> well-balanced NAS-server build. Questions regarding some components.

[Bl4ckShadow]

Hey there,

I'm new to the forums so first of all "hello" to everyone. :) I've been reading the posts and threads regularly lately, especially stickies etc., but I'm a bit unsure regarding some components for a system I am planning to build.

At the moment I'm running a QNAP 4-bay NAS with four WD Red 4TB drives, but due to more storage needs and especially the wish to run a more secure and reliable file system I quickly discovered FreeNAS with it's great community and opportunities.

So, there we are. My plan looks like the following:
* Asrock C2750D4I
* 6x 4TB WD40EFRX (RAID-Z2)
* Lian-Li PC-Q26
* ~400W gold-level power supply

My questions are:
1. How much ECC-RAM do I really need/should I really buy?
I've read the "official" and cyberjock's hardware recommendations. I'm unsure whether the thumb rule of "1GB RAM per TB of storage" refers to the total storage or the effective (without redundant HDDs). So concretely: With 6x 4TB in RAID-Z2 is it sufficient to get 16GB RAM or rather 24 or 32GB?
I'm on a budget, so I'd of course appreciate some savings here and there, still knowing RAM is quite an important issue in FreeNAS/ZFS. And for me, the most important thing is data integrity and security.
My options/ideas are:
- 1x 16GB (105€)
- 2x 8GB (115€)
- 3x 8GB (175€)
- 2x 16GB (210 €)
What would you recommend?

2. Here in Germany the Asrock C2750D4I is quite expensive (410€ = 450US-$)
I don't plan to run hugely massive loads on the system, maybe 2 streams of Plex max. (CPU should be sufficient for this), still I want capable processor as a few clients will be accessing the server frequently, running backups, streaming media and so on. Are there better options for that amount of money? (Xeon E3-XXXX with appropriate Supermicro board...?!) Will there be upcoming Intel server CPUs in the future soon? I mean the Avoton C2750 is quite "old". (OK, the Intel quasi-monopoly does its thing...)

Also if you think any of my components isn't chosen too well, please tell me! :D Nothing is fix up to this point in time.
I would appreciate help very much! Thanks for your time in advance! :)

Regards,
Patrick

 

[tres_kun]

From my perspective as a beginer myself
The recomandation on the ram is to have a system that is fast
If you are only after basic one client no plugins no nothing 16Gb can sustain a pool of 40TB but performance might be dissapointing
16Gb will run verry well for you
Your usable storage after a raid Z2 should be about 14.1TB if i compare your pool to mine
The more clients you run the more RAM is recomanded
The more plugins you run the more ram is recomanded
Freenas is using 4.35Gb of ram to run and is giving me 11.65Gb for ARC (write/read buffer)
If you run Plugins the OS will use more
I use only CIFS for 3 users