New SOHO User: First TrueNAS Scale Build

[sos_nz]

My first TrueNAS build is in planning stages.

Use case is SOHO, running a synchronised file server for photos & digital media (1TB of music + another TB of videos), scheduled hard drive backups from my 3 PCs, and all to be accessible via VPN (wireguard is already set up on dedicated OPNsense box), with docks for Plex, Home Assistant and my apache webserver, at least to begin with. I may end up moving my BlueIris box over to it too - is it OK to record 24/7 video footage to a NAS?.

So - am looking at around 10-12 TB of useable storage capacity, which *should* be plenty for the foreseeable future.

I thought about buying second hand server hardware, but the speed & power efficiency of modern stuff swayed me.

Although for SOHO use, I'm keen to do it as well as possible as per the TrueNAS recommended hardware guide, so ECC RAM etc. It's been challenging to find the best combination of recommended hardware - Supermicro & Asrock rack stuff is hard to find & mostly sold out in my part of the world.

Nonetheless, I've started the build by purchasing an Asrock rack x470d4u2 (https://wisp.net.au/asrock-rack-x470d4u2.html).

Next step is ECC RAM - 16 vs 32 GB, and trying to find stuff on the QVL list. This Nemix stuff is said to be a 'replacement' for the Samsung OEM on the QVL: https://www.amazon.com/NEMIX-Replacement-Samsung-M391A4G43MB1-CTD-DDR4-2666/dp/B07YXBHXN7

CPU wise - will probably go for a AMD 5600, along with whatever PSU & case, and 4 x 6TB drives in either RAID-z2 or mirrored.

...and to be honest, it's also a chance to learn & play with something new - so I may yet install TrueNAS in a Proxmox setup :)

 

[sos_nz]

Update: have now also purchased:
1. 32GB (2x16) ECC, Timetec (Hynix) 2666 UDIMM - user reviews suggest it'll work with this board
2. Ryzen 5500 (managed to find one cheaply)

 

[sos_nz]

Getting there....
1. Further 32GB RAM (2x16 ECC), Samsung 2666 UDIMM - was going cheap from a decommissioned home server (so, 64GB in total)
2. Fractal Define R5 case (room for 8 x 3.5" drives in a mid-tower)....and the same case as my home/gaming PC
3. 750W Corsair RMx. Was going to use a 430W Seasonic S12, but I forgot I'd rewired the ATX connector for another project.

I *think* that's everything purchased except the 4 x 6TB 3.5" HDD's. Will probably go WD Red Pros or Iron Wolf Pro's. Maybe Exos...choices, choices....

EDIT: 6TB EXOS (7E8 ST6000NM0115) going cheap on Amazon right now. Couldn't resist. Hope they're not a bad batch from somewhere!

 

[sos_nz]

The good news: TrueNAS up and running!

The bad news: the Ryzen 5500, for some unknown reason, isn't a supported CPU, so I had to chuck a 3600 in there instead. Updating the BIOS from L0.70 ( pre-release BIOS from what I can tell) to 4.20, which supports Ryzen 5xxx series CPUS (but the 5500 isn't listed), to see if that makes a difference.

Edit: have decided to go with a 6-disc RAIDZ2 setup, since I got an extra couple of 6TB drives. The 16GB @ 80% useable capacity should last me for a *very* long time!

EDIT: The Ryzen 5500 does run with the L4.26 BIOS.

 

[sos_nz]

LOL. The 5500 doesn't support ECC. AMD, you suck. Back to the 3600 :)

 

[Etorix]

Thanks for the feedback. How do you see that the 3600 supports ECC but the 5500 doesn't?

Officially, only Ryzen Pro CPUs are supposed to make use of ECC; the non-Pro are a grey area.

 

[sos_nz]

My suspicions were aroused when the Dashboard's Memory card didn't show: "62.7GiB total available (ECC)", with the 5500 installed, when I recalled that it did show (ECC) with the 3600 installed. Then I checked the fine print on AMD's website, and the 5500 definitely doesn't according to AMD's own spec page (https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-5-5500). I should have read the fine print first!

The 3600 definitely *does* support ECC - at least according to my TrueNAS dashboard's reporting.

Re: APUs (e.g. 5600G) - my understanding it that only the "Pro" variant APUs support ECC, while the regular or non-Pro APU parts don't.

 

[sos_nz]

Excellent stuff, this TrueNAS. Got my SMB shares set up on a fresh 21TB pool...all important files are backed up, and main PC hard drives images are also backed up, and with the security of RAIDz2 and ECC. Now to set up a Time Machine backup, webserver, Jellyfin, Home Assistant, Nextcloud, Syncthing, Arch VM....