BUILD My Family FreeNAS Build - Critique required

[[Dragan]]

Hi everyone,

As a continuation of my intro post located here My Family FreeNAS Build – Intro

I now am kindly seeking all of your wise comments and feedback on the hardware selection I have chosen for my NAS build. The parts mentioned below have mostly been chosen based on a few similar successful builds on here and as per the Hardware Recommendation posts.

Majority of the items have already been purchased but I am seeking your confirmation on items bought and/or suggestions/opinions on couple of things that I can’t settle on.

Prices below are pcpartpicker prices and not necessarily the prices I have paid for each item, give or take few dollars here and there.

Here is the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($389.00 @ CPL Online)
Got a great deal compared to the E3-1231 V3 - PURCHASED
Motherboard: ASRock E3C226D2I Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($319.00 @ CPL Online)
Chosen over the E3C224D2I due to supply - PURCHASED
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory CT102472BD160B ($266.00)
ECC RAM is CRAZY EXPENSIVE in Australia and terrible supply as well as no 16gb kits available anywhere, aussie dollar is terrible and not much better if ordered online from the states - PURCHASED
Storage: 6 x Hitachi Deskstar NAS 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($1050.00)
$100 less for 6 x WD reds so I went with these instead - PURCHASED
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case ($139.00 @ CPL Online)
Love the small form factor as well as built quality - PURCHASED
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($169.00 @ CPL Online)
Overkill but I strongly believe in good clean power delivery, as well as the form factor and overall better for cable management of this model - PURCHASED
Rear Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($29.00 @ PLE Computers)
Rear Case Exhaust fan, always been impressed with NOCTUAS and they never disappoint - PURCHASED
Front Case Fan: 2 x Noctua NF-A9 PWM 46.4 CFM 92mm Fan ($32.00 @ CPL Online)
Again as with the 140mm above, Great fans and should do the job just fine - PURCHASED

Total: $2425.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-10 10:40 AEST+1000

As I have chosen 6 hard drives that have tendencies to run hotter than the WD REDS [most popular choice on here], I am going about this build with a focus of MAX airflow approach for the case in question.

I understand that the noise level will possibly increase on load but that’s the sacrifice I am prepared to make in order to have everything running cooler.

Question 1:

To maximise the air flow in this small form factor case and with no overclocking ever intended, do I go for this CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler with additional CPU Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM 120mm Fan for a push pull configuration?
Excuse the PAINT diagrams. :)

Or

Just go with this CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler instead as I’ve upgraded all other case fans already.

Question 2:

Which of the following wattage UPS would be best suited for my usage?

I cannot see the exact same model numbers as these on the UPS compatibility list but judging by the model numbers I would say they will work of the same driver as the CYBERPOWER CP1000PFCLCD!? Model branding mentioned below might be specific for the Australian market.

UPS: CyberPower CP1300EPFCLCD
Or
UPS: CyberPower CP1500EPFCLCD

Question 3:

Do you guys see and agree with what I am trying to achieve here in regards to the overall build and dramatically improving the airflow of this case?

Thanks for your input and I look forward to your positive or negative feedback!

Cheers,

Dragan

 

[DaveY]

Don't claim to be an expert, but I can give you my server room experience.

Based on the NODE 304 pictures, your intake vent is pretty restricted (solid front face cover. intake from tiny top vents?!? ) The less cold air you bring in, the less you have to cool the case. Can't bypass physics here. You got NF-A9 with good static pressure so that helps, but you also have a lot of airflow restriction with such a tight space. The 304 also seems to have large side vents so your airflow won't be exactly the way you've drawn it; which can be a plus if you can build up enough airflow to possibly suck in cold air from those side vents.

My general advice:
- If NH-U12S and NH-U14S have similar heat transfer numbers (from the heatsink) go with the one that will net you higher pressure on the exhaust end. You may be able to take advantage of the side vents and pull in more cooling created by the pressure difference. You may have to increase your CFM on the exhaust port since it's only rated at 82.5 CFM. Otherwise, the extra pressure from the CPU fan will just end up pushing hot air back to the front.
- My guess is managing drive temp will probably be the biggest challenge due to the weird intake vents. Most people probably run SSDs in these cases, but you're running 6 x 7.2k platters in tight configuration. If they are idle most of the time, then you're fine. But if you got a busy NAS, you're looking at possibly 100+W of power to dissipate. My FreeNAS drives are always busy. Hardly ever see them completely idle. If heat does end up being an issue, get a larger case with better airflow and sacrifice the size and looks. Air straight in the front and air straight out the back like the rack server pizza boxes.
- Overall I think either setup will be fine unless you're running 100% load 24x7. I would definitely run the exhaust fan at max to make sure you're moving enough air. Rest can be adjusted for noise control.

Power supplies. Which is better? You'll have to find the efficiency chart for the UPS and make sure your average power draw is near the sweet spot (usually ~40-50% load) to make the most of your UPS. As long as you're above 20%, the efficiency difference is negligible (+/-5% or so) Below 20% and it starts going down fast (at least with APCs) All other things being the same, larger capacity battery will give you longer runtime. In this case, either one will most likely be fine. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

David

 

[[Dragan]]

Hi David,

Thank you for your reply and insight.

I would really like to hear from few other members on here who might have utilised similar fans for their setup in this case.

