Noob :D

[skydoy]

Hello all! I've been wanting to put together some kind of home server for ages now and I finally started getting serious about it last month.I was reading up on the official docs and some of the threads around here, as well as the cyberjock tutorials.

As for my build, I've bought a Server SE326M1 and a Dell M1015.


Stuff I have
CPU: 2x Intel Xeon 5603 2.18GHz Quad-Core Processor
Memory: Samsung DDR3-1066 12GB/1Gx12 ECC Samsung Chip Server Memory
Storage: 2x Western Digital Blue 750GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: 1x Western Digital Blue 320GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: 1xOCZ 128GB SSD 2.5" Internal Hard Drive[/URL]
Raid Card: Dell M1015 - 9111it-8i Firmware



and

Boot Drives 1x SanDisk UltraFit 16GB
From reading the forums I guess they're moving away from USB sticks for boot but should be fine for now? I guess I can always get an M.2 drive later on, even if it means I'd have to get a SATA controller card to keep using the 6 drive pool.

 

[JoshDW19]

Welcome to the forums @skydoy . I'll leave your questions for the more experienced FreeNAS users, but I just wanted to welcome you.

 

[Ericloewe]

USB sticks for boot but should be fine for now?

Yes.

 

[danb35]

From reading the forums I guess they're moving away from USB sticks for boot but should be fine for now?

USB sticks still work fine for boot devices. A small SSD is better in most ways, but it takes a SATA port, and you need to find a place to put it. They're also slightly more expensive, though you can still find a suitable model for $20-30.

USB sticks are fairly unreliable. That is of no danger to your data, though, because your data is always kept separate from the OS. If you keep a current backup of your config file, you can easily recover from a boot device failure. Just do a clean installation to a new device and upload your saved config file.

 

[Mlovelace]

Boot Drives 1x SanDisk UltraFit 16GB

You would be better off using the USB 2 version of that drive. The USB 2 devices produce less heat and tend to last longer. Welcome to the forums!