X11SSM-F, G4620 build

[SimonTh]

Hello

I've been running FreeNAS for about 10 years now, always on old HW I had laying around and haven't lost any data (yet, knock-on-wood).
However the time has now come for a proper upgrade to get rid of the hideous Gigabyte MB and non-ECC memory.
My main usage of the system will be file serving (the most load will come from a Ubiquiti UniFi Video server, currently accessing the FreeNAS via iSCSI but I might put the UniFi server in a VM on the new FreeNAS box instead of having it running on an old MacMini), a bit of Plex, and a few lightly loaded VMs (in addition to the possible UniFi Video VM). The disks will probably be a set of mirrored vdevs to allow for easy expansion later on (provided the serial numbers are far enough apart to trust both disks in a vdev won't fail at the same time, if not it will be RAID-Z2).

Being located in Denmark it seems my options for sourcing Supermicro boards are somewhat limited.
I would have liked to go for a Coffee Lake system to increase the chance that I'll be able to find new parts many years ahead but as I'm not able to find the X11SCL-F anywhere (at least not from a reliable source) I think I've settled on something along the lines of:

MB: Supermicro X11SSM-F
CPU: Pentium G4620 (boxed)
RAM: 2 x 16GB Samsung DDR4 2400 MHz ECC (M391A2K43BB1-CRC) from the QvL
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
PSU: Corsair RM650X
HDD: 4 x WD Red 3TB (sourced at two different suppliers to minimize risk of same batch disks)

This totals about DKK 9.000,- (~ EUR 1.200,- / USD 1.360,-).

I'm able to source the X11SSH-LN4F and appropriate memory for roughly the same price but I really don't need 4 x GB NIC so I don't wan't to pay the premium neither in sourcing nor in power consumption.
I've been looking at the Core i3-6320 as alternative CPU (+ 40 USD) but I don't think I will be short of CPU muscles with the Pentium G4620. And if I will be I might move to a Xeon instead to get a significant increase in computation power.

Any thoughts on the above is highly appreciated!

 

[Ericloewe]

Looks good.

would have liked to go for a Coffee Lake system to increase the chance that I'll be able to find new parts many years ahead but as I'm not able to find the X11SCL-F anywhere (at least not from a reliable source)

They finally started showing up a month or two ago, but they are still hard to find. sona.de tends to be among the first to have them:
https://www.sona.de/supermicro-mainboard-x11sch-f-single-sockel-115-418172.html
260 € plus 25 € shipping and handling. No local stock, but they claim 3-5 days to get one. It's around 50 bucks more than the X11SSM-F, but that might be worth it if you want the extra compute, or if you want four cores without paying for Xeon.

I'm able to source the X11SSH-LN4F and appropriate memory for roughly the same price but I really don't need 4 x GB NIC so I don't wan't to pay the premium neither in sourcing nor in power consumption.

Fully agree - the X11SSH-F/LN4F is not particularly interesting - same problem as the X11SCM-F, it's a weird feature set.

 

[SimonTh]

Hi Eric.
Thanks for your feedback. jacob.de had the X11SCH-F in stock for a few days and I managed to grab one.
It's on the may from Germany now so it should be here sometime next week. That will be paired with the Pentium G5600 for now but with the X11SCH-F I have pleanty of room for upgrading the CPU should the need arise.
I'll update this thread once all the parts has arrived.
Brgds
Simon