FreeNAS build C750D4I advice

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1

Hey all, Been looking to improve the storage solution and implement a backup solution. I think FreeNAS is what I want to run but can be persuaded to upgrade to a full server OS if needed. The use case should help figure what I need.


The Use Case

  • Current setup is 3 gaming PCs (windows 7) and multiple tabs/phones and 1 smart TV.
  • Focus is primary for gaming PCs backups for OS and Data
  • One Desktop is OS/Few games SDD with Data/Games HDD the other two are OS and Data on HDD.
  • Plan is to have 512gb SSD and 2TB HDD in each machine but limit to 2TB per machine for backup purpose.

Each user has their own AV libraries, some personal AV and some commercial stuff, so will centralise all commercial AV to NAS for streaming purpose, personal Data stays on machine and has backup in form of system image (think they are called system images)



So far in terms of storage 3 * 3TB in ZFS with 1 Disk for parity covers my sytems, might go for 4 tb drives



If I understand backups right, if reasons then I can boot advanced mode and restore my full system from a back up (time is taken) but snapshots/shadowcopy allows me to go into a back up "file" and manually grab files/folders from that back up (hence point in time back up?). This is AMAZING and I NEED this :D. 



Questions

  1. My OS is on SSD, a steam library is on SDD whilst steam installation and other part of library is on HDD, is this going to cause me a headache? In Terms of backup and being able to restore a back up if one drive fails and needs to be replaced.
  2. I want to stream my data library to devices, FreeNAS can run PLEX so I can play with that, but for data backup I have a headache. Redundancy and Backup, since our AV files will be moved to this one place I need them backed up, I know RAID (which is not what ZFS is) is not a back-up it wont stop accidental deletion or virus. I want to have about 8TB storage for AV files and I want them backed up, whats the best ways to go about this? Having data storage in a NAS that is backed up in the NAS but not in the way that is vulnerable to virus/accidental deletion.
  3.  Least important but if possible: I run a mumble server on my rig and occasionally a space engineers/dedicated game server, can FreeNas handle this or is that a different OS needed?
  4. The Power supply I have not researched at all, it was going to be the same as Linus's build but the SFX they recommended has bad reviews for noise where ever I looked, Any recommendations?


Build


C2750D4I Intel Asrock Mini ITX Motherboard

2* Crucial CT102472BD160B 8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered ECC 1.35V 1024Meg x 72

Silverstone SST-DS380B - SST-DS380B External 8x 3.5" SAT Hot-Swap ; 4x 2.5"


be quiet! BN227 - Be Quiet! BN227 SFX POWER 2 Power Supply (400 Watts) 80 Plus Bronze

 

2

I really just know enough about this kind of stuff to be dangerous... but from my experience, 2TB drives are the sweet spot for reliability... and if you run the NAS in RAID1 you'll have mirrored copies... once you go past RAID1, you'll get into data striping, which will require all the drives to be present to access data... 

If you ran in RAID1 (mirrored drives) with software that backed up your NAS files regularly, you would have what you needed, I presume, but RAID-Z is more geared towards ultimate data loss...

I don't have much experience with FreeNAS, so I'll leave the FreeNAS-specific questions to someone who does... but you can definitely set up a scheduled image backup via software from your PC to back up the NAS to a specific drive or mirrored drive... I'm not entirely sure how a virus would make it's way to the NAS; you'd have to be very unlucky or downloading directly to it from very illegit sites... but accidental deletion would be covered in RAID1 with a scheduled backup so long as you didn't accidentally delete a movie and the backup file... this would apply to the SSD/HDD steam question as well... I don't see any headaches there as long as you have mirrored drives that are scheduled for regular disc imaging...

For PSU... especially for a server... get the cheapest Gold+ Seasonic that handles your power needs... it's just the most reliable, best quality PSU manufacturer... XFX does a spin-off of the Seasonic design with all Japanese caps...

Ultimately... there is no backup system that can handle any and everything... but RAID-1 and RAID-Z will be viable solutions if they are properly set up... 

Hope I helped to some degree... if not, wait for the next guy... the post just looked lonely...

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Thanks to Drunken Panda, your post has helped me re think my questions to be a bit more simple to hopefully get a quick reply:) 

Im feeling very slave to http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=C2750D4I#HDD QVL for the HDD and Memory but after much amazon searching (my normal UK vendor does not do stuff like ECC) I have the board with 16GB of memory on the compatible list and 12TB of HDD that is compatible. 

Im looking for the cheapest but quality 4tb drives to go in, on amazon right now its £40 ($62 at today's rates) more for the Western digital on the compatible list than the seagate. 

Since its compatibility Im asking about now, if anyone uses this board what PSU (sfx) and HDD would you use to get a 8TBish ZFS solution (1 parity disk)