BUILD Questions on my first build

[mtortilla]

Hello. I am looking to create my first FreeNAS build. I have read the recommended hardware FAQ. This is what I have spec'd out:

Board / CPU: SUPERMICRO MBD-A1SRi-2758F-O Mini ITX Server Motherboard
Case: Fractal Design Node 304
Power Supply: SeaSonic SSR-360GP 360W
Ram: 2x Kingston 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM ECC DDR3 1333
3x Seagate NAS HDD ST4000VN000 4TB
3x WD Red WD40EFRX 4TB

I plan on running with the ability to survive 2 drive failures so that gives me 16TB of space? I plan on using this to back up photos, run Time Machine, and also run Plex as a media server. It seems like the board is a good value even though it is a bit old at this point. Is there anything newer that would be better? I am also a bit torn on the RAM, I could get 1600 RAM that is CL11, or this 1333 RAM that is CL9. I am leaning toward the lower clock cycles. Also, I read that Kingston is no longer recommended, but I had trouble finding other SO-DIMM ECC options.

This is going to cost right around 1500$. Do you think this is a good value? Should I buy a dedicated SATA controller, or are the onboard ones good enough?

Thanks!

 

[marbus90]

13TiB ("windows TB") usable is that.

You don't want SATA controllers from other companies than Intel. I'd maybe look into swapping one Seagate and one Red for yet another manufacturer - so that one manufacturer can completely die due to bad batch and your data would still be safe. I do dislike Kingston RAM, but your only options are either buying the C2750D4I or a bigger chassis for standard-sized DIMMs. ECC SODIMMs won't have all that great resale value, so I'd stick to whatever is cheaper - Avoton doesn't support DDR3-1600 but those DIMMs automatically downclock and use the CL9 setting. If you ever come across a new system with DDR3 ECC SODIMMs in 1600MHz, you can just use them...

Note that you won't be able to run many transcoding sessions simultaneously. It'll start having problems with the 3rd transcode iirc.

 

[Ericloewe]

C2750 boards are a better option than C2758, for FreeNAS.

 

[DataKeeper]

Ericloewe is correct. C2758 is better suited to encryption and the likes of a pfSense router/firewall. The C2750 is better for a server or even desktop for some. Check out the MBD-A1SAi-2750F instead.

 

[mtortilla]

Thanks guys. A few more questions:

1. Is the C2750 the better option because of the Turbo Boost feature? Or is there something more fundamentally different that makes this the better option?
2. I like the idea of 3 different HD manufacturers. I also found the HGST NAS Drives. Is there any harm in mixing 5400 and 7200 drives?
3. The C2750 has 2 SATA (6gbps) and 4 slower ones at (3gbps). Is this going to cause me any trouble? Should I get a stand alone SATA controller?

I am not worried about 3+ transcodings. I anticipate at most 2 streams at the same time, and 95% of the time it would only be one.

Thanks again.

-Peter

 

[Ericloewe]

Thanks guys. A few more questions:

1. Is the C2750 the better option because of the Turbo Boost feature? Or is there something more fundamentally different that makes this the better option?
2. I like the idea of 3 different HD manufacturers. I also found the HGST NAS Drives. Is there any harm in mixing 5400 and 7200 drives?
3. The C2750 has 2 SATA (6gbps) and 4 slower ones at (3gbps). Is this going to cause me any trouble? Should I get a stand alone SATA controller?

I am not worried about 3+ transcodings. I anticipate at most 2 streams at the same time, and 95% of the time it would only be one.

Thanks again.

-Peter

1. Mostly. C2758 is geared towards networking and has hardware acceleration for some features.
2. Not really, but it's an unusual scenario. At the very least, people generally match the angular velocity.
3. Not a problem. If you wanted more SATA connectivity, I'd point you at a Haswell motherboard, since Avoton has poor connectivity.