ITX-NAS Build

[z90sdf8s]

Budget (including currency): ~1000EUR (Adjustable)

Country: Germany

Workloads: Running TrueNAS to manage storage

Other details:

The goal is to build a quiet, small form factor NAS to store and manage backups using TrueNAS Core. No media streaming or anything fancy. Just storing/accessing data.

I have some ideas for parts, but I am unsure how well they work together, and maybe there are better options:

• Case: Fractal Design Node 304
• Drives: Seagate IronWolf Pro 4 TB 3.5"
• Motherboard: SuperMicro A2SDI-2C-HLN4F (Expensive as hell, but the only ITX MB I found with 6 SATA Connectors and ECC Support?)
• RAM: No idea, but should probably be ECC?
• CPU: No idea, but can probably be low performance, since its only used for storage?
• PSU: No idea, but I assume about 250W should be fine?
• CPU Fan: Probably a Noctua NH-L9i

 

Can someone help me with the missing parts? Are there better options?

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id be tempted to go without ecc here if it was me, as Id argue it isn't really needed on a home nas. Or if you want ecc and cheaper, get a used e3 board, and get a pcie sata card. Or go ddr5 as it has some ecc included.

 

But thats a pretty nice server board, impi, sata dom super low power.

 

1 hour ago, z90sdf8s said:

• CPU: No idea, but can probably be low performance, since its only used for storage?
•  

 

1 hour ago, z90sdf8s said:

• CPU Fan: Probably a Noctua NH-L9i

 

That board included a cpu and fan, and you can't change them. Its also a pretty gutless dual core atom, but that should be fine for nas use.

 

1 hour ago, z90sdf8s said:

• PSU: No idea, but I assume about 250W should be fine?
•  

250w will be more than enough, probalby won't hit 100w with this setup as its a 9w cpu.

 

1 hour ago, z90sdf8s said:

• RAM: No idea, but should probably be ECC?
•  

Id get registered ddr4 here. Normally like have the price of udimms, since it supports it might as well.

[z90sdf8s]

On 8/1/2022 at 6:26 AM, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id be tempted to go without ecc here if it was me, as Id argue it isn't really needed on a home nas. Or if you want ecc and cheaper, get a used e3 board, and get a pcie sata card. Or go ddr5 as it has some ecc included.

 

But thats a pretty nice server board, impi, sata dom super low power.

 

 

That board included a cpu and fan, and you can't change them. Its also a pretty gutless dual core atom, but that should be fine for nas use.

 

250w will be more than enough, probalby won't hit 100w with this setup as its a 9w cpu.

 

Id get registered ddr4 here. Normally like have the price of udimms, since it supports it might as well.

Thanks for your input. I feel like I definitely should go with ECC (dont know if registered or unbuffered), because otherwise there is no gurantee that what gets written from RAM to Disk is correct.

I looked, and a lot of the ITX Mainboards that have ECC Support, and also a lot of SATA Ports are either really expensive or nearly impossible to come by.

 

I looked at the following ones:

- ASRock C2750D4I Mini ITX Atom C2750 Motherboard (ITX, ECC DDR4, 12 SATA Ports) - Impossible to Find + Expensive

- ASRock C236 WSI (ITX, ECC DDR4, 8 SATA Ports) - Impossible to Find

- ASRock E3C226D2I Mini ITX (ITX, ECC DDR3, 6 SATA) - Impossible to Find

- ASRock Mainboard C246 WSI (ITX, ECC DDR4, Only 4 SATA) - Available for 220  EUR on Mindfactory

 

Or, the one mentioned above: SuperMicro A2SDI-2C-HLN4F, which is available for ~350 EUR

 

So, since most of these mainboards aren't available anywhere (or insanely expensive), I wondered, can I just get the one with 4 SATA Ports and use a SATA expansion card?

Are there any performance concerns? I want to power 6 HDDs. Are there problems with space in the case etc? Also, what SATA expansion cards could work well here? Or maybe are there other mainboards I missed out on so far?

