BUILD Looking to make my first box - input on build appreciated!

[denim_chicken]

I currently have a PC that I use to stream Plex movies and serves as storage as well ( with no real backups.. don't shoot me!) I serve up movies to me locally on my network, as well as to my parents a few states away. That PC currently has an Intel Celeron G530. For my FreeNAS box, I am looking to expand storage so I can fit more media whose primary purpose will mainly be streaming over PLEX.

I made a few impulse buys as part of black friday/cyber monday deals and currently have the current hardware coming:


Seasonic SS-660XP2 ATX 12V/EPS 12V, 660W, 80 PLUS PLATINUM Full Modular certified Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151121

5 WD Red NAS Hard Drive WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" NAS Hard Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236344

SanDisk Cruzer CZ36 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (to run the OS)
- http://amzn.com/B007JR532C



For the last pieces to round out the build, I was thinking of the following:

Intel Xeon E3-1230V3 Haswell, 3.3GHz, 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1150, 80W Quad-Core Server Processor BX80646E31230V3
- http://amzn.com/B00D697PEG

ASRock Motherboard, Mini ITX DDR3 1600 LGA 1150 E3C226D2I
- http://amzn.com/B00G9TZHSQ

Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3L 1600MT/s (PC3-12800) DR x8 ECC UDIMM 240-Pin Server Memory
- http://amzn.com/B008EMA5VU

and maybe the Fractal Design Node 304 case (although the price has gone up since I last looked)
- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352027

I have been thinking of getting 1 more of the 3TB WD Red as well.


Does this seem like overkill for the intended use? I could also use help double checking that the RAM is supported for that mobo if this seems like an alright build. Should I add an Intel NIC as well? I think I remember reading in the manual that it is recommended. Any additions/deletions that you would recommend is very much welcome. Thanks for any help in advance!

 

[Ericloewe]

You're fine.

What's the storage setup going to be?

The processor is fine, an i3 is enough for some streaming, though.
The motherboard is limited to 16GB of RAM, so make sure you can live with that. It does have an Intel NIC (two, actually, IIRC), like all server boards.

 

[denim_chicken]

I have the PC that currently does the PLEX streaming in a seperate room connected to a router and I was just planning on putting all of this in the Fractal Box and attach it to the router as well. I was going to map the freeNAS box as a network drive to the PC that is currently doing the streaming.

If I stick with just the 5 x 3TB drives, I am thinking that 16GB RAMwould be enough since the case can only hold 6 HDD max anyhow.

Do you think the Intel Core i3-4150 Processor would be a good alternative? It is considerably cheaper than what I had before which would be nice :)
- http://amzn.com/B00J2LIF2S

 

[marbus90]

A 300W PSU is more than enough for that system. Probably look to swap it out when you find a 300-400W 80+ PSU since it lowers energy usage.

Also I'd start out with 6 drives in a raidz2. Upgrading could then be done via replacing all disks with bigger ones (with resilvering going on ofc). You can't expand an existing vdev, so you would lose that 6th disk port completely or need to redo the whole pool. Since you don't have backup the latter might be out of question.

The E3C224D2I would be enough for your purposes, also an i3 would handle 2-3 plex transcoding streams easily. As said, the board does come with Intel NICs onboard, no worries there.

I don't see any Crucial DIMMs on the QVL: http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224D2I#Memory QVL tough they may be a safer bet than Kingston. Hynix has been the favourite on Supermicro and they are used in all my business computers dating back to 2011. If everything fails, Samsung would be my personal safe bet.

 

[Ericloewe]

The PSU is on its way, and it'd be a shame not to use a Seasonic Platinum. Those things are rock solid.

As for the i3 4150, it'll handle one or two transcoded streams. If you want more, the Xeon is a safer bet.

 

[DKarnov]

Also I'd start out with 6 drives in a raidz2. Upgrading could then be done via replacing all disks with bigger ones (with resilvering going on ofc). You can't expand an existing vdev, so you would lose that 6th disk port completely or need to redo the whole pool. Since you don't have backup the latter might be out of question.

The E3C224D2I would be enough for your purposes, also an i3 would handle 2-3 plex transcoding streams easily. As said, the board does come with Intel NICs onboard, no worries there.

Seconding these recommendations.

I have those Crucial sticks on the C224 version of the ASRockRack board and at least after a few days of Memtest86 and a few weeks of normal running they've been a non-issue.

The PSU is definitely overkill for that setup. You'll see in my sig that I'm running a similar setup and my UPS load meter shows a momentary peak of about 120-140w during startup when my HDDs all spin up. The biggest downsides (other than wasted money) are that you won't get that Platinum efficiency so far below rated load, and it will probably put a little more heat into the case than a lower capacity PSU, especially if you run it in silent mode. The Node 304 puts the hard drives right over the PSU, so that's where the heat will go. A PSU that's at least semi-modular is nice. though, because cable management in that case with a full rack of HDDs taking up space is a struggle. If I were you I'd get something tamer for the NAS box and either return the 660w unit or (if you did get a screaming deal, it is a very nice unit) save it for a gamer box build or something.

