Photo Studio Drobo Replacement?

BKCOM

Cadet
Joined
Oct 18, 2020
Messages
2
Hi all,

A friend would like me to help them build a NAS that is a bit more robust than their pair of 5 bay Drobo DAS/NAS boxes. I think FreeNas/truenas core would be a good choice and allow expansion. They have the room for an ATX tower, so a build in the Fractal Define 7 would allow expansion of up to 14 drives.

requirements:
ECC memory
gigabit ethernet
ftp server/remote file access
sharing to apple computers (local)
automate backups to cloud

so far I've come up with two DDR3 options that would fit in the ATX case:

LGA1150 xeon:
Supermicro X10SLL-F (refurb) - $90
Xeon 1220v3 - - $40
16GB ECC Unbuffered DDR3 - $70
LSI HBA card - $40
TOTAL: $240

Dual LGA2011 xeon:
ASUS Z9PA-D8 (HBA included) - $150
2x e5-2643v2 - $180
16GB ECC RDIMM - $35
TOTAL:$365


The prices are approx. used/refurb prices via ebay, except for the RAM which is new. I'm still a bit unsure about ram compatibility, and it is easier to search Newegg by ram type. The ECC REG memory for the LGA2011 platform is cheaper than the unbuffered memory for lga 1150.
We haven't gone through all the CPU options yet, but we've factored in that we need 2x CPU heatsinks.
We're planning to have the OS on 2x mirrored cheap SSDs.

Any thoughts on which system we should use?

Thanks for any advice!
 
Joined
Jan 4, 2014
Messages
1,644
A friend would like me to help them build a NAS that is a bit more robust than their pair of 5 bay Drobo DAS/NAS boxes.
If there's replication happening between the Drobo boxes and you're replacing them with a single FreeNAS/TrueNAS server, you're actually taking a step backwards in terms of risk management. FreeNAS 11.3-U5/TrueNAS 12 no longer replicate to earlier FreeNAS 9.10 or earlier systems. If you are planning on replicating between the FreeNAS server and the Drobo boxes, it's not clear what the implications are, if any, for replicating to non-FreeNAS boxes using the latest FreeNAS/TrueNAS versions.
 

BKCOM

Cadet
Joined
Oct 18, 2020
Messages
2
If there's replication happening between the Drobo boxes and you're replacing them with a single FreeNAS/TrueNAS server, you're actually taking a step backwards in terms of risk management. FreeNAS 11.3-U5/TrueNAS 12 no longer replicate to earlier FreeNAS 9.10 or earlier systems. If you are planning on replicating between the FreeNAS server and the Drobo boxes, it's not clear what the implications are, if any, for replicating to non-FreeNAS boxes using the latest FreeNAS/TrueNAS versions.
Thanks for your input. The aim is to replace one or both of the drobos, as well as a growing collection of single and double HDD thunderbolt/USB enclosures. There is no real backup strategy currently in place. Most of the drives hold different data.

The NAS will then be backed up to a cloud service (and maybe the spare drobo nas?)
 
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