Don't be shy folks. :)

Don't claim to be an expert, but I can give you my server room experience.
Based on the NODE 304 pictures, your intake vent is pretty restricted (solid front face cover. intake from tiny top vents?!? ) The less cold air you bring in, the less you have to cool the case. Can't bypass physics here. You got NF-A9 with good static pressure so that helps, but you also have a lot of airflow restriction with such a tight space. The 304 also seems to have large side vents so your airflow won't be exactly the way you've drawn it; which can be a plus if you can build up enough airflow to possibly suck in cold air from those side vents.David

You are correct..... my mistake, I didn't make mentioned of the side vents on the case as i was hoping to never rely on them of overall intake. What i mean by that is, that i was only counting on the air to be drawn-in on the larger vent "PCI express" side on very few occasions. That would only be the case if i had the all fans fully cranked up during heavy load and maybe on hotter then usual ambient temperatures in the room. This heavy usage/load would be hardly frequent, due to my prediction of how much i will be relying on it in the initial months of use.
*edit - The PSU side vent is small and looking at the fan orientation of where the PSU fan is located on the unit, looks like this will also contribute to some of the heat factor. Since i haven't seen many set-ups or tests of such orientation of case and cooler fans, its hard to make a positive conclusion on it. I am mainly concerned on the HDD temps in the overall scenario, as the intel OEM CPU coolers have been reported to do a good enough job to keep things in check on that side of things.

My general advice:
- If NH-U12S and NH-U14S have similar heat transfer numbers (from the heatsink) go with the one that will net you higher pressure on the exhaust end. You may be able to take advantage of the side vents and pull in more cooling created by the pressure difference. You may have to increase your CFM on the exhaust port since it's only rated at 82.5 CFM. Otherwise, the extra pressure from the CPU fan will just end up pushing hot air back to the front.

NH-U14S uses one NF-A15 140mm fan on the heat sink, i made a typo on the second diagram which i will fix shortly. The choice of the rear 140mm case fan was purely base on the following, trying to best mimic the cpu coolers flow and potential air pressure generated. The idea for the second diagram is to have one of the NA-SYC1 11cm 4Pin PWM fan power splitter cable running the single cpu coolers fans with the rear exhaust of the single mobo fan header [i should of drawn that in]. This could keep everything running in-tune in the rear half of the case and i figured it wouldn't do the cpu temps any harm as the cooler is overall much better then the stock intel one.

On the other hand the NH-U12S uses one NF-F12 120mm fan, because of the intention of using additional NF-F12 120mm fan for push-pull setup the NA-SYC1 11cm 4Pin PWM fan power splitter cable will be used to run them both of one header. The rear would rely on a single header of its own. Going with the NF-A14 PWM for the rear exhaust in the 1st diagram would be the only closest option that i can see in the Noctua range that generates similar figures to the CPU coolers dual NF-F12 120mm fans.

Alternatively i can go with the heavy duty option the NF-A14 industrial PPC-3000 PWM 158.5 CFM 140mm Fan!?

- My guess is managing drive temp will probably be the biggest challenge due to the weird intake vents. Most people probably run SSDs in these cases, but you're running 6 x 7.2k platters in tight configuration. If they are idle most of the time, then you're fine. But if you got a busy NAS, you're looking at possibly 100+W of power to dissipate. My FreeNAS drives are always busy. Hardly ever see them completely idle. If heat does end up being an issue, get a larger case with better airflow and sacrifice the size and looks. Air straight in the front and air straight out the back like the rack server pizza boxes.
- Overall I think either setup will be fine unless you're running 100% load 24x7. I would definitely run the exhaust fan at max to make sure you're moving enough air. Rest can be adjusted for noise control.

I'm not completely in love with this case and I do build a few systems over the course of a year so i can definitely "recycle" it if need be. I will run with it until i see that it's a problem point for my application.

Power supplies. Which is better? You'll have to find the efficiency chart for the UPS and make sure your average power draw is near the sweet spot (usually ~40-50% load) to make the most of your UPS. As long as you're above 20%, the efficiency difference is negligible (+/-5% or so) Below 20% and it starts going down fast (at least with APCs) All other things being the same, larger capacity battery will give you longer runtime. In this case, either one will most likely be fine. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

I will probably go with CyberPower CP1300EPFCLCD on the bases you mentioned above, i've never relied on a UPS before hence why its such uncharted territory for me personally. Especially if there a options with the drivers to configure different aspects of it operation.

It is bad or frowned upon if i was to setup the nas, do the burn in, go through the testing as well as the configuring phase and possibly build the data pool prior to purchasing the UPS!?!? This would give me the exact load figures so that i can choose a better more efficient UPS option !

 

[[Dragan]]

Mods - i can't seem to edit the OP with the new diagram, due to new member credentials.

*edit - Correct model rear fan for second diagram.

 

[DaveY]

It is bad or frowned upon if i was to setup the nas, do the burn in, go through the testing as well as the configuring phase and possibly build the data pool prior to purchasing the UPS!?!? This would give me the exact load figures so that i can choose a better more efficient UPS option !

Not bad, but if you run into issues during burn-in, you won't know if it's really the system having issues or because of dirty power (i.e. brown-outs, power sags, power spikes, etc...) Besides keeping your server up during power outages, most enterprise UPS also provides clean regulated power. I would just go borrow a ups for the burn-in and then buy your permanent one after you get your load figures. if you can't borrow one, then turn up the system, do a short burn-in to get your watt reading, get the ups, and then do your burn-in.

 

[diedrichg]

I have the 304 as a HTPC. I would stick with the stock CPU cooler to start with. If you find you need more cooling then you can add a 3rd party cooler later. Yes, the side vents are really going to screw up your airflow. For me, it doesn't matter because I'm running the CPU at stock with one SSD and one HDD. In your case, you might try blocking off the side vents with some foam to force the air from the from directly to the 140mm exhaust (keep an eye on the temperatures though and even do some testing with and without the sides covered). I like that NF-A9 92mm fan, I'm going to have to get a couple of those because the FD Silent Series R2s suck! They simply don't want to spin up.