New build help. 1k budget

[apb0703]

I have been using Freenas since 2014 and really enjoy it. I am looking to build a new system and have looked at a number of different builds. I can't decide what the best would be so looking for some help. I would like something that is mainly used as a Plex server but will also store other files. My current system is running a supermicro x10sae with a Intel Xeon e3 3.4ghz. It has 8 6tb drives and runs fairly well. I am looking to build something similar. I am mainly looking for help with everything but hard drives as I will not get them all at once but will add as needed. One thing I like about the x10sae is the capability of 8 drives. I am working about a 1k budget give or take a $100.

So short story looking for help on a new build

• 8 or more capability
• Mainly used as a Plex server with some 4k content
• Will add hard drives as needed so they don't need to be factored into price

Some things I have considered are:

Case
Motherboard
Power Supply
Processor
Memory

I appreciate any suggestions and look forward to what everyone has to offer. Thank you.

 

[Nick2253]

Why are you looking to build a new system? Will this live along side the old system, or is it meant as a replacement for it?

If the goal is to expand the space, you could add drives through a SAS expander, which would be much cheaper.

 

[JaimieV]

See my sig, but look at R5xx series rather than R4xx to get 2U and up to 12 HDDs.

5-7 year old server hardware costs very little, isn't any slower than current for the stuff you need, Registered ECC DDR3 costs nothing, and the Dell 2u series fans are quieter than the hard drives. A Dell R520 with 8 disks and a lower-power 4 core Xeon and 64gig comes in at about 90W.

 

[apb0703]

Why are you looking to build a new system? Will this live along side the old system, or is it meant as a replacement for it?

If the goal is to expand the space, you could add drives through a SAS expander, which would be much cheaper.

My goal is to have a new system set along side with the old system.

 

[Nick2253]

What are your thoughts on the SAS expander route? That would be substantially cheaper than $1k.

In order to give better advice, I think I need to understand more about what isn't working for you in the old system. If someone were to ask for a good, cost-effective FreeNAS build today, I'd direct them to used hardware almost identical to your current setup.

--

As far as the new hardware goes:

Case - beautiful case. However, you don't get all that many HDD bays given the footprint of the case. I would look at a Fractal Design R5, Fractal Design Node 804, Antec P101, or any mid tower with 6+ front 5.25" bays and then add drive cages: Zalman MS800, Xclio Nighthawk (and I'm sure there are a few others that I'm forgetting about). Some may not be available any more, but I'm sure similar cases can be found on Amazon or Newegg.

Mobo - The X11 series is a great choice. Personally, I prefer the server versions to the workstation versions, but you really can't go wrong with Supermicro. The X11SSH-F has 8x SATA ports, as well as an M.2 slot. If you want onboard 10G ports, you can get the X11SSH-TF. The X11SSH-CTF includes an additional SAS controller, and therefore supports an additional 8 ports. The C indicates the extra controller, and is very popular if you want to run a hypervisor, because you can passthrough the controller to the FreeNAS VM.

PSU - good 'nuff. Depending on exactly how many drives you plan on running, 850W may be overkill.

CPU - Problems! The i7 CPU does not support ECC. You can check for ECC support on Intel's ARK. If memory serves, only the Celeron, i3, and Xeon processors support ECC. If you are just streaming the video from Plex, you really don't need more than a Celeron. If you are transcoding, however, then I would stick with a chunkier CPU. The equivalent Xeon is probably the E3-1275 V5.

RAM - good 'nuff. Not much to be said here.

 

[apb0703]

What are your thoughts on the SAS expander route? That would be substantially cheaper than $1k.

I would consider the SAS expander route after doing some reading on it, though I am not entirely sure how this works. Are their any recommended cards for the Supermicro x10sae?

 

[Nick2253]

The basic way a SAS expander works is that you have a SAS controller in your base system, and that controller is connected to an expander card, which is connected to many SAS drives.

Usually, the expander card is located in a separate chassis, so you connect it with something like an SFF-8088 cable. In this separate chassis, all you have to provide is power to the expander card and the drives.

Pretty much any controller with an external SFF-8088 connector works great for doing a SAS expander setup. The biggest potential issue is that you are bottlenecked by the connection between the controller and the expander, so you want to make sure you understand how much data you'll be moving. You can buy an HP SAS expander card for pretty cheap on eBay. I'm sure there are others that are available as well.