Sanity Check for my FreeNAS Build Please

[zeebee]

Hi there,

I'm looking to replace a 10 year old single-drive QNAP that deserves to enjoy its retirement. I've never used FreeNAS before, but I installed it in a VM to play around and I'm very impressed. The new system will be used to store data (files, family photos), entertainment media (probably via plex), and security camera recordings (probably via zoneminder or shinobi).

Here's where I'm at:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V6 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: Asus P10S-M WS Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory
Memory: Crucial 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory
Storage: Western Digital Green 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Green 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Case: Fractal Design Define R6 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

It's coming out at a little more than I wanted to spend, but I'm not too worried if it's going to be a decent system (i.e. I don't want it to be underpowered for plex/camera streams). I've had some trouble with availability of server-style parts as I'm in Australia and they seem to be harder to source here than in the USA (e.g. I spent some time looking at Supermicro boards).

I'm thinking a RaidZ2 configuration, with the SSDs used for mirrored boot. I believe I'd get 8TB of usable storage from that.

I know the board isn't quite as 'server' as it could be, but I do like that it has display-port (I have no VGA cables/monitors anymore), and it doesn't bother me too much that it has audio, since it could be repurposed some day in a desktop machine. That said, if there was another option that I can source down under I'd definitely look at it.

Any advice you can give is much appreciated!

 

[Jessep]

You likely don't need new and would be better off with used enterprise gear.

If you insist on new Supermicro with IMPI is the standard vendor suggested. Motherboards with -F at the end of the model.

With IPMI you wouldn't need to have anything but a ethernet cable attached, it's all done through a HTML5 browser.

First recent video that came up in a search, no idea if it's a great video. Does seem to cover the basics of IMPI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOIgb5APkHw

You are in Australia?

 

[joeinaz]

If you don't have to have "new" equipment, consider replacing the top 4 items of your solution with the following configuration:

Supermicro X9 motherboard (single Socket 2011)
CPU Fan
Modern "low end" video card (my video card actually fits in an x4 slot)
32GB of DDR3 ECC RAM
Intel E5-2630-V2 or E5-2628L-V2 CPU

Price this on eBay and let me know if this works for you.

 

[zeebee]

@Jessep - thanks for the video. I had seen IPMI mentioned, but assumed it was some kind of server admin tool that just let you setup bios settings or something. By the sounds of it, you can mount an install image remotely, and actually get a display of what would be on the screen if you had one attached. So to install FreeNAS I'd just turn on the machine and then connect IPMI and install remotely? Very cool. And yes, I'm in Australia.

@joeinaz - I'll have a bit more of a look around to see what Supermicro boards I can get here. I kind of wanted to stick with new equipment for the sake of the warranties, but I'm open to anything at this point. Those CPUs look pretty expensive - is that because they're more 'server grade' than the one I chose above? I haven't really looked at sockets other than the 1151, and I don't have a great understanding of the different benefits of them all.

I've just had a bit more of a look at what Supermicro boards I can get, but they don't really look like the 'server' boards people talk about here - C7H170-M, C7Z170-M, C7Z170-OCE. They also don't have IPMI by the looks of it, and only 6 SATA, so the Asus P10S-M WS seems like it would suit me better (although maybe it's just not as high quality as the Supermicro boards?).

Although it might not be ideal, is there anything about what I've selected above that won't work with FreeNAS?

 

[zeebee]

How does this board look? It seems to have the IPMI support....

https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X11SCM-F

It looks like I can get one of these from New Zealand on EBay for about $70 more than the Asus.

It only has 6 Sata, but it has two M.2. Does anyone know if I can use the two M.2s for mirrored boots at the same time as the 6 Sata? (that Asus board turns off one Sata if you use the M.2). If I'm understanding correctly, you can always buy a HBA to add more Sata drives?

Would an Intel Xeon E-2134 be a compatible/decent CPU for it? Slightly cheaper than the one I'd selected above, but has a higher passmark.

Thanks for your help, and sorry for being such a newbie at this stuff!

 

[zeebee]

Another alternative that might be better:
https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X11SCL-F

Would it pair with the Xeon E-2136 CPU? That thing looks fast.

 

[joeinaz]

On eBay:

$150 US Supermicro X9SRI-F (with IPMI) motherboard with 10 SATA ports and 3 Ethernet ports (including IPMI) supports up to 256GB of RAM
$30 US CPU Fan
$80 US 32GB of DDR3 ECC RAM
$25 US Intel E5-2630-V2

The entire total of the list above is less then the Amazon cost for just the E-2136 CPU. Both CPUs shown above provide similar processing power. 32GB of DDR4 ECC also costs a small fortune.

You can save money and still put together a quality system. My last build was a dual socket X8 board; The system had 12 DIMM slots and would handle up to 192GB of RAM. The most expensive item in the build was the E-ATX case which cost more that all the other components combined.

While both of the systems above lack digital video, USB 3 ports and m.2 slots all of that capability can be added easily via PCI-e slots.

I personally like spend money on a quality power supply and a case that can support a large number of disks. I would also invest in a SAS HBA like the M1015 which allows you more disk growth potential in the future and saves the internal SATA ports for SSDs.

 

[zeebee]

I'm definitely keen on finding a Supermicro board if I can, especially now that I understand what IPMI does. The trouble is finding them down here. It looks like I can get the X11SCL-F off ebay for the same price as the Asus P10S-M WS (if I move fast) and I'd much rather a Supermicro if I can make it work.

If I get the X11SCL-F, what CPUs would work with it? The ones I've looked at E-2134 & E-2136 both look like they'd work - but what would be really handy is a list of all the CPUs that board supports so I can look them up and see which ones I can get my hands on down here. I've checked the Supermicro site, but they just seem to have lists for compatible RAM/storage/etc.

 

[anmnz]

The trouble is finding them down here.

This may or may not be helpful, but --

Other forum members have had success with reshipping services for getting US eBay purchases to Australia. If I remember right one such service is Shipito and one such member is @Stux. Some forum searches might turn up success stories.

 

[zeebee]

Thanks @anmnz, I'll take a look at that. I haven't used ebay much, so I'm a little wary! I'm thinking I might just pull the trigger on the X11SCL-F and just do my best to find the rest of the bits around that. I think I found a list of the CPUs it supports, and I'm leaning towards the E-2136. I really don't want it to be underpowered, especially if I end up getting a bunch of ipcams.