Building a NAS/Server

[Djskatos]

so this is my first time setting up a server, and my client needs it to input/store a really sensitive data. I don't have that much knowledge about server, and I really need the help of you guys.

so, I haven't decided whether to go i7 + Z Mobo or a Xeon + Server board (E3-1245v6 + S1200SPLR), I'm planning to use 2TB of HDD x2 running RAID 1, also a 120Gb SSD for system, and using FreeNAS.

I'm really confused about what to do and what to use, can you guys suggest a setup that won't cost over $1100 ? 

He also mentions that he wanted the server can also be used as an admin pc (not just a storage server), is this possible ?

 

 

[Mmore]

What applications do you want to run? What OS?  What do you want FreeNAS for and how are the storage needs going to look a few years from now?  If this is meant as a reliable NAS system in production use where money is on the line then I'd recommend a dedicated NAS, think Synology/QNAP/Netgear, if it's meant as a project for fun, to learn from and as a hobby then build something yourself. 

 

Anyway, it's hard to give a good recommendation without more information. The platforms you're suggesting (i7 or E3-1245 v6) are pretty CPU heavy, something I wouldn't expect from a storage box? 

[JR88]

Only 2tb? and most of them are still 64mb cache...toss between to me been looking at is those 4tb Barracuda's or the Toshiba x300...both are 128mb cache...blow the socks off my older wd blue...no comparison.  Or yeah some of the NAS stuff. and yeah definitely Z gonna have 3 of them again here shortly. Need an upgrade of service lol

[Windows7ge]

I don't know the circumstances behind it but did you tell your client you could build them a server before admitting to this forum that you've never built a server? Not a good idea.

 

By default FreeNAS only uses AES-128 bit encryption on the disks which if using RAID1 (the complete data is on one disk) then a decent computer could brute force that in not a significant amount of time. I don't know if it's possible to increase the encryption level (though it ought to be) but it'd make it fairly easy to steal the data if either disk got stolen or thrown away.

 

Hardware wise I can say if it's in the budget you'll want a Xeon with an appropriate server motherboard and ECC RAM. Any ATX PSU will do for this kind of setup but find one that is at least 80 Plus rated. You want to know it's getting fed correctly. EVGA & Corsair make good PSUs I lean more towards Corsair but that's just my preference.

 

Boot drive, FreeNAS can run off a USB. Just install it to a flash drive and set the boot device to it.

[Windows7ge]

10 minutes ago, JR88 said:

Only 2tb? and most of them are still 64mb cache

When picking drives for my server I ran into this issue. I wanted 128MB of cache in a "low capacity" (2TB) drive. It took some searching but I found some. Very happy with them.

[JR88]

12 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

When picking drives for my server I ran into this issue. I wanted 128MB of cache in a "low capacity" (2TB) drive. It took some searching but I found some. Very happy with them.

yeah if I could find a 2tb like that wouldn't mind that. You can fill up just a tb anymore quick between gaming and whatever else media junk. 

[Djskatos]

1 hour ago, Mmore said:

What applications do you want to run? What OS?  What do you want FreeNAS for and how are the storage needs going to look a few years from now?  If this is meant as a reliable NAS system in production use where money is on the line then I'd recommend a dedicated NAS, think Synology/QNAP/Netgear, if it's meant as a project for fun, to learn from and as a hobby then build something yourself. 

 

Anyway, it's hard to give a good recommendation without more information. The platforms you're suggesting (i7 or E3-1245 v6) are pretty CPU heavy, something I wouldn't expect from a storage box? 

 

I still haven't decided, what do you suggest ?, I want to use FreeNAS to organize the storage and accessibility for multiple users at the same time.

I don't think 2TB x2 is not enough, so I'm going to change it to 3/4 TB x2 RAID 1, is that enough ?.

I've been thinking about buying a pre-built NAS like Synology, etc. But, I kinda wanted to have experience for myself to build a server by my own hand.

