Freenas Server

[ddbtkd456]

So this is a build for my first FreeNAS server build. It will be used for streaming plex as well as utilizing it for backups and mission critical files. The passmark rating is about 9k on this processor, and it will need to be able to do about 3 live trans-coding at most within my home network. Also with the file system FreeNAS uses, does it need a dedicated drive for mirroring as raid would? I did some "light" reading on the file system and from what I understand it does not. Most likely I would want to use type 2 or 3 for redundancy. Any suggestions would be wonderful.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($241.80 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($88.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Supermicro X10SL7-F Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($201.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 32GB (2 x 16GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory  ($185.91 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Red 6TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Red 6TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Red 6TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H440 (Matte Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($109.37 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1707.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-24 21:51 EDT-0400

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

So this is a build for my first FreeNAS server build. It will be used for streaming plex as well as utilizing it for backups and mission critical files. The passmark rating is about 9k on this processor, and it will need to be able to do about 3 live trans-coding at most within my home network. Also with the file system FreeNAS uses, does it need a dedicated drive for mirroring as raid would? I did some "light" reading on the file system and from what I understand it does not. Most likely I would want to use type 2 or 3 for redundancy. Any suggestions would be wonderful.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($241.80 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  ($88.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Supermicro X10SL7-F Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($201.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Crucial 32GB (2 x 16GB) Registered DDR3-1600 Memory  ($185.91 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Red 6TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Red 6TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Red 6TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H440 (Matte Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($109.37 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1707.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-24 21:51 EDT-0400

omg what the hell are you doing!

you dont need a premuim cooler, stock is enough. you dont need a h440 case, is that ssd a cache?

raid 5 in freenas is not reccomended, raid 6 or 10 is good but you need 4 drives.

this is my bet.

 

[Moonzy]

4 minutes ago, josephaltareb said:

you dont need a premuim cooler

big cooler + remove fans = profit

[ddbtkd456]

1 hour ago, josephaltareb said:

omg what the hell are you doing!

you dont need a premuim cooler, stock is enough. you dont need a h440 case, is that ssd a cache?

raid 5 in freenas is not reccomended, raid 6 or 10 is good but you need 4 drives.

this is my bet.

 

Its more for the silence and I need something that has some airflow in it for the case since I will be filling the rig up with hard drives first off. Secondly I wasn't going to use raid, that's what the FreeNAS is for. My question was that if it needed an extra drive for redundancy like RAID does. And yes that SSD is cache just cause, also RAID is not recommended in FreeNAS at all, This case has airflow over the HDD as well, I was thinking about the R5 but I couldn't decide. Please feel free to read this article from Freenas here.

[another random person]

5 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

Its more for the silence and I need something that has some airflow in it for the case since I will be filling the rig up with hard drives first off. Secondly I wasn't going to use raid, that's what the FreeNAS is for. My question was that if it needed an extra drive for redundancy like RAID does. And yes that SSD is cache just cause, also RAID is not recommended in FreeNAS at all, This case has airflow over the HDD as well, I was thinking about the R5 but I couldn't decide.

 

 

 

why freenas?

i would rather run ubuntu server because of the available resources making it way easier to use

personally i use ubuntu server and it is great

(even better than paid alternatives)

im pretty sure you dont need a cooler that good even a hyper212x will be fine

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

big cooler + remove fans = profit

? im confused. in a server enviorment (network closet)

sound isnt a issue. stock cooler = free.

10 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

Its more for the silence and I need something that has some airflow in it for the case since I will be filling the rig up with hard drives first off. Secondly I wasn't going to use raid, that's what the FreeNAS is for. My question was that if it needed an extra drive for redundancy like RAID does. And yes that SSD is cache just cause,

silence kills airflow. especially with that h440. a s210 has a lot of bays.

yes raidz2 or raid 10 (in the software, thats what it says) is most likely the best performace-redudancy.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fq4GmG

and if you can get a Intel Avaton mobo thats better.

Edited April 25, 2016 by josephaltareb
not s340

[ddbtkd456]

1 hour ago, another random person said:

why freenas?

i would rather run ubuntu server because of the available resources making it way easier to use

personally i use ubuntu server and it is great

(even better than paid alternatives)

im pretty sure you dont need a cooler that good even a hyper212x will be fine

Cool thanks I'm not fimular with Linux systems at all, honestly I ran Mint on my old XP laptop cause I didn't have a key for xp, but I found it very frustrating. Windows Server is like 600 (USD) a pop, could you explain how it compares to FreeNas?

[another random person]

Just now, ddbtkd456 said:

Cool thanks I'm not fimular with Linux systems at all, honestly I ran Mint on my old XP laptop cause I didn't have a key for xp, but I found it very frustrating. Windows Server is like 600 (USD) a pop, could you explain how it compares to FreeNas?

