Specing out freenas box

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I'm trying to spec out a freenas box that will be used to back, media server, and aid in compilation. Wouldn't be surprised if I end up running a jail as well, and a sql database at some point. I'm sure it's going to be one of those things where if I have the hardware I'll find a use for it.

According to their hardware guide it sounds like they recommend an SSD over usb boot device for the newer versions. I could of sworn on the freebsd guide they recommend SAS as well. I have a 256 gb ssd that'll be free for this usage. Would prefer to use something smaller, but I don't have one of those lying around.

For my use case I believe I'll need 2 cpus. These are the Motherboards I'm trying to decide between.
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10DRI
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10DAL-I-O

Really not sure, if those are the right boards to use. Have any other suggestions? At the absolute most I think I'll pick up 2 e5-4620 v3.(probably going a bit cheaper if I should stick with 2 chips) Don't know if that would be the best chip for my workload though. The only reason, I'm debating going that high end is for a multichip compilation setup using 3 cpus (really any cpu free on the network) for cutting down on c++ library compilation time. It would be nice if I'm using templates, or a library uses a ton of them.

In what use case would you suggest a FCLGA12 socket over a 2011-3? I'm kind of overwhelmed by the server stuff and compatibility with freenas.

I'll be running wd reds, and an SSD cache for them. Should the cache size be 1 to 1?

I'll probably have somewhere from 64 to 128 gb ecc. Don't know if that's too much for my use. Still need to figure out how much I'll need initially, and how much hdd space I'll have.

Think a 1,000 watt power supply is too much? Trying to hit that 30 to 50% spot so the thing will stay quiet. Think I'll have any luck getting a noctua nh-d15 on / how quiet are the supermicro heatsinks?

Think that's all I have planned out right now.

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You probably don't need 2CPUs or even a Xeon, unless you're doing crazy stuff an i3 will be fine, if not then a Xeon 1231v3 then

You could also read here
https://forum.teksyndicate.com/t/cheap-nas-starting-point-i3-8gbs-of-ecc/93218

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Is this for business application? It seems like a lot of overkill for most home scenarios.

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I run 30GB ecc ram and 8 cores (2-3Ghz) with 4*6 TB harddrives, it's just me using it with mostly owncloud. Ram usage is ~20GB and CPU is at most 50%, this draws less than 80w!

Edit: I don't know how much CPU power you need, but nevertheless a 1000w PSU is surely overkill.

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Here are my specs if you want to compare. And this is still overkill for my case. I only have high cpu usage if plex decides it needs to transcode a video. This build usually only uses about a 100w unless the cpu boosts to its full 3.7 Ghz. I was using an i3 4130T previously but I got the xeon on sale and it's only 45w TDP. 10w above the i3 I was using. I'm also using a mushkin 32gb usb stick to load the OS. I run all my jails and one VM on the ssd.

FreeNAS box:
Fractal Design Define R4 Silent case,
Intel Xeon E3-1265L v3 CPU,
ASRock C226 WS MB,
32 GB Kingston 1333 ECC RAM,
Chelsio Fixed Optic 10gbe NIC,
6 x 3 TB Seagate 5900 rpm HD, 4 x 750 GB WD Red NAS HD, 60 GB Corsiar Force GT 3 SSD.
OCZ 550w PSU

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When you say "compilation" do you mean for your media files? mostly all programs that run on FreeNas run in jails, it's one of the advantages of the system providing insulation between the OS and and programs. When you sau SQL data base what will that be used for and how and what will access it?

Extreme over kill, as suggested by others an i3 is more than adequate, I run a FreeNas media server on a Intel 2550 Atom processor and it has no issues streaming content to multiple devices simultaneously with the CPU load never hitting 60%.

Trash the RED idea, buy HGST NAS drives if the system is going to run 24-7/365, while WD reds are good drives they aren't as good as the HGST drives IMHO, I've already replaced two of my WD reds in the last few months because of errors that ZFS has reported, these drives run 24-7 and are approaching 12 months old.

Again extreme over kill, unless you are using the DE-duplication function of the ZFS file system you do not need anything close to that amount of memory regardless of the size of your drive pool. I would recommend somewhere between 16-32g of memory but the more you add the better it will like it, more memory should in theory make the system faster but unless you have multi-clients constantly hammering it the 16-32g should be more that enough.

