I'm a total noob, will this hardware work?

[RandomLegend]

Hello!

So i recently made the 100% switch from Win10 to Ubuntu and now i want to get rid of all the unnecessary data krakens in my life. First and foremost google.
So i want to build a home NAS with TrueNAS Core and use NextCloud as the interface.

Now im no pro with hardware compatibility. Can someone take a look at the stuff i found and tell me if this is sufficient? I know the storage space is not the highest but for the beginning its more than enough for me. I will upgrade sooner or later.

CPU	Intel Xeon E3-1230 v2
Mainboard	GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3H Rev. 1.0
RAM	2x4GB 1600MHz DDR3 U-DIMM
Storage	2x2TB HDD

As far as i can tell the mainboard is compatible with that CPU. But whenever i read some other build recommendations, there are always some super tech savvy people pointing out specific things on a CPU wich might or might not impact the performance. I have absolutely no clue on those specifics.

I just want to have my NextCloud running with CalDAV for Contacts & Calenders, KeePass as Password-Manager and Collabora to write Text docs inside that Storage. All of that being secured by TrueNAS.

Will this hardware do that?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

First, yes, theoretically this system can run TrueNAS but you would be better off with a mainboard and CPU combination that support ECC memory.
Second, this forum is for the legacy FreeNAS software releases, only. Could a moderator please move the thread to the current TrueNAS forum?

Third, and this is the most serious issue - do you really feel like you are up to the task to install and maintain (i.e. keep up to date and secure) a complex web application like Nextcloud? That requires command line system administration skills in FreeBSD. And Collabora cannot run natively on TrueNAS CORE at all, since it is Linux only. So you need to manually install a VM running e.g. Ubuntu and then Collabora in that and then you need to make your Nextcloud installation and Collabora work together.

And to run a VM you need at least twice the memory, i.e. 16 GB.

HTH,
Patrick

 

[VioletDragon]

Hello!

So i recently made the 100% switch from Win10 to Ubuntu and now i want to get rid of all the unnecessary data krakens in my life. First and foremost google.
So i want to build a home NAS with TrueNAS Core and use NextCloud as the interface.

Now im no pro with hardware compatibility. Can someone take a look at the stuff i found and tell me if this is sufficient? I know the storage space is not the highest but for the beginning its more than enough for me. I will upgrade sooner or later.

CPU	Intel Xeon E3-1230 v2
Mainboard	GIGABYTE GA-B75M-D3H Rev. 1.0
RAM	2x4GB 1600MHz DDR3 U-DIMM
Storage	2x2TB HDD

As far as i can tell the mainboard is compatible with that CPU. But whenever i read some other build recommendations, there are always some super tech savvy people pointing out specific things on a CPU wich might or might not impact the performance. I have absolutely no clue on those specifics.

I just want to have my NextCloud running with CalDAV for Contacts & Calenders, KeePass as Password-Manager and Collabora to write Text docs inside that Storage. All of that being secured by TrueNAS.

Will this hardware do that?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, Yes totally agree with getting with of all the other data krackens out there. Ive closed most of my accounts and started hosting everything from Mail to Nextcloud. If you are going to go this route I would highly recommend doing it properly, Personally i would suggest running a Type 1 Hypervisor and Virtualize TrueNAS and run Nextcloud in its own VM reason is security. You also need a Reserve Proxy something like Haproxy or Nginx reverse Proxy and DNS but you can use Split Horizen which requires CloudFlares DNS or DigitalOceans with a DNS Resolver on the other end if you have a Static IP if not then ddclient Dynamic DNS.

I would strongly recommend better Hardware. 8GB is not enough and you want ECC (Error Correcting Code RAM) for ZFS. look at the used market good second hand Servers on ebay.

 

[RandomLegend]

First, yes, theoretically this system can run TrueNAS but you would be better off with a mainboard and CPU combination that support ECC memory.
Second, this forum is for the legacy FreeNAS software releases, only. Could a moderator please move the thread to the current TrueNAS forum?

