BUILD How does this build look?

[nasforme]

Hello all. I'm keen to get my first FreeNAS machine configured. The machine will consolidate storage for the various computers and mobile devices in the house and store all the media for a HTPC. I've picked the Xeon because I am considering using the box for transcoding and possibly some small VMs if I decide to use ESXi (keeping in mind the warnings posted all over the forum and docs by jgreco, cyberjock and others). I have read somewhere that the integrated graphics chip may not be necessary for transcoding so I may drop it to a E3-1240 or E3-1220 (or even lower). The machine also needs to be as silent as possible because it will be in a living space.

The spec sheet below is actually a fair bit more expensive than I was initially expecting so suggestions welcome! If I do choose to use ESXi I will plug in a spare 300GB drive directly to the motherboard for use as the VM datastore.

CPU: 1 x Xeon E3-1245 v3
MB: 1 x MBD-X10SLM+-F
PSU: 1 x Straight Power E9 CM 480W
RAM: 2 x Samsung 8GB 1600MHz ECC
HBA: 1 x ServeRAID M1015
Cable: 2 x Startech SFF-8087 to 4xSATA
HDD: 6 x RED 3TB
Case: 1 x DEFINE XL R2
Fan: 1 x Silent Series R2 140MM Fan
UPS: 1 x Ellipse Pro 650

Total: ~£1500

 

[no_connection]

I'm thinking the same thing except with the X10SL7-F and E3-1225V3

I'm not sure if E3-1245V3 is worth it for HT. TDP is the same so I'm not sure if that extra clock is going to do much.

As far as I can tell the GPU might be useful for some guest OS that gets hardware 3D. Or it might just eat up memory and power, and be more expensive. I have no idea which.

Any reason for 3TB instead of 4TB?
Cost wise you have to calculate in the "port cost" as you have a limited amount of ports available to hook up disks to. 3TB might be cheaper per GB when bare, but figure in the cost of the rest of the build and it might be different.
It all depends on your current usage and future upgrades.

Or you just dump the 3TB drives for backup usage when the time comes to add 6TB drives. Who knows what will happen.

 

[JohnK]

I would probably go without the M1015 until you want to add more drives. The Z10SLM comes with 6 Sata cables. The "5" Xeon is only needed if you need more than vga graphics, but considering that it has the board only has vga output, it will be a waste.

 

[no_connection]

It depends on what he want to use as guest OS. W7/8 with aero would probably benefit from hardware 3D.
So "waste" would depend on usage.

Also future usage.

 

[Z300M]

Hello all. I'm keen to get my first FreeNAS machine configured. The machine will consolidate storage for the various computers and mobile devices in the house and store all the media for a HTPC. I've picked the Xeon because I am considering using the box for transcoding and possibly some small VMs if I decide to use ESXi (keeping in mind the warnings posted all over the forum and docs by jgreco, cyberjock and others). I have read somewhere that the integrated graphics chip may not be necessary for transcoding so I may drop it to a E3-1240 or E3-1220 (or even lower). The machine also needs to be as silent as possible because it will be in a living space.

The spec sheet below is actually a fair bit more expensive than I was initially expecting so suggestions welcome! If I do choose to use ESXi I will plug in a spare 300GB drive directly to the motherboard for use as the VM datastore.

CPU: 1 x Xeon E3-1245 v3
MB: 1 x MBD-X10SLM+-F
PSU: 1 x Straight Power E9 CM 480W
RAM: 2 x Samsung 8GB 1600MHz ECC
HBA: 1 x ServeRAID M1015
Cable: 2 x Startech SFF-8087 to 4xSATA
HDD: 6 x RED 3TB
Case: 1 x DEFINE XL R2
Fan: 1 x Silent Series R2 140MM Fan
UPS: 1 x Ellipse Pro 650

Total: ~£1500

You must be in the UK, and I don't know how much your chosen motherboard and the M1015 are there, but here in the USA a Supermicro X10SL7-F (which includes the functionality of an M1015) is cheaper than an X10SLM+-F plus an M1015. You won't need that Startech cable either: the onboard LSI chip's outputs are already to regular SAS/SATA connectors. And there's no point in getting the E3-1245v3 because the motherboard already has on-board video; you probably can save a few pounds by buying the E3-1240v3.

 

[JohnK]

It depends on what he want to use as guest OS. W7/8 with aero would probably benefit from hardware 3D.
So "waste" would depend on usage.

Also future usage.

Maybe I'm confused. How are you planning on getting the video? Note the X10-SLM has a VGA port. It has no HDMI, DVI ports.

If you look at the block diagram, you will see that the integrated AST2400 is feeding the VGA connection. Putting in a CPU with integrated graphics might sound like an option, but I don't believe you can use that graphics. Your best bet will be a video card, but that kind of defeat the purpose of this board. You might be better off with the X10SAE.

I might test this if I get seriously bored. Both my builds have integrated graphics, but neither have ever seen a screen. It would mean carting one into my basement and booting up on some operating system.

 

[Richman]

It depends on what he want to use as guest OS. W7/8 with aero would probably benefit from hardware 3D.
So "waste" would depend on usage.

Also future usage.

?????? Huh??????
Guest OS??? What should that have to do with it? Your not playing or decoding movies on it. Its only a server and the GUEST OS should have its own graphics

 

[no_connection]

He was mentioning the option of running ESXi. Guest OS/Guest VM would then possibly benefit depending on usage.
ESXi should be able to use up to 256MB of the graphics card memory for each VM and give hardware 3D on supported guest OS.

However I have not seen it done with integrated intel, but the document for vSphere 5.5/ESXi mentions intel as supported now but not in what way.
Previously only nVidia quadro was supported.

Not sure if the X10-SLM would allow ESXi to detect the onboard graphics then. I would appreciate if someone could test this with ESXi as I plan to do it with X10-SL7-F that does not have extra ports for integrated graphics.
Going to email Supermicro about it and ask.

 

[nasforme]

Thanks for all the feedback! Really appreciated!

So, if I'm reading correctly, there is a strong possibility that the integrated graphics will do nothing for me except use power when combined with the X10SLM+ as it is questionable if the graphics chip will even be detected. Does an integrated chip not assist with media transcoding? Any thought on my choice of PSU and UPS?

@no_connection: Could you let us know what response you get from Supermicro? Also, I have initially chosen 3TB as the 4TB drives are 50% more (bringing the project total to over £1800) and the 3TB drives give me plenty of storage. It will take me a while to get through and by the time I use enough space to consider expanding I feel I would replace the case, get 6 more drives and configure a RaidZ2+0 pool. Or, as you suggest, I may switch them out for something much larger when the time comes.

@JohnK: I remember reading a post on the forums that a dedicated HBA is recommended for FreeNAS. Have I misinterpreted something? I guess if the HBA isn't of benefit I could always use a second large capacity USB stick as the ESXi datastore if I go that direction. I'll look into the X10SAE.

@Z300M: Surprisingly, I can currently get the E3-1245v3 for almost 10% less than the E3-1240v3 (£205 vs £223) but that saving may be offset by additional electricity costs if the graphics chip won't be useful. I'll look into the X10SL7 too.

 

[no_connection]

No response yet from Supermicro but I really hope it will work as the X10SL7 would be very neat. Still I would probably choose it before a MB without controller.

 

[no_connection]

Got a response from Supermicro today:

"I checked with our lab and they said it is not possible. Since the X10SL7-F only uses the ASPEED chip for graphics, and the Intel C224 chipset doesn’t support integrated graphics.
Since the board wasn’t designed to use the integrated GPU, there is no way for VMWare ESXi 5.5 to access and use the integrated GPU for passthru."