New Build - Please check and advise

[mw2014]

Hi,
Thanks to everyone that helped me get this far.
I have chosen my equipment and would like advice on my choices.

I will be using my FreeNAS box mostly for Data Storage (Date, Music, Video).

I will be using a Windows 7 computer to play music and view movies. Data will be shared by about 15 computers (not at the same time). Plex is a strong possibility.

I am thinking about adding 2 additional 3TB drives (non raid) to use for once a week backing up/imaging of possible 15 computers using Windows Backup or possibly Acronis True Image. This will most likely be done at the same time will probably only be 5 computers.

BUILD
Currently Have
Case Fractal Design Arc Midi R2
Fans 3 intake (2 front 1 bottom) 3 exhaust (2 top 1 back)

Hard Drives 18TB - 6 - Western Digital Red 3TB - RAID-Z2 - Possible 2 more for Computer Backups
Controler IBM ServeRaid M1015

Power Supply EVGA -Supernova 1200 P2

USB Thumb Drive 3 SanDisk Cruzer - 8GB

Not Yet Purchased
Motherboard Supermicro MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Socket

Processor Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 Ivy Bridge 3.7GHz Turbo - LGA 1155
CPU Cooler Enermax ETS-T40-TB-CPU

Memory Crucial 16 GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Unbuffered EEC Server Memory

UPS APC SMC1500 Smart-UPS 900 Watts/1500 VA


Do I need cache drives?
Thanks for the assistance and suggestions

 

[Fraoch]

Everything looks good but the power supply is extreme overkill. You indicate you already have it so you might as well use it but with such a tiny load in comparison to its rated load it won't be very efficient at all, and it will be on 24/7.

For a server, an aftermarket CPU cooler is usually not necessary. I only went with one to reduce noise but it's not needed for thermal reasons as the processor will idle almost all the time.

Most home users won't benefit from a cache drive:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/

 

[mw2014]

Everything looks good but the power supply is extreme overkill. You indicate you already have it so you might as well use it but with such a tiny load in comparison to its rated load it won't be very efficient at all, and it will be on 24/7.

For a server, an aftermarket CPU cooler is usually not necessary. I only went with one to reduce noise but it's not needed for thermal reasons as the processor will idle almost all the time.

Most home users won't benefit from a cache drive:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/

Thank you very much for you evaluation.

A good friend builds Windows Servers and suggested nothing less than 1000 watts.
My initial idea was to build a Windows server, until I found FreeNAS, so I have a large PSU.
I've seen blogs stating a large PSU will use more power than a small PSU and others that say a PSU will only use what it needs so size doesn't matter.
Once I get it built, I was thinking of installing a plug in power meter just to see what it uses.

Since I will have extra Power and SATA ports and a couple extra CD/DVD's, I was thinking of installing one.
I don't know what I would use it for at the moment, but my thought is, I have it why not use it.
Is there any reason not to?

Thanks.

 

[Roman]

A good friend builds Windows Servers and suggested nothing less than 1000 watts.

One-socket systems usually don't need 1k watts PSUs.

 

[Fraoch]

A good friend builds Windows Servers and suggested nothing less than 1000 watts.
My initial idea was to build a Windows server, until I found FreeNAS, so I have a large PSU.
I've seen blogs stating a large PSU will use more power than a small PSU and others that say a PSU will only use what it needs so size doesn't matter.
Once I get it built, I was thinking of installing a plug in power meter just to see what it uses.

Plugging these values into this calculator, I get:

Minimum PSU Wattage:269 W
Recommended
PSU Wattage: *

So it is crazy overkill. There's no need for so much power, but there is a need for reliability - large enterprise servers even have redundant power supplies, but usually not quite so big.

Since I will have extra Power and SATA ports and a couple extra CD/DVD's, I was thinking of installing one.
I don't know what I would use it for at the moment, but my thought is, I have it why not use it.
Is there any reason not to?

It will work and there's no reason not to use it if you have it. The concern is - is it efficient?

Looking at tests:

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=389

(I was hoping johnnyGURU would have a review, he publishes extensive efficiency tests)

you're lucky, it's a Platinum PSU, and that chart shows 91.1% efficiency at 248.4 W, which is quite close to your maximum load. At 10% load (idle, where your system will be most of the time), the power supply is still 86.8% efficient.

That's actually higher efficiency than the SeaSonic unit I'm using: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=326

So it looks like you won't have any inefficiencies, you just overspent.;)

 

[JackShine]

Sounds good to me

Buy why are you storing dates?

 

[mw2014]

Sounds good to me

Buy why are you storing dates?

Thanks for the review.
Data Storage (Date, Music, Video) - Is a mistype, I meant Data Storage (Data, Music, Video)
You are very observant, I had to read it three times before I found the error.
Thanks

 

[Roman]

Buy why are you storing dates?

Recording dates and storing it. :D