BUILD Node 304 Home Server build questions.

[Shay.ca]

Hello,

Thanks for reading this and any input.

I am currently in the process of building my home NAS.

The main purpose of this NAS is to use FreeNAS to build a home server to back up all photo's and videos from our computers / phones to this to NAS. The secondary purpose of this box is to use Plex to stream to 1-2 tv's or devices at a time, probably not more than that but 1 for sure here and there. I will also be using Crashplan or Bitsync to backup computers as well.

We have gigabit internet and cat6e lines through the home. We have a solid connection and fast speeds.

Those are the main things I want to accomplish with this build.

I have purchased a Node 304 box:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1352027&cm_re=node_304-_-11-352-027-_-Product

Love this box and it will fit perfectly where I want to put it. It will hold up to 6 disks which will be more than enough for what I will be using this for. I will be buying WD RED disks in RaidZ2. I am not sure how many discs I will buy up front but I want to max it out with 6 in the end. I will buy 3-4 at one point and then get the other 2. I am aware that I cannot add disks after building a pool.

My main question today is the motherboard. The case that I chose uses the mITX.

From doing my research there are a few choices to use. I have narrowed it down to 4 different combos and need some help deciding which would be best for my home needs of being a file server and using plex to send video to a tv/device or two.

I have done some research on these boards and seen a couple things pop up. These are the choices I have come to.

Avaton processor

• ASRock C2550D4I Mini ITX Server Motherboard DDR3 1600/1333/1066 $270
  • Intel Avoton C2550 Quad-Core Processor
  $270 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157419

or

• ASRock C2750D4I Mini ITX Server Motherboard FCBGA1283 DDR3 1600/1333 $410
• Intel Avoton C2750 Octa-Core Processor
• $410 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157475

I believe I read that the octa-core processor was used in the freeNAS mini but people were not sure. The pro's of these boards is they can have up to 32gb of RAM.

The drawback to these boards is the chips are not upgradeable. My friend says the quad-core board will do what I need. I like to get other opinions / input from people who have purchased these.

The next two boards I am interested in are:

ASRock E3C224D2I Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C224 DDR3 1600/1333 $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157467

pair that with an i3 and possibly upgraded in the future.

or

ASRock E3C226D2I Mini ITX Server Motherboard LGA 1150 Intel C226 DDR3 1600/1333 $225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157466

paired with an i3 and possibly upgraded in the future.

I am aware that these two boards max out at 16gb of ECC ram and cannot go bigger than that. I also read on here that people that purchased the E3C226D2I that they should have just purchased the $199 board as the differences were minimal and the sata ports did not matter due to the speed of transfer.


What would you pick if you were building for my needs? Changing the case is not an option as its the perfect fit for where I am putting this server.

In the end I will be getting 6x 3TB WD Red drives.
I will start with 16GB of ECC ram

Thanks for your input / help in making this big purchase decision.

 

[zambanini]

I took a supermicro 8 core atom board for myhome filer ; ) fast enough, and no issues.

 

[Ericloewe]

If you're transcoding, you'll want a C2750, not a C2550.

Have you considered Supermicro's C2750 board? The extra Marvell SATA ports are close to useless anyway. The only disadvantage (besides perhaps price, haven't checked) is that it takes SO-DIMMs.

 

[faulerbeamter]

I'll pick option e) no Asrock Board at all. Unless you're an Asrock representative, you'll want one of the Supermicro boards. For Details, Type "power-hog" in the forum search... at least regarding the C2000-boards

 

[sremick]

I'll pick option e) no Asrock Board at all. Unless you're an Asrock representative, you'll want one of the Supermicro boards. For Details, Type "power-hog" in the forum search... at least regarding the C2000-boards

I've only heard a couple people mention this, perhaps since Atom boards aren't as popular. If it's a problem it doesn't exist with the LGA1150 boards. I have the ASRock E3C226 board which I preferred over the SuperMicro options as it had 6 onboard SATA on a Mini-ITX form factor. I've had zero issues with it and my system draws 40W idle with all 6 drives connected.

