smallest build for 4 + 1 HDD/SSD

[digity]

I intended on using my old Synology DS410 NAS as an off-site backup target, mainly due to it's small footprint (roughly 7" x 7.5" x 9"), but now I'm weary as it's essentially limited to rsync for these purposes, none of the software will updated and future potential security holes won't be patched. As an alternative is there a branded/off the shelf product that I can pick up for running FreeNAS which is budget friendly, has a small footprint, DDR3 based and a 4 x 3.5" HDD internal bays with at least 1 additional mount for an 2.5" HDD/SSD? If not branded, maybe a computer case and LGA 1366, 2011 v2, or mini-itx mobo that meets most of the aforementioned wants?

 

[DrKK]

Unfortunately, sir, "Budget" and "FreeNAS" don't work together so well. Adding "mini-ITX" to the mix just ups the difficulty by five times, as well. Also, why are you restricting the socket types for the CPU you would pick?

If you want to be "budget friendly", it would be best if you eased up on the other requirements, particularly the mini-ITX one, because that's the one that ties your hands the worst.

 

[digity]

Unfortunately, sir, "Budget" and "FreeNAS" don't work together so well. Adding "mini-ITX" to the mix just ups the difficulty by five times, as well. Also, why are you restricting the socket types for the CPU you would pick?

If you want to be "budget friendly", it would be best if you eased up on the other requirements, particularly the mini-ITX one, because that's the one that ties your hands the worst.

LOL! "Budget" and "FreeNAS" works beautifully together - I've spent $70 to $150 on the various iterations for my FreeNAS builds over the last year. I'm pseudo restricting to those socket types because I have extra of those CPUs and RAM modules lying around. But I know mini-itx mobos don't come in 1366 and 2011 flavors, so I'm okay with spending relatively more to achieve a smaller footprint. The footprint thing is a must though because this will reside in my friend's studio apartment (he has quota free gigabit Internet).

 

[Chris Moore]

If you were able to use an ATX mini-tower, I would suggest a build that would do the job for you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[DrKK]

LOL! "Budget" and "FreeNAS" works beautifully together - I've spent $70 to $150 on the various iterations for my FreeNAS builds over the last year. I'm pseudo restricting to those socket types because I have extra of those CPUs and RAM modules lying around. But I know mini-itx mobos don't come in 1366 and 2011 flavors, so I'm okay with spending relatively more to achieve a smaller footprint. The footprint thing is a must though because this will reside in my friend's studio apartment (he has quota free gigabit Internet).

Good luck sir.

 

[hungarianhc]

Well, what about using an i3-8100? This CPU isn't that expensive, and it supports ECC RAM. That CPU, a motherboard, and 16GB of RAM should be a pretty solid low cost machine.

If you want to go even lower cost, you can always get used server hardware on eBay for pretty cheap.

 

[Stux]

As an alternative is there a branded/off the shelf product that I can pick up for running FreeNAS which is budget friendly, has a small footprint, DDR3 based and a 4 x 3.5" HDD internal bays with at least 1 additional mount for an 2.5" HDD/SSD?

Sounds suspiciously like a FreeNAS mini. The concern with the mini is that it’s an avoton 2000 system. Although Supermicro do sell the 4 bay case separately. Never seen the 8 bay case used in the Mini XL available for sale.

Here’s a link to my small formafactor 6 bay FreeNAS build.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...node-304-x10sdv-tln4f-esxi-freenas-aio.57116/

Can be done cheaper if you go with a cheaper motherboard.

Other solutions for small formfactor is the Unas 810A, which accepts a mATX mobo, but you’re paying for 8 bays and smallness.

 

[Chris Moore]

Just a few weeks ago, I suggested something like this to someone else, but I couldn't find the post to point you at.
I went through and updated all the prices as of today.
It is an ATX tower, and it should be quiet and able to easily handle 8 drives. You can use this as a guide:

CASE: Fractal-Design-Define-R5-FD-CA-DEF-R5-BK-Black-Silent-ATX-Midtower-Computer-Case - US $104.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/253026336681

POWER: NIB Corsair CS-M Series CS550M 550W 80 Plus Modular Power Supply - US $69.00
https://www.ebay.com/itm/163279426704

System Board: Super Micro X9SCM-F Motherboard w/ Heatsink/Fan & I/O Shield - US 79.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/192561781616