 

My main criteria is ECC support, options to connect at least 6 drives, mini itx form factor.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 hour ago, z90sdf8s said:

Thanks for your input. I feel like I definitely should go with ECC (dont know if registered or unbuffered), because otherwise there is no gurantee that what gets written from RAM to Disk is correct.

If your mostly storing backups, backup programs can often check the backups, so make sure there are no errors.

 

Also the devices that are being backed up likely don't have ecc, and from my use its very rare to see memory errors on those systems. Id argue you don't need ecc for a home nas

 

The other solution here is to use ddr5 that has some ecc included on all dimms

1 hour ago, z90sdf8s said:

I wondered, can I just get the one with 4 SATA Ports and use a SATA expansion card?

Id get a sas hba as there generally much better quality than the normal sata expansion card, but yea using expansion cards will work fine here.

 

1 hour ago, z90sdf8s said:

Are there any performance concerns? I want to power 6 HDDs. Are there problems with space in the case etc? Also, what SATA expansion cards could work well here? Or maybe are there other mainboards I missed out on so far?

 

Sata cards will work fine. Id get something like this for a sas hba. https://www.ebay.com/itm/394094836815?hash=item5bc1e1fc4f:g:Oa4AAOSwDQFhsw6x

 

Doing a bit of ebay hunting, here are some other options. 

 

Here is a xeon d board https://www.ebay.com/itm/254932365206?epid=17034031881&hash=item3b5b272f96:g:lCkAAOSwiRhgv5DR

 

Or go ddr5 and a board like this guy https://pcpartpicker.com/product/B7gFf7/asus-rog-strix-b660-i-gaming-wifi-mini-itx-lga1700-motherboard-rog-strix-b660-i-gaming-wifi. needs a sas card, but build in 2.5gbe is nice to have.

 

 

[z90sdf8s]

@Electronics Wizardy Alright, so: I got a E3C246D2I for cheap. Now I am currently looking for ECC-RAM sticks that are compatible.

There are some listed on the QVL for the mobo, but the ones that are ECC I can't find or are to expensive:

 

Do you think these are a good fit: https://www.ebay.de/itm/372379676816?epid=7033707705&hash=item56b38ef090:g:UcIAAOSw8RZadIFv

Its DDR4 ECC (Unbuffered) 2133MHz, 16GB. So, should be fine, right? Price seems alright in comparison to some of the others I have seen? Should I go with this one?

 

As for fans, how do I know if the https://noctua.at/de/nh-l9i will fit on it? Should work I assume?

As for the CPU, I need to pick one that properly supports unbuffered ECC.

I was thinking either the Xeon E3-1235L? (About 150 to 200 bucks). Any other suggestions?

 

Alternatively, I can get a Xeon E3-1225v5 for 60 bucks. I think I might be going with this one - cheap, supports ECC and works on the mobo. Thoughts?

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

15 minutes ago, z90sdf8s said:

@Electronics Wizardy Alright, so: I got a E3C246D2I for cheap. Now I am currently looking for ECC-RAM sticks that are compatible.

There are some listed on the QVL for the mobo, but the ones that are ECC I can't find or are to expensive:

 

Do you think these are a good fit: https://www.ebay.de/itm/372379676816?epid=7033707705&hash=item56b38ef090:g:UcIAAOSw8RZadIFv

Its DDR4 ECC (Unbuffered) 2133MHz, 16GB. So, should be fine, right? Price seems alright in comparison to some of the others I have seen? Should I go with this one?

 

As for fans, how do I know if the https://noctua.at/de/nh-l9i will fit on it? Should work I assume?

As for the CPU, I need to pick one that properly supports unbuffered ECC.

I was thinking either the Xeon E3-1235L? (About 150 to 200 bucks). Any other suggestions?

ANy unbuffereed ddr4 ecc should work, so that dimm should be fine here. I think thats a reasonble price for those dimms.

 

Id use the stock cooler with the cpu here, or get a small tower cooler if you want a different cooler. The super low profile noctua coolers really aren't great, and you have room for a better cooler here.

