BUILD Help With A Part List!

[Mr_Bryce]

Hello all I have just recently discovered FreeNAS and all that it can do! I looked at the pre made servers and decided that building will be a more cost effective route. So I went on PC Part Picker and hashed out a build: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Mr_Bryce/saved/NnjJ7P but after doing some research I came across a thread here saying that using non ecc ram in your server could be detrimental. I also decided that 16GB of ram would be more appropriate. This means that I now need a CPU and a motherboard that both support ecc ram. After looking at 16GB ecc ram kits I found that many of them had four sticks of 4GB ram. Would it be better for my server to have the duel channel or the quad channel memory? I also was looking at some of the user made builds on the forum and found the favorite HDD to be the WD Red. Is it superior to the Seagate NAS? I am also planning on being able to add more storage to my server when I get the cash. Is it possible to add another drive to a pre existing volume or would I have to create a new volume for the new drives? I would like to keep the cost down on this build as much as possible so which CPU, 16GB ecc ram, HHD, and motherboard do you recommend? I will be using plex media server and streaming to 3 devices at the same time max. Thank you so much for your help!

[UPDATE]
After doing more research I have created a new part list, my problem is the cost. When I first started researching a home NAS I was hoping to be able to build one for about $600 but as I learned about the need for more robust server hardware the cost went up!

Are there any ways I can reduce the cost of my current build without loosing reliability? Are there parts I am paying too much for, or are there any parts of the build that are unbalanced? I will be using this NAS for storing family pictures and Home videos. I would also like to store my movies and music on this machine, using Plex Media Server to access it.

Here is my part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Mr_Bryce/saved/NnjJ7P

Thank you all so much!

 

[diedrichg]

Here is a nice build meeting all the requirements and recommended hardware. http://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/19985/ Be sure to read the whole thread as there are some hardware changes. Also read the recommended hardware at doc.freenas.org

Be sure to also read the stickies in the hardware section and new to FreeNAS section. Also read up on some of the threads about WD Green drives as they are widely accepted too. There is also much discussion about adding drives later. It's not a cut and dried answer as there are several different scenarios to do that. This isn't an exact answer but; No - you can not simply go from a 3-drive pool to a 4-drive pool. Please read Cyberjock's sticky thread on ZFS, vdev and pools to understand this.

 

[Mr_Bryce]

Thank you so much for the reply!

 

[diedrichg]

If you go with a WD Green or Red read up on cyberjock's thread about wdidle.

 

[anodos]

Don't skimp on hard drive quality. How much storage space do you need?
You could always save some money to begin with by only having a mirrored pair, and expanding your zpool as you need more capacity (adding two disks at a time).
Definitely get ECC memory and motherboard that are known to work well. You can save some money by getting a non-xeon processor that supports ECC.
Don't do RAIDZ1 (I know it can be tempting to get more storage space) and put some thought into how you are going to do backups of your NAS.
Read all of the above linked materials. Take your time to plan it out.

 

[solarisguy]

Final choices also depend on non-technicalities like warranty (not just how many years, but replacement terms) and availability. Often people who select a FreeNAS server not only want to have their data stored reliably, but also accessible 24x7 ( or at least 16x7 if sleep is allowed :) ) . So think about each component, how are you going to replace it, should it fail. Maybe you would be building another server if your motherboard fails. Give some thought to that angle.

Although ECC RAM is not a must, not having it gives you a good chance of loosing all your data without any warning. If you decide on ECC RAM, here is a list of modern Intel processors that will handle ECC http://ark.intel.com/products/71385/#@compatibility (your CPU is on that list). If you are staying with a processor from that list, you would be going for a motherboard with one of Intel chipsets from C22x series. And you want your motherboard to use Intel and not Realtek for Ethernet.

Three hard drives? Three way mirror or RAID-Z1? Maybe four disks and RAID-Z2?

Your power supply could be even in the range below 300W . Try less watts, and more Gold. Depending on your electricity rates, when running 24x7, higher PS efficiency can save you money.

Seagate NAS and WD Red... There are two incompatible schools. One says that using the same type of disks offers better performance overall. The other says that one should mix drives from different production runs or even from different vendors to avoid all of the hard drives failing at the same time. I am trying to have all the disks the same, but not to extent of buying a 5-year supply of spares or chasing no-longer-made models on eBay.

