BUILD My FreeNAS Build is it Overkill?

[Wenborn]

Hi,

I’ve been wanting to set my self up a FreeNas Server for sometime for a few months now but I'm not really sure how much horsepower I really need?

I’m planning to use my server for work and personal uses so it must be capable of the following for a minimum of 5 users;

• Have a large capacity (have gone with 12TB via 6 3TB drives on RaidZ2)
• Be able to stream various media files .MP3, .MKV, .AVI ect.
• Connectivity out of home and overseas via my laptop (with decent speeds?)
• Hose a private webpage
• Snapshots for 3-4 windows computers
• Time Machine for potentially 2-4 macs

I’m not sure is this is overkill or not? But if there’s anyway to reduce the cost and still perform the required tasks I would appreciate it.

The components that I have shortlisted are;

Motherboard: ASRockE3C226D2I - £160.19
Processor: Intel Xeon E3-1275V3 - £261.38
ECC Ram x 2: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB 1600MHz KVR16E11/8 - £64.64 (£129.28)
HDD’s x 6: WD RED 3TB - £107.99 (£647.94)
PSU: Silverstone Strider ST4SSF-G 450W – £78.54
Case: Lian Li PC-Q28 Mini-ITX Cube - £99.95
UPS: CuberPower Systems CP850PFCLCD - £118.85
Total: £1,496.13

Would appreciate is if you lot could comment on the hardware selection.

Thanks! :)

 

[KMR]

Get a SuperMicro motherboard. They are server grade and made for ECC ram. Your load doesn't look that demanding so use one of the celeron processors unless you need encryption, then get a 1230v2. Made sure the PSU is 80+ gold certified. Other than that it looks good.

 

[Wenborn]

How are the server grade ASRock boards compared to SuperMicro? as i would prefer to keep the form factor down, one disadvantage i can see whit this setup is that it only supports unto 16GB ram but I'm sure that enough?

 

[KMR]

Sorry, I was assuming that was another ASrock consumer board. I am not familiar with their server lineup. If you know you aren't going to upgrade the amount of drives then it may work out although I can't speak to compatibility or stability of the board. Do consider cooling though as small form factor usually brings with it some challenges in this regard. The 16GB of ram is fine for most folks but if you plan to move to a virtual setup later on than it is a serious limitation. The G1830 supports ECC ram and should be plenty fast for basic file server duty although again I can't speak to whether or not that board will support it. I ran an 1155 G2020 in a supermicro board for quite a while and it did very well.

 

[matt_man22]

I have the ASRockE3C226D2I and it is definitely compatible with v9.2.1.2. For your build, 16GB max RAM and the 6 SATA ports on the motherboard may be a limitation if you ever want to expand in the future (you are at full capacity already with the build). I am only running 4 drives and 8GB so I am comfortable that I have room to expand if needed.

That said, I don't think you have too much horsepower for how much you want to host.