 

well basically ubuntu server runs on code input

all the codes and commands are available on the os website

so its pretty simple

all the settings are applied during setup and there are haeps of useful installation guides on youtube and google whereas for me freenas was really difficult to get detailed instructions for and the os does take up more memory than the ubuntu server

(ive tested both on my dell poweredge server)

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

Windows Server is like 600 (USD) a pop, could you explain how it compares to FreeNas?

more usabillity. freenas is obviously limited in terms of what it does because its , welll, free.

Limetech or windows server is more like the "business class" and not "prosumer" software. freenas is only a nas software, while the other's could do much more than that.

have you seen freenas handle a school district with each student having a pass? obviously no.

[Droidbot]

4 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

Cool thanks I'm not fimular with Linux systems at all, honestly I ran Mint on my old XP laptop cause I didn't have a key for xp, but I found it very frustrating. Windows Server is like 600 (USD) a pop, could you explain how it compares to FreeNas?

If this is gonna be a NAS, why not run OpenMediaVault? It's pretty much Linux FreeNas. It has raid support and a slick web interface with loads of application support. 

 

It doesn't require command line knowledge either. So you should be fine with it. 

[Trey222]

Instead of the Xeon you have selected now you could get 1 or two of the Xeon E5 2670. It is about 70ish on Ebay and has 8 cores with 16 threads. It also has a passmark of 12511. In fact I have one in my current daily driver and I love it. 

[ddbtkd456]

3 minutes ago, another random person said:

well basically ubuntu server runs on code input

all the codes and commands are available on the os website

so its pretty simple

all the settings are applied during setup and there are haeps of useful installation guides on youtube and google whereas for me freenas was really difficult to get detailed instructions for and the os does take up more memory than the ubuntu server

(ive tested both on my dell poweredge server)

And see I don't know how I feel about command lines either.

10 minutes ago, josephaltareb said:

? im confused. in a server enviorment (network closet)

sound isnt a issue. stock cooler = free.

silence kills airflow. especially with that h440. a s210 has a lot of bays.

yes raidz2 or raid 10 (in the software, thats what it says) is most likely the best performace-redudancy.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fq4GmG

and if you can get a Intel Avaton mobo thats better.

Hmmm....passmarks score on the Intel Atom C2250 for plex is 2329, the CPU I have is about 9000. In plexs eyes that CPU would literally do 1 transcode and at that it would be extremely struggling. Again if I wanted bays I would have went with the R5. I never said this was in a server environment, its going to be stuck under my desk. Silence is a must. Silence is only an opposite of performance in most cases. This is true, however with proper venting over the hard drives and a proper fan on the exhaust it can be overcome.

2 minutes ago, josephaltareb said:

more usabillity. freenas is obviously limited in terms of what it does because its , welll, free.

Limetech or windows server is more like the "business class" and not "prosumer" software. freenas is only a nas software, while the other's could do much more than that.

have you seen freenas handle a school district with each student having a pass? obviously no.

I meant between Linus and FreeNas I should've clarified that more.

[another random person]

2 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

And see I don't know how I feel about command lines either.

Hmmm....passmarks score on the Intel Atom C2250 for plex is 2329, the CPU I have is about 9000. In plexs eyes that CPU would literally do 1 transcode and at that it would be extremely struggling. Again if I wanted bays I would have went with the R5. I never said this was in a server environment, its going to be stuck under my desk. Silence is a must. Silence is only an opposite of performance in most cases. This is true, however with proper venting over the hard drives and a proper fan on the exhaust it can be overcome.

I meant between Linus and FreeNas I should've clarified that more.

 

u mean linux right?

and ububtu server command lines arent complicated 

you dont even have to remember them

just write down a list of 5-6 useful ones and pop it on your server

[ddbtkd456]

10 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

If this is gonna be a NAS, why not run OpenMediaVault? It's pretty much Linux FreeNas. It has raid support and a slick web interface with loads of application support. 

 

It doesn't require command line knowledge either. So you should be fine with it. 

This could be an idea, however does it support plex?

 

7 minutes ago, Trey222 said:

Instead of the Xeon you have selected now you could get 1 or two of the Xeon E5 2670. It is about 70ish on Ebay and has 8 cores with 16 threads. It also has a passmark of 12511. In fact I have one in my current daily driver and I love it. 

 

How much are they new? I really don't like buying used items. I deal with warranties all day for Vizio TVs and have seen what some people do with electronics, plus I'm very particular with how I treat my electronics. 

[ddbtkd456]

1 minute ago, another random person said:

u mean linux right?

and ububtu server command lines arent complicated 

you dont even have to remember them

just write down a list of 5-6 useful ones and pop it on your server

Does it support plex?

