Looking to Build a Home Server

[TheToxicgamer97]

Hey Everyone,

   I am looking to build a home server using FreeNAS. My main concern is what to do as far as hardware goes. Do I need a server processor and board? Or can I use a regular processor/board combo? I want to build in a Cooler Master HAF 915F (with a 915R for drives) so a mini ITX is a must. Also, how much ram do I need, and do I need an aftermarket cooler for the cpu? What even is a raid card? and do I need that??

Thanks in advance 

Afterthought: how much power will I need?

[thekeemo]

for just free nas cheap out on the cpu and mobo just get plenty of storage and get a gigabit nic

[TheToxicgamer97]

for just free nas cheap out on the cpu and mobo just get plenty of storage and get a gigabit nic

so it doesn't have to be server grade? and I should get a nic instead of a raid card?

[thekeemo]

so it doesn't have to be server grade? and I should get a nic instead of a raid card?

I would say so

[Fulgrim]

You don't need special hardware for FreeNAS.

 

A buddy of mine uses FreeNAS on his old rig, with an undervolted FX6100, 8GB ram & a HD6670. Currently run Teamspeak 3 off of it, and he stores a lot of stuff on it - movies, tv series, backups etc. He threw in 3x 3TB WD Red drives. 

 

Now and again we use it as a small game server too, but only for ~4 people.

[TheToxicgamer97]

You don't need special hardware for FreeNAS.

 

A buddy of mine uses FreeNAS on his old rig, with an undervolted FX6100, 8GB ram & a HD6670. Currently run Teamspeak 3 off of it, and he stores a lot of stuff on it - movies, tv series, backups etc. He threw in 3x 3TB WD Red drives. 

 

Now and again we use it as a small game server too, but only for ~4 people.

okay sweet thanks so much! 

[Blade of Grass]

You can run a server on pretty much anything.

 

My home server is my old rig running Debian (located in sig), and runs great.

 

Happy building

[TheToxicgamer97]

for just free nas cheap out on the cpu and mobo just get plenty of storage and get a gigabit nic

 

 

You don't need special hardware for FreeNAS.

 

A buddy of mine uses FreeNAS on his old rig, with an undervolted FX6100, 8GB ram & a HD6670. Currently run Teamspeak 3 off of it, and he stores a lot of stuff on it - movies, tv series, backups etc. He threw in 3x 3TB WD Red drives. 

 

Now and again we use it as a small game server too, but only for ~4 people.

 

 

You can run a server on pretty much anything.

 

My home server is my old rig running Debian (located in sig), and runs great.

 

Happy building

I mean to sound like a nub, but what are the benefits of nic? what if I want to add more drives than my MOBO supports?

[thekeemo]

I mean to sound like a nub, but what are the benefits of nic? what if I want to add more drives than my MOBO supports?

1.faster transfers

2. USB/expansion cards

[Blade of Grass]

I mean to sound like a nub, but what are the benefits of nic? what if I want to add more drives than my MOBO supports?

A NIC is a Network Interface Card. If you get a gigabit NIC (the standard nowadays), then it will likely perform the same or similarly to the on board NIC (basically, they give you more ethernet connections). If your motherboard has a poorly performing NIC (which can happen with some 3rd party NICs), then a PCI-e NIC may perform better.

 

If you want to attach more drives to your server than your motherboard has ports for, you're probably looking at a RAID card/SATA card.

[565465464]

You don't need any special as long as you don't use ZFS (then you need ECC RAM and a motherboard that supports it). Just grab a cheap Intel Pentium processor that doesn't use a lot of power, a decent power supply with as many SATA power cables as possible, cheap motherboard with a lot of SATA port and like 2 GB RAM.

[unijab]

You don't need any special as long as you don't use ZFS (then you need ECC RAM and a motherboard that supports it). Just grab a cheap Intel Pentium processor that doesn't use a lot of power, a decent power supply with as many SATA power cables as possible, cheap motherboard with a lot of SATA port and like 2 GB RAM.

 

Not true.

You can run ZFS as long as you have 8GB of ram minimum. Does not matter if you have ECC or not.

[Blade of Grass]

Not true.

You can run ZFS as long as you have 8GB of ram minimum. Does not matter if you have ECC or not.

Its recommended that you use ECC ram if you are running ZFS. You also should have 1GB of ram available per 1TB of storage.

[unijab]

Its recommended that you use ECC ram if you are running ZFS. You also should have 1GB of ram available per 1TB of storage.

That is true.

 

But its not required.

 

I ran ZFS with 8GB of non ECC RAM for over a year and never had an issue. 

[Blade of Grass]

That is true.

But its not required.

I ran ZFS with 8GB of non ECC RAM for over a year and never had an issue.

I know, but it is recommended. I too have run ZFS without ECC ram.

I've heard that the people on the FreeNAS forum are usually unwilling to help people with less than 8GB of ram, or running non-ECC ram.

OP: is there a specific reason why you want to go with FreeNAS?

[TheToxicgamer97]

I know, but it is recommended. I too have run ZFS without ECC ram.

I've heard that the people on the FreeNAS forum are usually unwilling to help people with less than 8GB of ram, or running non-ECC ram.

OP: is there a specific reason why you want to go with FreeNAS?

It's free  What is ZFS? and what is the difference between ECC ram and normal ram. I have 8GB picked out now, should I go 2 or 8??