I know this been asked so many times with different setups on your forum, but I really do need some help here in creating my build. I am faced with the dilemma of deciding on which hardware to buy to build my home NAS/Vmware test lab.
I am network guy, and my knowledge in IT is not as advance as it should be. But because of my job demands lately working on data centers network designs. I have to build a home lab for vmware learning.
And I decided to consolidate all my HDD’s into 1 system and I been reading about freeNAS for the last few days and it looks impressive.
The problem is I am short of time in buying hardware. As I must buy it all the next week when I travel to the US. The reason behind it is in price difference, as things in the US tend to be less than half the price at back in my home. So my shopping will be from tiger direct, or amazon/ebay and ship to my hotel.
My requirement for NAS is to reach atleast 300MB read and 150MB write ( more is better ). I would like to know is it possible to be done with this list of hardware or not? I know I will have to do weeks of testing on this rig to get it on its optimum speed but I just want to know if the hardware I picked allows me to reach the speeds I need ( it’s pointless to go to a formula one race with a LADA!! )
The hardware I am buying is as follows
===========================
1- CPU: 2x AMD opteron 6344 G34 ( 12 cores each )
2- Motherboard : ASUS KGPE-D16
3- Memory: right now adding 64gig ECC and later I will expand to 128GB in few months
4- Case: Supermicro 8bay chassis 745TQ
Back home I have the following
1- Networking: I have multiple intel 4xports and 2xports cards to be used on the servers and my workstations, the server will end up with at least 600MB lacp port channel for FreeNas VM. My network should support that speed easily as I have multiple switches left over from my CCIE study days
2- HDD: I have WD 8x 3TB 7200rpm and 2x Kingston SSD 256G ( will run it in Z2 or Raid 10 )
3- LSI 9280 16i4e, and I have no problem in buying a M1015 card as I can see them cheap on ebay. I didn’t buy that LSI. I got it of work to use in my lab setup (Nice boss I have!) so I can’t really sell it or anything, either I use it or return it back.
**Just a note, it will run in VM with pass-through if needed for the hardware to freeNAS. Planning to give it up to 32GB ram to this vm and I have no issues in using 1 or 2 SSD’s if that will help with write speed. From all the reviews I read on this forum I can tell that read speed won’t be an issue to achieve. But what about write speeds? And if I can’t reach that. What sort of hardware I need to buy?
Currently my HDDS split on 3 different workstations. I can no longer tell where are my files any moreJ. I need to consolidate my network and it’s a good chance to learn some unix/vmware in the same time.
Any hardware advice you can spare me I will appreciate it as I have to finish buying them in 2 weeks. I am sorry for asking but again the shortage of time and I am overwhelmed with the amount I have read. Keeping in mind I am traveling for a network exam and I can’t keep mouth dwelling on newegg and tigerdeals for all those beautiful cards.
I have no issue to spare another 500$ or so now on the system to buy extra items, but if I buy them later. The price and tax will more than double the cost for me. Adding mail costs to ship things. It usually goes out of hand with cost.
Last point I promise!! I know all forums talk about the M105 as a champion for its price. But I don’t mind spending extra if there is a card that will give me better performance.
I require 150meg + write speed because usually my download speeds from internet around 50 – 60MB, I have around 500mb internet connection. And we are 4 people who will use this system plus backup running and stuff. With little extra room for internet speed increment in next year or 2. I know running NAS with ESXI has its limitations but I am ready to give it a try( i read that my motherboard supports pass through, and the requirement of 32 Gig or more of RAM.) and I saw lots of posts that should help get me started. I just need to know what extra hardware I need to reach my needs.
I am network guy, and my knowledge in IT is not as advance as it should be. But because of my job demands lately working on data centers network designs. I have to build a home lab for vmware learning.
And I decided to consolidate all my HDD’s into 1 system and I been reading about freeNAS for the last few days and it looks impressive.
The problem is I am short of time in buying hardware. As I must buy it all the next week when I travel to the US. The reason behind it is in price difference, as things in the US tend to be less than half the price at back in my home. So my shopping will be from tiger direct, or amazon/ebay and ship to my hotel.
My requirement for NAS is to reach atleast 300MB read and 150MB write ( more is better ). I would like to know is it possible to be done with this list of hardware or not? I know I will have to do weeks of testing on this rig to get it on its optimum speed but I just want to know if the hardware I picked allows me to reach the speeds I need ( it’s pointless to go to a formula one race with a LADA!! )
The hardware I am buying is as follows
===========================
1- CPU: 2x AMD opteron 6344 G34 ( 12 cores each )
2- Motherboard : ASUS KGPE-D16
3- Memory: right now adding 64gig ECC and later I will expand to 128GB in few months
4- Case: Supermicro 8bay chassis 745TQ
Back home I have the following
1- Networking: I have multiple intel 4xports and 2xports cards to be used on the servers and my workstations, the server will end up with at least 600MB lacp port channel for FreeNas VM. My network should support that speed easily as I have multiple switches left over from my CCIE study days
2- HDD: I have WD 8x 3TB 7200rpm and 2x Kingston SSD 256G ( will run it in Z2 or Raid 10 )
3- LSI 9280 16i4e, and I have no problem in buying a M1015 card as I can see them cheap on ebay. I didn’t buy that LSI. I got it of work to use in my lab setup (Nice boss I have!) so I can’t really sell it or anything, either I use it or return it back.
**Just a note, it will run in VM with pass-through if needed for the hardware to freeNAS. Planning to give it up to 32GB ram to this vm and I have no issues in using 1 or 2 SSD’s if that will help with write speed. From all the reviews I read on this forum I can tell that read speed won’t be an issue to achieve. But what about write speeds? And if I can’t reach that. What sort of hardware I need to buy?
Currently my HDDS split on 3 different workstations. I can no longer tell where are my files any moreJ. I need to consolidate my network and it’s a good chance to learn some unix/vmware in the same time.
Any hardware advice you can spare me I will appreciate it as I have to finish buying them in 2 weeks. I am sorry for asking but again the shortage of time and I am overwhelmed with the amount I have read. Keeping in mind I am traveling for a network exam and I can’t keep mouth dwelling on newegg and tigerdeals for all those beautiful cards.
I have no issue to spare another 500$ or so now on the system to buy extra items, but if I buy them later. The price and tax will more than double the cost for me. Adding mail costs to ship things. It usually goes out of hand with cost.
Last point I promise!! I know all forums talk about the M105 as a champion for its price. But I don’t mind spending extra if there is a card that will give me better performance.
I require 150meg + write speed because usually my download speeds from internet around 50 – 60MB, I have around 500mb internet connection. And we are 4 people who will use this system plus backup running and stuff. With little extra room for internet speed increment in next year or 2. I know running NAS with ESXI has its limitations but I am ready to give it a try( i read that my motherboard supports pass through, and the requirement of 32 Gig or more of RAM.) and I saw lots of posts that should help get me started. I just need to know what extra hardware I need to reach my needs.