HW recommendations, buy new/old, pc/server

[Martynas]

Hi all,
I've been running FreeNAS 8.3 on an old PC i got for free. It's crap AMD Athlon(tm) II X2 245 Processor (1662 passmark), added 2x8Gb non-ECC RAM and a 1Tb HDD. It is running fine, but now i really need to increase my storage. Just bought 4Tb WD red. I am not running any Plex, VM or anything else, just a pure storage pc. As i am starting to upload valuable data on it i need to add RAID on it. Long story short, I think i need to upgrade my system.
I have few options as i don't want to spend fortune on it:

1. Found used tower pc for £50. i3-4160 chip (5054 passmark), some sort of gigabyte mini atx mobo. In this scenario i get Case, PSU, CPU and if lucky MOBO with ECC capability. Today i was looking a lot and learned about ECC RAM, which is supported by i3 processor, not sure about MOBO. So all i would need to do is to swap MOBO + buy 16Gb ECC RAM? £200-£250 total?
2. Second option could be to buy DELL or Lenovo or any other ready to go server which cost £400-£700 total?
3. Build a totally custom NAS device £500-£1000?

If i would go for 1 option i would need some sort LSI, HBA card to expand slots? i really missed this part.
Btw, i should tell you my plan. In the end i would like to get 8Tb storage device with some data security. So i would need 4x4Tb HDDs for RAID configuration? And now again, there are so many RAIDS, raidz1,z2,raid10 and so on and on...
I'm lost, a lot. Hopefully you will understand my needs and all this scribbling.

 

[melloa]

i need to add RAID

Have you read: https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/ and https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/terminology-and-abbreviations-primer.28174/ already? The 1st one will give lots of information on ZFS and disks configuration.

i would need some sort LSI, HBA card to expand slots?

It depends. I run a FreeNAS on a MB that had 10 SATA ports, so never used a HBA, but, if you need, make sure to read https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/ for a list of suggested HBAs and some explanation on why IT mode is needed, so the ZFS software will control your disks.

In the end i would like to get 8Tb storage device with some data security.

Well ... depending on the # of SATA ports and disk sizes, things will change, so: https://wintelguy.com/zfs-calc.pl will give you an idea how to get to your 8TiB.

Regarding your build, I do like plan for future expansion, specially drives bays. I did have three or four boxes on regular tower, moved to a rack mount 10 bays, and now I'm on a 24 bays. I think I'm now ok for the next ... 5 - 10 years? ;)

The use of desktop hardware for me proved to be just a little cheap than server grade used gear. I'd check in U.K. what you can find on eBay or similar. Keep in mind noise, expansion, etc. For instance, this one is $610 in US: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2U-Supermi...808496?hash=item1ee9663530:g:6pgAAOSwymJbbdze

Good luck :)

 

[Martynas]

Ok, now it got a bit interesting. I found on UK ebay Supermicro 2U 12x 3.5" Bay Storage Server, 12 Core, 24GB RAM, RAID controller for £325.00 inc. VAT, i am VAT registered so i could get 11%ish back. Ready to go unit, its refurbished, but for the money i think its good. 12 x 3.5" bays is more than i would need, but then how does it work? what kind of OS it runs? I will definitely look into google, but if you don't mind could you give some tips on using server gear? Does the RAM rule apply there? 24Gb RAM = 24Tb max?