Used FreeNAS setup

[Thomas_E]

I'm thinking about buying my first FreeNAS setup and changing from my oold QNAP.
First of all: I'm a semi-newbie to this. I've built PC's and know the ins and outs, but it's a long time since I were up-to-date on hardware. I use the FreeNAS for backup, VPN and multimedia streaming mainly. I came across this used server on my Norwegian craigslist equivalent and was wondering how it would serve my purposes:
Motherboard: Supermicro X9DRL-7F (IT-flashed HBA)
CPU: 2x Xeon E5-2650 v2 (3,4Ghz Turbo, 8C/16T)
Cooler: Coolmaster Hyper 212 Evo
RAM: 4x Kingston 1333Mhz 16GB (64Gb tot.) (kvr13lr9d4/16)
HBA Controller(?) 1015m HBA (IT-flashed)
Hdd1: WD Red 1TB 2,5"
Hdd2-8: 7x WD Red 3TB 3,5"
SSD: 2 x 120GB Sandisk/PNY
Case: Fractal Design R5
PSU: EVGA 650w G2

I could buy this for around 1100 USD. Is it a good deal? Any specific questions I should ask the seller?

 

[Thomas_E]

One more newbie question: How upgradeable is the storage on this? I would prefer 4TB drives, but if this could be expanded with a few more HDDs somehow without any major problems that would be great.

 

[Newfoundland.Republic]

I'd say 16GB is minimal; I'd go with 32. Check the Supermicro RAM info. There is debate on ECC - see threads in the forums. If I was using mine for work (not home) I always go with ECC in servers but for home I don't really care.

I would assume that the SSDs are for mirrored boot. Note that the boot devices can only be used for boot, not storage.

The X9DRL-7F supports 4 x SATA2 and 2 x SATA3 ports. I have my boot drives on the SATA3 ports and don't use the SATA2 ports.

Without a SAS expander you can get 8 drives on the 1015m (that is an IBM card with the RAID firmware "removed").

I haven't tried using the 4 x SATA2 ports on my motherboard as the drive backplane only has 8 drives It might work.

Amount of usable storage? That depends on how you configuration your drives. This calculator can show you how much. There is info on that page on what RAIDZ, RAIDZ2, RAIDZ3 means; basically, higher the level more fault tolerance you have (e.g., can lose 1, 2 or 3 disks but not lose your data).

And remember: RAID IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR A PROPER BACKUP!!! (Have to put that in!)

 

[Thomas_E]

I'd say 16GB is minimal; I'd go with 32. Check the Supermicro RAM info. There is debate on ECC - see threads in the forums. If I was using mine for work (not home) I always go with ECC in servers but for home I don't really care.

It's 4 x 16GB, total of 64.

I would assume that the SSDs are for mirrored boot. Note that the boot devices can only be used for boot, not storage.

Yes thanks. The SSDs were "useless" to the seller, I.E. no extra pay for them.

The X9DRL-7F supports 4 x SATA2 and 2 x SATA3 ports. I have my boot drives on the SATA3 ports and don't use the SATA2 ports.

Without a SAS expander you can get 8 drives on the 1015m (that is an IBM card with the RAID firmware "removed").

I haven't tried using the 4 x SATA2 ports on my motherboard as the drive backplane only has 8 drives :) It might work.

Amount of usable storage? That depends on how you configuration your drives. This calculator can show you how much. There is info on that page on what RAIDZ, RAIDZ2, RAIDZ3 means; basically, higher the level more fault tolerance you have (e.g., can lose 1, 2 or 3 disks but not lose your data).

This is where I'm a newbie. I dont really know how to upgrade or how to config my setup. Almost nothing is irreaplacable, which is why I havent bothered with escessive backups etc. If I lose all my TV Shows it will bo more of a PITA than an official scandal.

My point is: I don't keep any sensitive information on my NAS. I still trust other competitors more than my self.

 

[Jailer]

Looks like a good list of hardware, though I'd be leery of used drives. To me the drives don't add any value unless they are new and have been properly tested to rule out infant mortality. The rest looks great but I'd try to get it a bit cheaper.

 

[Thomas_E]

Looks like a good list of hardware, though I'd be leery of used drives. To me the drives don't add any value unless they are new and have been properly tested to rule out infant mortality. The rest looks great but I'd try to get it a bit cheaper.

Thanks. I did get a quote around 700-800 without the disks., but I'll consider a counter offer a bit lower.