Third, and this is the most serious issue - do you really feel like you are up to the task to install and maintain (i.e. keep up to date and secure) a complex web application like Nextcloud? That requires command line system administration skills in FreeBSD. And Collabora cannot run natively on TrueNAS CORE at all, since it is Linux only. So you need to manually install a VM running e.g. Ubuntu and then Collabora in that and then you need to make your Nextcloud installation and Collabora work together.

And to run a VM you need at least twice the memory, i.e. 16 GB.

HTH,
Patrick

Thank you Patrick for that answer.

1) I will look for a combination that provides ECC memory.
2) Sorry, didnt know that. I will put it in the correct forum next time i have a question
3) Yes i really feel like i am up to the task. I do have quite extensive CLI experience and i'm also experienced enough to run VMs. The only thing i struggle with is finding every little detail about "old" hardware and how that impacts a server.
Yes i never ran a NAS, but thats what i want to learn now. And i will never learn that if i dont do anything.
I appreciate your concerns, and fundamentally you're 100% right. But thats why i have clear goals set for me and thats why i start "small". I dont want to make the perfect system over night. I want to work towards those goals and learn on the way. If i crash the system on that way, i will start over. I do not plan to store any vital informations the second i get the NAS running.

I will, as @VioletDragon said, look for used Servers on ebay etc. and try to find something that suits these needs. Min. 16GB ECC memory.

 

[RandomLegend]

So i just found one of these: Fujitsu Primergy TX1330 M1 Xeon E3-1231 V3 @ 3,4Ghz 16GB RAM
It has 16GB of ECC ram and a proper CPU.

I know this is a TrueNAS Forum, but TrueNAS was something i heard very good things about. But when Patrick said that Collabora (which is a really important feature for me) only works in Linux. Would i be better off with installing an Ubuntu Server with ZFS on this and host NextCloud there?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I run Onlyoffice in a Ubuntu VM on TrueNAS. You can do the same with Collabora. Works great.

 

[RandomLegend]

I run Onlyoffice in a Ubuntu VM on TrueNAS. You can do the same with Collabora. Works great.

Thats good to hear.

So this used home-server i found should suffice for that application i assume?

Also i found this entry in the forum here: Nextcloud and Collabora Integration | TrueNAS Community
Would this be the correct guide i should use for what i want to achieve?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Yes, i guess so. @danb35 and @Basil Hendroff did most of the work for Nextcloud and related products here on the forum.
For a simple home installation a VM with 4 G of memory for Collabora should be sufficient. It does run Onlyoffice for me, at least. That's why I recommend at least 16 GB of memory total. 32 wouldn't exactly hurt ;)

 

[RandomLegend]

Yeah i plan on upgrading the system bit by bit whenever i have to money. I'm a student and cannot use that much money right now for a "hobby" like this. So the server i found will be around 130€, i already have a 2TB drive here and will get a second one from a friend for 30€.

And when i have the money i will upgrade the RAM to 32GB. But the drives will be upgraded when i see that the 2TB i can use are @75% usage.

Can you point me in a direction on where i can learn more about what @VioletDragon said? The thing about a hypervisor1 and running TrueNAS and the Ubuntu in VMs?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

The thing about a hypervisor1 and running TrueNAS and the Ubuntu in VMs?

This means installing a bare metal hypervisor like VMware ESXi. You need special hardware to run TrueNAS inside a VM that way. And even more memory. But if you want to investigate that route, here's your guide:

"Absolutely must virtualize FreeNAS!" ... a guide to not completely losing your data.

[---- 2018/02/27: This is still as relevant as ever. As PCIe-Passthru has matured, fewer problems are reported. I've updated some specific things known to be problematic ----] [---- 2014/12/24: Note, there is another post discussing how to deploy a small FreeNAS VM instance for basic file...

www.truenas.com

 

[RandomLegend]

This means installing a bare metal hypervisor like VMware ESXi. You need special hardware to run TrueNAS inside a VM that way. And even more memory. But if you want to investigate that route, here's your guide:

"Absolutely must virtualize FreeNAS!" ... a guide to not completely losing your data.

