Starting a new build, advice with setup needed

[rdcustom]

Hello All,
I'm starting a new NAS for my home network and I need some good advice.

This will be the hardware:

-Asus Prime B550M/CSM
-Ryzen 3 4100
-32gb DDR4 Corsair
-2x 128gb SSD m.2 sata
-8x WD Red 4TB

My NAS will be used as follow:

-Plex Server (HW encoding/decoding needed)
-Rsync and FTP backups
-Remote sync with my office server trough internet

I would like to use both 128gb SSDs as Raid1 Boot drive (they are cheap ones from Amazon, so I'd like to go with a Raid1 for reliability) and Hard Drives in Raid 6 or Raid 60.

I also have a spare SSD (1tb), would you suggest to use it as Read/Write cache (especially for Plex) or the RAM would be enough?

Thanks in advance and Happy NAS to all

 

[somethingweird]

- Asus Prime B550M/CSM - realtek LAN? Not a good choice.
- WD Red 4TB - are they SMR or CMR? SMR those aren't drives you want. ZFS and SMR drives don't mix.

truenas doesn't have RAID 6 / RAID 60.

 

[rdcustom]

Thanks for the reply
I'm not sure about raid and disk configuration, I will choose when finished the build.
Realtek Lan will be fine for now, when switching to 10gbe net year I will probably upgrade that

About disks, I already have them in my Netgear and Qnap NAS and they are WD40EFRX so they are CMR and compatible with ZFS according to WD

But what about the SSD cache?

 

[somethingweird]

SSD cache - for me personally - I would max out RAM first before deciding. If had a spare SSD - use the spinners for mass storage and VM/jail on SSD.

 

[LarsR]

How do you intend to connect all those disks? There's a high chance that some of the regular sata connectors get disabled when using the m.2 slots.

 

[ChrisRJ]

Realtek Lan will be fine for now, [..]

Why do you think that?

 

[somethingweird]

Why do you think that?

Because he/she said will be replaced with 10gb nic later in the year?

 

[rdcustom]

SSD cache - for me personally - I would max out RAM first before deciding. If had a spare SSD - use the spinners for mass storage and VM/jail on SSD.

I think I will do the VM/Jail on the 1tb SSD then

 

[rdcustom]

How do you intend to connect all those disks? There's a high chance that some of the regular sata connectors get disabled when using the m.2 slots.

I read the Asus manual and seems that m.2 don't affect data connectors; there's 4 of them onboard and I bought a pcie to 4 sata card

 

[LarsR]

Don't use pcie to sata cards, they are known to cause issues. If you want more ports LSI HBA's are the way to go.

 

[rdcustom]

Dammit! I already have it... which kind of issue can they cause?
What if I setup the system and change the card after?

 

[Davvo]

Realtek Lan will be fine for now

Is my Realtek ethernet really that bad?

This resource was originally created by user: jgreco on the TrueNAS Community Forums Archive. Please DM this account or comment in this thread to claim it. One of the longest running issues faced here in the forums may be people who come to these forums, wanting to recycle an old PC into a NAS...

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I bought a pcie to 4 sata card

Multiply your problems with SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers

This resource was originally created by user: jgreco on the TrueNAS Community Forums Archive. Please DM this account or comment in this thread to claim it. In the last year or two, we’ve had a resurgence of users asking about SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers. Please, do NOT use...

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What's all the noise about HBAs, and why can't I use a RAID controller?

1) An HBA is a Host Bus Adapter. This is a controller that allows SAS and SATA devices to be attached to, and communicate directly with, a server. RAID controllers typically aggregate several disks into a Virtual Disk abstraction of some sort...

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If you tell us what you plan to use we can see if it's suitable.

But what about the SSD cache?

You need at least 64GB of RAM in order to consider using L2ARC.

 

[joeschmuck]

Dammit! I already have it... which kind of issue can they cause?
What if I setup the system and change the card after?

It will really depend on the specific card you have. Try it, some work fine, some do not. I use them myself but the chipset is supported (see my signature). I have been using mine for many years. I would lots data on the NAS for the drives connected to the PCIe to SATA card BUT have those files backed up somewhere. A nice shiny HBA it the preferred path as they have a very good track record.