LOL.......figure the hardware requirements as far as wattage then give yourself a 100-200w margin for errors or growth and call it a day, you need to think about the power usage of a server running 24-7/365 (which most do) you want the least amount of power draw you can configure yet still give you the performance you need, to do it any other way will cost you a lot of $$$ monthly in utility usage.

Do not use a SSD or HD for the FreeNas OS, it will use (allocate) every byte of any drive you give it, it only requires a 8gig USB flash drive but you could use a 16g if you wanted to, the media that houses the OS can not be used for anything else, not a cache, not extra storage, nothing.

This isn't Windows it's a very lite and efficient operating system that is remarkable stable, it doesn't require absurd levels of hardware to do it's job.....

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I'll be hitting the box with one of these a few times an hour, Or if I need to compile the Linux kernel or something like sdl.


https://www.incredibuild.com

The box is for personal use, but will be more than just a backup server.

Do not use a SSD or HD for the FreeNas OS, it will use (allocate) every byte of any drive you give it, it only requires a 8gig USB flash drive but you could use a 16g if you wanted to, the media that houses the OS can not be used for anything else, not a cache, not extra storage, nothing.

According to their hardware guide usb drive support is being phased out in newer versions. USB devices are slowly being phased out because of all of the problems they can have with FreeNAS 9.3.0 and newer. That's why I might buy a cheap small usb.

1 Like
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May want to look into getting a SD card reader and boot from that.

Also, get a decent sized SSD for read caching. If you plan on doing a bunch of high capacity writes, you may also want a write cache drive.

I would go with the bigger MoBo as it has more DIMMS. Which will allow for expansion of Memory if/when you expand your storage capacity.
They both have 10x SATA3 ports, so you are golden on that front, but could add more via PCI-E cards.

Also, if you are going FreeNAS and plan on using ZFS, you want 1GB per Physical 1TB of storage.

so if you get 10 4TB drives, you want at least 40GB of ECC RAM.

2 CPUs may be a bit of overkill, but if you get it, you will be able to make the machine do quite a bit. The whole setup may be overkill, but I'm a fan of scalability.

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2 CPUs may be a bit of overkill, but if you get it, you will be able to make the machine do quite a bit. The whole setup may be overkill, but I'm a fan of scalability.

I think it might be overkill too. I just want to avoid taking all of the cpu resources if I decide to compile Ogre. Honestly, I'd prefer to get a media server / backup server, and a second box speced out for more demanding tasks, but who has the money for that.

Really, the gigabit network and in the future 10 gigabit is going to be a bottleneck. Considering I haven't had multiple computers on the network till this box, I haven't tried network code builds yet. I imagine the cpu just needs to be fast enough to not cause a bottleneck. Considering I'll be using this for awhile, I might as well plan for a cpu upgrade path that can keep the network saturated.

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My box has been running on a usb drive for about 3 yrs and I haven't had the need to update to a dedicated drive as of yet. I personally haven't had any issues with using a usb drive. Biggest issue with using an SSD is the loss of a sata port that could be used for a storage drive and the whole drive gets used no matter the size. If you plan on using a controller card instead of the onboard sata ports it probably won't be an issue for you. I picked up $35 60gb mushkin ssd for my pfsense box for the OS.

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Think I might as well, just use one of these to avoid taking up a sata port. And won't have to deal with usb support being phased out in version 10+.

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you need cooler with narrow ILM like
http://noctua.at/en/nh-u9dx-i4.html?faq_view=91

http://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-workstation-server/nh-u12dx-i4.html
Im using one on 12 core and it works

Also when buying supermicro board stick to tested / recommended ram, there were some rumors that some users had issues with kingston ecc ram and supermicro boards.

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Thanks. Yeah, a xeon cooler makes the most sense.

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also if you dont want to use usb stick you can use their SataDOMs, called superDOM for installation ( or mirror 2 of them) but they are expensive

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I guess 50$ for one considering the GB count is pretty expensive.

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I've thought about using one of these and a cheap 2.5" SSD, but I don't know if FreeNAS would support it or not. I have a lot more empty pci-e slots than I do sata ports.

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I think I'll need to pick up a card that adds sata ports. Not sure, which ones FreeNas would officially support though. This project is currently on hold for me until Thermaltake's WP200 case comes out. I could use a CaseLabs MAGNUM SMA8, but I prefer the positioning of the power button on the Thermaltake.

I've only found server motherboards with 10 sata III ports on Newegg.