NAS build with existing harware and or cash budget

[Mirfster]

Not saying your requirements are out of reach.

TBH, since I don't run those things on FreeNas I would not be considered a viable source. There are plenty of other who do run those things (maybe even more) that I will gladly defer to knowledge-wise.

For me FreeNas has two main purposes 1) Protect my data 2) Serve my data. Outside of that; I am a snob and try to run everything in a dedicated fashion. Not saying I would never consider running more, but to each their own. It is all a great learning experience and truly rewarding to those to put in the time and effort.

Heck, I still have diskless PopcornHour A110s connected to my TVs that I use to grab movies from my "MediaShare" folder I rip full ISOs up to... ;)

 

[Jason Evans]

Not saying your requirements are out of reach.

TBH, since I don't run those things on FreeNas I would not be considered a viable source. There are plenty of other who do run those things (maybe even more) that I will gladly defer to knowledge-wise.

For me FreeNas has two main purposes 1) Protect my data 2) Serve my data. Outside of that; I am a snob and try to run everything in a dedicated fashion. Not saying I would never consider running more, but to each their own. It is all a great learning experience and truly rewarding to those to put in the time and effort.

Heck, I still have diskless PopcornHour A110s connected to my TVs that I use to grab movies from my "MediaShare" folder I rip full ISOs up to... ;)

Going to dig around and see what I can come up with. Buddy actually just contacted me said he might be able to hook me up with another used server blade. HP g7 or g8 I think he said. So I could run something other than freenas on that, if he can get his hands on it that is.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[jgreco]

FreeNAS supports Plex in a jail, which is much more efficient than VirtualBox.

 

[maglin]

Jason you are here for FreeNAS. Please please use FreeNAS. I have everything you mentioned except plex requests running in a jail right now. I actually messed around with plex request and have it in a jail but it's still kind of newish and I didn't care for it. I run htpcmanager that I can access from the internet that allows others to add shows on plex. But it's more for me to add shows and movies from my phone when someone brings up either a show or movie that I hadn't seen.

And thank you ttabbal for the link to the 2TB drives. I needed a faster array on the cheap and 12 of those fit my pocketbook.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jason Evans]

Jason you are here for FreeNAS. Please please use FreeNAS. I have everything you mentioned except plex requests running in a jail right now. I actually messed around with plex request and have it in a jail but it's still kind of newish and I didn't care for it. I run htpcmanager that I can access from the internet that allows others to add shows on plex. But it's more for me to add shows and movies from my phone when someone brings up either a show or movie that I hadn't seen.

And thank you ttabbal for the link to the 2TB drives. I needed a faster array on the cheap and 12 of those fit my pocketbook.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's where I'm leaning. Been wanting to dive in. Ordered the hardware for it. Hoping the server gets here sooner than what eBay said for delivery. I think I can live without that feature until I know for sure if my buddy can get a hold of that other server.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[SweetAndLow]

Everything you listed can run on freenas in a jail. I like this method more than vms.

 

[Jason Evans]

Everything you listed can run on freenas in a jail. I like this method more than vms.

Awesome. Trying to educate myself as much as possible before everything gets here.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[maglin]

And when you are ready to setup I can help with the jails. It's recommend not to use the plugins as they are not up to date as much and a standard jail gives you better control. And you will be forced to learn some FreeBSD commands in the process. I keep a list of all the commands I use in a document cause rarely used ones are easily forgotten.

I won't hold your hand but I'll point you to proper resources and help out in the config. Also read up on proper burnin. You will want to do the MEMTEST first and then a weeks worth of disk burn-in to be sure everything is functional. Being all this hardware was in a production environment for at least a few years you want to weed out any bad hardware.

Mirfster you have convinced me to get one of those dells in the future when I'm ready to VDI my house and go to thin clients for the family. I wonder if a RasPi can work for a thin client?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jason Evans]

And when you are ready to setup I can help with the jails. It's recommend not to use the plugins as they are not up to date as much and a standard jail gives you better control. And you will be forced to learn some FreeBSD commands in the process. I keep a list of all the commands I use in a document cause rarely used ones are easily forgotten.

I won't hold your hand but I'll point you to proper resources and help out in the config. Also read up on proper burnin. You will want to do the MEMTEST first and then a weeks worth of disk burn-in to be sure everything is functional. Being all this hardware was in a production environment for at least a few years you want to weed out any bad hardware.

Mirfster you have convinced me to get one of those dells in the future when I'm ready to VDI my house and go to thin clients for the family. I wonder if a RasPi can work for a thin client?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That would be much appreciated! Definitely want to learn as much as I can. This is a great community so far. I've been lurking for a while.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[Mirfster]

Mirfster you have convinced me to get one of those dells in the future when I'm ready to VDI my house and go to thin clients for the family.

Man I should get some kinda kick back for this... ;) Nah, I find it fulfilling enough that you all get an enjoyable experience. On a side note, I actually heard back from both DFWComputers and DeepDiscountServers. They are willing to entertain the idea of a "FreeNas Turn-Key" configuration; so I am actually writing them back now. Would be cool to see them offer a complete configuration that you would just need to slap your drives into. Nice easy way to get your feet wet on the cheaper side... :)

*** In no way am I trying to take anything away from IX Systems; and if this is considered a "No No" I will "Cease and Desist" immediately.