 

Is it too overpowered for a storage box ?, if it is so, I can change the processor and the mobo, and assign more money to HDD.

any suggestions for the server rig setup ?

Currently having budget of $1100 - $1300.

[Djskatos]

1 hour ago, JR88 said:

Only 2tb? and most of them are still 64mb cache...toss between to me been looking at is those 4tb Barracuda's or the Toshiba x300...both are 128mb cache...blow the socks off my older wd blue...no comparison.  Or yeah some of the NAS stuff. and yeah definitely Z gonna have 3 of them again here shortly. Need an upgrade of service lol

Yea, i'm going to change it to 3/4 TB x2 RAID 1

[Djskatos]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

I don't know the circumstances behind it but did you tell your client you could build them a server before admitting to this forum that you've never built a server? Not a good idea.

 

By default FreeNAS only uses AES-128 bit encryption on the disks which if using RAID1 (the complete data is on one disk) then a decent computer could brute force that in not a significant amount of time. I don't know if it's possible to increase the encryption level (though it ought to be) but it'd make it fairly easy to steal the data if either disk got stolen or thrown away.

 

Hardware wise I can say if it's in the budget you'll want a Xeon with an appropriate server motherboard and ECC RAM. Any ATX PSU will do for this kind of setup but find one that is at least 80 Plus rated. You want to know it's getting fed correctly. EVGA & Corsair make good PSUs I lean more towards Corsair but that's just my preference.

 

Boot drive, FreeNAS can run off a USB. Just install it to a flash drive and set the boot device to it.

2

Yea, I know it is not a good idea, but it already happened, so...

My setup currently goes like this :

Xeon E3-1245v6

Intel Server Board S1200SPLR

Samsung 120GB SSD

2x 3/4 TB  (Seagate or WDC) RAID 1

V-Gen DDR4 8GB ECC Memory

An EVGA 500W PSU or Seasonic

 

Perhaps you can suggest another server setup for me ? that will be so much appreciated.

Currently having budget of $1100 - $1300

[JR88]

36 minutes ago, Djskatos said:

Yea, I know it is not a good idea, but it already happened, so...

My setup currently goes like this :

Xeon E3-1245v6

Intel Server Board S1200SPLR

Samsung 120GB SSD

2x 3/4 TB  (Seagate or WDC) RAID 1

V-Gen DDR4 8GB ECC Memory

An EVGA 500W PSU or Seasonic

 

Perhaps you can suggest another server setup for me ? that will be so much appreciated.

Currently having budget of $1100 - $1300

Get the Barracuda's only like a 100$ each.  X300 is a little more but might be worth it..probably built better.

[Djskatos]

3 minutes ago, JR88 said:

Get the Barracuda's only like a 100$ each.  X300 is a little more but might be worth it..probably built better.

Oh, Okay.

you mean a ryzen build ?

[JR88]

Just now, Djskatos said:

Oh, Okay.

you mean a ryzen build ?

No the HDD's I mean the Seagate or the Toshiba's but you said you already found a 2tb with 128mb cache. 

[Djskatos]

Just now, JR88 said:

No the HDD's I mean the Seagate or the Toshiba's but you said you already found a 2tb with 128mb cache. 

Huh ? i didn't say that, @Windows7ge said that. 

[JR88]

2 hours ago, Djskatos said:

Huh ? i didn't say that, @Windows7ge said that. 

oh ok lol..didn't look man. 

[Windows7ge]

19 hours ago, Djskatos said:

Perhaps you can suggest another server setup for me ? that will be so much appreciated.

Seagate IronWolf Pro ST4000NE0025 - $183.99 x 2

CORSAIR RMx Series RM550X - $99.99

SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SAE-O - $192.99

Intel Xeon E3-1245 V6 - $309.99

Noctua NH-D9L - $54.90

Kingston ValueRAM 8GB - $107.98

Mushkin Enhanced atom 8GB - $11.72

 

Total: ~$1,145.55

 

I've heard good things about the Seagate Ironwolf Pro's so you might as well give them a shot. 128MB cache, 7200RPM, and 4TB.

