think you were cutting corners, not intentionally.

Best of luck on whatever you purchase.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

But I like the small and fast NVMe's and I want to buy another one, just to have it. I have no need for it.

Let me PM you my address to ship your "uneeded builds" to.

 

[Phil Williams]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who had input on this thread. Orders have been placed and I now have to sit here looking at a stunning Define R6 case with nowt in it until the bits arrive. The motherboard has a 4 week lead time so this will be torture! :D

 

[joeschmuck]

Let me PM you my address to ship your "uneeded builds" to.

Ha Ha, I wish I had a...

a stunning Define R6 case

which someone could ship me

I just spent way too much money over the past 3 weeks. This is off topic. I bought a new RC Transmitter, Receiver, batteries, RC Airplane Kit, Wireless Keyboard/Mouse, Tool Box, Ceiling Fan, Grass Seed, HVAC Filters. I've spent close to $2000 USD. And I'm drooling at a new truck. i picked one up at a dealership on Wednesday for work, very nice truck I picked out, wish I could have kept it for myself. So I'm burning the cash and I'm not sure why. I'm 61 as of tomorrow and am I now having a mid-life crisis? Kind of late but I never had one before.

Cao

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

@joeschmuck : What type of R/C setup did you get? I fly R/C helis, the largest is a Goblin 770 on Aurora TX with a custom radio so I can fly Spektrum RX w/+2 sats..