My first attempt at FreeNas

[JohnK]

Hello
I am slowly building my first FreeNas server and have bought some parts.
To date I have:
IBM Serveraid M1015 SAS/SATA Controller 46M0831 <-for future upgrades more than anything else.
Black Fractal Design Arc Mini Tower Computer Case FD-CA-ARC-MINI-BL
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SLM-F-O uATX Server Motherboard
2 xWD Red 3 TB (WD30EFRX)

Will soon add 4 more drives and
Samsung DDR3-1600 8GB/1Gx72 ECC Samsung Chip Server Memory
Intel Pentium G3420 3.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor - Intel Boxed - LGA1150 Socket
I'm still deciding about a PCU and might go for
SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS GOLD
I also have a few 60 and 120 gig SSDs that can be used for Cache drives. I also foresee this unit as being headless and in the basement so sound not a problem. I have not decided on a Raid format yet, but will not need a lot of redundancy.

I have the following questions:
1. Do I attach the WD drives to the M1015 and the SSD to the board or vice versa or does is not matter? (Using 6 3TB's and SSD for cache) I am kind of thinking about delaying the purchase of the second SFF-8087 cable.
2. Does the size of the cache drive make a difference? I don't want to waste a 120gig drive if the 60gig is enough.
3. I see some recommendations for Xeon processors, but I am not planning on using this server for anything but streaming and believe the Pentium is enough. Anyone have experience with the listed processor?
4. Any other thoughts/bad experiences on the parts I have selected?

Thanks

 

[cyberjock]

You shouldn't go adding an l2arc and/or slog until you have determined that you actually need them for performance reasons. There's thumbrules and whatnot for size based on various factors. You don't want to oversize them or it can be uglier than not having one at all and you don't want to undersize or you aren't getting all of the potential benefit. Additionally if you read the manual you'll see a comment that you shouldn't add an l2arc until you max out the RAM. There's a couple of reasons for that, but if you read up on the l2arc and zil you'll understand the relationship and that you should be maxing out your motherboard's RAM before you go with an l2arc. And then even at that, never going above about 120GB with 32GB of RAM. My noobie presentation also discusses this.

What disks connect to what controller doesn't matter. Just make sure if you use any SSDs they go to 6Gbps ports if you have them(you do in your case). I'd probably stick to onboard strictly unless I run out of SATA ports. No reason to use an M1015 and have its power draw 24x7 if you don't need it.

Your Pentium should be a fine choice as long as "streaming" doesn't include transcoding with the Plex plugin. If you intend to do transcoding with Plex you'll definitely need to go with a Xeon.

Other than that, you've made me smile :D . You're using ECC RAM and pretty much followed every recommendation the stickies have. I am excited to see that someone actually did their homework and took our advice.

 

[JohnK]

Thanks for the reply.
I will place the M1015 and “Cache” disks on ice until I have maxed out the ram and onboard SATA connectors.

I kind of like to keep things simple, so no transcoding. (I use a separate lower power server as a MythTV backend attached to 2 HDHomeruns. Some of this content will end up on the NAS, but the NAS is purely for streaming to 4 OpenElec and 2 portable devices.)

Is there a good guide for backup solutions? I assume a second server with rsync, but was wondering about using WD green drives or even something that just start up once a week. (I data is not that sensitive that I care about losing a week or so)

 

[cyberjock]

No real guides for backups as there's literally dozens of ways to do backups an each person has to do their own backup solution for their needs. Depending on your needs some options aren't options at all.

 

[JohnK]

Ok, thanks. I will do more reading. At this stage I'm thinking a second server doing weekly mirror.

Added 4 more WD disks and the Seasonic PSU.

Two things outstanding:
1. Memory. The Samsung memory is motherboard tested, but I'm leaning towards Kingston KVR16E11K4/32 DDR3-1600 32GB(4x 8GB) $355 at SuperBiiz - It feels rather expensive, but so is all memory.
2. UPS - CyberPower CP850PFCLCD UPS 850VA / 510W PFC compatible Pure sine wave - I have never used a UPS, but it might be time to start.

Anyone had bad experiences with these two items?

 

[panz]

You should absolutely use an UPS! I prefer APC smart series: they're reliable and at good price.

 

[JohnK]

Ok, my FreeNas server was up and running and I want to say thank you for all the advise and some really good guidance I found in the sticky's and some other posts. Special thanks to Jgreco for the whole drive burn in process. I have 1 out of 6 RMA'd. Still beating the crap out of the rest.
From what I can gather in term of backup solutions is that I would need a second server. (Think my next one will be 4TB drives.)

Now this bring me back to a UPS. After reading everyting I could find I'm more lost than ever. I need something very simple.

1. UPS with Pure Sine wave. Both my FreeNas server will probably be Seansonic Gold/Platinum.
2. UPS that can switch of both attached FreeNas servers. I don't care about how long is can run on battery, just that is will last long enough to switch off the FreeNas servers safely.

From what I read APC has bad Linux support. I don't realy care to monitor my battery status etc. All I need is for the device to switch off off those two servers.

Any recommendations?

 

[DJ9]

I've heard good things about Eaton from a few folks on the forum.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007932 50013317&IsNodeId=1&name=Eaton