I give up, please help

[cardona1068]

I give up, I screw up and I don’t get what parts go with what. I have watched weeks’ worth of videos and read months’ worth of NAS systems and FreeNAS and I don’t get it. Please help. I thought I bought the right parts and components but NOOOOO. This is what I got

1) Fractal Design Define R4 Cases FD-CA-DEF-R4-BL (for the X10 hdd)

2) 2) Asus Z97 Gryphon LGA 1150 Micro ATX (thought that the tough was going to help, NOT)

3) Intel Core i3 -4130T 2.9GHz LGA 1150 (if I’m not wrong the T is for NAS)

4) LSI 9361-8i SATA SAS 12GB/s RAID CONTROLLER CARD RARE 2GB VERSION w/ BBU (Grate card but base on what I read I can not do Raidz2 with it!!!)

5) Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 NON-ECC (tataraaaa NOT)

6) X10 Western Digital Red 3 TB Internal 5400RPM 3.5" WD3001FFSX NAS (THE only smart choice I have made!!!)

7) Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250gb (for cach, just don’t know what exacly that is just read I need one)

8) Sandisk Cruzer 32GB USB 32 GB Flash Drive

9) VGA SuperNOVA 80+ PLATINUM 650W, Fully Modular Power Supply 220-P2-0650-X1

Based on what I have read “ASROCK or Supermicro Motherboards” are the most common motherboards for NAS. Here’s my problem. There is hundreds of each brand that I don’t know with would perform best for my purpose. For the x10 hdd I have the LSI 9361 but how do I connect 10 hdd with only 8 connections on the card and second can it be made to do raidz2? I know I need 1gb of ECC ram for each 1 tb of hdd but I don’t know witch ram is comparable with the RIGHT motherboard (ASROCK or Supermicro). What I wish to accomplish is a NAS system (price can be adjusted to what’s reasonable) that can storage and safely data, movies pictures and more to be able to access through my network to any device (phone, tablets computers TV) from any ware in the world. I know I need the right components to do FreeNAS, raidz2, ZFS, PLex. Please help.

 

[JoshDW19]

Have you considered a FreeNAS Mini? It can really simplify the process if you're having a hard time sourcing parts.

 

[danb35]

I have watched weeks’ worth of videos and read months’ worth of NAS systems and freeNAS and I don’t get it.

Did you consult the hardware recommendations guide here? It's about the best resource for good hardware--because really, just about none of what you've listed makes for a good FreeNAS server. It will likely work, but it won't be close to ideal. And why ask after you've (apparently) already bought the parts?

You don't want a RAID card; you want an HBA. You can probably sell your RAID card, buy a suitable HBA, and pocket some cash in the bargain.

For the x10 hdd I have the LSI 9361 but how do I connect 10 hdd with only 8 connections on the card

You don't have any SATA ports on the motherboard?

 

[cardona1068]

Have you considered a FreeNAS Mini? It can really simplify the process if you're having a hard time sourcing parts.

Thank you for the suggestion I have looked into them but, I'm more of a do it my self which is why this is eating me by not getting the parts right. thank again

 

[cardona1068]

Did you consult the hardware recommendations guide here? It's about the best resource for good hardware--because really, just about none of what you've listed makes for a good FreeNAS server. It will likely work, but it won't be close to ideal. And why ask after you've (apparently) already bought the parts?

You don't want a RAID card; you want an HBA. You can probably sell your RAID card, buy a suitable HBA, and pocket some cash in the bargain.


You don't have any SATA ports on the motherboard?

that's why I post I give up, I like to at least try and make mistakes in the process. and this the part were i say help LOL. I did look at the hardware recommendations (again after I thought i knew it all) but is more confusing than anything. yes the motherboard haves sata ports but wanted a card to connect all of them.

 

[danb35]

yes the motherboard haves sata ports but wanted a card to connect all of them.

Why? Again, you shouldn't use hardware RAID in any way, shape, or form with FreeNAS. As long as the disks can be seen by the OS, it doesn't matter how many controllers are used to attach them.

 

[cardona1068]

Did you consult the hardware recommendations guide here? It's about the best resource for good hardware--because really, just about none of what you've listed makes for a good FreeNAS server. It will likely work, but it won't be close to ideal. And why ask after you've (apparently) already bought the parts?

You don't want a RAID card; you want an HBA. You can probably sell your RAID card, buy a suitable HBA, and pocket some cash in the bargain.


