Sanity check for new build with a Dell R620

[Whiskey]

Hi all, after much reading and consideration of different options I'm finally about to pull the trigger on a new build, and wanted to post here in case I missed anything obvious (or not so obvious). If you spot anything, your comments are most appreciated!

I currently have a FreeNAS build which is still running fine, but its running out of storage and I want to play with VMs, Docker containers, and hosting the odd game server, so a lot more memory and cpu capacity in addition to extra storage is needed. I also have always wanted to play around with server hardware so I decided on a Dell R620 or R720. The Rx30 generation is still quite a bit more expensive due to the DDR4 RAM it needs. I found what I think is a good deal on eBay for a R620 with 256GB, 2x E5-2670 V2 (Ivy Bridge, 10c/20t, 2.5GHz) and PERC H710 mini (~€600 from a reputable seller with shipping).

I plan to setup the server for TrueNAS Scale like this:

• For OS: one small SSD (probably a Crucial MX500 250GB), installed in the CD Rom bay (using a 9.5mm 2.HDD/SSD drive bay, perhaps need to get the DVD Optical Drive Cable 0TY09P TY09P of eBay as well)
• For the VMs and Docker containers: one pool with two SSDs in a mirror (probably 2x the Crucial MX500 2,5" 1TB)
• For storage: one pool with two HDDs in a mirror (probably 2x the Seagate IronWolf, 6TB (256MB cache, 5400rpm))
• After migration of data: add 2 of the 3 current 3TB WD Reds as a mirror to the storage pool
• For future expansion: more HDDs to add as additional mirrors to the storage pool (also to spread out the cost a bit)

The server will need a bit of preparation as well, I have thus far defined these steps:

• update all the firmware (using a Platform Specific Bootable ISO as advised here)
  
• flash H710 mini to IT firmware (link)
• adjust fan speed (and noise) by setting the performance profile to Performance Per Watt Optimized (DAPC) (suggested here on Reddit). If that doesn't work I can look into Adjusting Fan Speed Offset or an ipmi script like this one on Reddit.
• disable unused options in the bios
• maybe upgrade iDRAC to the enterprise version (that virtual console does look very appealing)

Thanks for reading this, hope I did my homework well Looking forward to any replies!

 

[NugentS]

Definately upgrade the iDRAC.
Other than that it all seems sensible - if not somewhat overkill with 256GB of RAM vs the disk space you have (which is good)