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230V2 3.30GHz Quad-Core CPU Processor SR0P4 LGA1155 - C737 - US $85.00
https://www.ebay.com/itm/283158542659

Memory: Samsung 8GB M391B1G73QH0-YK0 DDR3 1600MHz 240p UDIMM PC3-12800E ECC 2Rx8 - - US $62.88 * 2 = $125.76
https://www.ebay.com/itm/282764333255

Drive Controller: LSI-SAS-9211-8i-8-port-6Gb-s-PCI-E-Internal-HBA-Both-Brackets-IT-MODE - US $59.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/152937435505

Drive Cables: Mini SAS to 4-SATA SFF-8087 Multi-Lane Forward Breakout Internal Cable - - US $12.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/371681252206

Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste Grease Conductive Compound for CPU/GPU - US $6.95
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302624513215

I may have missed some accessories, and I didn't include drives, but this should get you all the key components.

Total: 544.67

You could save on the CPU by going to an i3, if all this is doing is backing up your data at a remote location. This configuration would have enough resources to run a few Plex transcode streams.

 

[digity]

Well, what about using an i3-8100? This CPU isn't that expensive, and it supports ECC RAM. That CPU, a motherboard, and 16GB of RAM should be a pretty solid low cost machine.

If you want to go even lower cost, you can always get used server hardware on eBay for pretty cheap.

Heh, those 8th Gen. Intel specs are exactly what I'm buying to build for my new Blue Iris NVR server which is about $420. I don't want to spend $400 again for a FreeNAS build too, especially since this is basically a "ha! I got enough spare drives to fill this unused 8 year old NAS device, might as well put it to use somehow" kind of project. This FreeNAS build is only going to run rsync and/or minio/S3 server and will be remote storage for my Duplicati and/or CloudBerry backups (and my upload bandwidth is only 6 Mbps, so I won't be taxing this server's resources).

 

[digity]

Just a few weeks ago, I suggested something like this to someone else, but I couldn't find the post to point you at.
I went through and updated all the prices as of today.
It is an ATX tower, and it should be quiet and able to easily handle 8 drives. You can use this as a guide:

CASE: Fractal-Design-Define-R5-FD-CA-DEF-R5-BK-Black-Silent-ATX-Midtower-Computer-Case - US $104.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/253026336681

POWER: NIB Corsair CS-M Series CS550M 550W 80 Plus Modular Power Supply - US $69.00
https://www.ebay.com/itm/163279426704

System Board: Super Micro X9SCM-F Motherboard w/ Heatsink/Fan & I/O Shield - US 79.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/192561781616

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230V2 3.30GHz Quad-Core CPU Processor SR0P4 LGA1155 - C737 - US $85.00
https://www.ebay.com/itm/283158542659

Memory: Samsung 8GB M391B1G73QH0-YK0 DDR3 1600MHz 240p UDIMM PC3-12800E ECC 2Rx8 - - US $62.88 * 2 = $125.76
https://www.ebay.com/itm/282764333255

Drive Controller: LSI-SAS-9211-8i-8-port-6Gb-s-PCI-E-Internal-HBA-Both-Brackets-IT-MODE - US $59.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/152937435505

Drive Cables: Mini SAS to 4-SATA SFF-8087 Multi-Lane Forward Breakout Internal Cable - - US $12.99
https://www.ebay.com/itm/371681252206

Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste Grease Conductive Compound for CPU/GPU - US $6.95
https://www.ebay.com/itm/302624513215

I may have missed some accessories, and I didn't include drives, but this should get you all the key components.

Total: 544.67

You could save on the CPU by going to an i3, if all this is doing is backing up your data at a remote location. This configuration would have enough resources to run a few Plex transcode streams.

Whoa! I really appreciate this. Funny you mentioned these specs as I have almost these exact items (I picked up three X9SCM mobos with E3-1200 V2 series CPUs for $30 total a couple months ago... but they're currently in my pfSense firewall, DIY 10 Gbe switch and workbench computer, respectively).

