ECC-less FreeNAS build

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The parts aren't all in yet, but here's what's going on so far:

Random crappy case, check. $20 NCIX Bitfenix ATX
PSU, check. AX1200. Used for about 2 months of mining just over a year ago.
Mobo: freebie from a friend. New. ASUS GRYPHON Z97 (yet to arrive)
Drives: freebie from same friend. Not sure if used or not. 6x2TB drives (yet to arrive).
Memory - not yet purchased
USB flash-drive - not yet purchased
CPU - I have a 3258, but not sure if it will do the job.

questions:

I want to build a freenas system running zfs.
Will I need 16GB of RAM, and will the fact that it can't run ECC be a deal-killer?
How much CPU power do you think I need. Will a dual core do the trick?

Thanks for any input. I'll document the build when I have everything ready to go.

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if you use a low resource os like nas4free or any other linux type os. you will not need that much horsepower. it will not make a difference in the long run, unless you run alot of extensions or vms(in which case you may want to consider many threads instead). if you need a simple fileserver with torrenting, the cpu you have is just fine. for zfs. you need 1gb ram for every tb as a general rule of thumb. ram speed is not s huge issue and you dont really need ecc unless you are storing high value data. i've got a nas system with a dual core apu and 4tb storage using raid 1, i only have 4gb of 1333mhz ram non ecc. it performs well and i havent seen the need for an upgrade.

also os wise. nas4free may be a better option, it is more stable and runs without issue on older hardware. which is a bonus. it is also easy to learn and most functions can be setup without using putty.

afaik it is also less resource hungry than freenas. (embedded version) runs on more systems and is regarded to be much more stable.

you should build your server depending on your needs. and choose a os that will run problem free without tinkering. it should be a one time setup where all you need to do is to setup the array, map network drive and forget.

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ZFS without ECC RAM defeats the whole point.

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Since that Pentium does actually support ECC ram, I would really consider getting ECC and a motherboard that can support it. IMO, its worth the peace of mind and future safety net.

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Thanks very much for the replies, all.

Looks like I'll have to go with nas4free until I'm able to acquire ECC RAM and a mobo that can use it. At least that means one more fun build down the road.

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what he says is partially true.IMO only applies if you have data that is super important. less valuable data you could get away with using normal ram.

also i skipped out on zfs and used raid since i had hardware raid available. may be inferior in some aspects but offers better read write speeds, which works for me, since i share the nas with family

Also additionally, you can swap out the ram without issue, i've done it before. no change in config needed. afaik that is.

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If that's the case, then don't bother with ZFS. ZFS has a lot of overhead and is designed to keep important data safe. If you don't care, then use a different file system.

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Non ECC is fine if you don't care about your file integrity, but with a build like that you might as well get like an AM1 based NAS.

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well op i guess you can decide what you want from this build. you should have alot of fun along the way discovering the plethora of things you can do with limited hardware.

the only right build is one you carefully plan out and execute. nobody can tell you otherwise. don't spend more than you need to. and build around what you need.

you build atm seems like a good place to start. just take it slow and see how you can build it best to your use case scenario. :)

good luck and have fun

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Thanks bryann! :) I'll document it, and undoubtedly it will be a huge learning experience. Even if I can't come up with the right parts at the moment, doing the most with the least has a certain satisfaction!

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Finally, the parts have arrived... well, not all, but enough to get started.

I have (plus stuff previously mentioned)

6 x 2TB out-of-warranty drives (seagate)
1 x Asus Z87-Pro mobo (has 8 SATAs)
1 x Asus Gryphon Z97 (6 SATAs)

Will need to scour some RAM, but otherwise it looks like a go.

Any last-minute suggestions? So far, as bryann suggested, I'll be trying out NAS4free.

Which of those mobos would you choose? Is 4GB/8GB enough RAM? (trying to keep it cheap but feasible)

Name for my lame NAS? lameNAS. yay.

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Which is why BTRFS should be a thing.

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Seagate hard drives and non ECC, you're living on the edge.

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2tb drives from them are generally all right. And ecc being a must is a myth there's nothing special about zfs that requires it.

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1235679&p=26303271#p26303271

Your choice in OS won't make a difference in regards to using or not using ecc ram. But nas4free is a good choice either way its similar to freenas. There are also Linux options if you wanted to do some experimenting.

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Don't they highly recommend ECC for ZFS because ZFS assumes the RAM is correct or something.

It really doesn't matter if your data isn't like 100% critical, like if you just wanted to build a media server.

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There's nothing specifically linking ecc to zfs. Fyi the post I linked is to the author of zfs.

If your data is that important you should be using ecc regardless of what file system your using. No file system can check if ram is correct or not.

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I was going by these from a bit back now I guess
http://louwrentius.com/please-use-zfs-with-ecc-memory.html

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Thanks as always for all the great info!

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How right you were!!!!!!

It's been days of hassle. Building, rebuilding, swapping mobos, RAM, and everything else I could think of.

Drives would work fine, then suddenly die. A pool could be written once, then not again.

Turns out that all but 2 drives, of the 6 I received, have failed.

I had to test them individually at a pretty low level to see this, as 3/4 failed drives would work intermittently.

I learned a lot - especially that NAS4free is pretty cool, and works great if you have functioning drives, apart from the pool issue. It's resolved by manually zeroing the start and end of the drive using the dd command, since for some reason when setting up a new ZFS array, the metadata from the previous attempt is not scrubbed. Annoying...

Now I have a 2x 2TB NAS. A giant PC, with a <4TB of storage!! LOL.

If anyone wishes to donate 2TB drives that work, please let me know :) I have room for 6 more!!

Argh.

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What kind of drives were you using?