Taking the plunge... (Building a NAS - Need Help)

[DrKK]

Are you asking: Can a Truecrypt encrypted volume/container contain, within it, another truecrypt volume, so that decrypting the outside one merely gives access to the still-encrypted inside container?

Yes, of course you can do that. A file is a file. This is how, for example, I keep all of my passwords...I have a truecrypt volume for my Thunderbird profile, and in addition to storing the profile, it also has a truecrypt volume pw.tc within it that holds my passwords.

It is also possible in truecrypt to have "hidden" volumes/containers within an encrypted volume/container. In the original case I described above, people could see that you have another encrypted container in there. If you care about that, you can use the "hidden" functionalities in Truecrypt. It's all in the docs, but using a hidden truecrypt partition is a level of paranoia that does not even remotely approach sanity for 99.99992% of users.

 

[cyberjock]

Hey gents/ladies. Let's keep this forum to ontopic stuff related to FreeNAS please.

Thanks for your support.

 

[KMR]

You can store Truecrypt volumes within Truecrypt volumes.. but why? If you have data that you don't want certain people to have access to just create another volume. Look Truecrpyt up - it is a very robust system.

 

[KMR]

/offers sacrificial pork chop.

 

[JTT0]

Thanks everyone for helping me decide. After some extensive research, I have decided to stay with the more expensive CPU since it has AES and Hyperthreading (i3) creating four threads, as opposed to a Core 2 Duo, which only has two.

The current build is as follows:
OS: FreeNAS
Case: $200 (U-NAS NSC-800 --> Considering Micro-ATX as well) - http://www.u-nas.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17617
Motherboard: $190 (ASRock E3C224D2I) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157467
CPU: $140 (Intel Core i3-4130T --> May change with MB selection) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116947
RAM: $205 (Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333MHZ) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820139979
PSU: $70 (Athena Power Supply 400W 1U --> Maybe only need a 300W???) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ....9f8d160f67f85d
SATA Port Extender / Raid Controller: $140 (IBM M1015 - Flashed to IT Mode) - http://www.serversupply.com/product...p?pid=134940&gclid=CMj40YH3zrsCFcFj7AodVh8A1w
HDD Set 1: $135 * 4 = $540 (Four 3TB WD Red)
HDD Set 2: $140 * 4 = $560 (Four 3TB Seagate NAS)

Hardware Total: $945 [GOAL: < $1,000]
HDD Total: $1,100
Build Total: $2,045

Potential Additions:
CPU Cooler: $44 (Noctua NH-L9i low-profile HSF) - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009VY1PMI/?tag=ozlp-20

Question 1: As I am big on Western Digital (All my externals are WD), I would prefer to do 8 WD Reds. I am currently splitting the load to minimize failures in sequence. As I am using RaidZ3 for this setup, is this overkill? Can I just use 8 WD Red?

Question 2: With this setup, do I need a CPU Cooler?

Note: I am still considering a microATX setup to minimize costs, but REALLY like a small form factor.

 

[KMR]

Are you planning on using 2 pools or 1? You won't be able to use RAIDZ3 if you have two pools with four drives each. WD Reds are fine.. so are the greens. I haven't heard much about the Seagate NAS drives. If your stock CPU cooler fits it should be fine. I wouldn't bother with a T version of the processor - if you want AES and HT you can probably get away with a standard version, but it is up to you. Just remember that small form factor = high heat typically. Make sure to watch your drive temps like a hawk if you end up going with that case.

 

[JTT0]

Are you planning on using 2 pools or 1? You won't be able to use RAIDZ3 if you have two pools with four drives each. WD Reds are fine.. so are the greens. I haven't heard much about the Seagate NAS drives. If your stock CPU cooler fits it should be fine. I wouldn't bother with a T version of the processor - if you want AES and HT you can probably get away with a standard version, but it is up to you. Just remember that small form factor = high heat typically. Make sure to watch your drive temps like a hawk if you end up going with that case.

The T version is literally 5 dollars higher and 20W lower under load. Would this not drop the heat generated? My goal is to make this a stand-alone 24/7 server that I can monitor loosely, receiving emails/alerts from FreeNAS if drives fail, etc. I don't plan to monitor it constantly as I do not have that kind of time. With this being stated, should I get the CPU Cooler to keep the heat lower?

 

[scurrier]

I don't have experience with freenas to know how high it can load that CPU with your setup. But I would doubt that you could load it enough to cause a significant difference in heat between the T and the non-T. Unless you expect to load it down for long periods of time regularly, the non-T will probably serve you better by being faster and less expensive, while maintaining identical idle power usage and having a larger fan heatsink for lower noise levels at idle.

Keep in mind that the T version is basically the same as the non-T except guaranteed to not exceed that lower TDP via limiting performance. You're paying for lower TDP to keep temps down. At the expense of performance. Only makes a lick of sense if your case is too small to provide enough cooling.

Today I learned that this i3 has ECC support.

I question your noise and form factor requirements since they really give a nasty constraint on your system design. Make sure they really are requirements, especially the form factor one, since a larger case can always solve the noise issue.

I would try out the stock cooler and test the system under load to see how high the temps get. If they are too high then you could upgrade the CPU cooler. With two fans in that case I suspect you will be fine, but who knows for sure? Your case will get loud if the CPU cooler has to get loud to keep it cool.

 

[JTT0]

So, I recently moved across the country (32 hour drive) and purchased all of my components listed here. I have FreeNAS operational and it runs incredibly quiet.

EDIT: I actually decided to go with 8 3TB WD Reds as opposed to a WD/Seagate split.
EDIT 2: I re-read my last build setup and instead of the Athena PSU, I went with a Seasonic SS-350MU 350W FlexATX PSU with a 1U->Flex Bracket.

 

[betta21]

Most of it looks pretty nifty. I think a lot of people on the forum would be interested in how that motherboard works out on a FreeNAS.

 

[JTT0]

Most of it looks pretty nifty. I think a lot of people on the forum would be interested in how that motherboard works out on a FreeNAS.

I could not complain, it has worked beautifully so far. I have been doing quite the assortment of tests, etc. and am about to push it into production. The only stopper right now is configuring a UPS to work with FreeNAS.