NUC7i3 + External Storage

[turco]

Hi everyone,

I am currently using a QNAP TS-251+ with 8GB Ram most for PLEX however even tough i like the OS interface and easy usage/accessibility, i am not satisfied with its performance. It has an Intel J1900 cpu which is old and weak.

I am getting a NUC7 with i3-7100U to build my own NAS (dont know if i can call it a real NAS) and it will have 8 GB ram (w/ ECC) however i couldnt decide on 2 things;

1- which OS to use? i am debating between w10 and FreeNAS, would like to try FreeNAS but i dont want to get a small drive and once i dont like it, then i need to get a bigger capacity to install w10.
2- what capacity SSD to use with it.

I like QNAPs interface where i can connect to it via my android phone, add downloads, access move my files and so on. Mainly i will use to play media via PMS

As i heard and saw from the videos, once FreeNAS is installed on the drive, i cant use the drive as a storage option, right? so how much space i need to install and run freeNAS? 16GB m2.SSD will be enough? or more? I will have my media files on external drive via 3.0 or 3.1

I think i am just bored and looking to try new stuff

thanks in advance

 

[MrToddsFriends]

Two problems:

1) The i3-7100U does not support ECC operation (while it should run with that type of memory).
2) An Intel NUC has very little space for internal data disks and running a FreeNAS system with external disks is far from being optimal (this has been discussed many times in this forum, also in connection with laptops).

 

[Chris Moore]

I am getting a NUC7 with i3-7100U to build my own NAS (don't know if i can call it a real NAS) and it will have 8 GB ram (w/ ECC) however i couldnt decide on 2 things;

This is not a platform to build storage with. It has no capacity for internal mass storage devices. How do you imagine you will connect hard drives to a NUC?

 

[Chris Moore]

I will have my media files on external drive via 3.0 or 3.1

Not with FreeNAS. You need to read the hardware guide:

Hardware Requirements
http://www.freenas.org/hardware-requirements/

FreeNAS® Quick Hardware Guide
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/

Hardware Recommendations Guide Rev 1e) 2017-05-06
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

 

[rvassar]

While I can understand the frustration of working on a QNAP, you need to understand why it's frustrating. It's built from marginal hardware, essentially a low power Celeron embedded/mobile chip, and of course it performs like it. Don't make the mistake of substituting another marginal platform, and expecting it to perform well. Just because something has an i7, doesn't mean it has I/O capabilities.

 

[turco]

Two problems:

1) The i3-7100U does not support ECC operation (while it should run with that type of memory).
2) A Intel NUC has very little space for internal data disks and running a FreeNAS system with external disks is far from being optimal (this has been discussed many times in this forum, also in connection with laptops).

Thanks for the reply.

1- ECC operation is not a must as i have read. Dont know if it was true.
2- Still i dont know how much disk space i need for FreeNAS...

This is not a platform to build storage with. It has no capacity for internal mass storage devices. How do you imagine you will connect hard drives to a NUC?

There was a misunderstanding i think here. NUC will have its own internal storage, my question was " how much disk space i need for the FreeNAS installation and run ". On the other hand, i would like to connect an external HDD via USB 3 or 3.1 for media storage and playback for PLEX

Not with FreeNAS. You need to read the hardware guide:

Hardware Requirements
http://www.freenas.org/hardware-requirements/

FreeNAS® Quick Hardware Guide
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/

Hardware Recommendations Guide Rev 1e) 2017-05-06
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

I checked the pages and documents you linked and havent seen anywhere where it was written, you cant connect store file on a USB drive.

While I can understand the frustration of working on a QNAP, you need to understand why it's frustrating. It's built from marginal hardware, essentially a low power Celeron embedded/mobile chip, and of course it performs like it. Don't make the mistake of substituting another marginal platform, and expecting it to perform well. Just because something has an i7, doesn't mean it has I/O capabilities.

The model i am getting is an i3-7100u actually, i think it will perform much better than what QNAP has inside *J1900

 

[rvassar]

The model i am getting is an i3-7100u actually, i think it will perform much better than what QNAP has inside *J1900

USB attach will work. Most people here boot off of USB thumb drives, and save their SAS/SATA ports for actual disks. As for i3-7100u, it will transcode Plex much better than a J1900. But FreeNAS is primarily a storage platform. The gym analogy would be the i3-7100 is a bigger brain, but you're deliberately choosing a body with smaller muscles, so don't expect it to lift a lot of weight.

Using USB attached primary storage is going to hamstring your I/O. You're giving up much of the OS's the ability to issue multiple I/O transactions and have more than one transfer "in-flight" at the same time. Even the QNAP box you currently have can have 4 different disk transaction in flight at any given time, which coupled with NCQ offers significant performance advantages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Command_Queuing

FWIW - I'm running a 5 year old i3-2120, but it's socketed, so I could take it up to an i7 if I find the need. My only issue is it tops out at 16Gb of memory, thanks to the Intel Sandy Bridge chipset limitation.
https://www.discountelectronics.com/cheap-dell-tower-computer-optiplex-390-i3-windows-7-pro/

 

[Ericloewe]

you can't connect store file on a USB drive

You can, that's not the question. What matters is whether you should. For most scenarios, the answer is "no". Not having room inside the server for additional disks is not a good reason to use USB.

 

[MrToddsFriends]

1- ECC operation is not a must as i have read. don't know if it was true.

ECC is not required, it is highly recommended. I didn't want to start the 1001th discussion about that, I just answered to your remark in the initial post that the NUC "will have 8 GB ram (w/ ECC)". As I said, ECC operation is not supported by the i3-7100U.

2- Still i don't know how much disk space i need for FreeNAS...

For FreeNAS a boot medium (or two in a mirror) that is/are separate from the data media is required. See
http://doc.freenas.org/11/intro.html#the-operating-system-device
http://doc.freenas.org/11/install.html

Also be aware of the fact that a FreeNAS unit will not operate as a media player device hooked up to a TV and audio setup. Instead it basically acts as a "plain old" NAS (eventually with some plugins/addons) and will show the Console Setup Menu when connected to a monitor/TV.

http://doc.freenas.org/11/quick.html