Now, if I can just get @jgreco to "drink the kool-aid" and try one out my life will be complete... :D

 

[Jason Evans]

Man I should get some kinda kick back for this... ;) Nah, I find it fulfilling enough that you all get an enjoyable experience. On a side note, I actually heard back from both DFWComputers and DeepDiscountServers. They are willing to entertain the idea of a "FreeNas Turn-Key" configuration; so I am actually writing them back now. Would be cool to see them offer a complete configuration that you would just need to slap your drives into. Nice easy way to get your feet wet on the cheaper side... :)

*** In no way am I trying to take anything away from IX Systems; and if this is considered a "No No" I will "Cease and Desist" immediately.

Now, if I can just get @jgreco to "drink the kool-aid" and try one out my life will be complete... :D

Almost makes me want to cancel my order and go with those guys. But I'm sure there would he some sort of additional cost. I don't mind flashing stuff so no biggy. I don't think you are taking anything away from them. Their systems are nice and there are plenty of ppl who will just buy them as is. I'm more of a hardware guy than software. So building a NAS or fixing one is no biggy. Definitely curious to see what cost would be with a true "turn key" system.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[jgreco]

Now, if I can just get @jgreco to "drink the kool-aid" and try one out my life will be complete... :D

Dell's server division is still on my blacklist for offensive behaviour years ago. Besides, those stupid things you love so much are watt blasting boat anchors. They're cheap in the short run but expensive in the long run.

A modern fully loaded Xeon D (including dual 10Gbps and a 16 port HBA) board takes around 37 watts.

I'd rather pay the premium for good hardware than recycle someone else's discarded and unloved Dell boat anchor.

 

[Jason Evans]

Dell's server division is still on my blacklist for offensive behaviour years ago. Besides, those stupid things you love so much are watt blasting boat anchors. They're cheap in the short run but expensive in the long run.

A modern fully loaded Xeon D (including dual 10Gbps and a 16 port HBA) board takes around 37 watts.

I'd rather pay the premium for good hardware than recycle someone else's discarded and unloved Dell boat anchor.

Trust me, if I had that kind of cash laying around, I would have a beast of a FreeNas rig. But, I'm a poor bastid ;) As I stated before, this is a temporary solution until I get my funds back for something more up to date hardware wise. I know this will be cheaper to run than my gaming rig 24/7 for my plex needs,

 

[jgreco]

Trust me, if I had that kind of cash laying around, I would have a beast of a FreeNas rig. But, I'm a poor bastid ;) As I stated before, this is a temporary solution until I get my funds back for something more up to date hardware wise. I know this will be cheaper to run than my gaming rig 24/7 for my plex needs,

Naw, I'm taunting @Mirfster By any significant measure, the C2100 platform is likely to be a good choice for someone who wants into the NAS arena without the difficulty of doing a custom build. I'm sorry if you thought that was aimed at you.

 

[Jason Evans]

Naw, I'm taunting @Mirfster :) By any significant measure, the C2100 platform is likely to be a good choice for someone who wants into the NAS arena without the difficulty of doing a custom build. I'm sorry if you thought that was aimed at you.

haha definitely not. :D I mean, if I did have that kind of cash, I would much rather put together a rig of my own. That way I know it was done right or at least if something is borked, I would have a much better idea of where to look.

 

[Mirfster]

Ah, but with my diabolical plans to integrate a Top Magnetic Generator (using old drive platters and magnets) strapped to a Stirling Engine which is heated by a Fresnel Lens augmented with Parabolic Mirrors (out of old platters) I will be just fine... Now, if I could just tie in my Tesla Turbine.... ;)

 

[jgreco]

Ah, but with my diabolical plans to integrate a Top Magnetic Generator (using old drive platters and magnets) strapped to a Stirling Engine which is heated by a Fresnel Lens augmented with Parabolic Mirrors (out of old platters) I will be just fine... Now, if I could just tie in my Tesla Turbine.... ;)

I'll just drop antique outdated servers out the airplane while we fly over your house 'til one hits you. Lord knows there's enough of it here in inventory.

 

[danb35]

It's recommend not to use the plugins as they are not up to date as much and a standard jail gives you better control.

To the extent you're suggesting that avoiding plugins is a generally-accepted recommendation, I think you're overstating it. As with most things, there are pros and cons. Many of the plugins are self-updating (and, with the exception of CrashPlan, this doesn't generally cause problems), so the initial version being out of date isn't too important. Installation is, of course, a point-and-click process, and at least with some of them (like Plex), no CLI configuration needs to be done at all. Updates, if the app itself isn't self-updating, are just the matter of a click of a button.

OTOH, you have no opportunity to customize, you don't learn anything at the CLI, and troubleshooting is more difficult.

 

[maglin]

Sorry if I was bashing plugins but with so many including myself when I was attempting to be lazy having so many issues with them it's just easier and less time consuming to install a port and configure it to what you need.

I won't recommend them as learning FreeBSD is definitely advantageous.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jason Evans]

Looks like everything should be here this Thursday! Initial shipping said it wouldn't be here until the 28th. Getting excited. 50lbs for shipping weight on the server. Crazy.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk