BUILD My FreeNAS build at the rear end of the earth

[craigdt]

Ok so I was being politically correct with the title, it's not quite the exact quote a past Prime Minsister of Australia said, I would say the original quote is more accurate!

So I have been wanting to do a FreeNAS build for some time now, been putting it off due to the physical size of the machine and where to put it. I have been using a ReadyNAS NV+ for the last 5+ years but I want to stop using it as my main storage device because I discovered with some pain how dangerous it can be with just relying on it and not having a decent backup solution for it (fortunately I didn't lose any data).

Note this is for home use and I want to use the new NAS for the following reasons:

• Store and serve media files to the HTPC and various other devices around the house. I plan on utilising the plex plugin and network shares.
• Automatic downloading of media files using the plugins on offer with FreeNAS
• Time Machine backup for 2 macs
• Windows 7 backup for 2 PC's
• Plan to process raw photos directly on the device if possible.
• Use the FreeNAS encryption
• The old ReadyNAS NV+ will then serve as the backup for the new NAS on a weekly basis
• Might utilise the crashplan plugin for really valuable stuff if I feel the ReadyNAS is not up to the task.

Unfortunately I live in Australia so I'm limited on choice of components.

I have come up with the following two different list of components for my FreeNAS Build:

Version 1:
Lian Li PC-Z60 Case $258
Seasonic G-550W 80Plus Gold Power Supply $125
Intel S1200V3RPL Micro-ATX Motherboard $285
2x Kingston KVR16E11/8I 8GB 1600MHz ECC Unbuffered RAM $270
Intel Xeon E3 1270 V3 $395
6x Seagate Constellation CS SATA3 3TB HDD $1230
Total: $2563

Version 2:
Lian Li PC-Z60 Case (H:472, W:210, D:498) $258
Seasonic G-450W 80Plus Gold Power Supply $99
Supermicro X10SLM-F Motherboard $296
2x Samsung M391B1G73BH0-CK0 8GB 1600MHz ECC Unbuffered DDR3 $320
Intel Xeon E3 1270 V3 $395
6x Seagate Constellation CS SATA3 3TB HDD $1230
Total: $2598

Version 3 (mini-ITX):
SilverStone DS380 8 Bay NAS Case (H:285, W:211, D:360) $179
SilverStone ST45SF-G 450W SFX Power Supply: $115
ASUS P9D-I Mini-ITX Server Motherboard $248
LSI SAS 9207-8I Host Bust Adapter $382
IBM M1015 8-port 46M0831 $230
Intel Xeon E3 1270 V3 $395
2x Kingston KVR16E11/8I 8GB 1600MHz ECC Unbuffered $256
6x Seagate Constellation CS SATA3 3TB HDD $1230
Total: $2653


The plan is to implement FreeNAS with a VDev raidz2

Updated the version 2 build and added another version 3 I'm pondering, still struggling to find available components in Australia unfortunately!

Thanks,

Craig

 

[Yatti420]

The x10s may have problems with Kingston.. I would drop the xeon to a pentium unless you really think you will need it.. Cut the psu to like 300-400w.. I barely pull 100w with server and all newtworking gear etc.. I like the choice of higher end drives..

I noticed you wanted to use encryption.. Make sure the CPU supports the new AES instruction set (the one that makes it easy for the CPU) in this regard im not sure if the newer pentiums support it..

If you don't own a UPS cut back in some places and get a UPS aswell..

 

[cyberjock]

Yeah, you definitely don't need that expensive of a CPU. If you aren't going to be using Plex with transcoding or using encryption, a G3220 is an AMAZING CPU at just $70 or so.

Personally, I'd go with the Supermicro board before the Intel. Intel boards have weird quirks more often than I like. I'm big on Intel with CPUs, NICs and SSDs.. but I'm no fan boy. I dislike their motherboard line with a passion. ;)

Other than that, you could cut the PSU if you want. It's not really necessary though. I'm a WD hard drive user and I recommend them, but there's nothing fatally wrong with Seagates.

 

[hotalot]

May I offer version 3?

Fractal Design Define R4 case - not as expensive as the PC-Z60 and is silent.
Antec VP450 power supply - more than enough for this building.
Supermicro X10SLM-F.
Kingston KVR16E11K4 - works fine with the X10's and a lot more boards.
Intel Xeon E3 1230v3 - lots of power.

If you are going to have a raidz2 vded I would choose the WD30EFRX (reds) instead. And if
you are going with mirroring, I would go with the same reds, but the Constellations are
fine too.

Cheers.

 

[joelmusicman]

I use and am quite happy with the G3220. That said, for you I'd recommend the i3-4130 since the G3220 lacks AES-NI and you did say that you want encryption. I agree that the Xeon is way overkill.

