Here we go...advise for first NAS build

[NASbeginner]

Thanks Raiz!Yeah the 804 definitely won't be the easiest to swap out HDDs, but I do like the look of it :)

Now, I just need to do further research and figure out the appropriate power supply and then the plan for my HDD layout (4x 4TB, leave 4 slots open for expansion; 4x 6TB with 4 open; 6x 4TB, or 8x 4TB, etc.) as the plan is to do RAID Z2. I want to think long-term with this NAS so any suggestions would be appreciated based on your experience; as this is my first NAS.

My final question is, do you think it's worth going with the higher processor now v. say the E3 1230 v5?

Thanks!

 

[Jailer]

Get as many and as large a drives as you can afford and have space for. Trust me what you think is sufficient now will become woefully inadequate once you start filling it up with data.

 

[Raiz]

Get as many and as large a drives as you can afford and have space for. Trust me what you think is sufficient now will become woefully inadequate once you start filling it up with data.

There are varying schools of thought on this. If you only have a couple TB of data, you could be fine starting off with 2TB drives and saving some money now, as long as you know you'll have to update later. The 4-6TB drives will be much cheaper in the future when it's time to upgrade.

Alternatively, you can spend more money upfront, and get the larger drives that will last you longer. That way you wouldn't have to touch your system for a few years at least.

There is no wrong answer. Go with whatever you find the best deal on, or whatever makes you feel better.

As far as processing power, here are the numbers:
1230v5 = 10735 passmark score, $277.99
1275v5 = 11332 passmark score, $369.55

So you are gaining 5.5% more processing power for an additional $91.56. I don't know that it's worth the extra cost. It depends on what you want to do with your system.

I do think your original processor, the C2750, with a passmark of 3796 might have left you wanting more. So either of the E3-1200v5 processor options will be fairly futureproof.

 

[NASbeginner]

Thanks Raiz. I'm basically building this for streaming movies to multiple devices (TV, etc) within the household. I plan on installing Emby media server on the NAS. My goal is to find a player where I can stream blu-ray iso files, and possibly .mkv as well directly with no need of transcoding through Kodi (with Emby add-on).

Jailer/Raiz - thank you for the advice. I think now I will max out the 8 ports and install 8x 3TB or 4TB drives. Raiz - I'll keeping thinking about the CPU :) Thank you so much for opening my mind up to explore other motherboard options. I'm very happy I did!

 

[NASbeginner]

Updated build:

Chassis ($69.99): Fractal Design Node 804 Black Aluminum / Steel Micro ATX Cube Case
Motherboard ($229.98): Supermicro X11SSH-F-O
CPU ($356.99): Intel Xeon E3-1275 v5 Quad-Core Skylake Processor 3.6GHz
RAM (64GB) ($430.95): 4x Samsung DDR4-2133 16GB/2Gx72 ECC CL15
Power Supply: Seasonic?
HDD ($879.92): 8x Western Digital Red NAS 3TB drives

1) Anyone have suggestions on the appropriate power supply for the above build? I tried reading through the power supply and I'm a bit confused about amps, watts, etc.

2) What is a good quality UPS?

3) What is recommended for a backup storage system from the NAS?

 

[wreedps]

Any APC Smart UPS UPS is quality. Look at a SMT750 or SMT1500

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

2. I like CyberPower, but I'm running a used APC that I refurbished, i.e. replaced the battery.

 

[Houe]

From my research 3TB drives in the Seagate and Western Digital brands run less reliable than their 2TB or 4TB sizes. HGST drives seem to be fine in all sizes. Not sure if this is still true but look into it if you haven't already.

 

[Raiz]

I think now I will max out the 8 ports and install 8x 3TB or 4TB drives.

What are you going to boot off of? From my understanding, people aren't sure that you can boot off of USB ports with the X11 boards.
Your SuperDOMs share the same plug as a SATA port.
I guess you could hook something to the M.2 connector...

 

[NASbeginner]

@wreedps and Robert - thank you very much for the UPS recommendations. I will take a look at those. Also, Houe - I will look into the reliability of the 3TB drives. If it is much worse than the 4TB then I might just go with the 4TB drives.

@Raiz - regarding the boot device, I see the case offers 2x 2.5" dedicated SSD slots just inside the front of the case. Would that work? I haven't looked into the boot device much yet, so thanks for bringing that up!

 

[Raiz]

That's not what I mean. You said you were going to use all of the SATA ports on the motherboard for your raid drives. Your SSDs won't have anything to plug into on your motherboard. This is one of the reasons I'm going with 6 drives. I'm going to use the other two SATA ports for mirrored SATADOMs or use a couple of old SSDs I've got.

 

[NASbeginner]

Oh I see, I guess I missed that :) hmm. Is it just USB 3.0 that has the issue for booting, or USB 2.0 as well? Wondering if I can do it off of USB 2.0.

 

[Fuganater]

USB 2.0 works just fine.

 

[Ericloewe]

USB 2.0 works just fine.

X11 boards require XHCI even for USB 2.0

 

[NASbeginner]

Thanks Fuganater. Eric - so if I want 8 HDDs I need to find another board? Or what are my options I should consider?

 

[Ericloewe]

Thanks Fuganater. Eric - so if I want 8 HDDs I need to find another board? Or what are my options I should consider?

It depends on your RAM requirements. If you want more than 32GB, the X10SL7-F is out of the question.

If 64GB is enough, you can get an X11 board plus an HBA. Or get an X11 board that has an SAS 3008 controller - but be warned that it might not be stable yet.

 

[Raiz]

Why not do what I said in my previous post and use the M.2 connector? You can get a 256GB internal M.2 drive for $90, or a 64GB for as low as $40. I assume you could boot FreeNAS from the M.2 port, correct? (I'm asking the FreeNAS gurus here)

Either that, or do what Eric said and get a host bus adapter (HBA) and have more SATA ports.

 

[Fuganater]

Its nice to buy the latest and greatest out there but is anyone even using X11 yet? X9 and X10 are well tested.

LSI 9211-8i HBA for more drives.

 

[NASbeginner]

Thanks guys. I'll look at the LSI 9211-8i HBA and further explore the M.2 connector option as well.

 

[Ericloewe]

Its nice to buy the latest and greatest out there but is anyone even using X11 yet? X9 and X10 are well tested.

LSI 9211-8i HBA for more drives.

A few people are (surprisingly many, in fact). Most could probably have had a better experience by not jumping straight into the deep end of the pool.

Why not do what I said in my previous post and use the M.2 connector? You can get a 256GB internal M.2 drive for $90, or a 64GB for as low as $40. I assume you could boot FreeNAS from the M.2 port, correct? (I'm asking the FreeNAS gurus here)

Either that, or do what Eric said and get a host bus adapter (HBA) and have more SATA ports.

M.2 is viable if it's PCI-e. SATA would just use up one of the available ports.

 

[Raiz]

In the case of the X11SSH-F, the M.2 is a Mini PCI Express 3.0 x2 connector.