[another random person]

6 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

Does it support plex?

yes it supports plex

its on their website

[Droidbot]

9 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

This could be an idea, however does it support plex?

 

 

How much are they new? I really don't like buying used items. I deal with warranties all day for Vizio TVs and have seen what some people do with electronics, plus I'm very particular with how I treat my electronics. 

Yes, it does have Plex support. 

[ddbtkd456]

1 minute ago, Droidbot said:

Yes, it does have Plex support. 

 

3 minutes ago, another random person said:

yes it supports plex

its on their website

 

And I suppose on either of these systems the would use ZSF file type, just like FreeNAS?

[another random person]

10 minutes ago, ddbtkd456 said:

 

 

And I suppose on either of these systems the would use ZSF file type, just like FreeNAS?

 

Yep 

[scottyseng]

2 hours ago, ddbtkd456 said:

Cool thanks I'm not fimular with Linux systems at all, honestly I ran Mint on my old XP laptop cause I didn't have a key for xp, but I found it very frustrating. Windows Server is like 600 (USD) a pop, could you explain how it compares to FreeNas?

Ah, just wanted to comment for home use, you could just buy a Windows Server 2012 R2 key from the Reddit Microsoft Software swap thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/microsoftsoftwareswap/comments/3wxfh5/h_windows_7_8_81_10_windows_server_office_visio/

 

I've bought several Windows keys and office 2016 keys without issue there. The other option is to find a college student and use their e-mail to get a dreamspark account and Windows Server is free (How I got it for my NAS).

[online_olympian]

I don't think that cpu has a video output. are you gonna get a video card or do you have one?

[Bacon8tor]

18 hours ago, ddbtkd456 said:

Its more for the silence and I need something that has some airflow in it for the case since I will be filling the rig up with hard drives first off. Secondly I wasn't going to use raid, that's what the FreeNAS is for. My question was that if it needed an extra drive for redundancy like RAID does. And yes that SSD is cache just cause, also RAID is not recommended in FreeNAS at all, This case has airflow over the HDD as well, I was thinking about the R5 but I couldn't decide. Please feel free to read this article from Freenas here.

I love using freenas, to answer your question about the RAID on freenas, it uses ZFS file system, you can use Raid-z1(this is what freenas calls is ) and will act like a raid 5 , here is a js fiddle that someone from the freenas community made that allows you to calculate and see what your storage space will be, depending on what you store on the drives is what I would say depends on the level of redundancy you want.   but with 3 drives you are limited to a RAID-Z1 ,

 

and if the SSD is for the Freenas OS , STOP right there.  Just buy a 16Gb or 32 Gb thumb drive and install it to that thumb drive. this is how I do it at home and work(although at work i actually have 2 thumb drives in a raid) , if you are going to use an SSD you use it for caching, this can improve speeds as it has a much faser read and write. 

 

2 hours ago, online_olympian said:

I don't think that cpu has a video output. are you gonna get a video card or do you have one?

the motherboard does have a video chipset, so your good here. 

[Ben Potter]

I would seriously suggest Ubuntu Server or Nas4Free instead of FreeNAS because of RAM & resource usage.

[Trey222]

On 4/25/2016 at 10:47 PM, ddbtkd456 said:

 

 

 

How much are they new? I really don't like buying used items. I deal with warranties all day for Vizio TVs and have seen what some people do with electronics, plus I'm very particular with how I treat my electronics. 

They were 1500 new but they are 3 years old and not for sale new anymore. Also you don't really need to worry about how they were treated because when these were new they were a very popular server chip and I am pretty sure that a lot of the ones on the market are actually from Amazon's old servers before they upgraded to the V3. Also Xeons are made to be SUPER reliable. 

[leadeater]

On 4/25/2016 at 2:30 PM, josephaltareb said:

more usabillity. freenas is obviously limited in terms of what it does because its , welll, free.

Limetech or windows server is more like the "business class" and not "prosumer" software. freenas is only a nas software, while the other's could do much more than that.

have you seen freenas handle a school district with each student having a pass? obviously no.

FreeNAS alone for any business/corporate type of network is not useful but that is not the point. No one should ever be using a single system does all approach. FreeNAS can be linked to Active Directory for authentication so in your example yes FreeNAS could be used for a school district.

 

The technology in FreeNAS is the same or superior to other dedicated storage solutions. What businesses look for when picking a storage product is management features, usability and integration. If the product being evaluated does not meet these requirements it will not be picked regardless of how good it is at the specific designed task.

 

There are many businesses that use FreeNAS that have many hundreds of TB's of storage.

 

Personally speaking however I would never used FreeNAS for no other reason than I don't like it and I have other options that meet my requirements and fit better in my environment.