Stage 1- Proposed build

[blue1248]

Hello all,

I have finally completed Stage 1 - The Design. These components are what I have researched (and are easily available locally) for my build.

CPU - Intel E3-1220v5 BX80662E31220V5 - supplier link / amazon
Motherboard - Supermicro X11SSH-LN4F - supplier link / amazon
I initially looked at the Supermicro X11SSH-F but, from what I read, the LN4F seems to be the better product, yet it is over $100 cheaper. What is the reason for this?
Memory - Samsung M391A2K43BB1-CPB 16GB - supplier link / amazon
The supported Memory listed by Supermicro is the same Model No, but has a -CRC suffix. Is there any difference between CPB and CRC memory modules?
Power - Seasonic G-750 - supplier link / amazon does not have this model listed (or maybe model no's differ b/w countries)
Boot drive - DataTraveler 100 G3 - manuf. link / amazon. The only reason I have opted for this is that I have a new one sitting here at home.
Case - Antec 1900 Green Nineteen-Hundred-Green - supplier link / amazon has no listing. The only reason I have chosen this one if for the number of drive bays.
Data Drives - A separate post shortly

This will be predominately used to host media files (Blu-ray, dvd, flac, photos) and to a smaller extent a small home business. Three concurrent users at most. No transcoding of media files all served to Kodi.

Am looking at approx. 21TB of storage with a combination of re-using existing drives and new drive purchase. I will write a post separately regarding this, just to ensure I have my methodology correct.

Where possible I have used components from the Hardware Recommendations publication.

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. I can then start on Stage 2- The purchase and assembly.

Thank you

 

[Jailer]

Looks good.

Case is purely subjective and is fine as long as cooling is good. I'd be suspect of the cooling of the bottom inside row of drives on that one though. How many drives are you planning on running?

 

[blue1248]

8 drives
vdev1- 2x3TB in Mirror
vdev2- 6x6TB in RAID-Z2

 

[darkwarrior]

Hello there,
Mixing different VDEV types (mirrors vs RAIDZ2) inside of the same pool and thereby creating a heterogeneous performance behavior might not be the best idea...
Or did you meant that you will create 2 different pools .?

 

[blue1248]

Hello darkwarrior,

I did indeed mean the single pool but it obviously sounds like it is not the best methodology. Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

I am aiming to achieve the initial build without requiring any further tinkering with the system for the next 3 years, hence the large pool. I am currently at 13TB

Then, a single vdev of 8x4TB Raid-Z2. Is this a preferable method?

I have attached my cost analysis for HDD below. Now that I know mixing Mirror and RAID-Z2 is a no go... I can change the setup to the 8x4TB, and reuse two existing disks.

Although there is a cheaper alternative with 10x3TB, once I include the AU$500 HBA card, it becomes the more expensive option. So using the 8x4TB option fills up all available SATA ports without requiring the HBA card, making it the cheapest option.

 

[blue1248]

I'd be suspect of the cooling of the bottom inside row of drives on that one though

Thanks Jailer, I didn't pick up on that. I might rethink the case. Although space in the home is not an issue, it still is a pretty big case.

 

[darkwarrior]

Hello darkwarrior,

I did indeed mean the single pool but it obviously sounds like it is not the best methodology. Thank you for bringing that to my attention.
Then, a single vdev of 8x4TB Raid-Z2. Is this a preferable method?

Although there is a cheaper alternative with 10x3TB, once I include the AU$500 HBA card, it becomes the more expensive option. So using the 8x4TB option fills up all available SATA ports without requiring the HBA card, making it the cheapest option.


View attachment 16430

Indeed a single pool of 8x4TB drives will give you the best bang for buck ;)
What kind of HBA are you looking at that would be worth AU$500 ??
A decent IBM M1015 can be found for max $150 on eBay ...

 

[ccssid]

I purchased this card from this same seller and it works great:
https://www.amazon.com/SAS9211-8I-8...pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1489098040&sr=1-2&keywords=lsi
send him a text and see if he will ship to Australia

 

[blue1248]

What kind of HBA are you looking at that would be worth AU$500 ??

Straight out of the hardware guide:
LSI SAS 9207-4i4e Host Bus Adapter - supplier which gave me 8 ports or
LSI SAS 9211-4i Host Bus Adapter - supplier which gave me 4 ports

A decent IBM M1015 can be found for max $150 on eBay

I purchased this card from this same seller and it works great:
https://www.amazon.com/SAS9211-8I-8...pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1489098040&sr=1-2&keywords=lsi

Fantastic!!! Thanks for the pointers. I didn't want to stray off the guide as, basically, I didn't know what would and wouldn't work. I just knew it couldn't be a RAID card.

