BUILD New build for PLEX/storage

[Sir_Slappy]

Hello all!

First time poster here and just wanting some confirmation on the parts I selected for my new FreeNAS server. I will be using this pretty much just to host my Plex Media Server as well as CIFS file sharing for my two Windows desktops.

CASE: Supermicro CSE-721TQ-250B w/ included 250w PSU
MOBO: Supermicro MBD-A1SAi-2750F-O MiniITX w/ Atom C2750
RAM: 2x 8GB Kingston 204-Pin SO-DIMM ECC Model KVR16LSE11/8KF
HDD: 4x 2TB WD Red Pro WD2001FFSX
BOOT: 16GB SanDisk usb flash drive

I thought about getting the same Asrock board that comes in the FreeNAS mini but decided on the supermicro board due to ensured compatibility with the case even though it uses SO-DIMM (not sure why they did that).

My only concern is if the case will handle the slight increase in temps due to using 7,200 rpm drives so will monitor closely and add a 2nd fan if needed. Any advice, info, or feedback on my build would be greatly appreciated! Glad to be here and hope to learn a lot and be a good contributing member to this forum.

 

[Mirfster]

I haven't really went over your MB/CPU specs, but others may and chime in; however here are some suggestions:

• Go over @jgreco 's "Proper Power Supply Sizing Guidance" to make sure you have ample power
• Might want to grab a 2nd "16GB SanDisk usb flash drive" an mirror the boot
• If you are new to FreeNas, take some time to go over some materials (I have some "Recommended Reading" links in my sig)

 

[Sir_Slappy]

Good info! Thank you very much. I read through a few of the guides on here already but will read through them again along with the ones that you posted. I appreciate that.

 

[tvsjr]

7200RPM drives really don't get you much of anything, other than more heat. There are a very limited number of extreme edge cases where you might be able to measure a speed difference, but you'd almost certainly never "feel" the difference from a use perspective. I run them because they were available for free (repurposed from other uses), but if I were buying new, the typical WD Red drives are the way to go. Or the HGSTs. Don't buy Seagate. If you're actually concerned about speed, use the money you'll save not buying Red Pros to buy larger drives, and don't fill the pool as full... the more space is in use, the slower the pool will be.

Definitely add another USB drive for boot, or consider moving to two (or one... religious argument) small SSD devices for boot. They're hugely faster when you upgrade, and they're much less prone to failure. Just depends if you have enough ports and space to support them. You could also use one SATADOM, since that board has one power port for it.

 

[Sir_Slappy]

I would have gone for the regular WD Red drives but I already had two of the pro's on hand so just decided to get two more red pro's. I do like the 5-year warranty on them at least. My plan is to run all four drives in a RAIDZ2 due to being able to suffer two drive failures. I understand I will lose some capacity but the peace of mind with more redundancy is more important to me. I will definitely grab a 2nd USB drive for boot also.

 

[Sir_Slappy]

After reading the power supply size guide I decided to purchase http://www.fspgroupusa.com/ecommerce/retail-psu/mini-itx/fsp300-60fag.html to give me a bit more power and also 1x Samsung 850 PRO 128GB for a boot drive.

 

[Mirfster]

also 1x Samsung 850 PRO 128GB for a boot drive.

You know that basically that would be a waste of a 128GB SSD right? I use SSDs for my boot device, but would not consider going higher than 32 GB. I know they are hard to find, but FreeNas is not going to need anywhere near that space (128 GB) for the OS and you can't use the rest of the drive for anything else...

 

[Sir_Slappy]

I know, but to be honest the price of this SSD was not too bad, especially when compared to prices I saw on NewEgg for SATA DOM modules. Even compared to older, smaller SSD's the price increase still seemed reasonable even considering that most of the space on this SSD won't be used.

 

[Mirfster]

Yeah, I understand. For myself, I just went shopping on eBay and got four older 32GB SSDs at a cheap price. Since I am a hardware addict it made the most sense to me. Of course, that leads to me building even more FreeNas Servers..

 

[Sir_Slappy]

I hear ya! My original plan was to get either a Synology or QNAP nas for my plex/file sharing but the addict inside me made me go with building a FreeNAS server myself :)

 

[flyinfitz1]

Hello all!

First time poster here and just wanting some confirmation on the parts I selected for my new FreeNAS server. I will be using this pretty much just to host my Plex Media Server as well as CIFS file sharing for my two Windows desktops.

CASE: Supermicro CSE-721TQ-250B w/ included 250w PSU
MOBO: Supermicro MBD-A1SAi-2750F-O MiniITX w/ Atom C2750
RAM: 2x 8GB Kingston 204-Pin SO-DIMM ECC Model KVR16LSE11/8KF
HDD: 4x 2TB WD Red Pro WD2001FFSX
BOOT: 16GB SanDisk usb flash drive

I thought about getting the same Asrock board that comes in the FreeNAS mini but decided on the supermicro board due to ensured compatibility with the case even though it uses SO-DIMM (not sure why they did that).

My only concern is if the case will handle the slight increase in temps due to using 7,200 rpm drives so will monitor closely and add a 2nd fan if needed. Any advice, info, or feedback on my build would be greatly appreciated! Glad to be here and hope to learn a lot and be a good contributing member to this forum.

I have a very similar setup and run a i3-4130. I think your CPU might be a little under powered for Plex. Mine tops out with several users. optimizing media helps so youre not transcoding but even then it can top out. If I were to do it over I would spend $80 more for Xeon. Just my .02.

 

[Sir_Slappy]

I have a very similar setup and run a i3-4130. I think your CPU might be a little under powered for Plex. Mine tops out with several users. optimizing media helps so youre not transcoding but even then it can top out. If I were to do it over I would spend $80 more for Xeon. Just my .02.

Thanks for the head's up! I currently run my PLEX server on one of my desktops with an i5-4690k that can service multiple streams (the most I have tried is 5 concurrently). Now granted an Atom soc is no Haswell i5 but with how I encoded all my media through handbrake (MP4, H.264, AC3 passthru) I have yet to see my current CPU perform any transcoding (local, no remote streaming for me). Hopefully the C2750 will perform just as well!