Custom Nas Build

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1

Hello everyone,

I am planning on building a Nas. It will meanly be used to store and backup data. Please note that this Nas is not for me but for my dad, he needs a safe please to backup and store data (meanly excel docs) on. This is for his company and he wants the solution to be future proof.  

parts:

Case


Fractal Design Node 304


Motherboard

ASRock C2750D4I

Sku: C2750D4I


PSU

Sea Sonic Platinum Series P-400

Sku: SS-400FL2


HDD (2x raid 1)

WD Red WD20EFRX (2TB) (2x)

Sku: WD20EFRX


RAM

Kinston ValueRam (2x 8GB) ECC Unbuffered

Sku: KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G

Extra Fans

Noctua NF-A14 PWM (14mm)

Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM (92mm) (2x)

Questions

Now I do not have any experience building any kind of Nas I have some questions:

  1. Do I need a raid card of some sort, or is the software good enough?
  2. Do I need a “server graded” (totally made that up) SSD and/or what size would it be?
  3. Can this fanless powersupply deal with 24/7 action or does it need to be turned off in order to cool down?
  4. Ram! Is the ram listed above compatible with the motherboard?
  5. Is FreeNas a good options as OS or do you recommend others?

Bold questions are answered. Also I changed question 4.

Any advice will be appreciated.

2
  • FreeNAS is good.
  • RAID 0 is bad.
  • I don't think that board supports 16GB sticks.
  • That's also the wrong type of RAM judging by the SKU. The R would mean Registered, which means buffered. The Asrock board would only support unbuffered RAM.
  • The SSD is pretty pointless IMHO; you'd be better off maxing out the RAM.

Here's the RAM you should probably get: KVR16E11K4/32

The onboard SATA controller is probably good enough for your needs. You can always get an add-on controller later if you determine it is a bottleneck. Sorry I can't really weigh in on the PSU.

3

Thanks for your reply. The raid 0 was my mistake I meant raid 1 (mirror). The ASRock website says that the board supports 64gb ram (4x 16GB). I will have a look at the ram sticks. If I take the SSD out where should I install the OS on?

Thanks in advance

4

You'd install the OS on a USB flash drive. It just has to boot once and stay running in memory for years. You wouldn't actually use RAID 1 with FreeNAS; rather you'd set up the drives as a mirror when you configure ZFS.

Regarding the memory: I didn't expect that, wow. Still that's the wrong type of memory you have selected because it is registered. Looking at the verified ram list from asrock, it looks like only 1333 modules are supported @16GB. Frankly, I don't see anywhere you can buy 16GB ECC UDIMMs anyway. Manufacturers have let out samples and that's how Asrock can list that the modules are supported. But good luck getting your hands on one.

I'd stick to the RAM I suggested. It's not on the QVL, but it should work. Actually finding sticks you can buy that are on that list seems to be impossible for me. There is just one 8GB ECC 1600 module on the list, and I could only find "Request a Quote" on the manufacturer's website...

5

I found this:

KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G Kingstons site says that it is unbuffered and ECC. It took me a while but the website where I always get all my parts sorted on ECC/REG in the same category so I could not find anything unbufferd. Here is the link to kinstons site.

I was looking at ASRock Memory QVL and could not find any of the listed ones either. I will probably mail them though. First ASRock board for me so it better be good.

And again thanks for your help

6

I think that Kingston ram should work, but it is 1333 instead of 1600. I also think that may be an older product line. This stuff would be another option (2x): KVR16LE11/8I

Also 1.35V vs 1.5V means it should be less power hungry and have better thermal efficiency, perhaps enough to help keep the fan speeds down a little; however, I can't attest for this.

7

I think I will stick to the ram that I have listed above. The web shop where I get my stuff does not have the ram you posted the speed won't be a very big deal though.

8

Sounds good then.

You should be able to kill time waiting for parts to come in by playing around with FreeNAS in a VM to get the hang of the setup and interface :)

9

I will. Thanks for your help and advice.

Good night.