Question on Servers for FreeNAS

[Colaveare]

Greetings everyone,

I have the possibility of getting my hands on any of the following second hand servers (without hard drives of course and with a 30 day warranty):

IBM x3650 with 2x Quad core Xeon (8 cores in total), 8GB RAM 80$
IBM x3550 with 2x Quad core Xeon (8 cores in total), 8GB RAM 80$
DELL 1950 II with 2x Quad core Xeon (8 cores in total), 8GB RAM 80$
DELL 2950 III with 2x Quad core Xeon (8 cores in total), 8GB RAM 100$
HP DL380 G5 with 2x Quad core Xeon (8 cores in total), 8GB RAM 80$
DELL R300 with 3.16Ghz E5460 Quad core Xeon, 8GB 80$
DELL 2900 Tower with 2x Quad core Xeon (8 cores in total), 12GB RAM 120$
HP ML370 G5 Tower with 2x Quad core Xeon (8 cores in total), 16GB RAM 120$
HP DL580 G5 with 4x 2.4GHZ E7340 Quad core Xeon (16 cores in total), 32GB RAM 300$
DELL R510 2x x5550 Quad core Xeon (8 cores in total) 8GB 300$
DELL R900 with 4x X7460 six-core Xeon (24 cores in total), 64GB RAM 500$


It would be just to have a box that I could set my media files (movies, music, pictures) to be able to stream them to multiple XBMC instances (at most 2 at the same time)

I've somewhat done my research on them and I realize that they might be a little dated, more power intensive and not as quiet as a custom build (maybe too loud? unless I leave it in the basement next to the modem?) but they would be a lot less expensive to start and play around with FreeNAS and setting a MySQL database...

Any recommendations (any pro/cons would be greatly appreciated)?
Last 3 though I would say forget it. if spending $300-$500 might as well wait and diy a custom build...
Or just scrap those and put about $500 (plus cost of hard drives) away and custom build a NAS box?


Thank in advance

 

[cyberjock]

Yeah, you'll probably find nobody with an honest answer to that question.

HP and Dell is very hit and miss in terms of what works with FreeBSD (and in turn, FreeNAS). So if you've got physical access then you need to start testing. Other than that, random guess is about the best you're going to do. Very (and I mean *very*) few people use servers from other manufacturers. Almost anyone that is serious about FreeNAS does custom builds with white-box hardware.

 

[RobertT]

My guess is he wants to buy one used..
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-serveurs/vil...ons-for-sale-mostly-8cores-8gb-ram/1021006530

 

[gpsguy]

If you're still considering the used route, do a Google search with this syntax (without the quote) for the various models - "site:forums.freenas.org DELL 2950"

Having remembered seeing messages on the Dell 2950, here's an example of what you'll find - https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/cant-install-freenas-on-dell-poweredge-2950.16999/

At a minimum, you'll probably have to replace a RAID controller with a HBA like the IBM M1015. And, depending on quantity and size of your disks, you'll probably need more RAM.

 

[Colaveare]

@cyberjock
I see. So in the end if I want something more reliable and with better life expectancy I should just invest a do a custom build then.

@RobertT
Yeah, that's was exactly it. Was initially looking to build but then I saw those used for sale and I though "maybe to beginning"...

@gpsguy
So, if I have to start right away looking to replace parts, I might as well just go right away towards a fully custom build and save myself the potential hassle...


And now to star browsing the build posts to check out build feedbacks... And going over sigs too.

Thinking in this case to go mini-ITX for the form factor or something that eventually allows up to 8 drives.

Reading, reading and more reading.
Perfect in a way since I just started a CompTIA course from my work place. More hands on experience that way...

Thanks!

 

[gpsguy]

Yes, that's what cyberjock suggested. Check out the hardware suggestions sticky in the hardware forum.

Consider a microATX form factor instead, since you'll have more motherboard options. There are only a couple of mini-ITX boards (Asrock and Supermicro) that work will work with ECC RAM.

So, if I have to start right away looking to replace parts, I might as well just go right away towards a fully custom build and save myself the potential hassle...

btw, welcome to the forums!