Thoughts on a Plex FreeNAS hardware

[dublea]

Basically, I used to have an old box dedicated to Plex. After a transformer in my area had consistent issues (17 blackouts over 1 weekend) the MLB stopped reading memory on two banks. So, I've decided I need to migrate/upgrade my system! I've been looking at FreeNAS for a while and it looks to fit my needs. I thank all those who've posted such great threads with detailed information on recommended hardware. But, here is what I have so far. Before I dive in, I thought I'd share my plans with the community to get any feedback from those who already use it.

Motherboard: SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SLL-F-O
CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell
Memory: Crucial 16GB DDR3 1600 ECC Unbuffered
PSU: CORSAIR AX760 760W
Drives: Seagate NAS HDD ST4000VN000 4TB 6SATA 6.0Gb/s (x3 to start off with)
Case: One I already have​

Let me know what you think! Any suggestions welcome. I plan to order all from Newegg as I have an existing account. So, please, if you think I should considering differing hardware for my task, please link from there!

 

[DrKK]

Proceed with my compliments, sir. You've only made one mistake, which I put at the bottom.

You're going to need boot devices. We're still recommending Sandisk Cruzer Fit 2.0's.

We are also recommending that you buy two boot devices, so that you can take advantage of "mirror"ing them.

Also, 16GB is a lot of breathing room here. If you are certain you might buy three more disks or whatever, then yes, go with 16GB. But what you're proposing thus far is sufficiently equipped with 8GB in most cases.

Your mistake is the power supply. That's way too high power for this. WAY too high. Your proposed system will be well under 100W, even at load, even including disks, even including spin up power. The problem with such a beefy power supply is that you'll be running it, most of the time, well under 10% of its rated load, which means it will be running highly inefficiently, and most likely with a very poor power factor. i.e., you'll waste a lot of energy for no reason. You want a power supply in the 300-400W range. You will get better performance and much better energy efficiency out of your power supply if you use a smaller one. Try this one.

 

[jgreco]

Also, 16GB is a lot of breathing room here. If you are certain you might buy three more disks or whatever, then yes, go with 16GB. But what you're proposing thus far is sufficiently equipped with 8GB in most cases.

8GB is likely inadequate if he's gonna be running Plex. Jails compete heavily with the middleware and ARC when there's so little RAM.

Your mistake is the power supply. That's way too high power for this. WAY too high. Your proposed system will be well under 100W, even at load, even including disks, even including spin up power. The problem with such a beefy power supply is that you'll be running it, most of the time, well under 10% of its rated load, which means it will be running highly inefficiently, and most likely with a very poor power factor. i.e., you'll waste a lot of energy for no reason. You want a power supply in the 300-400W range. You will get better performance and much better energy efficiency out of your power supply if you use a smaller one. Try this one.

While a 360-380W supply is probably fine for a three drive configuration, please do consider whether or not you might add more drives in the future. It is worth considering the inefficiency of power supplies as part of the economics, the reality is that it is wasting a "lot" of energy relative to a very small number, which turns out to be not a lot of energy. Two extra watts going from a 360W to a 550W supply in the linked example.

What you ACTUALLY want to avoid is getting down to power consumption levels where you're actually below what a power supply is designed for. Without actually doing research on a specific supply, that point is hard to know for sure, but is very likely to be less than 10%.

 

[dublea]

Thanks to both of your input! So I reconsidered and am looking at the following PSU:

Antec BP550 Plus 550W​

I'm going with 16GB for room to grow and Plex. Same with the PSU. I do plan to add more drives in the future. Only utilizing 2 out of 4 banks as well so I can max out if/when needed too. I didn't link the USB drives as I have several 16GB drives around but thanks for the recommendation! It's also good to know I can use two of them and mirror just in the event of failure. I know all too well how easily flashdrives fail! When I was working in a local break/fix retail store I often recommended people to not rely 100% on them for backing up photos/school work/etc.

Now to get this ordered as I'm too afraid my other system will fail. I at least have another system to which I can connect the drive and access the raid if something occurs. ;)

Also getting a APC! Now my Untangled and this will be able to shut down in the event of a power outage as well.

 

[jgreco]

I should note that the Seasonic G's are very well liked around here by the users here who are building non-rackmount servers.

 

[Ericloewe]

Definitely get a Seasonic G-360, G-450 or G-550 instead of the Antecs. 80+ Gold should really be the baseline these days.

The AX760 is a Seasonic X-Series/Platinum, which is a bit better than the G-Series. Since we're talking about lower loads, the G-Series is the better option in most cases.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...51119&cm_re=Seasonic_G-_-17-151-119-_-Product

They don't seem to have the lower powers for some reason.

 

[jgreco]

They don't seem to have the lower powers for some reason.

Because the difference between Gold and Platinum at lowish numbers of watts doesn't result in much savings, but usually comes with a bit of a cost differential, I'm guessing.

 

[Ericloewe]

Because the difference between Gold and Platinum at lowish numbers of watts doesn't result in much savings, but usually comes with a bit of a cost differential, I'm guessing.

You misunderstand - I meant that Newegg doesn't have the G-360 and G-450. They do cost significantly more than even the "it'll do" units, like Corsair CS, but they're also almost the only good PSU design in their power range. Superflower has some stuff in this range, but the reviews I've seen are always for the higher-power stuff.

As for Gold vs Platinum, I'd extend your thought to build quality in general. Despite being "only" 80+ Gold and cutting some corners (lower-quality fan, simpler fan controller, etc.), they still cost a bit more than most other units in their power range. Some (Corsair RM450) are similarly-priced, but focus on features instead of electrical quality.

Well, strictly speaking there is something better than the G-Series at these low power levels: Seasonic Platinum Fanless. However, fanless PSUs are a silly product, since they still need a bit of forced airflow for cooling. 40W of heat don't just magically disappear.