Help me with my first build please

[Murali Naidu]

Hi everyone,

I have recently learnt about plex and freenas, i am now determined to build my own server asap.

I have read a lot on the forums and the requirements, i just have a few questions relating to the hardware i selected.

I plan on using this purely for storage of media and streaming back to my TV and maybe my tablet occasionally for my daughter. It must run Freenas and plex. I don't intend on doing anything crazy with this mainly storing of my collection of movies, music and photos and streaming for home use only.

I have selected the following, please advise if this would run what i need to do above seamlessly?

1. CPU - Intel sKylake-s lga1151 Pentium G4400 - dual core , 3.3Ghz box cpu

http://ark.intel.com/products/88179/Intel-Pentium-Processor-G4400-3M-Cache-3_30-GHz

2. MB-GB150MD3HD3 - http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5491#sp

3. Crucial 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L ECC UDIMM

4. Seasonic M12II 520W Modular Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151094

5. Case - cooler master force 500 http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mid-tower/cm-force-500/

6. 3TB Western Digital Red

Just starting out so any advice will be great i am on a budget so don't want to go overboard with the cost of this setup

Thanks

 

[nojohnny101]

That CPU should be more an enough for what you need. I would actually recommend maybe an Avoton (like the c2550 of 2750) as it would save you energy but still could handle your low plex demands. It is a great low Power CPU that can handle more than most think.

With any components you select now though, just keep in mind if you ever will demand from your FreeNAS box then you'll be up a creek.

Deleted for accuracy. Minimum of 2 (mirror) but that offers little redundancy (EDITED). I would read the manual to make sure you understand about zpool, vdevs, and shares.

Also you need something (USB flash drive or cheap SSD) to install FreeNAS on.

 

[danb35]

You can't use just one hard drive with FreeNAS.

Of course you can. Single-drive pools are just as easy to create as multi-drive ones, and a perfectly valid storage configuration both with ZFS and with FreeNAS. Whether they're a good idea is a separate issue, but IMO there are applications where they make perfect sense.

Minimum of 2 (mirror) but that offers no redundancy.

The minimum is not two drives (see above), but where do you get the idea that a mirror offers no redundancy?

 

[wblock]

Minimum of 2 (mirror) but that offers no redundancy.

Err... say what? :)

 

[nojohnny101]

hey
Sorry. Flew to a different time zone and wrote that when I couldn't sleep. Won't do that again.

I edited above to remove inaccuracies. Mirror offers one drive redundancy, sorry I was sleep deprived.

I'm not familiar with a one drive zpool in FreeNAS though. What is that called? I thought the minimum was a 2 drive mirror or two disks in a raidz1 as anything above that requires >3?

 

[danb35]

A single-drive pool would show in the FreeNAS GUI as a stripe, I believe. It will, of course, have no redundancy, but redundancy isn't always needed.

 

[nojohnny101]

A single-drive pool would show in the FreeNAS GUI as a stripe, I believe.

Didn't know that! Thanks!

 

[Stux]

Hi everyone,
2. MB-GB150MD3HD3 - http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5491#sp
3. Crucial 8GB 1600MHz DDR3L ECC UDIMM

BTW, the link for your motherboard says the ECC ram will operate in non-ecc mode.

"Support for ECC UDIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8 memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode)"

I think its a decent CPU choice. You might need more memory to run Plex as well as FreeNAS. The nice thing with the CPU is that if you find you need more ooomph for Plex you have plenty of growth choices.

Perhaps look at some Skylake boards from Supermicro and Asrockrack too.

When I looked at the Avoton boards I found them overly expensive for obsolete 3 year old hardware.