 

[digity]

I've basically narrowed things down to a HP Proliant Microserver N40L or N54L ($120+) or Fractal Design Array R2 or Node 304 mini-itx case ($90+) with a LGA 1155 mobo ($70+) since I have a spare LGA 1155 processor laying around. The Microserver has a smaller footprint, but is older and going to require extra work to get a 5th and 6th drive installed for mirrored booting (small capacity HDD/SSD). A mini-itx build is a little more expensive, but gives me more options now and later (it'll still be more serviceable in 3 to 5 years vs the Microserver).

I guess I should go with the white box build. I've never built a mini-itx based system - anything I should be aware of (besides limited space and cable management with the 6 used SATA/SAS cables and 2 unused cables (2 x 4 port HBA card needs to be installed))?

 

[Chris Moore]

DIY 10 Gbe switch

I was using a DIY 10Gb switch that I built using VyOS for about a year. It was interesting to build and configure, however it used a lot of electricity and put out a lot of heat for what it did and I recently replaced it with an actual 10Gb switch that I picked up for $125. It is quiet and cool and uses a lot less power.
You might want to look at getting one of these switches from eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aruba-S250...ASE-T-4x1000BASE-X-10GBASE-X-KMJ/232504836333
We had a little discussion around this on the forum and I did need to upgrade the firmware and make some configuration changes. Here is a link to the discussion:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/upgrade-recommendations.69981/page-2#post-485285

 

[digity]

I was using a DIY 10Gb switch that I built using VyOS for about a year. It was interesting to build and configure, however it used a lot of electricity and put out a lot of heat for what it did and I recently replaced it with an actual 10Gb switch that I picked up for $125. It is quiet and cool and uses a lot less power.
You might want to look at getting one of these switches from eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aruba-S250...ASE-T-4x1000BASE-X-10GBASE-X-KMJ/232504836333
We had a little discussion around this on the forum and I did need to upgrade the firmware and make some configuration changes. Here is a link to the discussion:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/upgrade-recommendations.69981/page-2#post-485285

WOW! that is crazy cheap! When you say quiet, do you mean quiet compared to typical an enterprise/data center class switch or overall quiet like a custom build box with all Noctua fans?

 

[Chris Moore]

WOW! that is crazy cheap! When you say quiet, do you mean quiet compared to typical an enterprise/data center class switch or overall quiet like a custom build box with all Noctua fans?

Maybe not as quiet as Noctua fans. When it first starts the fans ramp up to full speed, but you don't reboot a switch often and once it gets done booting the fans slow down to where I can hardly hear them. The switch I replaced was fanless and this one is pretty close to that quiet. I have it in the corner of my office at home.

 

[Chris Moore]

PS. This would free that Supermicro board to use in your NAS build.

 

[digity]

PS. This would free that Supermicro board to use in your NAS build.

Good idea, but I already jumped the gun and bought the parts for the NAS build. I purchased...:

• ECS H67H2-I V1.1 Sandy/Ivy Bridge mobo ($90, brand new, but opened)
• Fractal Design Node 304 mini-itx case ($90)
• Apevia SFX-AP400W 400W SFX Power Supply ($27)

I'll just throw the spare Core i3-2100 CPU, 16 GB RAM, 4 x 2 TB HDDs, 2 x 64 GB SSDs (mirror boot) in there to wrap this project up.

Came out to $210 total, which makes be feel like that's not affordable and it's more than I wanted to spend. But considering the HP Proliant Microserver N40L/N56L option is roughly $120 to $150, old, not as expandable and I can't re-use the parts makes me feel a little bit better about spending more. Also, a new Core i3-8100 mini-itx build option would of been more than $500, so that $210 makes me feel a lot better now. Though, had I just settled and stuck it out with a rsync only off-site backup server (the Synology DS410 box) this project would of been $FREE, LOL

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[digity]

Looks like I don't have a spare HBA nor CPU cooler ($60 and $15, respectively), so the total is now $285. Still affordable, I guess.

 

[digity]

Heh, just stumbled across Nocro's mini-itx 4 and 8 bay NAS cases, model numbers ITX-S4 and ITX-S8 ($100 and $185, respectively). The footprint of the ITX-S4 is almost as small as the Synology box which is amazing. The drive trays make it way more convenient for maintenance and the size makes it ever so slightly less intrusive in my friend's studio apartment. I would buy this case instead, but I don't want to deal with the hassle of returning the Fractal Design case so I'm going to stick with it. Looks like great options, nonetheless.