Your opinion on my build

[svtr2000]

Hello FreeNAS community

I would like to hear your opinion and thougts about my planned build.

I intend to use it as a Plex Media Server, streaming to one or two clients at max.
Because FreeNAS offers the possibility, I might as well try other plugins out. Owncloud in particular.
I might as well try out jails and install gitlab on one of these.
Lastly, 2 desktops and a smartphone should be backed up to it.

Those are the parts:

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240L v5 (not sure on this one)
CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1240 v5
RAM: 2x 16GB DDR4-2133 ECC Kingston Memory
Motherboard: Supermicro X11SSM-F (Micro ATX)
Motherboard: Supermicro X11SSH-F (Micro ATX)
Case: Fractal Design Node 804
PSU: Seasonic Platinum 400 Fanless (400W)
PSU: Seasonic Focus Plus 550 Platinum (550W)
CPU Cooler: Arctic Freezer 13
CPU Cooler: Intel Stock Cooler
Fans: 2x Arctic F12 PWM (plus the ones included with the Case)

Bootdrives: 2x Kingston DataTraveler SE9 G2 32GB USB Sticks
They are going to be mirrored.
Bootdrive: Intel Optane 32GB M.2 2280 SSD
Bootdrive: Intel 600p 128GB M.2 2280 SSD

SSDs: 2x WD Blue 250GB 3D NAND (What's the difference between the 3D NAND Model and the other one?)
They are going to be mirrored and used for jails primarily.
I prefer those to HDDs because they don't have to spin up e.g. when scrolling through libraries in plex.

HDDs: 6x WD Red 4TB
Those drives should go in a RAID Z2.

Thanks in advance for some good tips and tricks.

 

[loch_nas]

Hi,

if you get the Supermicro X11SSL-CF (MBD-X11SSL-CF-O), you have 14 x SATA and could swap the USB-Sticks with 1 single SSD (any cheap one), which is a lot more reliable than those USB-Sticks.
USB-Sticks tend to die too quickly. Here in the forum you can read a lot about people that complain about the reliability of USB-Sticks.

I recommend SSDs with (real) Power-Loss-Protection for your jail usage. The cheapest SSDs with PLP you get are the Intel SSDs, like Intel SSD DC S3520 or Intel SSD DC S4500.

To answer your question about 3D NAND: It's more cost-effective and allows bigger capacities.

 

[wblock]

The "L" models of processors are power limited. They don't normally use less power, they are just capped. So a normal, non-"L" version of that processor is better for a NAS. It generally won't use any more power, but can respond if there is demand.

Fanless power supply... they work, but I prefer fans, because they aren't passive and can speed up to provide more cooling if needed. 400W might be on the small side.

I second the suggestion from @loch_nas on a small SSD for the boot device.

 

[Nick2253]

I recommend SSDs with (real) Power-Loss-Protection for your jail usage. The cheapest SSDs with PLP you get are the Intel SSDs, like Intel SSD DC S3520 or Intel SSD DC S4500.

Is this actually necessary? My understanding is that synchronous writes don't require this for storage, since all writes get confirmed by the drive. On the other hand, I know PLP is required for a SLOG because I don't believe the same checks are being done with a SLOG device. I am not sure one way or another, so if someone more knowledge than me could chime in, that would be excellent.

 

[loch_nas]

I don't really know myself. I thought until now that this is the preferred way. It would be great if anybody could clear that.
What happens if the power supply dies while writing onto that SSD?

 

[svtr2000]

First of all thanks for your answers.

I changed the CPU to the non-L model and put a bigger and semi-passive cooled PSU in there. (I found a very helpful post about PSUs for FreeNAS sytems.)
It's not that easy to find a Micro-ATX motherboard with more than 8 SATA-Ports. The one @loch_nas proposed is not available where I live.
This makes it hard to use a SSD because I don't have any free SATA-Ports anymore.
Is it really that bad of an idea to run FreeNAS off of two mirrored USB sticks? The official system requirements say, that a

USB Flash Drive suffices

I would buy some extra sticks to be able to replace failing sticks immediately.

Also I'm not ready to pay that much of a premium for PLP. The power grid here in Switzerland is pretty stable :D

 

[loch_nas]

Can you order from Germany? The mainboard I mentioned is available in Germany or Austria. I believe that a lot of shops from there deliver to Switzerland.
I also can't get everything in Austria, so I sometimes buy stuff in Germany.

I'm anyway not sure about PLP. My concern was the cache of the SSDs if the power supply dies. I can't tell for sure if PLP is really needed for SSDs that are used as storage devices.
Sorry for that statement! I should not make a remark if I'm not 100% sure.

 

[svtr2000]

@loch_nas you don't have to be sorry. I learned something new about SSDs, I didn't think about.
I might be able to order from Germany, but I'm worried about customs.
So I'll probably stay with the USB Sticks. (After all, it's still a mirror.)

