New to NAS. Help needed

[Raresoul]

Hi all!!

So i'll try to make this specific as possible.

I'm a videographer & editor. I also run a small organisation where we create content. I've reached the point where storage is becoming an issue so one of the solutions i've been looking at is building a NAS running FreeNas.



In terms of my requirements, I want to build a media server mainly for storing/logging footage/files with decent transfer speeds locally and remotely. I will eventually want to ensure editors have remote access to the files on the server to download and edit and then uploading it once done. I may also want to look at the possibility of encoding via the server but this isn't a necessity right now.



In terms of form factor, i've been considering the Fractal design NODE 304 so i'd like hardware recommendations around ITX boards. I've been getting mixed reviews around durability of standard motherboards vs server motherboards.. soo... I'd like come clarity on thaht if possible.



I'm not limited to ITX but it's an initial preference. I'm looking to have some seagate ironwolf pros or WD reds NAS HDD up to 16TB run in a suitable raid set up. I'll probably begin with 8-12TB.



I'm looking for suggestions on the type of:

PSU

CPU

MB

RAM



please provide rationale for suggestions. I don't want to spend a lot. I'd say my budget is £500 excl hard drives. But i'll push more if needed.



Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[jgreco]

In general, it's hard to find good, high quality, high performance mini-ITX stuff. It's mostly hobbyist or enthusiast grade stuff.

There's a good hardware guide floating around here somewhere. I also suggest that it's a good idea to look at how iXsystems builds the FreeNAS Mini, and that's also a good way to go if you want to buy something that's just plug-and-go.

 

[kdragon75]

My first suggestion is to not artificially limit yourself to an itx case. It leaves you with NO room to expand (and you will want to) to 10gbe, more drives, better controllers or nvme SLOG if/when needed. Also budget for a backup server. One server with the best hardware and RAIDz3 with snapshots still does not count as a backup. Think fire or flood. Insurance may buy you a new server but it can't replace your data or lost time.

I've been getting mixed reviews around durability of standard motherboards vs server motherboards.. soo... I'd like come clarity on that if possible.

Simple, use a hammer for a nail and a screwdriver for a screw. Get server grade hardware. It is usually needed for ECC memory and typically has things like IP-KVM so you can remotely manage the server (over the LAN, KVM, IPMI, etc should NEVER be exposed to the internet, VPN is ok though). This way you dont need a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. server gear is also designed to run 24/7/365.

On the ECC topic, FreeNAS runs fine without it. The issue is that if you have a stick go bad, you could be writing garbage data and not know until you need that data. The odds of this are "low" but when your talking about 10s of TB of data and your business relies on it, it matters. Also its not that much more expensive.

For a CPU, on the low end some corei3s can do ECC but they don't support much memory. Again, you need to plan for everything you expect this investment to do over the next how ever long you want it keep it. This often means *slightly* older Xeon CPUs.

As for "a suitable raid" You should run no less than RAIDz2. This allows any two drives to die before you have to restore from backups (lots of down time). The capacity is number of drives minus 2 times usable space per drive. AKA N-2. Given your case only hold 4 drives (If I recall) than means to hit your upper target of 16TB and N-2 you would need 4 "10TB" drives. 8TB drives would be a bit under 16TB usable.
To power your server grade hardware, you need a quality PSU, not some cheap of brand. Your build is only as reliable as your cheapest knockoff part.

 

[jgreco]

If you want to understand the reasoning behind some of this, it's still great to refer to this:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/so-you-want-some-hardware-suggestions.12276/

 

[Raresoul]

If you want to understand the reasoning behind some of this, it's still great to refer to this:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/so-you-want-some-hardware-suggestions.12276/

 

[Raresoul]

Thanks for this. It's proved useful. I'm looking at the Xeon E3 1241v3. Would you say this was a good option? If so, what ITX boards could you suggest. I would want up to 6 SATA ports ideally but I'd probably only be using 4 for a while. The Node 304 support up to 6 drives.

 

[kdragon75]

If so, what ITX boards could you suggest.

I still wouldn't.

I would want up to 6 SATA ports ideally but I'd probably only be using 4 for a while.

This is one of the reasons not to get an itx board. You have one PCIe slot for additional networking or HBAs (more/faster drives). If you find one with everything you want it will likely be $500 alone. Consider an mATX. You would have way more options and it will be less expensive. The Node 304 is an awesome tiny case that leaves little to no room for expansion.

The Node 304 support up to 6 drives.

Thanks for the correction.;)

 

[Raresoul]

I still wouldn't.

This is one of the reasons not to get an itx board. You have one PCIe slot for additional networking or HBAs (more/faster drives). If you find one with everything you want it will likely be $500 alone. Consider an mATX. You would have way more options and it will be less expensive. The Node 304 is an awesome tiny case that leaves little to no room for expansion.

Thanks for the correction.;)

Thanks for this. I hear what you're saying but I think for my home I'd want the node 304 and should my business expand beyond the confines of what is possible with a node 304, I'd probably look to have a second NAS that would primarily be for that. Do you have any suggestions for an ITX board that has more than 5 SATA port? I'm based in the UK as well if that helps. I'm looking at the Xeon E3 1241v3 ATM.

You also mentioned something about the Nas and internet:

like IP-KVM so you can remotely manage the server (over the LAN, KVM, IPMI, etc should NEVER be exposed to the internet, VPN is ok though)

What do you mean by this?

 

[kdragon75]

Many server boards have a dedicated ethernet port just for managing the system. You can connect and view what would be on the screen, connect ISOs list a remote CD-ROM to boot and install things. This is all completely separate from the rest of the system and whatever OS is installed. You can even remotely power on the server if its off. Some novice people will setup port forwarding or similar so they can directly connect to this management port over the internet. This is a bad idea... If you want to connect to a management port list this from outside of your local network, a VPN should be used to give you secure access.

 

[kdragon75]

Infact, ANY access from outside your LAN (Local Area Network) should be through a VPN. If this is something you will need, look into pfSense routers. It's fairly simple to set up a one to many VPN using the OpenVPN package and GUI. pfSense also has great documentation and a fantastic community for support..

 

[kdragon75]

For a motherboard, http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/D/X10SDV-2C-TLN2F.cfm its a bit on the lower end but hould be fine for just storage.

 

[Raresoul]

For a motherboard, http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/D/X10SDV-2C-TLN2F.cfm its a bit on the lower end but hould be fine for just storage.

Thanks for this. Doesn't seem like it's readily available in the UK. Do you have any other boards that are similar or available on the UK?

Thanks for the VPN info!

 

[Raresoul]

For a motherboard, http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/D/X10SDV-2C-TLN2F.cfm its a bit on the lower end but hould be fine for just storage.

So this motherboard has the CPU embedded in it?

 

[Raresoul]

For a motherboard, http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/D/X10SDV-2C-TLN2F.cfm its a bit on the lower end but hould be fine for just storage.

Are there any boards that I can put the Xeon E3 1241v3 CPU in? I just want to weight up my options :)

 

[kdragon75]

Are there any boards that I can put the Xeon E3 1241v3 CPU in? I just want to weight up my options :)

In my brief search, no.

 

[CraigD]

Are there any boards that I can put the Xeon E3 1241v3 CPU in? I just want to weight up my options :)

The CPU is great and the majority of boards that get the most out of it are sized appropriately including mine, they are just a little bigger than an ITX board EDIT: I forgot about this board ASRock E3C226D2I but only has two RAM slots

If you get the right motherboard and CPU and RAM you will save money over time, your system can expand greatly with minimum expense

I went from 8 drives to over 25 drives with the same base server, plan ahead

Have Fun