New to FreeNAS...

[IDtheTarget]

Howdy!

I'm new to FreeNAS, getting ready to buy the Mini XL. I've had a Synology in the past but wasn't excited about the lack of horsepower.

I'm hoping to put Plex on it (to which I'm also knew, I used to run XBMC/Kodi on a raspberry pi) to host my movies/TV/music in the house. My Internet connection is way too slow to stream outside of the house (I live in the boonies).

I'm an old-time Linux guy, since Red Hat 5.2. Since I'm going to be using FreeNAS and pfSense (on another, dedicated box), I imagine that I may have questions about FreeBSD as well.

Thanks!

 

[gpsguy]

Welcome to the forums!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mirfster]

getting ready to buy the Mini XL

Are these the models that run the ASRock C2550D4I (or similar)?

 

[IDtheTarget]

Are these the models that run the ASRock C2550D4I (or similar)?

Actually, I'm not sure. I *think* so, but I can't find on the ixsystems site what the current hardware is. I just figure that if I run into problems with FreeNAS, I won't get the dreaded "the hardware isn't good enough!" LOL.

 

[Mirfster]

Search the forums regarding the ASRock MB and FreeNas Mini. ASRock has had some pretty concerning issues lately and may be worth investigating.

 

[IDtheTarget]

Wow...just...wow. The entire reason I'd intended to purchase from ixsystems was because I didn't want to have to worry about ensuring I got parts that work together well and have a good lifespan. If the systems that ixsystems is shipping have problems and they are dying soon after the warranty expires, I'm seriously concerned. Was *not* looking forward to having to build my own box again.

 

[droeders]

Was *not* looking forward to having to build my own box again.

Stunned silence...

 

[Mirfster]

Not trying to dissuade you, but I figured I should mention it. There were a lot of others who had issues and I noticed that a couple mentioned it actually being an IXSystem. Not saying it was all of them or wanting to spread any fear though.

This truly is an ASRock issue at the end of the day.

You can always look into the Dell T20 or Lenovo TS140 as alternatives.

 

[Ericloewe]

Are these the models that run the ASRock C2550D4I (or similar)?

C2750. Same problem, obviously. Last I checked (two days ago), still nothing new from ASRock...

 

[Glorious1]

I agree, that's a little disconcerting that there are questions about the hardware IXSystems is using. I was looking hard at an ASRock motherboard when I was putting my system together, and don't recall hearing anything bad then.

Maybe a little off topic, but IDtheTarget, I'm curious what advantages you see in Plex over Kodi. I use Kodi on a mac mini to play media on my FreeNAS, and I'm pretty happy with the setup. Maybe you need transcoding for various devices?

 

[JohnDigital]

I priced my exact setup yesterday, which, despite being a yesteryear system works perfectly for a very similar PLEX/Kodi/Raspberry setup, only this one using 6 WD Red 4TB drives for around 11 or 1200 bucks. A friend asked me to look into it for him after he was impressed with my setup. The iX machine, a company I respect, which is probably great, HW issues aside, similarly spec'ed is almost $2700. The hardest part of building this machine is making sure the drives have no sort of hidden deficiencies below the surface and or vetting them properly.

Build your own and save $1500 bucks. Hell Id build it for you for a case of beer, but Im in Iowa.

 

[Glorious1]

The hardest part of building this machine is making sure the drives have no sort of hidden deficiencies below the surface and or vetting them properly.

Not that hard if you follow the burn-in instructions before putting any real data in. But I agree, it is important.

 

[JohnDigital]

Not that hard if you follow the burn-in instructions before putting any real data in. But I agree, it is important.

More to what I was referring was the time this process takes. You are quite correct that issuing the commands at a terminal is easy, so do not fret there. The vetting process, the subsequent RMA process (if needed, hopefully no, but even if questionable, RMA/return), then the data migration from backup took me around a month start to finish.

 

[IDtheTarget]

Maybe a little off topic, but IDtheTarget, I'm curious what advantages you see in Plex over Kodi. I use Kodi on a mac mini to play media on my FreeNAS, and I'm pretty happy with the setup. Maybe you need transcoding for various devices?

I liked Kodi, but I now have a heterogeneous client list, currently dominated by various Roku and Android devices. I'd also like to be able to pipe music and pictures all over the place. Plex seems to be able to handle all of the above from what I've read.

The transcoding thing is huge, for me. I'm tired of re-transcoding my entire library when my clients change (iPhone to Android tablet to Kodi (not much change) to Roku. I'd rather just put the raw rips (I buy a DVD, rip it to my library, and store the DVD in the garage) onto the storage device. Then let PLEX figure out how to serve the file to where I want to consume the media.

 

[IDtheTarget]

I priced my exact setup yesterday, which, despite being a yesteryear system works perfectly for a very similar PLEX/Kodi/Raspberry setup, only this one using 6 WD Red 4TB drives for around 11 or 1200 bucks. A friend asked me to look into it for him after he was impressed with my setup. The iX machine, a company I respect, which is probably great, HW issues aside, similarly spec'ed is almost $2700. The hardest part of building this machine is making sure the drives have no sort of hidden deficiencies below the surface and or vetting them properly.

Build your own and save $1500 bucks. Hell Id build it for you for a case of beer, but Im in Iowa.

Hm. There was a time, way back when, when I knew enough about processors, motherboards and other components that building a server was a non-stress event. (Think 486DX... LOL). These days I find myself unable to keep up with the changing hardware landscape. So if I buy from ixsystems, I am assuming that they've tested the configuration to ensure that it meets their standards and that they'll support the system if/when I have problems. Plus, while I don't have money to just throw away, they're putting out plenty of money to support the FreeNAS system and I'd like to support them if it's financially feasible.