DIY NAS build

[Gallifreyan]

Hi Techtips people,

I'll start with saying I'm a big noob and have basically only seen any LMG video on this topic! (with the exception that I have build PCs before, but with the software and RAID I'm fully in new territory)

I'm trying to make a Freenas based file server that will be running Plex Primarily. My biggest question is directed to the RAID setup. From what I've seen software raid should be fine with the build I'm looking to do and afaik a motherboard that supports RAID should do fine in that case. What I'm not sure about is if the Sata controller (PCIe) I picked out will be okay, my MB doesn't have enough Sata ports so I'll need an expansion card.
I'd also like to know if I do need ECC memory or just normal RAM will be good enough?

Currently chosen parts:
Case - Fractal Design Node 804
CPU - I7-9700K (already have it, currently in-use but I'll be upgrading my PC anyways, so why not use it for the NAS)
MB - GIGABYTE B365M H
RAM - Not sure yet, I could use the RAM I already will have after the PC upgrade (G.Skill 16 GB DDR4-3000, F4-3000C16D-16GTZR, duel channel), but I'm uncertain if I need ECC memory
Storage - 10x Ironwolf HDDs 8tb in RAID 6 & a 250gb SSD as boot drive
Sata controller - BEYIMEI PCI-E to SATA3.0 10-Port 6Gbps Extended IPFS Hard Drive PCI-E3.0 GEN3 SATA Controller https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B095SJKMC9/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A3CN81AGS5D0VV&psc=1
PSU - 750W (already have it)
Cooler - NZXT Kraken X62 280mm AIO (already have it)

Also another quick note, I'm under the understanding that I can't add HDDs to the RAID 5/6 storagepool after it is created? So I'll have to make the pool with 10 HDDs already in the system, right?
Any other tips/recommendations are most definitely welcome!

[LIGISTX]

8 minutes ago, Gallifreyan said:

Hi Techtips people,

I'll start with saying I'm a big noob and have basically only seen any LMG video on this topic! (with the exception that I have build PCs before, but with the software and RAID I'm fully in new territory)

I'm trying to make a Freenas based file server that will be running Plex Primarily. My biggest question is directed to the RAID setup. From what I've seen software raid should be fine with the build I'm looking to do and afaik a motherboard that supports RAID should do fine in that case. What I'm not sure about is if the Sata controller (PCIe) I picked out will be okay, my MB doesn't have enough Sata ports so I'll need an expansion card.
I'd also like to know if I do need ECC memory or just normal RAM will be good enough?

Currently chosen parts:
Case - Fractal Design Node 804
CPU - I7-9700K (already have it, currently in-use but I'll be upgrading my PC anyways, so why not use it for the NAS)
MB - GIGABYTE B365M H
RAM - Not sure yet, I could use the RAM I already will have after the PC upgrade (G.Skill 16 GB DDR4-3000, F4-3000C16D-16GTZR, duel channel), but I'm uncertain if I need ECC memory
Storage - 10x Ironwolf HDDs 8tb in RAID 6 & a 250gb SSD as boot drive
Sata controller - BEYIMEI PCI-E to SATA3.0 10-Port 6Gbps Extended IPFS Hard Drive PCI-E3.0 GEN3 SATA Controller https://www.amazon.de/-/en/gp/product/B095SJKMC9/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A3CN81AGS5D0VV&psc=1
PSU - 750W (already have it)
Cooler - NZXT Kraken X62 280mm AIO (already have it)

Also another quick note, I'm under the understanding that I can't add HDDs to the RAID 5/6 storagepool after it is created? So I'll have to make the pool with 10 HDDs already in the system, right?
Any other tips/recommendations are most definitely welcome!

ECC is nice, I run it, but you can’t use ECC with that mobo or CPU… so if you decided that was worth while to you (it’s not required), you would need to step up to a xeon and server mobo. 
 

Correct, you can’t add storage once the ZFS array is built (unless you add more vdevs or replace drives 1 at a time with larger drives). 
 

Motherboard RAID support doesn’t matter at all since it will all be handled by Freenas ZFS. Don’t set up any RAID on the mobo. 
 

Do more research. Go on the truenas forum and read, read a lot. 
 

