Supermicro X11SCH-LN4F build

[willitnas]

Hello,
I am looking for feedback on a build. I have chosen the below parts based on availability and latest chipsets.
I have not see a lot of posts with X11 Supermicro boards and was curious if anyone had any issues? The board has 8 SATA ports so my drive configuration is based on not having to use an HBA.
Thanks

Specs:
MB: Supermicro X11SCH-LN4F
CPU: Xeon E-2144G
RAM: 4x Hynix / Supermicro rebrand HMA81GU7CJR8N-VK 8GB ( 32GB total, ECC unbuffered )

HDD: 4x WD 5400rpm 8TB NAS Red
SSD: 2x Samsung 860 EVO 250GB MLC V-NAND (OS mirrored drives)
L2ARC: 1x Samsung 970 EVO+ 250GB V-NAND M.2 NVMe

PSU: Corsair HX750
CHASSIS: Fractal Design Define R6

Pool config:
Raid Z2

Purpose:
- SMB share for 3 graphic designers
- Nightly rsync of email PST backups

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

CHASSIS: Fractal Design Define R6

You may want to check out my build on that case. It'll give you a sense of what it is like to use that case.

The board has 8 SATA ports so my drive configuration is based on not having to use an HBA.

Are you just trying to keep the cost down by avoiding the HBA? You can easily pick one up for ~50 bucks off ebay if the need for more disks ever arrises.

RAM: 4x Hynix / Supermicro rebrand HMA81GU7CJR8N-VK 8GB ( 32GB total, ECC unbuffered )

I would recommend you go with the largest DIMMS your board supports that you can find. The reason is that by doing so you can upgrade your memory in the future without having to replace the memory you've already got. Also, perhaps other folks will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you'd be better off first getting more memory before picking up an L2ARC device.

HDD: 4x WD 5400rpm 8TB NAS Red

What pool layout did you plan for these?

SSD: 2x Samsung 860 EVO 250GB MLC V-NAND (OS mirrored drives)

These will work for boot devices but they are quite a bit bigger than you need. 64GB would be more than plenty I'd think. Something to consider if you're looking to save money. Speed isn't super important here either, reliability is very useful here though.

 

[willitnas]

Thank you for your feedback

You may want to check out my build on that case. It'll give you a sense of what it is like to use that case.

Thanks. Seeing your post is actually the reason I chose it while doing some initial research.

Are you just trying to keep the cost down by avoiding the HBA? You can easily pick one up for ~50 bucks off ebay if the need for more disks ever arrises.

Not concerned with cost. Just avoiding one more potential point of failure. Our current storage server has 2TB of data which really only grows 75-100GB per year. If we used 4x 8TB drives in Raid Z2 then the pool should be around 16TB correct?
Is there performance benefits of having more smaller drives i.e. 8x 4TB or a faster rebuilding process in a scenario where we had to replace a drive?

I would recommend you go with the largest DIMMS your board supports that you can find. The reason is that by doing so you can upgrade your memory in the future without having to replace the memory you've already got. Also, perhaps other folks will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you'd be better off first getting more memory before picking up an L2ARC device.

Noted. I would like to run 2x 16GB DIMMS but I did not see any part numbers on the tested memory list from Supermicro. I will see what other manufactures have with the same spec.

What pool layout did you plan for these?

Raid Z2

These will work for boot devices but they are quite a bit bigger than you need. 64GB would be more than plenty I'd think. Something to consider if you're looking to save money. Speed isn't super important here either, reliability is very useful here though.

I chose these based on preference and local availability.

I appreciate all your help. Thanks again.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Noted. I would like to run 2x 16GB DIMMS but I did not see any part numbers on the tested memory list from Supermicro. I will see what other manufactures have with the same spec.

Check crucial, they have memory they guarantee to work.

Just avoiding one more potential point of failure.

HBAs are quite reliable. The SATA controller on your main board could fail as well. I have no idea about how the reliability compares but I expect given their widespread use in industry that an HBA's reliability isn't a huge issue.

If we used 4x 8TB drives in Raid Z2 then the pool should be around 16TB correct?

Only if you fill the drives completely full. General consensus is to only fill the pool to 80% capacity or there abouts else you start to suffer performance issues. Filling it completely full can cause a whole hose other other issues. If you go with RAIDZ2 you'll get more available storage for your dollar if you go up to 6 drives on your storage pool. I guess I'd suggest you drop the L2ARC device and replace it with more RAM and you've got 8 of 8 SATA slots occupied. Then, later, you can add more drives with an HBA if your storage needs grow.

 

[hescominsoon]

Are you just trying to keep the cost down by avoiding the HBA? You can easily pick one up for ~50 bucks off ebay if the need for more disks ever arises.
/QUOTE]
If you have enough on board ports to not need an HBA then that's one less component you ahve to worry about faling. That isn't cost avoidance...the K.I.S.S. Why add something that isn't needed?

 

[Yooshua]

Noted. I would like to run 2x 16GB DIMMS but I did not see any part numbers on the tested memory list from Supermicro. I will see what other manufactures have with the same spec.

There are 16GB ram sticks available. They're listed on the DDR42666 section of the tested memory list.

Here is the newegg link to them. I just picked up 4 myself for a very similar build.
Supermicro (MTA18ADF2G72AZ-2G6E1) 16GB SDRAM ECC

 

[Ericloewe]

Why the hell do you want the -LN4F?

 

[Yooshua]

Why the hell do you want the -LN4F?

I went with the -LN4F because I plan an AIO with a PFsense VM.

 

[Ericloewe]

That's an important thing to neglect to mention. It's also a very bad idea in most scenarios.

 

[Yooshua]

For home use... I don't really see an issue with it. As I believe Stux said... if someone can break out of a VM they have bigger fish to fry. I think my biggest security vulnerability is my girlfriend surfing facebook for cat video and clicking bad links. :D

 

[willitnas]

Why the hell do you want the -LN4F?

The only difference (besides $40 in price) between the X11SCH-F and the LN4F is two additional NICs. They even share the same manual. When it comes to availability on new egg LN4F is the only option.
MB: X11SCH-LN4F

 

[Ericloewe]

I know the differences. Availability isn't a bad reason, but the extra 40 bucks are generally best spent elsewhere or saved.