Asking for help on a TrueNAS build

[giorgost]

Hi everyone!  I'm planning a TrueNAS build and could really use your help. I intend to use it primarily for backup purposes (both within and outside my network; I still haven’t figured out the latter) and for hosting VMs running Windows and Ubuntu. Here are the specs I've chosen:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 82.52 CFM
• Motherboard: ASRock X570 Pro4 ATX AM4
• Memory: Crucial CT32G4DFD832A 32 GB (1 x 32 GB) DDR4-3200 CL22 (x2)
• Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME SSD (x2)
• Storage: Seagate IronWolf NAS 14 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM HDD (x6)
• Case: Fractal Design Meshify 2 XL ATX Full Tower
• Power Supply: Corsair HX1500i (2022) 1500 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX
• HBA Card: LSI 9300-8i PCI-Express 3.0 SATA/SAS 8-Port SAS3 12Gb/s HBA - Single

Firstly, I'm unsure about the motherboard choice. I looked at some semi-professional options from ASRock, but they were either too pricey or from unreliable sellers. Do you have any alternative recommendations or feedback on the X570 Pro4?

 

Next, I'm wondering if I need to include a cheap GPU like the MSI GT 710 1GD3H LP GeForce GT 710 or a similar alternative since AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is not an APU. I do not want to go with an APU as my concern is the compatibility of APUs with ECC memory.

 

Also, does anyone know if the Crucial RAM 32GB DDR4 3200MHz (CT32G4DFD832A) is compatible with the ASRock X570 Pro4? It's not listed on the manufacturer's site, and I’m having trouble finding compatible memory. I do understand that several people will say that ECC is not required for a TrueNAS build, but the primary goal of the build is backing up my files and I do not want to take any risks.

 

Lastly, I believe I need to flash the HBA card to IT mode. I found this tutorial. Is it correct that I need to use the UEFI Shell within TrueNAS for this?

 

Since I am a beginner in this, I would be grateful if you had any remarks or commendations for the build in general.

 

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Needfuldoer]

That's plenty of horsepower for a home server.

 

By default, TrueNAS doesn't let you use the boot drive for data storage. I'd swap one of those 1TB drives for something like a 32 GB Optane drive instead.

 

13 hours ago, giorgost said:

Next, I'm wondering if I need to include a cheap GPU like the MSI GT 710 1GD3H LP GeForce GT 710

Get a used low-end card that supports at least Pascal generation NVENC instead, like a GTX 1050 or Quadro P400. The server's going to run headless once it's booted, so cards that can't transcode video like the GT 710 and GT 1030 would just be dead weight eating up your PCIe x16 slot.

 

13 hours ago, giorgost said:

Lastly, I believe I need to flash the HBA card to IT mode. I found this tutorial. Is it correct that I need to use the UEFI Shell within TrueNAS for this?

Not inside TrueNAS; basically you're making a minimal bootable USB flash drive with just enough tools to flash firmware on the LSI card.

 

You can also check the pre-boot setup utility on the card to see if it has an "IT Mode" or "HBA Mode" you can enable without re-flashing. 

 

If you pick a motherboard that has enough SATA ports built in, you don't need the HBA at all.

[LIGISTX]

The mobo you picked has 6 SATA ports…. No need for an HBA. Plug your drives directly into the mobo. 
 

HBA would only be needed if you virtualize truenas, or require more drives then your mobo can support. 

[giorgost]

Thank you very much both for your responses!