Tumbleweed
Cadet
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2017
- Messages
- 5
Hi,
This will be my first NAS build, but I think I've done my homework. Thanks to all of you and the resources you've provided. I'd really appreciate any feedback, thanks in advance for your time.
My planned use for this is to only use it for NAS. Important considerations for me are reliability, low maintenance, being nearly silent, low power consumption, and small form factor in that order. Cost is always a factor, but I am willing to pay a bit of a premium to get the power consumption and form factor I want.
I will be creating another separate server running several VMs for PLEX transcoding, Nextcloud, game server, and in the future probably home automation and home security setup, so the FreeNAS box really is just a NAS.
Case
Fractal Design Node 304 Black
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352027
I really like the case and form factor, but as with any mini ITX case, I'm a little concerned about space and heat. Anyone running 6 WD RE or gold drives in one of these?
Motherboard
Supermicro Mini ITX A1SAI-2550F-O Quad Core DDR3 1333 MHz Motherboard and CPU Combo
https://www.amazon.com/Supermicro-Mini-A1SAI-2550F-Motherboard-Combo/dp/B00HS4N6SE
Or
Supermicro Mini ITX A1SRI-2558F-O Quad Core DDR3 1333 MHz Motherboard and CPU Combo
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HS4NLHA/ref=psdc_1048424_t1_B00HS4N6SE
I read that the 2550 will perform slightly better on FreeNAS than the 2558, due to TurboBoost but it is slightly more expensive ($10).
The 8-core 2750 seems unnecessary for my usage case. Thoughts?
RAM
16GB total.
(2) Kingston 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory Model KVR16LSE11/8
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239702
Any reasonably priced alternatives that may be better quality?
Power Supply
Seasonic 360W 80PLUS Gold ATX12V Power Supply SSR-360GP
https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-80PLUS-ATX12V-Supply-SSR-360GP/dp/B008XEYT5M/
Or
Seasonic SSR-450RM ATX 12V/EPS 12V 450-Watt 80 Plus Gold certified PFC Power Supply
https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-80PLUS-ATX12V-Supply-SSR-360GP/dp/B00918MQ8G/
15W/25W MB + 6x9W/7W Drives = Idle: ~57W Load: ~80W
https://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2550-power-consumption-comparison/
I think the 360W power supply is big enough, according to my power calculations. The 450 doesn't cost much more, but I think idle would only be about 10% of that power supply, so definitely below optimal.
Disks
Planning RAIDZ2 with either (4 or 6) WD Gold 6TB Datacenter Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD6002FRYZ
https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Datacenter-Hard-Disk-Drive/dp/B01AV168FS/
SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ43-032G-GAM46) for OS
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LLEN5FQ/
I would like an SSD instead of the USB flash drive, and have a 120GB one I could use, but am out of SATA ports on the Supermicro board (and don't trust the ASRock ones reliability and don't like the extra power consumption from that switcher chip). I don't think it's worth buying an HBA like LSI LOGIC SAS 9207-8i Storage Controller LSI00301 just to have an SSD instead of USB flash drive.
Thanks again to anyone who made it this far, I look forward to any responses.
This will be my first NAS build, but I think I've done my homework. Thanks to all of you and the resources you've provided. I'd really appreciate any feedback, thanks in advance for your time.
My planned use for this is to only use it for NAS. Important considerations for me are reliability, low maintenance, being nearly silent, low power consumption, and small form factor in that order. Cost is always a factor, but I am willing to pay a bit of a premium to get the power consumption and form factor I want.
I will be creating another separate server running several VMs for PLEX transcoding, Nextcloud, game server, and in the future probably home automation and home security setup, so the FreeNAS box really is just a NAS.
Case
Fractal Design Node 304 Black
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352027
I really like the case and form factor, but as with any mini ITX case, I'm a little concerned about space and heat. Anyone running 6 WD RE or gold drives in one of these?
Motherboard
Supermicro Mini ITX A1SAI-2550F-O Quad Core DDR3 1333 MHz Motherboard and CPU Combo
https://www.amazon.com/Supermicro-Mini-A1SAI-2550F-Motherboard-Combo/dp/B00HS4N6SE
Or
Supermicro Mini ITX A1SRI-2558F-O Quad Core DDR3 1333 MHz Motherboard and CPU Combo
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HS4NLHA/ref=psdc_1048424_t1_B00HS4N6SE
I read that the 2550 will perform slightly better on FreeNAS than the 2558, due to TurboBoost but it is slightly more expensive ($10).
The 8-core 2750 seems unnecessary for my usage case. Thoughts?
RAM
16GB total.
(2) Kingston 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Server Memory Model KVR16LSE11/8
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820239702
Any reasonably priced alternatives that may be better quality?
Power Supply
Seasonic 360W 80PLUS Gold ATX12V Power Supply SSR-360GP
https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-80PLUS-ATX12V-Supply-SSR-360GP/dp/B008XEYT5M/
Or
Seasonic SSR-450RM ATX 12V/EPS 12V 450-Watt 80 Plus Gold certified PFC Power Supply
https://www.amazon.com/Seasonic-80PLUS-ATX12V-Supply-SSR-360GP/dp/B00918MQ8G/
15W/25W MB + 6x9W/7W Drives = Idle: ~57W Load: ~80W
https://www.servethehome.com/intel-atom-c2550-power-consumption-comparison/
I think the 360W power supply is big enough, according to my power calculations. The 450 doesn't cost much more, but I think idle would only be about 10% of that power supply, so definitely below optimal.
Disks
Planning RAIDZ2 with either (4 or 6) WD Gold 6TB Datacenter Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD6002FRYZ
https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Datacenter-Hard-Disk-Drive/dp/B01AV168FS/
SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ43-032G-GAM46) for OS
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LLEN5FQ/
I would like an SSD instead of the USB flash drive, and have a 120GB one I could use, but am out of SATA ports on the Supermicro board (and don't trust the ASRock ones reliability and don't like the extra power consumption from that switcher chip). I don't think it's worth buying an HBA like LSI LOGIC SAS 9207-8i Storage Controller LSI00301 just to have an SSD instead of USB flash drive.
Thanks again to anyone who made it this far, I look forward to any responses.