Going with the second school of thought would make you mix Seagate NAS and WD Reds. Going with the first school... MTBF is better by 20% for WD Reds (=AFR is smaller for WD Reds). Published maximum sustained speeds are better by 20% for Seagate NAS drives.

 

[Ericloewe]

For up to ~10 5400RPM disks, the Seasonic G-360 is a lot better than any low-end Corsair. The G-450 is only trivially more expensive, generally, and is semi-modular (The G-360 has fixed cables).

Most people around here go with Supermicro X10 motherboards and they tend to work well. You'd then need ECC RAM (check Supermicro's compatibility list, but Crucial, Hynix and Samsung should work, Kingston may be problematic).

If you value your data, avoid non-ECC RAM and RAIDZ1 like the plague.

 

[Mr_Bryce]

[UPDATE]
After doing more research I have created a new part list, my problem is the cost. When I first started researching a home NAS I was hoping to be able to build one for about $600 but as I learned about the need for more robust server hardware the cost went up!

Are there any ways I can reduce the cost of my current build without loosing reliability? Are there parts I am paying too much for, or are there any parts of the build that are unbalanced? I will be using this NAS for storing family pictures and Home videos. I would also like to store my movies and music on this machine, using Plex Media Server to access it.

Here is my part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Mr_Bryce/saved/NnjJ7P

Thank you all so much!

 

[diedrichg]

Are you planning to go to 32GB of RAM later? Regardless, you will eventually want two same-sized/speed modules so that they can run in dual-channel.

 

[Mr_Bryce]

Are you planning to go to 32GB of RAM later? Regardless, you will eventually want two same-sized/speed modules so that they can run in dual-channel.

I am planning to eventually have 32GB! Does running in single channel cause instabilities? Is it very noticeable?

 

[diedrichg]

If you go with the X10 mobo line and a G3420 (for example) you will spend about $15 more but you'll get 4xSATA3 and 2xSATA2 ports. As mentioned before, mix the HDDs. If you prefer to stick to a brand then buy from different sources such as NewEgg, Amazon, Tiger Direct, etc.

 

[diedrichg]

I am planning to eventually have 32GB! Does running in single channel cause instabilities? Is it very noticeable?

No. No instabilities, it just won't run as fast as two sticks that are sharing the load.

 

[Mr_Bryce]

No. No instabilities, it just won't run as fast as two sticks that are sharing the load.

In what way would it affect the user experience? What would be visibly slow?

 

[diedrichg]

For a home user, most likely no noticeable loss in performance unless large amounts of files are simultaneously being copied.

 

[Mr_Bryce]

If you go with the X10 mobo line and a G3420 (for example) you will spend about $15 more but you'll get 4xSATA3 and 2xSATA2 ports. As mentioned before, mix the HDDs. If you prefer to stick to a brand then buy from different sources such as NewEgg, Amazon, Tiger Direct, etc.

Very smart I will have to remember that!

 

[cyberjock]

Put it in perspective. who cares if your CPU can now do 4GB/sec instead of 2GB per second when your output is only 1Gb LAN...

 

[solarisguy]

The same place you are buying from, try

• Intel Pentium G3220 Haswell 3.0GHz LGA 1150 54W
• SuperMicro MBD-X10SLL-S-O uATX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C222 DDR3 1600

 

[Ericloewe]

[UPDATE]
After doing more research I have created a new part list, my problem is the cost. When I first started researching a home NAS I was hoping to be able to build one for about $600 but as I learned about the need for more robust server hardware the cost went up!

Are there any ways I can reduce the cost of my current build without loosing reliability? Are there parts I am paying too much for, or are there any parts of the build that are unbalanced? I will be using this NAS for storing family pictures and Home videos. I would also like to store my movies and music on this machine, using Plex Media Server to access it.

Here is my part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Mr_Bryce/saved/NnjJ7P

Thank you all so much!

That memory you've selected will not work! You need Unbuffered RAM, not Registered. Additionally, only newer Atoms support 16GB DIMMs (if they're even available already) so you need a 2* 8GB DIMM kit.