Newbie to FreeNAS - Planning my home server

[Morkeleb]

I've been thinking for more than a while to create a very small homelab, mainly focused in Media Storage (movies, audio, RAW pictures and some files) and Plex Streaming (not more than 2 at the same time, 1080p) but also as a small dev/test environment to try things out, like containers, virtualization, database testing, file server for Raspberry and other MCU reports, and others (all personal, nothing prod).
After deciding not to use prebuild NAS like Synology and similar (because where's the fun in that?), I started reading a couple of weeks ago about FreeNAS and other Open Source solutions. My head is still spinning about all the details and possible configurations, but I also started to think and plan how to do it.
My first idea was to upgrade my current Desktop (Ryzen 1600 + Aorus Gaming 5 ax370) and use those parts for the Server.
Both the board and the Ryzen are capable of ECC and in the process I'd be upgrading my own build. Seemed like a great idea!
However, as I dig more and more and searched for posts and info, several roadblocks came up:

• Finding QVL ECC RAM for that board in my country is impossible. The QVL RAMs models have been discontinued and here are nowhere to be found.
• Finding Unbuffered ECC RAM is also difficult in my country, and it's very expensive (I know ECC RAM is expensive in general, but stay with me until the next point)
• Nothing certifies me that the ECC RAM I buy will indeed work as intended (ECC Enabled) with my Mobo and CPU because they are not in the QVL and ECC is not a promoted feature for personal computers, thus vendors don't care about giving you support. Buying very expensive RAM just to discover the main reason I bought it for doesn't work is a bummer and a waste of money
• Besides the CPU and the MOBO, I'd still have to buy a case, a PSU, and a basic GPU (i'm not certain this MOBO works headless or not). Not to mention the expensive and risky RAM.

So I was started to get frustrated until I found the Dell T30.

• Small Server I can put anywhere in my house
• ECC RAM enabled and included
• Case, PSU and all that included
• Plenty of FreeNAS builds with it out there.
• The main Con would be the 4 drive limit, but for a home server with my needs 4 drives should be enough. Worst case scenario I'd need to upgrade the 4 drives into something bigger.

I've yet to buy it because it still quite an amount of money here (and sadly in my country Dell doesn't put them in SALE for 300$. I wish.) It's still less expensive/risky than building from old parts.
Now comes the tricky part in where I need most of the help.
Deciding the Drive and ZFS configuration.
Disks, initially, will be of 4TB. The thing is I haven't decided yet how to go.
My options are
4x4TB - Stripped Mirror
4x4TB - Raiz2
3x4TB - Raiz2
I've reading non-stop about the con and pros of Stripped Mirror vs Raidz2 and I can see that the conclusion is there's no conclusion and it's pretty much up to you to decide.
As for Data importance and backup strategy, I've yet to decide. Most important stuff (Family photos, confidential files, etc) will be backed up to an external drive and to a drive in my desktop computer. I've been reading about Seafile and/or ownCloud but I'm not that informed yet so I don't know what to think or what to choose.

So, I've been searching a lot (this forum, reddit, the internet in general, the posted guides and PDFs) about all these topics, and I did found quite a bit of information, but some could be outdated and some doesn't specifically apply to my needs. That's why I've decided to seek guidance before pulling the trigger on something expensive I might regret.

In conclusion, here are my questions:

1. How risky would it be to go with non QVL ECC RAM for the Aorus and Ryzen Mobo? do I have some chance of success or is it a lost cause? I'm asking this mainly because I like reusing old equivement for new projects.
2. Is the T30 still a good option for my projects? I know it's entry level and, although I'm a SysAdmin I'm focused on Cloud and Automation, not on physical servers. The 4 bay limit is acceptable for me since 4 drives is more than enough and if I need more space I can upgrade the 4 drives for bigger ones.
3. What should my investment be focused on first? Getting all the needed 4TB Red Drives first? (I just got one. I'm planning on buying them 1 each month) Or getting the T30 Dell Server first to play with it a bit first and the Drives after? I'm anxious for the Server but I don't want my anxiety to rule over my budget decisions.
4. The tricky part. The ZFS configuration and the amount of disks. Between have 4 Stripped Mirror and 4 Raiz2, I think I'm more leaned towards 4 Stripped Mirror, not because of the performance, but because the argument of resilvering if upgrading or repairing. RAIDZ2 can have any 2 drives file, but if they do fail, I understand that the resilvering will stress the other drives a lot and this would increase the risk of other drive failing quite a bit. On top of that, the amount of time needed (and thus, the amount of time the other drives are under stress) is considerable. Heck, if I know I'm planning to upgrade disks sizes in the future, I know I'll have a similar situation for sure. Is this guess correct? Or am I missing something.
   However, having a 3 disk configuration with RAIDZ2 would allow me to save the money for the extra disk and put my server up and running earlier. I know ZFS should not be for tight budgets but the extra dollar per terabyte in a RAIZ2 4 disk configuration makes me doubt a bit.
   So the question here is the million dollar question: What would be best for my project? 4 Stripped Mirror, 4 RAIDZ2 or 3 RAIDZ2?
5. Lastly and as a bonus question (I might end up posting in the future again about this after I do my homework) is what would be best to sync/backup my files, SeaFile or ownCloud?

Thank you and sorry for the long post.

 

[Morkeleb]

Maybe this should go into the New to FreeNAS forum?
Could a Mod move this, please?