My NASty Box

[PenalunWil]

Continuing from my comment above, would it be better to buy another supermicro mobo with pci-e raid controller card/s for my new ESXi server and keep my current build as a NAS??

 

[ser_rhaegar]

I would build a new box for ESXi and leave your completed NAS alone. Unless you're unhappy with some facet of your FreeNAS box that you wish to correct.

 

[PenalunWil]

Hi Ser. Thanks for your reply. I'm happy enough with my nas box. It was just a techy friends of mine said that with the build specification that I've used it would be better used as a ESXi server for my office and home (I work from home my office is part of my house). He suggested that I build another FreeNAS box using a duel core processor and make the build cheaper (not sure if thats possible using server grade components), and back up my ESXi stuff onto this new NASbox.

 

[ser_rhaegar]

If you aren't doing any transcoding with it or using encryption, you could swap the processor in your NAS with a Celeron or Pentium in the same socket style as your Xeon E3 v3. If you're using encryption, an i3 would work. Then use the Xeon in your ESXi box without completely starting over on the NAS. You will want all the rest of the equipment in your NAS to stay (ECC supporting motherboard, ECC RAM, etc).

If you swap the processor, I'd recommend the Pentium G3240. ECC support, 2 cores, good clock speed for CIFS.

 

[PenalunWil]

I broke one of my own pet rules "Check things out yourself before asking" .
I found my answer here...

http://www.supermicro.com/support/faqs/faq.cfm?faq=17954

So my NAS stays and I build a new EXSi server which I'll research myself. I maychange the CPU but I'll check that out before buying a new one.

Many thanks Ser for your responces ;)

Wil.

 

[PenalunWil]

I'm going to remove the Intel Xeon E3-1230 v 3 from my FreeNAS X10 SL7-F motherboard and replace it with a Pentium Duel core and use the E3-1230v3 in my new ESXi server.

I have a choice of the following Intel Pentium G3220; G3240; G3420; G3430; G3440; G3450 as a replacement.

Accept for core speed are there any benefits to which one I use?

Can anyone help?

Wil

 

[Ericloewe]

As long as they all support ECC (be sure to check at ark.intel.com), the only differences are the base/boost clocks and possibly amount of L3 cache.

 

[diedrichg]

I have a choice of the following Intel Pentium G3220; G3240; G3420; G3430; G3440; G3450 as a replacement.

Accept for core speed are there any benefits to which one I use?

Just off the top of my head; if you plan to do video encoding look for a chip that has the Quick Sync technology (if that's even available in that line of chips along with getting ECC support).

 

[cyberjock]

Just off the top of my head; if you plan to do video encoding look for a chip that has the Quick Sync technology (if that's even available in that line of chips along with getting ECC support).

Well, considering FreeNAS is meant to be a file server and not a trancoder, I don't think the required OS parts are included to make this technology work. Do you know otherwise? I am also not sure if those parts exist for FreeBSD 9.2.

 

[diedrichg]

I never said he should do encoding. I've always been curious as to why people have suggested encoding as something to consider on the forums; it's the last thing I would do with FreeNAS. I was just serving up something to consider besides the obvious.

 

[cyberjock]

I don't think you understand me. As my FreeNAS box is basically up 100% of the time, if I can encode a few videos in jail that's fantastic. I'm not against people doing whatever they want in the jails. I do have around 10 jails myself for various services that are definitely unrelated to file serving.

But my original question remains:

...I don't think the required OS parts are included to make this technology work. Do you know otherwise? I am also not sure if those parts exist for FreeBSD 9.2.

 

[Ericloewe]

I'm fairly certain that FreeBSD doesn't support QuickSync, as even support in Windows is mediocre.

 

[diedrichg]

ahh... I understand what you were saying now. Very good point. You are right, for a particular CPU instruction the OS must also support it.

 

[cyberjock]

What disappoints me is the quality of quicksync transcoding. If it allowed you to set a quality setting or if it provided more than what seems to be "lower-end" of standard quality I'd be very excited about it.

 

[BlackRugger]

Wil -

I have been lurking around and following your build for the past few months, and I want to first commend you on following the advice of those that have more experience.

With that said I am looking to utilize this setup for my upcoming FreeNAS build. However, the one question that I do have is with this setup would I be able to transcode and deliver video to 4-5 users with this setup.

Greatly appreciate your help and look forward to my build.

 

[PenalunWil]

Hi BlackRugger,

I'm sorry but I can't help you. My NAS was primarily built to back-up all my office documents such as CAD,PDFs, Spread sheets, photographs and word documents. So I've mainly concentrated on the dataset and permission side of things and also the CIFS set up. I've also been looking at how snapshots, and backups work. I just want to get a good understanding on the basics of FreeNAS as a storage/backup device.

I have been looking at using some of the plugins on You Tube but that's as far as I've got... just looking. I haven't actually tried to do something yet.

Will your set up use the E-1230v3 or the Pentium G3220 cpu? I'm sure I read somewhere that the clock speed is more important than the number of threads the CPU has when it comes to FreeNAS and transcoding, as FreeNAS uses a single core. It was one of the reasons why I changed my original CPU to a G3220 and I will use the original E-1230v3 as part of a ESXi set up... my next project. The clock speed on the E-1230v3 is 3.3GHz and can be overclocked to 3.7GHz were as the G3220's clock speed is only 3.oGHz. Also the G3220 runs at 54watts whereas the E-1230v3 runs at 80watts. If my NAS is on 24/7 then I want it running as economically as possible.

As far as the transcoding is concerned then I'm totally new to this sort of thing and I would have to delve into the forums and also look at some of the stuff on You Tube to learn about it. Having said all of that my FreeNAS is up and running and performing really well. You must start a thread on your build so we can follow and see what stage you've reached. I had great satisfaction building my NAS, and I hope you do to.

regards Wil

 

[Ericloewe]

Wil -

I have been lurking around and following your build for the past few months, and I want to first commend you on following the advice of those that have more experience.

With that said I am looking to utilize this setup for my upcoming FreeNAS build. However, the one question that I do have is with this setup would I be able to transcode and deliver video to 4-5 users with this setup.

Greatly appreciate your help and look forward to my build.

The Xeons should be capable of doing so, but 5 users may be pushing it. I believe some have had good experiences with 3-4 users and E3 Xeons.

 

[cyberjock]

How much you'll be able to transcode is a hot topic. Depending on the resolution of your video and the codecs that are used for both halves of the transcoding you might be able to do 3-5. I would NOT buy a E3-1230 and expect to be able to do 5 though. 5 is quite a bit of loading for transcoding, especially if the streams are HD. If you are expecting 5 you should probably look at the 1260 or 1270 to ensure you've got as much power as you can get for transcoding.

 

[BlackRugger]

Just wanted to provide the thread with the final parts list for my build. The parts have been ordered and they will begin coming over the net few days. Thank you all again for the support it would be possible without you.

Mobo SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O uATX Server $242.99
CPU Intel Intel Xeon E3-1270V3 Haswell 3.5GHz LGA 1150 $349.99
Ram 2x Samsung DDR3-1600 8GB/1Gx72 ECC CL11 Server Memory $167.98
Hard Drive 6x 3 TB WD Reds $749.94
UPS Eaton 9130 $100.00
PS Seasonic X-650 650W 80 PLUS Gold ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply $122.99
CPU Fan Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan $34.99
Case Rosewill RSV-L4500 $50.00
Misc Miscellaneous Parts $27.17

Total $1,846.05