You don't have any SATA ports on the motherboard?

DanB do you have a recommendation as for the HBA card, all the ones I read about are ether old or for high end commercial.

 

[danb35]

do you have a recommendation as for the HBA card

From the guide:

By far the most popular option, SAS controllers based on the LSI SAS2008 or SAS2308 chips provide up to eight lanes of SAS connectivity and are available in a number of configurations, with external and/or internal ports.

Some cards are configured as RAID controllers and require a crossflash to standard HBA mode.

Popular models include the LSI SAS 9211, SAS 9240 and SAS 9207 series, the IBM/Lenovo M1015/M1115 and the Dell H200 and H310. All of these, except for the LSI SAS 9211 and 9207, must be crossflashed.

An additional option is the LSI SAS 9201, a 16-port card which uses the LSI SAS2116 controller, which is also known to work well and only supports HBA usage, not hardware RAID. It is not very popular because it is more expensive than a pair of 8-port HBAs.

 

[cardona1068]

Why? Again, you shouldn't use hardware RAID in any way, shape, or form with FreeNAS. As long as the disks can be seen by the OS, it doesn't matter how many controllers are used to attach them.

I am a newb in NAS but base on what I read a HBA card will perform better

 

[danb35]

base on what I read a HBA card will perform better

Irrelevant with mechanical hard drives. There might be a difference with SSDs.

 

[cardona1068]

From the guide:

Thank you DanB for that info, will studdy all of the series mention. can you recomend Motherboard and compatible ECC RAM plz

 

[danb35]

X11SSM-F
For the Skylake generation, the X11SSM-F is much more interesting than the X11SSL-F due to the use of the C236 PCH, which provides eight SATA ports instead of six. It is the most popular Skylake choice at the moment.

X11SSL-cF
The Skylake equivalent of the X10SL7-F, the X11SSL-cF takes the X11SSL-F’s feature set and adds an LSI/Avago SAS 3008 SAS3 controller, for a total of 14 direct-attach drives. With its 64GB RAM limit, it is a natural choice for those servers that would be limited by the X10SL7-F’s 32GB RAM limit.

For RAM, probably a single 16 GB DIMM off either Supermicro's compatibility list, or from crucial.com.

 

[cardona1068]

For RAM, probably a single 16 GB DIMM off either Supermicro's compatibility list, or from crucial.com.

Thank again, you have any other suggestions, plz do so. or if anyone else have suggestions i am open to suggestions and recommendations.

 

[Chris Moore]

LSI 9361-8i SATA SAS 12GB/s RAID CONTROLLER CARD RARE 2GB VERSION w/ BBU (Grate card but base on what I read I can not do Raidz2 with it!!!)

Yes, this is not supported hardware. Sell it and get some cash back.

did you look at the guide ?

FreeNAS® Quick Hardware Guide
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/

Hardware Recommendations Guide Rev 1e) 2017-05-06
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

 

[Jailer]

Thank again, you have any other suggestions, plz do so. or if anyone else have suggestions i am open to suggestions and recommendations.

You likely don't need a cache drive for your intended usage. Either re purpose the SSD or use it for the OS install.

 

[cardona1068]

Yes, this is not supported hardware. Sell it and get some cash back.

did you look at the guide ?

FreeNAS® Quick Hardware Guide
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/

Hardware Recommendations Guide Rev 1e) 2017-05-06
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

thank you Chris, I looked at your recommendation but, its more confusing than anything. yes it list the recommended parts but it do not say why?

 

[cardona1068]

You likely don't need a cache drive for your intended usage. Either re purpose the SSD or use it for the OS install.

Hi, Jailer, can you plz explain why don't need a cache drive?

 

[cardona1068]

GTG work ditties LOL but ill be back tonight

 

[Chris Moore]

thank you Chris, I looked at your recommendation but, its more confusing than anything. yes it list the recommended parts but it do not say why?

Why, because the recommendations work.
Sometimes its just a matter of reliability, other times it is because it is just known to be a working solution.
If you pick other hardware, you may find that it doesn't work at all or that it creates a unstable system.
In the end, it is far easier to list the known working part than to list all the options that do not work and why.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[Chris Moore]

Hi, Jailer, can you plz explain why don't need a cache drive?

It's because of the functionality that you propose. It just isn't necessary.