[---- 2018/02/27: This is still as relevant as ever. As PCIe-Passthru has matured, fewer problems are reported. I've updated some specific things known to be problematic ----] [---- 2014/12/24: Note, there is another post discussing how to deploy a small FreeNAS VM instance for basic file...

www.truenas.com

Alright, then this is out for me at the moment. Thank you!

So the Fujitsu Primergy TX1310 M1 i ordered will arrive on friday.

I will install TrueNAS on an 3.0 USB-Drive and let it run from there. I will have 2x1TB & 2x2TB HDDs. Then i will install an Ubuntu VM (i'll look up tutorials for that aswell) and will follow the guide i posted to integrate Collabora and Nextcloud on that Ubuntu VM.

I want to run an AdGuard service aswell to replace my current running PiHole.

Is there anything that is imperative to prepare before that? I have a FritzBox 6591 as my router and will connect several Ubuntu computers and several android devices to that nextcloud.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

The Primergy TX1310 M1 comes with a 4 port SATA RAID controller on-board which is probably connected to the backplane for the disks. You cannot use a RAID controller. If you cannot disable RAID in the BIOS setup completely, you might need to get an additional HBA to connect your disks. But specifically with SATA sometimes you can set the controller to "AHCI mode" or similar and thus disable RAID.
I'd wait for the system and check. Worst case you need to get a used HBA.

Second USB drives frequently have a very short life time since FreeNAS/TrueNAS moved from a read-only setup (NanoBSD) to ZFS. If I read the data sheet correct, there are an additional 2 SATA ports in the system that are not connected to the main RAID/possibly-non-RAID controller. Consider connecting a cheap small SSD to one of those ports for booting.

 

[RandomLegend]

Thank you very much for the help!!

I will get a small SSD when i see if there are two non-RAID SATA Ports.

Good to know that i cannot use hardware RAID. Thats a thing i didnt know. If i can disable that im good to go, otherwise i will look up an used HBA. I assume they have to be compatible with the mainboard and / or vice versa?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Mainboard and SATA backplane.

 

[RandomLegend]

Got it!

 

[VioletDragon]

Thank you Patrick for that answer.

1) I will look for a combination that provides ECC memory.
2) Sorry, didnt know that. I will put it in the correct forum next time i have a question
3) Yes i really feel like i am up to the task. I do have quite extensive CLI experience and i'm also experienced enough to run VMs. The only thing i struggle with is finding every little detail about "old" hardware and how that impacts a server.
Yes i never ran a NAS, but thats what i want to learn now. And i will never learn that if i dont do anything.
I appreciate your concerns, and fundamentally you're 100% right. But thats why i have clear goals set for me and thats why i start "small". I dont want to make the perfect system over night. I want to work towards those goals and learn on the way. If i crash the system on that way, i will start over. I do not plan to store any vital informations the second i get the NAS running.

I will, as @VioletDragon said, look for used Servers on ebay etc. and try to find something that suits these needs. Min. 16GB ECC memory.

Depending on your location a good Dell R510 or R710 is a good Server and requires a Dell Perc H200 flashed to IT mode. You will require the H200i Firmware.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

The OP already ordered a Fujitsu Primergy TX1310 M1.

 

[VioletDragon]

Ok cool. That machine uses DDR3 ECC UDIMMs which are expensive and max RAM is 32GB.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Well, 32 will probably be more than enough for his first steps, and since he's from Germany according to his profile, I can confirm that used Fujitsu is easier to get than used Dell around here. Lots of retired enterprise gear.

The Perc H200 might come into play, though, since you cannot crossflash Fujitsu branded LSI units to IT mode

That all depends on what precisely he will find on that mainboard. On the plus side, overall quality, the IPMI, durability, and documentation are all fairly good.

 

[VioletDragon]

Yeah people are buying these Dell Servers up here in the UK. I bought the R710 for the hypervisor because i host Mail Servers as well as Web and 32GB wasn't enough. Something to note tho, NextCloud with Nginx eats a lot of RAM on High Speeds Network so 32GB will became not enough but all depends on the WAN Connection Speed.