Will it FreeNAS: New NAS build (from a 100% noob perspective)

[rsoption]

Greetings from down under!

Been using NAS for a while now. Being a complete IT noob, I went with closed systems like Netgear and Synology for ease of use (without tinkering and mucking around). My last NAS (Synology DS1515+) turned brick after only a short 4 years usage. With Synology tech support turning their backs on me and not willing to spend another AUD$1k+ for a closed system, I am now deciding to go down the route of building my own system and using the FreeNAS OS.

So here goes ...

The objectives of the build is ...

• House 5-8 x 3.5" HDDs (5 of them are from my old DS1515+ and 2-3 of them were from the HDD upgrades I did last year in order to increase the RAID size of the DS1515+)
• Currently, all my data are housed up in the cloud (Google Drive). All 10-11tb of data, movies, mp3s, photos etc)
• Previously on Synology DS1515+, I used their SHR raid so am hoping to find a similar RAID arrangement with FreeNAS
• I'm by far not a power user and my needs are pretty simple ... I only use the NAS as physical drive and with the Synology app add-on, I was able to sync all files and edits onto Google Drive. I also use Plex but only on my iPad as I dont know how to use Plex
• Obviously resource (money) is limited in most people's case so without going over the top, I try to spec the system with the following in mind ... Highest importance is the reliability of the system, ease of use (meaning I dont want to spend too much time mucking around the system) and lastly local warranty support. Buying from overseas can be cheaper and another plus is the variety of parts availability, but I prefer local support and less issues trying to sort out any RMAs
• All parts are procured locally. When speccing, I took into consideration the availability of parts locally due to the warranty and after sales support reasons above

The proposed build is...

1. Motherboard - Intel S1200SPLR
2. CPU - Intel Xeon E3-1270v6
3. RAM - Kingston 16gb ECC single stick KSM24ED8/16ME
4. Casing - Cooler Master N300 KKN1
5. PSU - Corsair RM1000i Gold 1000W
6. Am using a 120gb Samsung SSD thats laying around for the FreeNAS OS, and the rest of the HDDs are for the RAID pool

I did a search, read further and noticed there are a lot of recommendations on Supermicro mobo, and also purchase of 2nd hand parts and boards off eBay etc. As detailed under "Objectives" above, I have decided to go with Intel DBS1200SPLR due to the 8 SATA ports, local stock RMM4 and price point. If I am able to secure a local stock, ideally I would have gone with favourites like Supermicro mbd-x11ssm-f-o but the closest price point I can find is from Newegg and its coming from overseas.

Am looking for advice, feedback on system improvements and what not ... My biggest fear (being an IT noob) is incompatible issues with the hardware, and next in line is trying to configure FreeNAS on the new build (which I have not started to research in-depth yet). So far, the biggest ticket items are the CPU and the mobo ...

To add to your advice, feedback ... does anyone know if I can add the same RAM onto the motherboard later down the road? I am only familiar with dual-channel RAM kit whereby I need to buy paired RAM sticks in order for them to "work".

Thanks for looking, have a good one =)

 

[Jessep]

There is no SHR equivalent in FreeNAS. A vdev will be based on the smallest drive size, i.e. RaidZ2 4TB + 4TB + 4TB +1TB = 2TB RAW (4X2TB- 2 drives for Z2).

Most suggestions around these parts are Supermicro with IPMI, so a MB with a -F on the end.

You would likely be better off with used enterprise gear, though it's rather expensive in AU.

 

[rsoption]

There is no SHR equivalent in FreeNAS. A vdev will be based on the smallest drive size, i.e. RaidZ2 4TB + 4TB + 4TB +1TB = 2TB RAW (4X2TB- 2 drives for Z2).

Most suggestions around these parts are Supermicro with IPMI, so a MB with a -F on the end.

You would likely be better off with used enterprise gear, though it's rather expensive in AU.

----------

Noted, thanks Jessep. Supermicro boards are not common here so it might take awhile to find one on the used market.

 

[zeebee]

Hi @rsoption. I'm building a system pretty similar to yours, also in AU. I've gone with this board, but it only has 6 Sata. The S1200SPLR looks pretty good to me, but I decided to go with Supermicro based on recommendations here.

Intel® Xeon® E-2136 Processor
Supermicro X11SCL-F Server Board
Crucial 16GB DDR4-2666 ECC UDIMM CT16G4WFD8266
Kingston AS400SSD 120G x 1 (boot)
Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM x 5 (pool)
Seasonic 650W Focus Plus
Fractal Design Define R6

 

[rsoption]

Hi @rsoption. I'm building a system pretty similar to yours, also in AU. I've gone with this board, but it only has 6 Sata. The S1200SPLR looks pretty good to me, but I decided to go with Supermicro based on recommendations here.

Intel® Xeon® E-2136 Processor
Supermicro X11SCL-F Server Board
Crucial 16GB DDR4-2666 ECC UDIMM CT16G4WFD8266
Kingston AS400SSD 120G x 1 (boot)
Western Digital Red 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM x 5 (pool)
Seasonic 650W Focus Plus
Fractal Design Define R6

--------

Hey bud, how you doing?

Was the mobo sent from NZ? What was the warranty terms for RMA? Any local distributors you can send the board to?

I have started to purchase the parts this morning (seeing not much response here) ... gotten the CPU so most likely sticking to the Intel mobo due to compatibility. Yea I noticed folks on this forum seems to more readily to recommend Supermicro boards. Perhaps its really suited for NAS builds but I can't find resources of good comparisons from real-world users who have both the Supermicro and other brand name board (Intel or ASUS or whatever).

 

[zeebee]

I only just ordered it, but I'm assuming it'll come from NZ (I don't think they have a presence in AU). I'm guessing if it was faulty I'd have to send it back there - bit of a gamble, but I thought I'd give it a go. I'll let you know how it goes once all my parts arrive.

 

[zeebee]

@rsoption Board & CPU arrived this morning from NZ. I haven't used PBTech before, but I can't fault them. Board is retail package and seems good. I got everything I could from UMart, and the stuff they didn't stock came from Megabuy (ram), Scorptec (case) and EBay (hba). Now I just have to find time to build the thing!

 

[rsoption]

@rsoption Board & CPU arrived this morning from NZ. I haven't used PBTech before, but I can't fault them. Board is retail package and seems good. I got everything I could from UMart, and the stuff they didn't stock came from Megabuy (ram), Scorptec (case) and EBay (hba). Now I just have to find time to build the thing!

Nice update! I went with the intel board eventually. Just waiting for everything to rock up now. Now reading the documentation for FreeNAS. Feels kinda technical and foreign, also considering OMV as an OS as i have got 4*4TB WD and 4*8TB Ironwolf and seems like FreeNAS prefers uniformed HDD size.

 

[zeebee]

I went with the intel board eventually.

Nice, it looked good to me.

considering OMV as an OS

I'd suggest having a play around with FreeNAS in a VM. I used VirtualBox and it worked nicely. You can create a bunch of virtual disks and experiment with pool creation, jails etc. I had a quick look at OMV, but it didn't seem as polished as FreeNAS, which feels more like enterprise level software. ZFS on OMV is a plugin I believe, whereas it's the foundation of FreeNAS.

4*4TB WD and 4*8TB Ironwolf and seems like FreeNAS prefers uniformed HDD size

I was confused by this recently, but from what I can tell it's fine to have two 4-disk vdevs where the drives are different sizes, as long as they're using the same raid type. Here's the thread where I asked about it.