BUILD New to FreeNAS - please review my build plan

[MurphyZoo]

I'm planning on building a FreeNAS system to use at home, but given I'm new to FreeNAS, I'd appreciate it if you could review my current build plan. I will be using the FreeNAS box as a backup system for my home PCs as well as a Plex server streaming to Roku devices on TVs (very little transcoding), possibly as a iTunes server - I'm sure I'll find other needs as well. I'm trying to keep the price down without sacrificing necessary items.

I've read several posts in this forum and several of the guides and have purchased the following list of hardware:

• ASRock C2550D4i mini-itx server board
  • I considered the C2750 based board, but this was $120 cheaper and seemed to meet the performance goals based on other forum posts.
• 16GB (2x8GB) ECC unbuffered DDR3 - CT2KIT102472BD160B
• Fractal Design Define R4 case
  • ATX mid-tower case instead of miniITX (somewhat defeats the purpose of the ITX motherboard, I know), I could have bought the node 304, but the Define R4 was cheaper and I wanted this for a future (2+ year) expansion of this NAS.
• Seasonic S12G 450W 80+Gold power supply
  • I already had this power supply - given it is not a SFX form factor, I didn't get the SilverStone DS308B case.
• 2 extra rosewill ROCF-13002 120mm computer case fans
• sandisk cruzer fit 32GB USB drive (FreeNAS OS drive)
• 3@ 4TB WD Red hard drives (2 from Amazon, 1 from NewEgg)
• 3@ 4TB Seagate NAS drives (2 from Amazon, 1 from NewEgg)
  

I'll setup the system with the 6 disks in a RAIDZ2 setup. They'll be connected to the Intel SATA ports (not the Marvell).

Outside of the items listed in the Building/Burn-in/Testing post (https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/building-burn-in-and-testing-your-freenas-system.17750/), is there anything else I should do to test this system before installing and using FreeNAS?

Please let me know if you see any deficiencies in my configuration. Am I going to run into problems not getting the C2750 board? I'm assuming 16GB is enough memory for now. (do I need more or is it just nice to have?)

Thanks

 

[nightshade00013]

16GB should be fine for now. It's a good jumping off point.

At a quick glance it looks fine. I'm not sure about ram compatibility as I didn't take the time to look at the verified list for the board but I doubt any problems. Not a lot of knowledge on the boards but ECC and intel ports should be fine for now. Later on you can add a SAS HBA but depending on the number of drives you end up with you may need to upgrade the PSU but will be fine for now.

As far as the testing for the drives this one is one of the go to's https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/how-to-hard-drive-burn-in-testing.21451/

I am thinking that Plex can serve your media for itunes as well. As far as transcoding if everything will be in the home you should be fine as long as the video's are in the correct format. If you stream to a mobile device outside the home you could see some problems. The latest version of PlexMediaServer-PlexPass however has add a new feature if you have a PlexPass called Optimized Versions which can be transcoded ahead of time so this will be good if you know some content that will need to be streamed later at a different bitrate without transcoding.

On the OS drive, get two and mirror them. Should also make a backup of your config when everything is nailed down in case of a failure.

And don't forget the UPS, a small one should keep this powered up long enough for a safe shutdown if there is a power failure.

 

[MurphyZoo]

Thanks for the feedback.

I ordered another 16GB of memory (it couldnt hurt). The memory is Crucial brand and was on ASRock's memory list.

I also ordered another USB drive to mirror the OS drive.

I have an APC 1500VA UPS from my now busted windows home server (thus freenas will replace the WHS).

I don't have PlexPass, but will look into it. I don't stream outside of the house. My video files stream natively to my Roku's.

Thanks again.

 

[nightshade00013]

No problem. The more memory the smoother things will work if you load the server, it definitely will not hurt though.

For the PlexPass, it adds a few features in the home that can be fun and give a bit more of the "at the movies" experience like downloading trailers for new movies and such. I can also say that even though I don't do it often being able to stream direct to my phone or tablet has been nice. Had someone with a flat tire yesterday that I took to a place to be fixed. Didn't really know the guy but being a decent neighbor I took him anyway. Sitting there starting to get bored out of my skull I grabbed my phone and read a few things and then started streaming Farscape.