New FreeNAS build

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eirik.lars1

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Looking to get some input on my new build:


Case: Fractal design R4
PSU: Silverstone ST55F-G (already owned)
Motherboard: Supermicro x10SL7-F
CPU: Xeon E3-1230V3
RAM: 4x8gb SAMSUNG DDR3 ECC M391B1G73BH0-CK0
Boot: Intel SSD 320 80gb (already owned)
Disks: 6x WD RED 3TB raidz2 (3 already owned)
UPS: APC Smart-UPS 750VA LCD 230V

Intended use: Home server, mostly just one user, jails: sabnzbd, couchpotato, sickbeard, transmission, plex streaming (mostly just one stream, but occasionally two or three streams)

Does this setup look ok?

I read some post about the R4 case not providing adequate cooling. Anybody with that case who can elaborate? Are there other cases that might be better?
 

Scampicfx

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Hey,
regarding your CPU: keep in mind that the maximum amount of RAM your CPU can handle is 32 GByte RAM (your current setup). There are no upgrade options! This also means your usable disk space is limited somewehre at 30 TByte, when following the thumbrule 1 TByte HDD = 1 GByte RAM.
Remember how harddisk usage developed in the past 5 years and try to make a guess how the demands in capacity will increase in your case within the next 5 or 10 years (are you going to store media data on your homeserver? 4k? hdr? the last two points will require a LOT of space!).
Remember, theoretically, you could reach/exceed this 30TB limit already today by using 6x 8TB in RAIDZ2.

Since most proably you have to spend quite a lot of money in your server setup, personally, I would feel more comfortable when I know there are upgrade options in future and I do not have to rebuy the whole stuff (new motherboard, new cpu, new ram, etc...) again in let's say 5 years!

I also recommend to use a server chassis instead of a desktop one since they provide options for hot-swap and are designed exactly for what you're aiming at: storage server! If you're looking for a cheap solution, have a look at 2U server chassis which support 8x 3,5" hard disk cages (and ca. 2x internal drives). If you would like to have more upgrade options in future, I suggest to look at 3U or 4U server chassis. They offer many hard disk cages, threfore giving you a lot of upgrade options in future! Of course, they are more expensive, but they will give you a more future-proof solid solution.
 

CraigD

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The RAM requirements are a guide

32GB of RAM can support huge pools

Even @cyberjock who wrote the guide has 10x6TB HDDs running on 32GB of RAM

I have been using the SuperMicro X10SL7-F with 32GB of RAM for a month or two and love it

It was pointed out to me that the X11SSL-CF is the newer version of the X10SL7-F however I have not tested or used it, and it supports 64GB RAM

Have Fun
 

Ericloewe

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Yeah, the X11SSL-CF is broadly equivalent to the X10SL7-F, but it uses the newer and not quite as mature SAS3008 instead of the SAS2308.

However, if you're staying with 6 drives on the pool, I'd recommend an X11SSM-F, which provides 8 SATA ports and I'd cheaper, plus has the advantages of the newer platform.
 

eirik.lars1

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Thanks for the feedback! The original plan was to reuse my 3x3tb WD red disk to keep the cost down. However, only getting three new 3TB disks would not get me so much more space and I would probably run out pretty quick. Therefore I've reconsidered and now considering using the 3x3tb for a backup system I already have in place and get new drives for the new build. The new plan is to use 10x6tb WD reds in Raidz2.

I guess I better stick with the X10SL7-F then?

After reading this post I'm also thinking about going for the R5 case with 4x Noctua fans NF-A14-FLX to provide cooling. Any input on this?

A supermicro server case would be good but Its out of the question at this point because I dont have a proper place to put it at this point. I need a reasonably quiet build.
 

Ericloewe

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I guess I better stick with the X10SL7-F then?
Or X11SSL-CF, since the X10SL7-F limits you pretty badly RAM-wise, if you're going to start off with such a large pool.
 

eirik.lars1

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However, if you're staying with 6 drives on the pool, I'd recommend an X11SSM-F, which provides 8 SATA ports and I'd cheaper, plus has the advantages of the newer platform.

After doing some reading about the x11 boards I think I´m going to go with the new platform. There seemed to be some trouble getting usb to work, but as far as I can tell thats been resolved.

I've also added a supermicro satadom to the purchase list. That way I can free up my old ssd to some better use.