Don’t use a jank sata card. Get a used sever hba. I have mine listed in my sig, it’s a SAS card. SAS can break out to SATA. You will need to make sure the card is in IT mode so it transparently passes the drives through to Freenas - you don’t want the RAID card doing ANYTHING, IT mode makes it work how you want it to. 
 

This one already is in IT mode looks like. 
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/192666802263?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Yn4wwighT_-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=B1xTkXm_Qfe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[AbydosOne]

17 minutes ago, Gallifreyan said:

Storage - 10x Ironwolf HDDs 8tb in RAID 6

The case only comfortably fits eight 3.5" drives, just FYI. The other two mount on the floor of the case in front of the motherboard, which is very hard to get cables to.

[berberries]

As I run Unraid instead of Freenas, Can't say much on what to do on the software side.

 

Motherboard and CPU doesn't support ECC, just use your old ram.

 

Freenas does software raid, so don't worry about motherboard hardware raid (do not set it up there, that i know)

 

Do NOT cheap out on your sata controller. Used Server HBAs don't cost much. I personally use an LSI SAS 9211-8i flashed to IT Mode, Dell H310 is the same thing just Dell branded. Flashing it to IT Mode doesn't take much time or effort, took me about 15mins total including research on how to do it.

 

The LSI 9211-8i is a SAS card so you will need to pick up a pair of SAS-4xSATA breakout cables which will only cost a couple bucks each.

 

This will effectively just give you 8 extra sata ports passed through cleanly when in IT mode.

[Gallifreyan]

1 minute ago, AbydosOne said:

The case only comfortably fits eight 3.5" drives, just FYI. The other two mount on the floor of the case in front of the motherboard, which is very hard to get cables to.

I've already got the case
Its doable, but I'll be testing it before I get the drives and it wouldn't be the end of the world if I can only get 8 drives it
I already thought I would be able to get 8 in anyways when buying the case

 

8 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

ECC is nice, I run it, but you can’t use ECC with that mobo or CPU… so if you decided that was worth while to you (it’s not required), you would need to step up to a xeon and server mobo. 
 

Correct, you can’t add storage once the ZFS array is built (unless you add more vdevs or replace drives 1 at a time with larger drives). 
 

Motherboard RAID support doesn’t matter at all since it will all be handled by Freenas ZFS. Don’t set up any RAID on the mobo. 
 

Do more research. Go on the truenas forum and read, read a lot. 
 

Don’t use a jank sata card. Get a used sever hba. I have mine listed in my sig, it’s a SAS card. SAS can break out to SATA. You will need to make sure the card is in IT mode so it transparently passes the drives through to Freenas - you don’t want the RAID card doing ANYTHING, IT mode makes it work how you want it to. 
 

This one already is in IT mode looks like. 
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/192666802263?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=Yn4wwighT_-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=B1xTkXm_Qfe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

mmm okay fair seeing as ECC isn't required I'm not gonna bother trying with high end CPU and server MBs
 

9 minutes ago, berberries said:

As I run Unraid instead of Freenas, Can't say much on what to do on the software side.

 

Motherboard and CPU doesn't support ECC, just use your old ram.

 

Freenas does software raid, so don't worry about motherboard hardware raid (do not set it up there, that i know)

 

Do NOT cheap out on your sata controller. Used Server HBAs don't cost much. I personally use an LSI SAS 9211-8i flashed to IT Mode, Dell H310 is the same thing just Dell branded. Flashing it to IT Mode doesn't take much time or effort, took me about 15mins total including research on how to do it.

 

The LSI 9211-8i is a SAS card so you will need to pick up a pair of SAS-4xSATA breakout cables which will only cost a couple bucks each.

 

This will effectively just give you 8 extra sata ports passed through cleanly when in IT mode.

Would the following card be a good choice then?
(I'm in Belgium so ebay usually isn't really handy to use for me and they aren't too expensive on amazon it seems)

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/LSIMegaRAID-9260-8i-LSI00198-RAID0-1-5-6-Controller/dp/B07ZVVVS9S/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3NBVI9HEPX213&keywords=LSI+SAS&qid=1650222118&sprefix=lsi+sas%2Caps%2C66&sr=8-6

(With 8 drives connected to the card in IT mode and 2 drives connected through the MB)

[KingTdiGGiTTy]

34 minutes ago, Gallifreyan said:

I'm trying to make a Freenas based file server that will be running Plex Primarily. My biggest question is directed to the RAID setup. From what I've seen software raid should be fine with the build I'm looking to do and afaik a motherboard that supports RAID should do fine in that case. What I'm not sure about is if the Sata controller (PCIe) I picked out will be okay, my MB doesn't have enough Sata ports so I'll need an expansion card.
I'd also like to know if I do need ECC memory or just normal RAM will be good enough?