 

[cyberjock]

I've only heard a couple people mention this, perhaps since Atom boards aren't as popular. If it's a problem it doesn't exist with the LGA1150 boards. I have the ASRock E3C226 board which I preferred over the SuperMicro options as it had 6 onboard SATA on a Mini-ITX form factor. I've had zero issues with it and my system draws 40W idle with all 6 drives connected.

Sure, but there is SOOOO much more to buying hardware for servers than just some specs (which is all you appear to have used to make your decision).

If AsRock suddenly said "no more BIOS updates for your board" and FreeNAS 10 wouldn't boot as a result you'd be pretty pissed. Buying server hardware is betting on the quality of the parts, the manufacturing, the engineering, support for the product in the future, etc. AsRock doesn't have that kind of time in the market to truly say that it will be okay. They might be okay, but I don't put my money on "mights".

 

[Ericloewe]

Sure, but there is SOOOO much more to buying hardware for servers than just some specs (which is all you appear to have used to make your decision).

If AsRock suddenly said "no more BIOS updates for your board" and FreeNAS 10 wouldn't boot as a result you'd be pretty pissed. Buying server hardware is betting on the quality of the parts, the manufacturing, the engineering, support for the product in the future, etc. AsRock doesn't have that kind of time in the market to truly say that it will be okay. They might be okay, but I don't put my money on "mights".

One thing is certain: Their support seems to be diligently taking care of reported issues. They even got Marvell to supply a RAID-free firmware for the problematic SATA 6Gb/s controller on the C2750, which they hope will be more stable under FreeBSD.

 

[cyberjock]

One thing is certain: Their support seems to be diligently taking care of reported issues. They even got Marvell to supply a RAID-free firmware for the problematic SATA 6Gb/s controller on the C2750, which they hope will be more stable under FreeBSD.

Correct, but that doesn't mean they won't stop supporting it next year. I'm very conservative when it comes to giving a new company a "chance". They could have just as easily given the FreeNAS community the middle finger and gone on their merry way. For all we know they might do that next summer. :P

Right now, they look like they are pretty devoted and do care. Their hardware is pretty well targeted for FreeNAS home users. But we have no long-term information to go on, so only time will tell us how things might turn out. I prefer to stick to things that have the highest degree of success (I have high standards). For that reason I'm not convinced that AsRock is the "best choice". Especially when you consider the fact that Supermicro was smart enough to NOT use Marvell to start with. Something to be said for picking appropriate components right off the bat. ;)

 

[Shay.ca]

Wow, thanks for all the comments guys!

I am still in the planning phase. I have the case and just ordered a power supply today. Its going to be a slower build but still looking at options, that case fits perfect where I want to put it.

Thus the MITX board is a must.

Ill do some research on the supermicro ones as well, keep the input coming.

 

[Shay.ca]

Looking at newegg they only offer 3 boards in super micro.

Which one would best fit my needs listed in the first post?

SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SBAA-F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard FCBGA1283 DDR3 1333/1066/800 -- $237
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182782

SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard DDR3 1600/1333 -- $332
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182855


SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SAi-2750F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard FCBGA1283 DDR3 1600/1333 -- $356
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182851


Just as a side note, I have a ASRock regular motherboard in my PC build, its been solid, that's partially why I looked at them for server boards.

And why would you choose the supermicro over the asrock? Just trying to figure it all out! Thanks for your help!

 

[faulerbeamter]

why not making a poll? :p

I'd prefer the A1SAi-2750F over any AsRock C2xxx Board. The C2758 may be quite short in terms of processing power when it's needed, regardless of the board manufacturer.
Xeon platforms will provide enough power, likely even an i3. But remember, adding the CPU, won't come cheap at the end of the day.
No matter what board or CPU, ECC-RAM is what matters.

 

[Fraoch]

SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SBAA-F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard FCBGA1283 DDR3 1333/1066/800 -- $237
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182782

No - that's the old Atom architecture. It would perform quite poorly in current versions of FreeNAS.

SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard DDR3 1600/1333 -- $332
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182855

Better but the 2758 has some features which FreeNAS can't use. The 2750 is more appropriate.

SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SAi-2750F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard FCBGA1283 DDR3 1600/1333 -- $356
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182851

Yeah, that's the one.

Just as a side note, I have a ASRock regular motherboard in my PC build, its been solid, that's partially why I looked at them for server boards.

And why would you choose the supermicro over the asrock? Just trying to figure it all out! Thanks for your help!

Supermicro has decades worth of experience in the server field. ASRock is a new entrant. As @Ericloewe noted, they certainly are trying hard right now. But as @cyberjock noted, they just don't have the track record nor the experience - that Marvell controller seems to cause some problems though they are trying to address it.

I'd still choose a socketed LGA 1150 board with a Xeon or Core i3 though. More power, not much more idle power consumption, same price.

 

[Shay.ca]

why not making a poll? :p

I'd prefer the A1SAi-2750F over any AsRock C2xxx Board. The C2758 may be quite short in terms of processing power when it's needed, regardless of the board manufacturer.
Xeon platforms will provide enough power, likely even an i3. But remember, adding the CPU, won't come cheap at the end of the day.
No matter what board or CPU, ECC-RAM is what matters.

So if I were to go with a board that you could add a LGA 1150 chip, which one would you recommend?

I am planning on 16gb of ECC ram for whichever way I end up going.

 

[Shay.ca]

The 2750 is more appropriate.


Yeah, that's the one. :)



Supermicro has decades worth of experience in the server field. ASRock is a new entrant. As @Ericloewe noted, they certainly are trying hard right now. But as @cyberjock noted, they just don't have the track record nor the experience - that Marvell controller seems to cause some problems though they are trying to address it.

I'd still choose a socketed LGA 1150 board with a Xeon or Core i3 though. More power, not much more idle power consumption, same price.

Which board would you choose that would let you go with a Xeon or core i3? I would prob get the i3 to save some money for now and possibly upgrade to a xeon later, I run a small business and could use the i3 in another mini pc build for a new work station down the road.

 

[Fraoch]

Which board would you choose that would let you go with a Xeon or core i3? I would prob get the i3 to save some money for now and possibly upgrade to a xeon later, I run a small business and could use the i3 in another mini pc build for a new work station down the road.

The C224 board would be fine. The differences between C224 and C226 are minor, less SATA III ports on the C224. That won't make any difference on a mechanical hard drive.

 

[Shay.ca]

Will this power supply work for 6 hard drives?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139049

Not sure where or how you tell.

 

[sremick]

Will this power supply work for 6 hard drives?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139049

Not sure where or how you tell.

It has enough wattage, but not enough physical connectors. You'd need some splitters.

 

[Shay.ca]

It has enough wattage, but not enough physical connectors. You'd need some splitters.

What are the splitters called? I am not quite sure what to search for. Sata splitter?

 

[sremick]

What are the splitters called? I am not quite sure what to search for. Sata splitter?

Different sites will refer to them differently so there's no one perfect way to search, but searching for "sata splitter" or "sata adapter" should get you far. You could use an 1-to-2 SATA splitter but since you already have 2 SATA cables that you'll need and 3 legacy drive power connectors you won't, you'd get more mileage out of finding adapters to split the legacy drive power connectors into 2 SATA power connectors. Just 2 of those and you're good.

 

[Shay.ca]

Different sites will refer to them differently so there's no one perfect way to search, but searching for "sata splitter" or "sata adapter" should get you far. You could use an 1-to-2 SATA splitter but since you already have 2 SATA cables that you'll need and 3 legacy drive power connectors you won't, you'd get more mileage out of finding adapters to split the legacy drive power connectors into 2 SATA power connectors. Just 2 of those and you're good.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I just looked at your build and you have some very similar things I wanted to do except ill prob end up with an i3 just to save a bit of money and since it will do the job of file server well :)

Thanks a bunch, ill post more questions as I have them.