BUILD Need advice for encrypted NAS

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HoneyBadger

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So I could either:
- try to find the Samsung modules from Supermicro's compatilibity list
- find some other 8GB Hynix A DRAM modules to put in the first 2 slots
- use 2 x 8GB Kingston modules and limit the device to 16GB ram
- use another motherboard

What do you think would be best/most stable?

I'd go with trying to find Samsung or another vendor's RAM that's certified as compatible in 8GB DIMMs. You'll always want the option to expand.
 

Shroom

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I totally agree that it would make more sense to buy 2 8GB modules, I got a little worried though when I read this thread http://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/kingston-4-x-8gb-ram-problem.18449/
Also Kingston only lists the 4GB modules in their compatibility chart. If I understand the problem correctly it will only affect me once I use more than 2 8GB sticks...which could happen in the future.

So I could either:
- try to find the Samsung modules from Supermicro's compatilibity list
- find some other 8GB Hynix A DRAM modules to put in the first 2 slots
- use 2 x 8GB Kingston modules and limit the device to 16GB ram
- use another motherboard

What do you think would be best/most stable?

Hmm, I wasn't aware of this issue. I would just buy the 8GB modules and see how it works, or pick out a different mobo that will definitely support 4 x 8GB DIMMs. You'd also be better served with a mobo supporting more than 32GB of RAM.

But Kingston has good support from what I hear, if you upgrade to 4 DIMMs in the future and have any issues, I'm sure they'll help you out. You may even end up being sent more/better RAM than you started with.

I recently had a single Corsair DIMM die on me from a 3 x 2GB Dominator set. After I called support and everything was said and done, I ended up with a replacement set of two 8GB DIMMs :)
 

taalas

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Just checked Supermicro's compatibility list...it seems that getting a module from that list will be very difficult.

Do you have any recommendation for an alternative to the Supermicro board?

Corsair support sounds great! :)
 

Shroom

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Just checked Supermicro's compatibility list...it seems that getting a module from that list will be very difficult.

Do you have any recommendation for an alternative to the Supermicro board?

Corsair support sounds great! :)

Well I've mostly been looking at mini-ITX boards, and the best 1150 ITX board I've found is the ASROCK E3C226DD2I (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157466) but you only get 2 DIMMs.

You probably have a much better selection looking at uATX, but I haven't been looking at them so I don't have a good opinion for ya
 

indy

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Probably makes more sense to pick the right Ram for the board and not vice versa.
 

Shroom

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Probably makes more sense to pick the right Ram for the board and not vice versa.

Well, it *should* be the right RAM for the board. No reason it shouldn't work unless Kingston is saying otherwise. It's the right speed, right type of memory, and supports ECC. Nothing should be incompatible here.
 

indy

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Actually I was referring to talas, in that he should choose the mainboard first and the Ram second.
 

Shroom

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Actually I was referring to talas, in that he should choose the mainboard first and the Ram second.

Yes I know, I'm saying he did that. The RAM should be compatible, but one person was experiencing an issue getting 4 of those DIMMs to post with that mobo.
 

taalas

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Actually it was more a matter of not being able to purchase the right RAM for the board I had in mind (or rather not being able to purchase modules bigger than 4GB). The plan is to choose a board and then pick RAM from the compatibility list to make sure it works well. It's not that I am searching for a board that is compatible to a specific DIMM, I am just searching for a replacement for the Supermicro I had in mind and then choose corresponding RAM...
 

stranger

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It's been a while since I bought PC kit so I've got a bit of catching up to do. I need a new PC anyway so I've decided to replace my dodgy E350 freenas box (no ECC RAM) with a new server and use the E350 as a PC. The avolon are the most interesting as the power usage will be similar to my current setup.
I'm leaning to buying a supermicro but will probably go for a C2550/8 as getting a C27xx is nearly 100€ more (sometimes it sucks to be in Europe). See
http://www.sona.de/.2128096449-Atom...tity_562497369=1&addtocart.x=83&addtocart.y=8

Now the question part, I quite like the minitx boards as they have usb3 support (I expect freenas usb3 support to improve) but these need SODIMMs.

Are these significantly more expensive than DIMMs? And since the PC industry is moving to laptops SODIMMs should become more available but will this apply to ECC RAM? Will they still be easily available when I fill the second two of the four slots?

Thanks
 

Hudu

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It's been a while since I bought PC kit so I've got a bit of catching up to do. I need a new PC anyway so I've decided to replace my dodgy E350 freenas box (no ECC RAM) with a new server and use the E350 as a PC. The avolon are the most interesting as the power usage will be similar to my current setup.
I'm leaning to buying a supermicro but will probably go for a C2550/8 as getting a C27xx is nearly 100€ more (sometimes it sucks to be in Europe). See
http://www.sona.de/.2128096449-Atom...tity_562497369=1&addtocart.x=83&addtocart.y=8

Now the question part, I quite like the minitx boards as they have usb3 support (I expect freenas usb3 support to improve) but these need SODIMMs.

