First NAS build, need feedback

T

TheHobbyist

Hugs Hard Johnnies [H]ard
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Apr 8, 2008
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Hello [H]

I'd like to build a NAS and I have a pretty good idea of what I am looking for:

  • Case: (Fractal Design Define R4)
  • mATX Motherboard: (SuperMicro X10SLH-F)
  • Processor: Xeon E3 1231 v3
  • ECC Ram
  • 2-4 DIMM Slots with max RAM 16GB-32GB
  • 6 disks
  • FreeNAS or NAS4Free
  • ZFS
  • RAIDZ-2
  • External Backup

This NAS would be a media and document file server for an HTPC, 2 Desktops, 2 Laptops, a 10 inch tablet, 3+ smartphones, and my dog's Google Glasses (ok, I made that last part up).

I am no stranger to computer hardware, but this is my first go at a NAS and I would really appreciate your help and experience. I am not trying to get the lowest energy usage or the lowest price possible. I would spend decent money to get an overkill NAS without even flinching. However, I don't need a gold case or switches made of diamond or some crap =)

What feedback do you have for me?

Thanks!
 
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What is the SSD for?

Freenas boots off USB memory sticks and it probably wont help you much if you are streaming video.
 
kenned3 said:
What is the SSD for?

Freenas boots off USB memory sticks and it probably wont help you much if you are streaming video.
Click to expand...

It was for either the OS drive or as a cache device. If it is not of benefit to the build, I have no problem cutting it and using the money for the other components =)

I would like to be able to saturate my gigabit network with reads and writes and I have read that freeNAS may have some performance issues.
 
If you dont need the drive setup of the silverstone, the fractal node 304 case is an option as it holds 6 drives. My recommendation though, avoid itx and go with matx size mobo/case for more options. I love the small size of my node 304 but with all the hassles and increased costs, I think I'd rather go with something like the arc mini or anything micro atx.
 
Ranulfo said:
If you dont need the drive setup of the silverstone, the fractal node 304 case is an option as it holds 6 drives. My recommendation though, avoid itx and go with matx size mobo/case for more options. I love the small size of my node 304 but with all the hassles and increased costs, I think I'd rather go with something like the arc mini or anything micro atx.
Click to expand...

I'm not opposed to matx or full atx I guess... but is there really better gear for it? I just want 6 drives really.
 
TheHobbyist said:
It was for either the OS drive or as a cache device. If it is not of benefit to the build, I have no problem cutting it and using the money for the other components =)

I would like to be able to saturate my gigabit network with reads and writes and I have read that freeNAS may have some performance issues.
Click to expand...

It wont help as a NAS OS drive, and i really think you need a lot of RAM in order for a L2 ARC to really benefit you much.

If you want to use sync writes you will a high quality one to use as an SLOG for the ZIL.

Otherwise spend your money elsewhere, like on more RAM.
 
ok, so I'm looking for dual intel gbit nics, 16-32gb ram, 6 sata for 6 spindle drives, raidz2 yeah? only need an i3? not i5?
 
i5 doesn't support ECC. You would have to go with a Xeon E5 if you want 4 cores with ECC support.
 
Good lord. Googling around about the ECC supporting processors it seems like it is clear as mud. It seems the safe bet is to get the Xeon E3 with a server board, and people say supermicro is the server board of choice.

Is AMD not even an option for this?
 
TheHobbyist said:
Good lord. Googling around about the ECC supporting processors it seems like it is clear as mud. It seems the safe bet is to get the Xeon E3 with a server board, and people say supermicro is the server board of choice.

Is AMD not even an option for this?
Click to expand...

If you are going FreeNAS i would definitely go Intel.

Yes, E3 + Supermicro would be fantastic.
 
ok... so after a lot of searching...

How about this for the motherboard? http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C220/X10SLH-F.cfm

It looks like it uses an add on video though instead of the integrated?

And for the processor... Xeon E3 1200 v3 (Haswell)
There seems to be quite a few of these, with only about 300MHz between the highest and lowest. What are your thoughts on this? 300 MHz aint much.
 
Ok, still working on this as I get free time...

So I'm looking at:

Case: (Fractal Design Define R4)
mATX Motherboard: (SuperMicro X10SLH-F)
Processor: Xeon E3 1231 v3

I hear that the Xeon E3 1220 v3 doesn't have hyperthreading... that would be good for transcoding in the future.

Are these solid choices? Next I will pick some ram from the compatibility list. I think for drives I'll be going with hitachi or western digital (same company I understand).
 
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