Newbie here exploring TrueNAS options

[Charlie Lo]

I'm truly a newbie when it comes to NAS. I have watched a few YouTube videos about NAS and been looking through some prices of Qnap and Synology but the price just seems too steep for beginners. So, here I am exploring TrueNAS if it's a viable option for what I need.

Here's a few things I want to have in the TrueNAS options.

1. Minimum storage capacity is around 40TB
2. Speed should be at least 10GbE
3. Able to share with least 2 to 3 people at the same time
4. Run Plex media server if possible
5. Able to be backup by Backblaze to the cloud

I welcome suggestions/recommendations in hardware specs that would work with TrueNAS. Since I'm a beginner/starter, I'm aiming mostly on used/second hand rack mount server, switch, and enterprise hard drives. I have seen a couple YouTube videos using Supermicro rack mount server for their NAS. What other options are there? Does TrueNAS work relatively well with Supermicro server? What should I be looking for when purchasing hardware to be used with TrueNAS? At this stage, I like to gather all the information and prices to make a decision.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Alecmascot]

So it is 8 years since you started to look at FreeNas/TrueNas......
Are you just back to troll us ?
Got to the resources section and start reading.

 

[sretalla]

What should I be looking for when purchasing hardware to be used with TrueNAS?

Intel NIC
LSI/Broadcom HBA for SAS/SATA controller... NO RAID cards!
ECC RAM (implies CPU and motherboard that supports it)
non-SMR (i.e. CMR) SATA disks
Simple SSD like Kingston A400 for boot pool media.
Intel Optane for SLOG if you read up on that and understand that you need it (you may not if your workload isn't sync writes... seems the case from your post)
IPMI is good to have

Does TrueNAS work relatively well with Supermicro server?

Supermicro makes more than one server... generally yes, but I'm sure there are some models that are no good.

 

[Charlie Lo]

So it is 8 years since you started to look at FreeNas/TrueNas......
Are you just back to troll us ?
Got to the resources section and start reading.

I didn't even realized I had registered 8 years ago. I must have thought about NAS back then but for whatever it was, I didn't proceed with it. Now that I'm filling up more and more space on my current system, I'm start to explore other options again. If the options are still not affordable, I may limp along with off the shelf external drive. Thank you for your response. I'll check out the resources section for more info.

 

[Ericloewe]

So it is 8 years since you started to look at FreeNas/TrueNas......
Are you just back to troll us ?
Got to the resources section and start reading.

<Moderator hat>
Please, let's assume that users are asking questions in good faith, at least until proven otherwise.
@Charlie Lo has asked relevant questions and has done so politely. A friendly nudge towards the Resources section is indeed appropriate here, but emphasis on the "friendly" part of that.
</Moderator hat>

If the options are still not affordable

Well, define affordable. Used rackmount gear can go down to very reasonable prices compared to new gear. And a new system built for TrueNAS would still probably be cheaper and more capable than many Off-The-Shelf NAS units from the likes of QNAP and Synology.

 

[Charlie Lo]

Intel NIC
LSI/Broadcom HBA for SAS/SATA controller... NO RAID cards!
ECC RAM (implies CPU and motherboard that supports it)
non-SMR (i.e. CMR) SATA disks
Simple SSD like Kingston A400 for boot pool media.
Intel Optane for SLOG if you read up on that and understand that you need it (you may not if your workload isn't sync writes... seems the case from your post)
IPMI is good to have


Supermicro makes more than one server... generally yes, but I'm sure there are some models that are no good.

Thank you so much for the recommendations/suggestions. When considering hard drive, do I have to fill up all the bays at once or can I add more drives later?

 

[Charlie Lo]

<Moderator hat>
Please, let's assume that users are asking questions in good faith, at least until proven otherwise.
@Charlie Lo has asked relevant questions and has done so politely. A friendly nudge towards the Resources section is indeed appropriate here, but emphasis on the "friendly" part of that.
</Moderator hat>


Well, define affordable. Used rackmount gear can go down to very reasonable prices compared to new gear. And a new system built for TrueNAS would still probably be cheaper and more capable than many Off-The-Shelf NAS units from the likes of QNAP and Synology.

