PC Case/Hardware Suggestions for FreeNAS Setup

RiseAndRuin on 04/07/2020 - 16:22

Hi all, I have some spare hardware that I'd like to use with freenas (GA-Z77MX-D3H, Intel i7 2700k, 16/32GB, 2x8TB + 2x4TB HDs).

Initially, I'm thinking of setting this up as a separate cold-ish storage space for backup/DR, so no multimedia, streaming, etc… functionality is required right now, as the system will only be powered on when needed to backup files, maybe a couple of times a week. Later on it might be used more frequently, potentially a few hours a day or even all day, as the main storage.

Key features are decent look (nothing extravagant, no led lights, etc… as it will probably sit in the living room), low noise and low budget. Size is "negotiable" to an extent.

Parts I need to buy:

SSD for the OS (I might get 2 if freenas supports mirroring for the OS disk as well, I haven't checked yet). Cost: whatever offer comes up/open to suggestions. I can borrow one from another PC to start with anyway.

Case + PSU (e.g. Thermaltake Versa H15). Cost: ~$100.

Additional fans: open to suggestions.

I can add some foam lining inside the case if there's enough room, and make a little customization to fit an additional SSD if needed (N.B. the mobo would fit pretty tight in the H15 and it has 1 x 5.25’’ + 3 x 3.5’’ with side access as far as I can tell).

Potentially an additional SATA 3 pci card in the future for expansion/upgrade. Cost: from ~$15.

I'm open to any advice on the case/PSU and any other stuff. Ideally a case with good cable management and more room/side access for HDs would be great, as long as it's not ugly or the size of a fridge.

Computing

Comments

  • No Username on 04/07/2020 - 16:46
    +1

    What about just booting from a USB? Speed difference will just mainly lay in the Boot sequence. Plus it is cheaper to mirror to multiple USB drives.

    • Forfiet on 04/07/2020 - 16:59

      Do they have a plugin or settings to mitigate too many read/write cycles?

      • hoey888 on 04/07/2020 - 18:23
        +2

        Just have a spare OS USB drive with configuration loaded on it and it should be fine. Should be straight swap if it ever fails

        • Forfiet on 04/07/2020 - 18:50

          Fair enough… some other NAS style OS's have mitigation tools for reduction of wear.

          I might give FreeNAS another look, but because my needs were very simple and my preference/experience in linux I opted for Openmediavault(which has a flash memory plugin) for my experience.

          Thank for the reply though :)

    • RiseAndRuin on 04/07/2020 - 22:19

      I think for reliability, an SSD would give me some peace of mind

  • Brotality on 04/07/2020 - 16:59
    +1

    For freenas, I'd get a case with as many 3.5 HDD bays as possible. Something like this would be ideal https://www.mwave.com.au/product/antec-p101-silent-midtower-…

    • A lot of fans.
    • Sound Dampening
    • Future upgradability with crap load of bays.
    • RiseAndRuin on 04/07/2020 - 22:17

      Thanks, but I'm not a fan of Antec's build quality. Pretty much everything I bought from them has broken pretty quickly, especially the PSUs.
      Also, with the added cost of a PSU that's 2x the price of the Versa H15.
      I'm looking at the Cooler Master Silencio 452 + a PSU, but that's not small nor cheap, about $170-ish

  • stratbargain on 04/07/2020 - 17:20
    +2

    I just built a 48TB unraid NAS around a Silverstone DS380 - https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=452. They also have the CS380 which is similar but full ATX if you need more room.

    It's a great case. Relatively small, room for 8 hot-swappable drives and the backplane support SATA and SAS drives.

    I paired it with the Silverstone SFX 450W Power Supply and a AsRock J3455B-ITX Motherboard/CPU . Any questions feels free to ask.

    I went with it as it allowed me to run SAS drives as well as SATA. I paired it with a Dell H310 card and have 8 X 6TB HGST 7200rpm SAS drives in it with 2 X 256GB Intel SSD's for Cache drives.

    Worth considering. If you're after similar SAS drives let me know. I've got access to extras at a good price.