 

[loch_nas]

Yeah the stupid tax problem. I sometimes forget that Switzerland is not in the EU.

And I am sorry, because saying something without knowing for sure can be quite dangerous.

Is the mainboard really not available in Switzerland?
I've found a few shops that list that mainboard, like Senetic:
Senetic

And here's a list of shops:
toppreise.ch

 

[wblock]

Also I'm not ready to pay that much of a premium for PLP. The power grid here in Switzerland is pretty stable :D

Good, but a UPS is still highly recommended.

 

[joeschmuck]

I would buy some extra sticks to be able to replace failing sticks immediately.

It doesn't matter how dilligent you are, the USB Flash drives will bite you in the rear some day. If you can integrate a SSD as the boot device then you will not have a complaint about the boot device. And you do not need to mirror any boot device, you just need to ensure you have a backup of your configuration file so you can perform an easy restore operation. Just my opinion on that portion.


If the CPU is a Boxed CPU then it will come with a good quality heatsink. Save your money on the after market heatsink.

 

[wblock]

Many of us add a LSI 9211-8i (or equivalent, the M1015, H200, H310 are all very similar cards). Used, these can be had for under $50. Well... in the US, but maybe in Switzerland also. With the correct cables, this provides 8 additional quality SATA ports. In one system, I have my data drives on this and the boot drive connected to the motherboard. Might get better bandwidth if half the data drives were connected to the motherboard, but maybe not enough to measure.

@joeschmuck is right about the fan. I found no difference in noise or CPU temperature with the Intel fan or a Hyper 212 Evo. The higher-end CPUs have a copper insert in the heatsink, and it works well.

 

[svtr2000]

I changed the Arctic Freezer 13 to the stock heatsink.

Would it be a good idea to use a USB 3.0 to SATA adapter and then use a cheap SSD? The X11SSM-F got a USB3.0 port on the PCB.
I'd like to stick with this motherboard.

@wblock technically a good idea, but these cards cost CHF 250 new. And I would like to avoid buying second hand parts.

 

[joeschmuck]

Would it be a good idea to use a USB 3.0 to SATA adapter and then use a cheap SSD? The X11SSM-F got a USB3.0 port on the PCB.
I'd like to stick with this motherboard.

While technically this should work fine, I personnaly would not promote it. Which USB to SATA adapter would you be using? And yes, this is a great motherboard, I wouldn't trade it for any other at this point in time.

@wblock technically a good idea, but these cards cost CHF 250 new. And I would like to avoid buying second hand parts.

You can also look into a smaller add-on card to see what the prices are such as the one in my signature. It would add 4 more SATA Ports. In your situation I'd place four of the hard drives on these ports and free up the first four SATA ports on the motherboard, then you could use the SATA0 port for the SSD. And if you do decide to go down this path, don't just buy any SATA add-on card, not all of them work. The one I have works flawlessly and likely will for many versions of FreeBSD/FreeNAS to come. It's just another option for you to look at.

 

[svtr2000]

I'll drop that USB to SATA adapter idea. I don't want to risk problems with the adapter.

I found an add-on card with two SATA 3 ports.
The HighPoint Rocket 620A. I would plug two HDDs on there.
I heard that some RAID Cards do not give FreeNAS direct access to the drive, which is bad. Would this one do it?

As for the boot drive I found the Corsair Force LS 60GB. It's a very cheap SSD but it should be better than a USB stick.

 

[wblock]

We have a specific note in the manual warning about some particular RocketRaid controller.

Compare prices on 60GB versus 120GB SSDs. There might not be a large difference. Some 120GB models might even be cheaper, and the extra space will be used for wear leveling.

 

[svtr2000]

I did some more research and found that the WD Green 120GB M.2 2280 SSD is around the same price as other 120GB SATA SSDs. Now I'm in need for a M.2 connector..
But supermicro got me covered! X11SSH-F to the rescue, a brother of the X11SSM-F, but one PCIe 3.0 x4 slot is exchanged with a M.2 connector.
Found the information on this helpful guide by
@Ericloewe .

This would be the boot drive.
This seems perfect to me, did I overlook something?

 

[Johnnie Black]

did I overlook something?

That is a SATA M.2 device, the X11SSH-F only accepts PCIe M.2 devices, i.e., it won't work.

Also, the consensus is that it's better to get the X11SSM and use an PCIe M.2 adapter if you want an NVMe device instead of buying the X11SSH since the M.2 slot is only PCIe x2.

 

[svtr2000]

That is a SATA M.2 device, the X11SSH-F only accepts PCIe M.2 devices, i.e., it won't work.

Thanks =)

I don't need the bandwith, so 2 lanes would be enough. Would the Intel Optane 32GB M.2 2280 on the X11SSH-F work?

 

[Johnnie Black]

It should. but it would be safer to buy one from the tested list:

https://www.supermicro.com/support/resources/M2SSD/display.cfm?ProductID=84852&ProductName=X11SSH-F