BUILD Please perfect my build

[jixam]

I am building a FreeNAS CIFS server for our internal company files: Office documents, Ghost disk images, company picnic pictures, and a growing number of video recordings. We currently have 2TB of data and about 150 potential users but no heavy use.

After reading a fair bit of recommendations around here, I came up with this proposed build:

SuperMicro 846E26-R1200B
SuperMicro X9SRH-7F
Intel Xeon E5-1620V2 CPU
4x 16 GB DDR3 ECC
3x Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST4000NM0023
3x WD RE SAS WD4001FYYG
3x HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724040ALS640
2x SFF-8087 cables
2x SATA DOM boot disks

Do these parts match each other well? Is the X9 recommendation out of date? What kind of RAM should I get? What else did I miss?

I think this build may be a bit overkill, but better safe than sorry. This is the cheap option anyway, moving away from Nexenta with gold support.

 

[DifferentStrokes]

I would add a good UPS that is compatible with FreeNAS and mirrored boot devices. I would also move up to the X10 boards as well.

I'm sure more people will jump in with same other ideas.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Ericloewe]

You can also consider Xeon E5 v3 stuff, which is somewhat more future-proof (especially RAM-wise) but still a bit more expensive.

 

[jixam]

I want more than 32GB of RAM and so I got the X9SRH-7F suggestion (implying Xeon E5 V2) from the sticky "hardware recommendations" thread. It seems that I was right in thinking that this advice is now a bit out of date.

However, I am unable to find an X10 that supports 32+ GB RAM and has a built-in LSI SAS2 controller. The only option seems to be an LSI 3008 controller that is apparently not yet well supported by FreeNAS. So should I pick an arbitrary X10 board and get a separate IBM M1015 instead? I liked the simplicity of a built-in controller, but I guess it's not a must have item.

 

[DataKeeper]

The X10SRL-F and the E5-1650 v3 or 1620 and the M1015 card. See my build below. While it doesn't have the on-board controller a M1015 will work fine and the flash process is simple.

btw.. Newegg JUST today got more of the 32GB Sata DOMs in stock at 69.99 instead of the 199.99 gouging price as of late. I went with the 64s just because I didn't know if the 32s would become available again.

 

[JJT211]

I understand if you're running VM's but are SATA DOM's even worth the price and taking up a sata port if you're running FreeNAS alone?

Using a low profile USB drive is much more cost effective IMO
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FYNSZA/?tag=ozlp-20

 

[SweetAndLow]

Sata Dom's are worth it and supermicro boards actually have special sata ports just for them.

 

[jixam]

The X10SRL-F and the E5-1650 v3 or 1620 and the M1015 card. See my build below.

Thanks for the pointers. It does seem that upgrading to X10 will get me pretty close to your build.

Maybe I should downgrade the 846E26-R1200B? If you settled for 846E16 in your build with higher performance, it will probably also serve me well enough.

 

[DataKeeper]

The system I'm building is for personal use in our home. I went with the 846E16 because it was easy and fairly cheap to get. I bought mine from This eBay seller who right now has 8 more available for $319.99 each. Its very hard to beat that and the one I received was in like new condition. He also sells pre-built systems based on the X8 mainboard for an extra 100-150. Mine shipped out the same day I bought it and the seller was great in communications. Note this case comes with two mini-sas cables however they are too short to reach the M1015. I bought two longer cables from This eBay seller with an offer of $7.50 each which routed neatly back to the M1015.

I was originally looking at simply building an 8 drive system with one of the new Atom boards but knowing I prefer to build and use a system for many many years, I decided on the big build with 24 bays and the latest X10 based boards. I'm hoping this build lasts me a good 6-8 years, if not 10! With the X10 board there is lots of room to expand the system if needed down the road.

 

[jixam]

Huh. 846E16 takes two cables? Frankly, I thought it would only use half of the M1015.

 

[jixam]

I have refined my build to be X10 and use as many SuperMicro parts as possible, making it quite close to the one Hobbel did. Will a passive heat sink really be sufficient?

CSE-846E16-R1200B chassis
MBD-X10SRL-F motherboard
SNK-P0048PS passive heat sink
AOC-S2308L-L8e HBA
SSD-DM032-PHI SATA DOM boot disks (2 pcs.)
CBL-0281L SFF-8087 (Mini-SAS) cable

M393A2G40DB0-CPB 16GB Samsung RAM (4 pcs.)
Xeon E5-1620V3 CPU
Mix of 4TB near-line SAS drives: Seagate Constellation ES.3 ST4000NM0023, WD RE SAS WD4001FYYG, HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724040ALS640

I'm still on the fence about the dual-port backplane, though currently I'm thinking that it's added complexity that I don't need.

Now I have to figure out how to get all these parts from somewhere in Europe

 

[SweetAndLow]

For heatsink i'm choosing to go with the SNK-P0048AP4 with that case. I don't trust the passive design.

 

[marbus90]

The passive heatsink requires an airshroud to direct the air towards and trough it. The active cooler is more preferable for a 4U build.

As for parts sourcing, ask sona in germany. they should be able to cover most of EU and ordering unlisted SKUs should also be possible.

If you fancy a 36bay build for expansion options, this barebone is nice as well: http://www.supermicro.nl/products/system/4U/5048/SSG-5048R-E1CR36L.cfm