As far as the hard drives, I disagree with Yatti and I doubt the higher-end drives would provide much tangible benefit over NAS-class drives unless you upgrade your network past GbE. Maybe a slight increase in I/O for RAW photos, but even so I think your money would be better spent on a 10G direct link between NAS and your workstation first (no switch needed!).

RAIDZ2 = Absolutely!

As far as the case, I think you could do better for the money. You could get something equal for much less, or you could probably find something with hotswap for the same cost.

I know you're in Australia, but $310 for a $170 (US) motherboard is nuts! You might be able to save by reshipping from a US supplier, same thing with the memory.

 

[panz]

About PSUs: I have a 650 Watts unit not because that's the real power draw, but because of capacitors aging. Furthermore, I needed #8 4-pins Molexes and it's very difficult to find them in a PSU below 550W.

 

[joelmusicman]

About PSUs: I have a 650 Watts unit not because that's the real power draw, but because of capacitors aging. Furthermore, I needed #8 4-pins Molexes and it's very difficult to find them in a PSU below 550W.

I use these Molex > SATA adapters and they work perfectly.

 

[Yatti420]

About PSUs: I have a 650 Watts unit not because that's the real power draw, but because of capacitors aging. Furthermore, I needed #8 4-pins Molexes and it's very difficult to find them in a PSU below 550W.

HX series does use good caps versus the CX series for example and it is something to keep in mind when building a NAS.. Especially re-purposing old hardware!..

 

[craigdt]

Yep I have an UPS even though I was planning on buying some more, I have found it very invaluable thing to have and they aren't that expensive, so I am planning on adding a few more to other computers in the house.

I was thinking the Xeon was overkill but at the same time I wanted to use encryption and the plex plugin so I thought why not go all out with the CPU to give myself plenty of headroom in the future, lets just say the current ReadyNAS NV+ started out with enough grunt to run some plugging but subsequent OS updates now mean I can only run it as a basic NAS.

My plan is for this thing to live on in its current form for 5+ years like my current ReadyNAS (except for hdds)

Thanks

Craig.

The x10s may have problems with Kingston.. I would drop the xeon to a pentium unless you really think you will need it.. Cut the psu to like 300-400w.. I barely pull 100w with server and all newtworking gear etc.. I like the choice of higher end drives..

I noticed you wanted to use encryption.. Make sure the CPU supports the new AES instruction set (the one that makes it easy for the CPU) in this regard im not sure if the newer pentiums support it..

If you don't own a UPS cut back in some places and get a UPS aswell..

 

[craigdt]

How do you feel about ASUS Server Motherboards compared to Intel, are they between Intel and Supermicro or are they below Intel ?

Thanks,

Yeah, you definitely don't need that expensive of a CPU. If you aren't going to be using Plex with transcoding or using encryption, a G3220 is an AMAZING CPU at just $70 or so.

Personally, I'd go with the Supermicro board before the Intel. Intel boards have weird quirks more often than I like. I'm big on Intel with CPUs, NICs and SSDs.. but I'm no fan boy. I dislike their motherboard line with a passion. ;)

Other than that, you could cut the PSU if you want. It's not really necessary though. I'm a WD hard drive user and I recommend them, but there's nothing fatally wrong with Seagates.

 

[craigdt]

May I offer version 3?

Fractal Design Define R4 case - not as expensive as the PC-Z60 and is silent.
Antec VP450 power supply - more than enough for this building.
Supermicro X10SLM-F.
Kingston KVR16E11K4 - works fine with the X10's and a lot more boards.
Intel Xeon E3 1230v3 - lots of power.

If you are going to have a raidz2 vded I would choose the WD30EFRX (reds) instead. And if
you are going with mirroring, I would go with the same reds, but the Constellations are
fine too.

Cheers.

Thanks for the recommendation, I had a look around for the RAM you mentioned, couldn't find it available anywhere in Australia when I looked a week ago, I was at one stage considering bring in some components from the USA/newegg, however have found its not much cheaper by the time you take into considering the import costs. We just don't get the same amount of choice unfortunately :(
I chose the PC-Z60 because of its hot swap drive bays, where I plan on putting the server it won't be as easy to get access to so I'm trying to make it as easy as possible to swap a drive out if one dies on me.

Thanks :)

 

[craigdt]

Unfortunately I had to build a new PC for my missus as one of the graphics cards died in her current one, it was due for retirement anyway as it was 7 years old which is way to old for a gaming machine! So I had to put the NAS build on hold.

In the mean time I repurposed the old machine as a Experimental FreeNAS box, so that allows me to play around with FreeNAS to get the lay of the land so to speak. I do like how its hardware independent, one test I did was the auto import of the drives, nice feature :), I do like how ZFS is hardware independent :)

So I have searched around the internet and sent off a few request to certain retailers to find out what I can and can't get, and have updated the main post, if I owned the place I lived in then it would be an easy choice, I would just go a massive case and wouldn't need to try and keep the size factor down, hence why I have the mini-ITX option now on my list.

Thanks,

Craig