    • bazingaa on 04/07/2020 - 19:58

      +1 for Silverstone, I have a ST45SF 450W (i5-2400 + GTX1060) which is suitable if your case only supports SFX form factor.

    • RiseAndRuin on 04/07/2020 - 22:14

      Thanks, but with a half decent PSU that's 3x the price of the Versa H15…
      I'd consider the Cooler Master Silencio 452 + a PSU, but that's not exactly small and it'll end up around $170-ish

      • stratbargain on 05/07/2020 - 08:47
        +1

        You pay a premium for hot swappable SAS/sata support. It's a proper NAS case.

        But if it's just cold storage go with the versa. Cheap and will do the job

        • RiseAndRuin on 10/07/2020 - 11:25

          thanks for the help, I got an HP Z600 for another NAS build, so I might be in touch with you about those disks. I need to do some research about the SAS cards and freenas/zfs compatibility, as ideally I'd need a card that can work without any raid functionality so it doesn't get in the way of zfs.

    • LoungeLizard on 05/07/2020 - 09:34

      @stratbargain

      What OS and apps are your running? I want to retire my QNAP + NUC home server combo, already have new 4 x 12TB drives but still thinking on what hardware I want to use. Need something with enough grunt to run NAS (freeNAS, Unraid), Plex (no transcoding), download clients etc but still low(ish) power

      • stratbargain on 05/07/2020 - 10:17
        +1

        Hey LL,

        I went with the J3455B-ITX MB/CPU as my whole goal was to replace my Synology DS918+ with something that could run SAS drives (the DS918+ uses the J3455 CPU). At $129 from Scorptec it's a steal and I figured if it wasn't powerful enough I'd move it on and upgrade. I was happy with the performance/power usage of the Synology so basically went with exactly the same specs. Originally I was planning on running Xpenology but ended up settling on Unraid (and have been really happy with it thus far). My understanding is Freenas is a bit harder on CPU so I can't comment on that, but it's been running unraid fine.

        I use it for Plex (transcoding 1-2 streams at a time without issue), and 14 docker containers including nzbget, sonarr, radarr, deluge etc etc.

        You will see the cpu get nailed when doing parity or extraction on nzbget but for me that's fine I don't mind waiting a little bit longer to have a low power system.

        With the NAS idling at about 10-15% usage my UPS says 79W of power usage. But keep in mind that's my NAS + Modem + Router + 2 POE Cameras + 8 port switch + WIFI AP. So I'd estimate that the NAS is probably sitting at around 50W. That's running the following:

        J3455B-ITX
        16GB Ram
        h310 SAS Card
        8 X 7200rpm SAS drives
        2 X 256GB SSD drives

        Cheers

        • LoungeLizard on 05/07/2020 - 10:37

          Thanks for the detailed reply! Sounds like your requirements are similar to mine. What RAM did you use? I have some old laptop RAM lying around but don't think it'll work as it's 1.2V and looking at the Asrock website it needs 1.35V?

          • stratbargain on 05/07/2020 - 12:11
            +1

            @LoungeLizard: It supports DDR3 and DDR3L so 1.5 or 1.35v. But if you've got 1.2v ram it sounds like you've got DDR4 not DDR3? I don't think I've ever seen 1.2v DDR3.

            They do have a similar board the J4105B-ITX for a bit more that uses a slightly quicker CPU (same power consumption) and supports DDR4, I'm just not aware of any local sellers. - https://www.amazon.com.au/Asrock-Intel-J4105B-ITX-Gemini-90-… but maybe worth considering

            EDIT: Looks like that board only supports 8GB max, although not sure if that's a hard limit or 'officially' supported limit… so make sure to do your research before buying

            • LoungeLizard on 05/07/2020 - 12:42

              @stratbargain: Aaah yes you're right, it is DDR4. I'll check out the Gemini Lake CPU Onboard MBs as well, but as you said doesn't look like they are distributed locally.

  • LoungeLizard on 05/07/2020 - 12:41

    Oops, wrong spot

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