Regarding disk configuration I've been pondering a lot back and forth the last week. After putting 10 6tb drives in the shopping cart I realised this would get pretty expensive and not really justifiable. So it was back to the drawing board again. X11SSM-F seems like a good choice if I´m sticking with six drives and the original plan to reuse my three 3tb wd reds. With this setup I would probably be short on space again sometime within the next two years so the plan would be to replace the 3tb disks with 6tb one by one at that time.

So the new tentative setup looks like this:

Case: Fractal design R5
Cooling: Noctua 140mm NF-A14-FLX
PSU: Silverstone ST55F-G (already owned)
Motherboard: Supermicro x11SSM-F
CPU: Xeon E3-1230V5 Skylake
RAM: 2x16gb SAMSUNG DDR4 ECC M391A2K43BB1-CPB
Boot: Supermicro satadom 16gb SSD-DM016-PHI
Disks: 6x WD RED 3TB raidz2 (3 already owned)
UPS: APC Smart-UPS 750VA LCD 230V
 
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eirik.lars1

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Hello! I did not look at those boards, no. Already ordered the setup in my last post and waiting for it to arrive.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Amu W Ramappa

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Hello! I did not look at those boards, no. Already ordered the setup in my last post and waiting for it to arrive.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
No worries. I have a Xeon D boards at my home in a Bitfenix case, booting on an M2 SSD and it's been stable on 9.10. I use it for Plex, Torrent, Sonarr and as a offsite backup for my work using zfs replication.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
 

eirik.lars1

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Parts arrived! Build starts today! :)

IMG_0003.JPG
 

eirik.lars1

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Ok, so I installed the motherboard, RAM, CPU, sata dom and all the disks in the chassis. Unfortunately the 24pin atx connector from my PSU was too short for the R5 case so I need to get an extension cable. While Im waiting for the extension cable to arrive I am improvising and using the empty packaging box for the xeon as a stand for my psu to have the short cable reach up and connect while I run memtest86 for a few days :)
 

eirik.lars1

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Are there any particular BIOS settings that I need to change with the x11SSM-F board before I install freenas? Or can I just leave it at the default settings?
 

Ericloewe

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Off the top of my head, nothing besides the obvious (boot priorities and such).
 

eirik.lars1

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Ok, did 12 passes with memtest86 and no errors :) Running mprime now in small ffts mode for cpu testing. Its been running for 4 hours now and I'm seeing 70 degrees celsius on the cpu temp. I checked the fan setting on the motherboard and just realised I need 4 pin pwm fans if I want the motherboard to controll fan speed depending on load. But all my fans are three pin :rolleyes:
 

Spearfoot

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Ok, did 12 passes with memtest86 and no errors :) Running mprime now in small ffts mode for cpu testing. Its been running for 4 hours now and I'm seeing 70 degrees celsius on the cpu temp. I checked the fan setting on the motherboard and just realised I need 4 pin pwm fans if I want the motherboard to controll fan speed depending on load. But all my fans are three pin :rolleyes:
70 degrees? That's a little warm... If it was me, I'd open the case and point a room fan at the motherboard while running the Mersenne prime, which is well-known for heating up CPUs to a higher temperature than what you'll see during normal operation. :smile:
 

Ericloewe

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Yeah, I'd target 50 degrees Celsius with the stock cooler during memtest.

Prime95 will almost immediately jump to 70ish and should be kept there by increased fan speeds.
 

eirik.lars1

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Thats right, I started out with the fan mode setting set to "optimal speed", and later changed it to "full speed". Both settings give the same temp of 70 degrees celsius. As far as I can tell after a quick search these temperatures are to be expected with the stock cooler and I shouldn't be worried. Any thoughts on this?

Also, is there any point in changing to 4pin pwm fans then? I dont expect this system to experience heavy loads in the future. Occasionally two or three simultaneous plex streams but I dont know how much that will put on the system.

Lastly, how long should I run mprime for?
 

CraigD

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Also, is there any point in changing to 4pin pwm fans then? I dont expect this system to experience heavy loads in the future. Occasionally two or three simultaneous plex streams but I dont know how much that will put on the system.

Lastly, how long should I run mprime for?

If you can live with live with fan noise, your fine with 3 pin fans

I've tested with Prime and temps normally settle after 15 minutes maybe 45 minutes

Have Fun
 

eirik.lars1

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Ran 23 hours of mprime blend test and I get no errors! Time to test the drives.

Noob question: Do I need to "enable" ecc in any way?
 
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