ECC is a plus, DDR4 or DDR5 RAM is good enough though.

FreeNAS uses ZFS filesystem making it a software RAID-Z array. You don't have to worry about it too much.

I recommend getting a simple SATA HBA. It will be the simplest thing for you  to use. 

SAS RAID cards in HBA mode and other more advanced HBA cards can get annoying and messy. Ask me I had to install 3 different operating systems to get mine to switch modes.

[LIGISTX]

3 minutes ago, Gallifreyan said:

Would the following card be a good choice then?
(I'm in Belgium so ebay usually isn't really handy to use for me and they aren't too expensive on amazon it seems)

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/LSIMegaRAID-9260-8i-LSI00198-RAID0-1-5-6-Controller/dp/B07ZVVVS9S/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3NBVI9HEPX213&keywords=LSI+SAS&qid=1650222118&sprefix=lsi+sas%2Caps%2C66&sr=8-6

(With 8 drives connected to the card in IT mode and 2 drives connected through the MB)

That works, if you ever needed you can get a SAS expander as well. But this plan will work for a bare metal setup which you are planning. 

[berberries]

3 minutes ago, Gallifreyan said:

I've already got the case
Its doable, but I'll be testing it before I get the drives and it wouldn't be the end of the world if I can only get 8 drives it
I already thought I would be able to get 8 in anyways when buying the case

 

mmm okay fair seeing as ECC isn't required I'm not gonna bother trying with high end CPU and server MBs
 

Would the following card be a good choice then?
(I'm in Belgium so ebay usually isn't really handy to use for me and they aren't too expensive on amazon it seems)

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/LSIMegaRAID-9260-8i-LSI00198-RAID0-1-5-6-Controller/dp/B07ZVVVS9S/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3NBVI9HEPX213&keywords=LSI+SAS&qid=1650222118&sprefix=lsi+sas%2Caps%2C66&sr=8-6

(With 8 drives connected to the card in IT mode and 2 drives connected through the MB)

I'm not particularly clear with the model you attached, but below is what I'd recommend

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/KALEA-INFORMATIQUE-Controller-2-0-SATA-Technology-Microsoft/dp/B01H56NNBE/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=lsi+9211-8i&qid=1650222694&sprefix=LSI+9211%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-3

 

Flashing it to IT mode is pretty simple, guides for how to do it on an LSI 9211-8i are abundant, below is one.

https://nguvu.org/freenas/Convert-LSI-HBA-card-to-IT-mode/

[Gallifreyan]

6 minutes ago, berberries said:

I'm not particularly clear with the model you attached, but below is what I'd recommend

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/KALEA-INFORMATIQUE-Controller-2-0-SATA-Technology-Microsoft/dp/B01H56NNBE/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=lsi+9211-8i&qid=1650222694&sprefix=LSI+9211%2Caps%2C244&sr=8-3

 

Flashing it to IT mode is pretty simple, guides for how to do it on an LSI 9211-8i are abundant, below is one.

https://nguvu.org/freenas/Convert-LSI-HBA-card-to-IT-mode/

Oh amazing! I'll be getting that one then

[Gallifreyan]

Thanks for responding so quickly!
That's basically all I needed to know (so far)

[berberries]

5 minutes ago, Gallifreyan said:

Thanks for responding so quickly!
That's basically all I needed to know (so far)

No problem! Glad to be of help. Just come on the forum once in awhile and try to help out as much people as I can.

[LIGISTX]

15 minutes ago, Gallifreyan said:

Oh amazing! I'll be getting that one then

Nothing wrong with that most likely, that just seems excessively expensive, should be about 40 USD for a used LSI raid card. 
 

I guess if your not somewhere where it’s easy to get used stuff and this is the best option, then it is what it is.

[berberries]

5 minutes ago, LIGISTX said:

Nothing wrong with that most likely, that just seems excessively expensive, should be about 40 USD for a used LSI raid card. 

yeah price seems abit steep but ebay doesn't seem like an option for him, so it is what it is