Are these significantly more expensive than DIMMs? And since the PC industry is moving to laptops SODIMMs should become more available but will this apply to ECC RAM? Will they still be easily available when I fill the second two of the four slots?
I bought a A1SAM-2550F from sona.de, yesterday. If you are able to wait (a week), I will give you feedback about the mainboard and the service.
 

stranger

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I bought a A1SAM-2550F from sona.de, yesterday. If you are able to wait (a week), I can give you feedback about the mainboard and the service.

Thanks for that I'd appreciate that kind of info.
Also I'd love to know about 8gb RAM stick compatibility and cost. I plan to fill up two slots for a total of 16gb with the option to upgrade to 32gb later.
Most of the posts here are US specific and seem to be of much lower cost than in Europe. I'm based in Spain but I can buy from Germany.
 

Hudu

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Thanks for that I'd appreciate that kind of info.
Also I'd love to know about 8gb RAM stick compatibility and cost. I plan to fill up two slots for a total of 16gb with the option to upgrade to 32gb later.
Most of the posts here are US specific and seem to be of much lower cost than in Europe. I'm based in Spain but I can buy from Germany.
I will test the board with two Kingston KVR16E11/8L sticks. The Kingston Website says that the sticks a compatible with the board.
They costs 74€ per stick.

I think, that the prices in the US are a little bit misleading, because they are without tax.
 

stranger

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I will test the board with two Kingston KVR16E11/8L sticks. The Kingston Website says that the sticks a compatible with the board.
They costs 74€ per stick.

I think, that the prices in the US are a little bit misleading, because they are without tax.

Were those sticks ok?
 

Hudu

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Were those sticks ok?
Yes. I used a memtest over 24h and it found no error, the computer is running total stable.
The board A1SAM-2550F is really nice and worked without any problems.

With harddisks in standby and with running fans I measured 18Watt. But I have to admit that now Ubuntu 14.04 Server with ZoL is used.
With only five harddisks in a raidz2 vdev I can saturate a 1Gbit/sec link easily. Even writing with deduplication and lz4-compression I can saturate a 1Gbit/sec.
 

stranger

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I will test the board with two Kingston KVR16E11/8L sticks. The Kingston Website says that the sticks a compatible with the board.
They costs 74€ per stick.

I think, that the prices in the US are a little bit misleading, because they are without tax.

I'm about to buy a A1SAi-2550F from sona.de.

I checked the kinston site and it said that the KVR16LSE11/8 or KVR13LSE9/8 is compatible with the board.
The 2nd isn't as high freq.

This is it on amazon.
http://www.amazon.es/Kingston-KVR16...9&sr=8-2&keywords=KVR16LSE11/8#productDetails

Has anyone bought this combo? I want to press the button on my order so I just want to be sure (if anyone can help that is).

Thanks
 

Shroom

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I'm about to buy a A1SAi-2550F from sona.de.

I checked the kinston site and it said that the KVR16LSE11/8 or KVR13LSE9/8 is compatible with the board.
The 2nd isn't as high freq.

This is it on amazon.
http://www.amazon.es/Kingston-KVR16LSE11-Memoria-capacidad-velocidad/dp/B00CUYOGRM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1399980349&sr=8-2&keywords=KVR16LSE11/8#productDetails

Has anyone bought this combo? I want to press the button on my order so I just want to be sure (if anyone can help that is).

Thanks
The KVR13LSE9/8 may actually be better as it has a lower latency, not sure how that compares to 1600MHz in terms of NAS performance but many people would trade a few MHz for a lower latency.

I'm about to buy the C2750 version of that board though, I can't actually find the 2550 for sale but I was considering it. I think the C2750 is slightly overkill for what I'm doing (5 x 4TB WD Red in RAIDZ-2, possibly an SSD for L2ARC), but it would be nice to have a little more leg room to work with if I want to play around with jails. The C2550 should be quite sufficient for a home/small office setup. I will also be buying this memory, probably 2 DIMMs.

I have seen a couple people on here successfully run FreeNAS on this setup, if you do a quick search you'll find the threads. It looks like a-go to me. Just waiting for a few checks to clear and possibly a sale on those Red drives....
 

stranger

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I looked at the KVR13LSE9/8 and read wikipedia on CAS and it suggests that the latency is much the same except for the speed increase. I ended up getting the SODIMM ram.
I've got all the parts in place now, so I have to burn in the RAM and then migrate my disks to the new hardware. I'll report back once it's been working for about a week.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
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