Moving from Synology to FreeNAS, question regarding build

[Tacks]

I currently own a https://www.synology.com/en-us/support/download/DS1812+

I'd really like to keep the compact size and noise to a minimum. I'd like to use it to transcoding as well as host some VMs. (a lot more intended use than I currently have available to me).

Any suggestions or forums that shows off builds with regards to hardware and processing power? I dont want server level but would like a high end home use version.

I see http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/#T=3

 

[danb35]

What are the storage requirements?

 

[Tacks]

That would make it a bit easier I imagine. My apologies, I currently have eight 3TB drives. I was thinking of getting the WD RED's 6TB drives. At least 6, that should satisfy any potential need for the foreseeable future

 

[SweetAndLow]

Have you read the recommended hardware thread yet? If not go read that and see if you still have questions. Also look at my build in my signature it might be just what you need. Maybe even less cpu then I used.

 

[Tacks]

I'll check yours out. I can't seem to locate the recommended hardware section, apparently I'm blind, can you link it?

 

[danb35]

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/hardware-recommendations-read-this-first.23069/

 

[Tacks]

Thanks DanB35. That was a wealth of information. Now just narrowing down avoton vs xeon vs xeon-d . I'd love a beefy powerful machine but mini or compact.

 

[diedrichg]

Thanks DanB35. That was a wealth of information. Now just narrowing down avoton vs xeon vs xeon-d . I'd love a beefy powerful machine but mini or compact.

As has been mentioned recently; the higher TDP of the Xeon is during full load, and depending on your usage, it will most likely be sitting at idle and therefore the bottom of the power usage scale. Granted, the same can be said for the Atom or Celeron but you would fare well with the Xeon if you have the cash now and don't want to bother with a future upgrade.

 

[Tacks]

The hardware guide on Xeon's "top end" (For FreeNAS) seems a bit dated it lists the E3-1230v3 as the top tier, which I'm sure it is still very powerful dont get me wrong. I believe the E3-1270V3 isn't far off, but that was released in 2011, once I start looking at E3-1270 line. Then I jumped to the E5's but the ghz seem to drop off with the 8cores. It's a vicious cycle.

With all the research I keep coming back to the Asrock C2750, but finding "approved" memory for it is a PITA.

I don't mind spending the money of the ROI is close

 

[danb35]

The hardware guide is a year old, but the picture hasn't changed significantly since then. A 1231v3 would probably be a better choice than the 1230 (I think it's a little cheaper, slightly higher performance), but to go any higher just isn't going to see the return in most cases. The E5 is called for in situations where the RAM requirement exceeds 32 GB.

From what I've seen, the Avoton boards are fairly expensive for the performance you get, but the integrated board and low power draw are nice features. If you want the ITX form factor, that's going to limit your options quite a bit.

 

[Tacks]

Thanks so much, I did end up piecing deciding on the 1231v3, Also ran across on Pheran's build (https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/pherans-32tb-freenas-build-with-photos.35694/ ) and took his build for reference

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/MG99mG # 6TB WD Red's (Debate with a friend about Red's or Red Pros, he strongly urging me to go with 7200 rpm versions )
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/jmBb99 # 4TB WD Red's

700$ difference for 16TB of space. the extra 100$ for 2TB per drive seems high to me. 32TB is a comfortable increase from my current 21TB.

 

[danb35]

You'll find the WD Red Pro drives aren't recommended much around here. More power, more heat, more money, and your network will still be your bottleneck.

 

[Nick2253]

Debate with a friend about Red's or Red Pros, he strongly urging me to go with 7200 rpm versions

You'll find the WD Red Pro drives aren't recommended much around here. More power, more heat, more money, and your network will still be your bottleneck.

This exactly! 7200RPM drives are not appropriate for most home-use scenarios.

I can easily saturate a 1Gb ethernet link with my RAIDZ2 pool. I've been playing with link aggregation, and I get pretty close to saturating two 1Gb connections (I think the overhead of LAGG is hurting me more than my drives are). My guess is that I'd be able to get pretty close to 3-4Gb/s if I had a 10Gb network card. Unless 3-4Gb/s is insufficient for you, you don't need the extra expense, heat, power of 7200RPM drives.