 

No xeon e3 will work on this system, so you ned a xeon e 21xx or e 22xx chip. Or a pentium/celeron. Id get a G5400 here. Its cheap, low power, and plenty of performance for a nas. Id also skip the l parts as the idle power is about the same.

[z90sdf8s]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

ANy unbuffereed ddr4 ecc should work, so that dimm should be fine here. I think thats a reasonble price for those dimms.

 

Id use the stock cooler with the cpu here, or get a small tower cooler if you want a different cooler. The super low profile noctua coolers really aren't great, and you have room for a better cooler here.

 

No xeon e3 will work on this system, so you ned a xeon e 21xx or e 22xx chip. Or a pentium/celeron. Id get a G5400 here. Its cheap, low power, and plenty of performance for a nas. Id also skip the l parts as the idle power is about the same.

Okay, I'll get that RAM then.

 

Do you have some suggestions for a tower cooler? I personally only heard good stuff about the noctua fan but idk. I just want one that does the job and is quiet.

 

Why wouldnt that CPU work? Its literally listed as supported CPU: https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C236D2I#CPU

I am confused what to get now. Again, just running truenas on it, so dont need a lot of horsepower.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, z90sdf8s said:

Do you have some suggestions for a tower cooler? I personally only heard good stuff about the noctua fan but idk. I just want one that does the job and is quiet.

Id just use the stock cooler. You won't need the extra cooling of a better cooler here.

 

29 minutes ago, z90sdf8s said:

Alright, so: I got a E3C246D2I for cheap.

 

2 minutes ago, z90sdf8s said:

Why wouldnt that CPU work? Its literally listed as supported CPU: https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C236D2I#CPU

Those are 2 different boards you listed, which of those model numbers is correct?

 

3 minutes ago, z90sdf8s said:

 

I am confused what to get now. Again, just running truenas on it, so dont need a lot of horsepower.

 Id just get. pentium here. More than enough for a nas, supports ecc and is cheap.

[z90sdf8s]

@Electronics Wizardy

The mainboard I got is the ASRock E3C236D2I.

The supported CPUs are listed here: https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C236D2I#CPU

A bunch of Xeons, some Pentiums. I am happy to get a cheap CPU, as long as it supports ECC. Again, this box is only to store some data, no high performance needed.

 

Maybe the Intel G4500? Has inbuilt graphics and ECC support.

EDIT: I saw you recommended the G5400 earlier. However, that one is not listed as a supported one. (Its a Coffee Lake CPU, and I dont think it will work on this board). However the G4500 is compatible. Should I go with that one then?

The 6100 also seems like a good option, bit better performance, similar price, also ECC support.

 

About the stock cooler, the question is how loud it is in use. I am fairly sensitive to loud noises, and this box will be in the same room I also sleep, hence the question.

But I guess I could always replace it in the future, if its to loud. Also the box will be in idle most of the time.

[Electronics Wizardy]

18 hours ago, z90sdf8s said:

The mainboard I got is the ASRock E3C236D2I.

The supported CPUs are listed here: https://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C236D2I#CPU

A bunch of Xeons, some Pentiums. I am happy to get a cheap CPU, as long as it supports ECC. Again, this box is only to store some data, no high performance needed.

 

Maybe the Intel G4500? Has inbuilt graphics and ECC support.

EDIT: I saw you recommended the G5400 earlier. However, that one is not listed as a supported one. (Its a Coffee Lake CPU, and I dont think it will work on this board). However the G4500 is compatible. Should I go with that one then?

The 6100 also seems like a good option, bit better performance, similar price, also ECC support.

 

Yea the cpu I reccomended was for the c246 board you listed. The 6100 seems like a good option here, cheap and supports ecc, and has plenty of performance

 

18 hours ago, z90sdf8s said:

About the stock cooler, the question is how loud it is in use. I am fairly sensitive to loud noises, and this box will be in the same room I also sleep, hence the question.

But I guess I could always replace it in the future, if its to loud. Also the box will be in idle most of the time.

The stock cooler will be basically silent here, and you can adjust the fan curve if needed.