I've looked at one Qnap NAS and it cost above $2,800 for just the enclosure not including the drives. I consider that not affordable; however, I don't know much about NAS so I may be wrong. Is it realistic to get a 12 or 24 bay used rack mount server with at least 40TB useable space for around $3K or less?

 

[Ericloewe]

do I have to fill up all the bays at once

No, of course not, but you do need to plan ahead. You should check out the ZFS introduction I wrote, it should give you a better sense of what you can do and how you can plan things.

 

[Charlie Lo]

No, of course not, but you do need to plan ahead. You should check out the ZFS introduction I wrote, it should give you a better sense of what you can do and how you can plan things.

Awesome, thanks! I'll check that out as well.

 

[Ericloewe]

3k USD with or without disks? You should be able to get a good Supermicro 2U/12-bay server for less than 1k USD, which leaves 2k USD for disks, which should be enough (depending on market specifics) for 6x 18 TB in RAIDZ2, giving you some 50 TB usable (with 20% free space). Or go with smaller disks for now and save money.

 

[jgreco]

I've looked at one Qnap NAS and it cost above $2,800 for just the enclosure not including the drives. I consider that not affordable; however, I don't know much about NAS so I may be wrong. Is it realistic to get a 12 or 24 bay used rack mount server with at least 40TB useable space for around $3K or less?

Separate the storage from the chassis.

I picked up some 12-bay 2U servers a few years back for $400/each, and that's not hard to find. Finding good ones is a bit tricky, but not unreasonably so. You can get 64GB of DDR3 RAM for $200. Add a few more parts and you can have a really nice FreeNAS/TrueNAS chassis for $800.

Drives are the issue. If you can get the 14TB WD EasyStore's for $190, on Black Friday, that means you can get 12 of them for $2280, or a total of $3080. In an 11-drive RAIDZ3 with one warm spare, this gives you 112TB pool size, or at 80% utilization, 90TB usable space.

However, this is a matter of timing (it's not Black Friday right now) and being able to buy it all at once (RAIDZ cannot really have more drives added to a vdev once created).

 

[Charlie Lo]

3k USD with or without disks? You should be able to get a good Supermicro 2U/12-bay server for less than 1k USD, which leaves 2k USD for disks, which should be enough (depending on market specifics) for 6x 18 TB in RAIDZ2, giving you some 50 TB usable (with 20% free space). Or go with smaller disks for now and save money.

Thanks! I'll finish reading the resources and be back if I have additional questions.

 

[Charlie Lo]

Okay, I've read the hardware guideline and did some searching on eBay. I came across some Supermicro rack mount servers with multi-nodes. Is each node in one chassis acts as one server/computer? For what I need, I assumed I don't want a multi-node rack mount server, correct?

 

[jgreco]

You probably don't want a multi-node system ("Twin" in Supermicro parlance). If it's one of the 12-bay 4-node jobbies, you only get three disks per node. A 2-node unit could offer you six disks per node. It's not completely unworkable but it is not particularly practical except in limited circumstances. For example if you and a friend each bought one of these:

Supermicro SuperServer 6028TR-DTR 2-Node Server X10DRT-H CTO v3 v4 0P 0MEM | eBay

1 xSupermicro SuperServer 6028TR-DTR 2-Node Server Chassis. Node P/N: X10DRT-H. Each node supports the following Processor/Cache (per Node). Input / Output (per Node). On-Board Devices (per Node). Expansion Slots (per Node).

www.ebay.com

You could each have a six-disk NAS on-site at your homes, and offer each other the other node as a backup off-site NAS. The main downsides to the twins are limitations in your various options for expansion, etc.

 

[Charlie Lo]

So, to do what I wanted to do (which is to max out my storage capacity and provide future expansion), I probably don't need more than two nodes than.

 

[Ericloewe]

I think you'd want a single node, more likely. Standard 2U/12-bay, for instance. A lot to choose from, there.

 

[Charlie Lo]

I think you'd want a single node, more likely. Standard 2U/12-bay, for instance. A lot to choose from, there.

Thanks!