 

[denim_chicken]

Thanks for the info everyone.

Seconding these recommendations.
.

It sounds like getting a 6th drive would be a good idea then. If that is the case, I might need to change up the mobo since it only supports 16 GB RAM and I would have 18TB worth of HDD hooked up.

If I were you I'd get something tamer for the NAS box and either return the 660w unit or (if you did get a screaming deal, it is a very nice unit) save it for a gamer box build or something.

I did get a pretty good deal on this PSU - it came out to be just $65.24 after all the rebates (and is currently going for $150). I might plug it in for now and look into getting a less powerful one pretty soon. I have a pretty powerful gamer box right now, so I won't have much use for this otherwise.

Does anyone know by chance if the PC I will have the FreeNAS box mapped to will be doing the transcoding, or if the FreeNAS box be the one doing the transcoding? I should really have one or two streams going at a time, but I suppose that could easily change in the future so maybe the Xeon would be better if the FreeNAS box is the one doing the transcoding.

 

[Ericloewe]

16GB for 18TB should be fine, in home use.

If you'll be viewing the streams on a PC, you can easily just open the files like you would a simple document, leaving all the decoding for the client.
I believe plex also supports non-transcoded streaming.

Embedded stuff typically needs server-side transcoding.

 

[denim_chicken]

16GB for 18TB should be fine, in home use.

If you'll be viewing the streams on a PC, you can easily just open the files like you would a simple document, leaving all the decoding for the client.
I believe plex also supports non-transcoded streaming.

Embedded stuff typically needs server-side transcoding.

Pretty much all of the streams will be viewed through a ROKU and maybe even a cell phone or tablet while on the road. I wasn't sure if the FreeNAS box would be the one doing the transcoding on the server side, or if the PC it will be connected to that has the Plex Media server running will do the transcoding. If it is the latter, I should probably upgrade the CPU in that PC since it is just using an Intel Celeron G530..

 

[Jailer]

Pretty much all of the streams will be viewed through a ROKU and maybe even a cell phone or tablet while on the road. I wasn't sure if the FreeNAS box would be the one doing the transcoding on the server side, or if the PC it will be connected to that has the Plex Media server running will do the transcoding. If it is the latter, I should probably upgrade the CPU in that PC since it is just using an Intel Celeron G530..

You could set it up either way. If it were me I'd concentrate on the freenas project. Unless that current PC gets used for something else I'd set up the new server and let it handle it all and retire the PC. No sense throwing money at 2 different computers when a properly set up freenas box can do all that you are looking to do.

 

[denim_chicken]

You could set it up either way. If it were me I'd concentrate on the freenas project. Unless that current PC gets used for something else I'd set up the new server and let it handle it all and retire the PC. No sense throwing money at 2 different computers when a properly set up freenas box can do all that you are looking to do.

That is true. Pretty much all that PC does right now is run Couchpotato and those type of programs and act as the plex media server. I currently have about 5 TB worth of data on the hard drives connected there already, which I could probably move over to the freenas box. Although, that PC is just two years old, so I would hate to just throw it away at this point

 

[sremick]

I have that exact RAM in that motherboard. Extensive pre-production testing passed with flying colors and it has been rock-solid in real world use too, so you should be fine. I also second the recommendation to start with 6 drives from the get-go if you're going with the Node 304 (also my case).

 

[denim_chicken]

I have that exact RAM in that motherboard. Extensive pre-production testing passed with flying colors and it has been rock-solid in real world use too, so you should be fine. I also second the recommendation to start with 6 drives from the get-go if you're going with the Node 304 (also my case).

That is awesome to hear! I just realized on NewEgg I can get the SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O uATX Server Motherboard in a combo deal with the Xeon processor for about the same price, so I think I am gonna switch to that motherboard. It looks like the RAM should work for that board as well, so it is good to hear it is working well for you!

 

[marbus90]

only that you need to look for another case - I wouldn't recommend sawing a mATX board to ITX. The board has an additional SAS controller for overall 14 SATA Ports, so it would be overkill. Then again, the combo is the same price as the E3C224D2i - I'd look for a case with 12 disks slots then. another expansion possibility ;)

 

[denim_chicken]

Good call on the case. I was talking with a friend and he noticed the case as well. I almost ordered and didn't even think of checking :) I ended up going with the Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl which should fit the supermicro board. Unfortunately it doesn't fit 12 disks I don't think (looks like 10 max), but I could probably get a new case if I ever plan on expanding storage later.

Thanks everyone!

 

[marbus90]

You could ask Fractal if they would send you another 5disk cage including trays, that'd be an elegant yet not easy solution.