Hi from Belgium - this is my system

[MarioDS]

Hello,

My name is Mario, 24 y.o. Windows / .NET developer from Belgium. I've been wanting a NAS for a long time, and now based upon recommendations I've chosen FreeNAS to finally power my first system.
I'm a true DIY'er at least when it comes to everything related to IT. Buying something like a Synology is not an option for me ;)

Here is the hardware I've chosen:

• Enclosure: Fractal Design Node 804
• Mainboard: Supermicro X11SSH-F
• CPU:Intel Xeon E3-1240v6
• RAM: Crucial 2x8GB DDR4 ECC
• PSU: Cooler Master V Series V550
• Boot disk: Samsung 960 EVO MZ M.2 PCI-e
• HDD array: 6x WD Red 3TB (WD30EFRX)
• UPS: Eaton Ellipse PRO 650

Many thanks to the hardware recommendations guide maintainers so I could select it so quickly!

I hope this setup will give me the flexibility to utilize FreeNAS in all it's capacity and experiment with building a full-fledged home server that can handle a few plugins etc.

My intention is to engage with the community whenever I can, and as soon as I start getting to know my way around my system, help other newcomers along.

Any questions or feedback?

Best regards!

 

[gpsguy]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Ericloewe]

PSU: Cooler Master V Series V550

Hmmm.... I'd get something like a Seasonic G-550 or Corsair RM(i, x)550 instead. Cooler Master PSUs are somewhat unpredictable in terms of quality.

RAM: Crucial 2x8GB DDR4 ECC

You're probably better off with a single 16GB DIMM.

Boot disk: Samsung 960 EVO MZ M.2 PCI-e

It's serious overkill. Maybe you can find a cheaper PCIe M.2 drive.

 

[MarioDS]

Hi Ericloewe,

thank you kindly for your feedback!

Hmmm.... I'd get something like a Seasonic G-550 or Corsair RM(i, x)550 instead. Cooler Master PSUs are somewhat unpredictable in terms of quality.

I always refer to this guide when buying PSU's: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html. Mine is listed as Tier 1 meaning best quality. I am aware that Seasonic is about the #1 brand out there by reputation, and if you look closely, the Cooler Master unit I've chosen here actually houses components made by Seasonic. Seems pretty neat to me if this information can be trusted :).

You're probably better off with a single 16GB DIMM.

Can you elaborate? I always buy 2 DIMMs to benefit from Dual Channel memory technology. I'm no expert but I believe this is essentially "load balancing for memory"?

It's serious overkill. Maybe you can find a cheaper PCIe M.2 drive.

I bought and assembled the hardware a few months ago but only recently found some time to finally get down to actually setting it up.

IIRC, this actually was one of the cheapest M.2 PCIe options that my go-to web shop had in stock at the time.
It's far from the most expensive part in the system, and anyway I tend to look for quality and future-proof-ness rather than shaving off the price.

But in case any other newcomers happens to read this: yes, there are cheaper options for boot drives, including decent USB thumb drives of course.

 

[Ericloewe]

Can you elaborate? I always buy 2 DIMMs to benefit from Dual Channel memory technology. I'm no expert but I believe this is essentially "load balancing for memory"?

That's nice, of course, but it's significantly more useful to make future expansion easier by going with the largest DIMMs available.

 

[LIGISTX]

No issue with 960 evo's, but I agree, even being a huge I am fairly sure that is CRAZY overkill for your needs. If you had a requirements for a SLOG device I think that would work there, but as a boot drive it's just a needless expenditure of money. I would go with a SATA 850 Evo at most.

But hey, who can argue with overkill.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Stux]

No issue with 960 evo's, but I agree, even being a huge I am fairly sure that is CRAZY overkill for your needs. If you had a requirements for a SLOG device I think that would work there, but as a boot drive it's just a needless expenditure of money. I would go with a SATA 850 Evo at most.

But hey, who can argue with overkill.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

960 Evo is not a valid slog device. I use it as a boot device in my Node 304 build because I like Samsung SSDs.

But it does not have PLP and you only ever need to read from a SLOG after a crash or power loss event. So guess when you need PLP...

I think the Intel Optane M.2s make good boot drives too.

Re memory, dual channel is nice and all, but in FreeNAS it's more important not to limit your maximum memory capacity. Which is 4x16GB on that board. So, without replacing half your ram you just limited your build to 40GB instead of 64GB

 

[LIGISTX]

960 Evo is not a valid slog device. I use it as a boot device in my Node 304 build because I like Samsung SSDs.

But it does not have PLP and you only ever need to read from a SLOG after a crash or power loss event. So guess when you need PLP...

O, my bad. I thought it did. Glad you chimed in there. I musta miss remembered all of the stuff I have been reading in the past 2 days.