 

[Glorious1]

I purchased this card from this same seller and it works great:
https://www.amazon.com/SAS9211-8I-8...pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1489098040&sr=1-2&keywords=lsi
send him a text and see if he will ship to Australia

I got a similar one on eBay, LSI MegaRAID 9240-8i 8-port PCI-E 6Gb RAID Controller IBM M1015 46M0861. It works fine. I have no idea what the difference is between 9207, 9211 and 9240.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong - The board you initially looked at blue1248 is made by LSI/Avago. These are made by other manufacturers but use the LSI chip. LSI's board is sold as a host bus adapter (HBA) so should work right out of the box. These are configured and sold as Raid controllers, so you have to flash the firmware to 'IT mode' so it works as a HBA. I've done that and since updated the firmware. I find it confusing to find the right firmware and do the flashing, but it's actually not hard. There are many options and different ways to do it that it can be hard the first time. For most people it seems to be easy and they can get the whole thing done in 20 minutes.

 

[blue1248]

Good morning,

I have slowly purchased all my components except for hard drives and Memory. The memory has suddenly become unavailable due to "end of life" for the module. This is the module I originally planned for: Memory - Samsung M391A2K43BB1-CPB 16GB - supplier link / amazon

The only 2x16GB alternative I am able to source locally that is available is
Crucial CT16G4RFD4213 - supplier link Just realised not suitable. This is registered memory

Is this suitable for my Supermicro X11SSH-LN4F Motherboard? Or do you recommend another one?

Thank you

 

[blue1248]

I have just spent the last hour and a half hunting down the following memory...

ECC, DDR4-2133MHz, 288pin UDIMM, Unbuffered.

I have searched a number of suppliers locally by phone and web, newegg and amazon. Do these things even exist?? Sure, the modules pop up in the site searches once I narrow down the search critera, but then once you read the specs, they turn out to be non-ecc or registered or DDR3.

If someone has the time, could you please point me in the right direction... The only one I could find was the original Samsung I mentioned in post 1 on Amazon, but it works out to be around $140 more expensive than I originally planned. If I have to, I will purchase it, but this can't be the only one suitable out there??

----Edit----
I did find Kingston modules, but the posts I have read tell me to keep away from these.

 

[Linkman]

Newegg.com has 4GB and 16GB DDR4 2133 ECC UDIMMs from Crucial, according to my search this morning.

I ordered 2x8GB Kingston DDR4 2133 ECC UDIMM modules two days ago, to go with the Proliant ML10 Gen9 I also ordered the same day. I'm fine with Kingston for this box, the listing claimed "Intel certified" and this won't be a FreeNAS box. If it survives burn-in, I have no concerns going forward.

 

[BarefootWoodworker]

I did find Kingston modules, but the posts I have read tell me to keep away from these.

I believe that was only a temporary situation as Kingston did something funny with suppliers.

I use Kingston RAM and have never had a problem. The majority of RAM chips come from either Hynix or Samsung, I believe, and as long as those are on your RAM stick, you're usually fine.

By the way, here's a link to a search of RAM modules you're looking for (I hope): https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...06161 600006164 600327713 601275453 601275456

 

[blue1248]

Thanks Linkman.

Thanks BarefootWoodworker. Ok, that issue with Kingston, being a historical issue, certainly makes sourcing the modules easier. Seems as if Kingston is all that the suppliers here in Melbourne seem to stock. But having said that, there is only one module available locally that seems suitable:

2 x Kingston KVR21E15D8/8I - supplier / manuf

I checked the Kingston website, they have self approved it for the X11SSH-LN4F motherboard.

I appreciate the help, and looking forward to starting the build next weekend.

 

[skek]

Hi Blue1248,

I'm planning a second NAS build very similar to yours, about the only difference being in a Fractal Design R5 case and maybe a V6 CPU. I'm also in Melbourne and will be buying from the same suppliers. Would love to know how your build goes - especially with the memory as I've been battling the same problem in terms of sourcing something suitable so you could save me a lot of pain if you can confirm that the kingston memory passes a memtest run and works fine for freenas :) Good luck with your build!

 

[blue1248]

Hello skek,

That is great to hear. I changed my case to the Fractal Design Define R5 case as the case I originally specified was just a bit too big, and had sold out anyway.

The first shopping spree I was able to pick up all components except memory and hard drives. Sourcing hard drives is no problem, just wanted to space out the expenditure a bit. The memory has been a real pain, as you have probably discovered.

Scorptec seems to be the only supplier of server grade components that I have been able to find anywhere in Melbourne. (bricks and mortar stores). I prefer using MSY for all other items as they consistently have the cheapest prices. Just for the 7 hard drives there is over a $150 difference between Scorptec and MSY for exactly the same item.

I put it all together on Tuesday and the build was fairly simple. I had already downloaded the iso file onto a usb2.0 stick using Rufus.

It passed all POST tests ok.

Rebooted... and you can read the rest here.... https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/stage-3-installing-freenas.52674/#post-364045