NAS Build & Horsepower

[DzSlacker]

I am building a new NAS this spring for a media center.
The use is for a media center for streaming HD movies, music and Photos. CIFS Windows Shares. Plex maybe but not needed. I will be using Owncloud. The max use would be 6 devices streaming at once, and the avg us2 would be 2-3 devices streaming movies or adding backing up files.

Planned build:

Drives:
3x 3 tb wd green
2x 2tb wd green
(breaking apart wd my book externals and stealing drives)

Planning on adding 6tb red drives when prices drop.
16 GB Memory *eventually 32gb


The Question is the cpu.

Intel Pentium Processor G3220
or
Intel Xeon E3-1230V3
or
Supermirco Atom Board?

Can I get by with a Pentium G3220 or is it worth spending the extra 200 on the xeon processor plus the additional expense of a server motherboard?

Dual NICS a huge difference?

 

[cyberjock]

Uh, you should pair that G3220 with a server board no matter what...

Everything else depends on what *you* consider valuable for your situation.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Also you probably can't use the HDD the way you think you can. Mixing and matching is OK but you shouldn't just add a single 6TB drive later.

 

[DifferentStrokes]

Dual NICS a huge difference?

If you plan on doing Link Aggregation, perhaps.

 

[marbus90]

Smartest option is to create a 6disk raidz2. I'd recommend to buy another 6TB Red to start the 6disk vdev which would yield 8TB usable, after replacing the 2TB with 6TB you get 12TB usable and finally, after the other 3TBs are replaced, you end up at 24TB.

16GB RAM is fine, however you do not need an SSD for FreeNAS boot. Better max out the SATA ports on these "ghetto" systems for data disks.

A winning combo could be a Fractal Node 304, Seasonic G-360 PSU and the ASRock MT-C224 mobo with an E3-1241 v3 (doesn't add too much to the bill for 200MHz more). Yes, the written specs may still be a bit off, but the mobo fits in there. Alternatively, if you deem 18TB usable enough, you might want to continue your journey with the LianLi PC-Q25. Or 10 disks? PC-Q26 with ASRock E3C224D4I-14S.

 

[anodos]

If you plan on doing Link Aggregation, perhaps.

For the most part link aggregation doesn't make sense for a home user (or situations with <10 clients).

 

[DzSlacker]

Also you probably can't use the HDD the way you think you can. Mixing and matching is OK but you shouldn't just add a single 6TB drive later.

Eventually the NAS will be full of 6tb RED drives, I am just using what I have now to get started.

 

[Ahjohng]

Smartest option is to create a 6disk raidz2. I'd recommend to buy another 6TB Red to start the 6disk vdev which would yield 8TB usable, after replacing the 2TB with 6TB you get 12TB usable and finally, after the other 3TBs are replaced, you end up at 24TB.

16GB RAM is fine, however you do not need an SSD for FreeNAS boot. Better max out the SATA ports on these "ghetto" systems for data disks.

A winning combo could be a Fractal Node 304, Seasonic G-360 PSU and the ASRock MT-C224 mobo with an E3-1241 v3 (doesn't add too much to the bill for 200MHz more). Yes, the written specs may still be a bit off, but the mobo fits in there. Alternatively, if you deem 18TB usable enough, you might want to continue your journey with the LianLi PC-Q25. Or 10 disks? PC-Q26 with ASRock E3C224D4I-14S.

I am concerned with the way these HDs are mounted in this Fractal Node 304 design. They are just hung there with one end of each disk open not solidly attached to the chassis. This seems to me to allow resonance frequencies to occur to eventually shorten the life of the HD. What does you guys think?

Also, what are popular video streaming programs out there for FreeNAS builds? Please advise.

 

[depasseg]

Also, what are popular video streaming programs out there for FreeNAS builds? Please advise.

Plex or Emby

 

[Ericloewe]

I am concerned with the way these HDs are mounted in this Fractal Node 304 design. They are just hung there with one end of each disk open not solidly attached to the chassis. This seems to me to allow resonance frequencies to occur to eventually shorten the life of the HD. What does you guys think?

It does look a bit flimsy. Flimsier than I'd trust - but I'm on the top half of the paranoid scale, by the forum's standards.

 

[jgreco]

It does look a bit flimsy. Flimsier than I'd trust - but I'm on the top half of the paranoid scale, by the forum's standards.

Okay, *that* was funny!