The PSU isn't anything special, should be more than enough power for the purpose and more drives in the future if desired.

Supermicro is pretty much a standard for servers. A lot of features. Room for expansion, etc.

The CPU you picked seems the most bang for the buck deal so I kept it.

The Cooler is compact and should keep the CPU VERY cool regardless of system load.

The RAM isn't very special. For your clients needs 8GB is enough but the motherboard will support up to 64GB

The USB isn't special. Just install FreeNAS to it and plug it in. It's your boot drive.

 

Issues you may encounter is if the motherboards BIOS isn't new enough for the CPU. In which case you'll need to locate an older chip. i3's, Pentiums, and Celerons, are options. Basically any cheap chip just to update the BIOS so you can use the new chip. It cannot be said if you'll get a board with an up to date BIOS. Just know this can happen.

[Djskatos]

2 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

Seagate IronWolf Pro ST4000NE0025 - $183.99 x 2

CORSAIR RMx Series RM550X - $99.99

SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SAE-O - $192.99

Intel Xeon E3-1245 V6 - $309.99

Noctua NH-D9L - $54.90

Kingston ValueRAM 8GB - $107.98

Mushkin Enhanced atom 8GB - $11.72

 

Total: ~$1,145.55

 

I've heard good things about the Seagate Ironwolf Pro's so you might as well give them a shot. 128MB cache, 7200RPM, and 4TB.

The PSU isn't anything special, should be more than enough power for the purpose and more drives in the future if desired.

Supermicro is pretty much a standard for servers. A lot of features. Room for expansion, etc.

The CPU you picked seems the most bang for the buck deal so I kept it.

The Cooler is compact and should keep the CPU VERY cool regardless of system load.

The RAM isn't very special. For your clients needs 8GB is enough but the motherboard will support up to 64GB

The USB isn't special. Just install FreeNAS to it and plug it in. It's your boot drive.

 

Issues you may encounter is if the motherboards BIOS isn't new enough for the CPU. In which case you'll need to locate an older chip. i3's, Pentiums, and Celerons, are options. Basically any cheap chip just to update the BIOS so you can use the new chip. It cannot be said if you'll get a board with an up to date BIOS. Just know this can happen.

Alright, thanks for the suggestion bruh,

but he also wanted the server to also be some kind of workstation, so he can also use it to input data, Is this possible ?

[Windows7ge]

33 minutes ago, Djskatos said:

but he also wanted the server to also be some kind of workstation, so he can also use it to input data, Is this possible ?

The only thing I can think of is if you ran ESXi or UnRAID. To my knowledge ESXi costs money. UnRAID...I think it's open source. It could host the file share and run a VM for the workstation. FreeNAS supports the use of VMs but they don't run like butter and they don't support hardware pass-through like for GPU acceleration. ESXi and I believe UnRAID can do this but I have no experience with either.

 

Your client is definitely better off having a dedicated server and dedicated workstation. Honestly combining the two makes no sense considering the nature of what a file server is.

[Mattias Edeslatt]

Do your client already have a solution for backup? I guess he don't want to lose his "sensitive" data?

 

If you isn't going to use ECC-memory, just get a cheap Pentium och i3, it's more than enough for a storage server. Better to put some $ on a UPS to protect against surges and data corruption.

 

Don't mix server and workstation, the client should not use the same system, for anything else, apart for virtualization of a system accessible from another computer.

 

Otherwise you just could put a bunch of disk in a regular PC that he use and host the files from the same system via simple file sharing if the files needs to be accessible for multiple users or from several systems.

[AbsoluteFool]

On 25.3.2018 at 6:41 AM, Windows7ge said:

The only thing I can think of is if you ran ESXi or UnRAID. To my knowledge ESXi costs money. UnRAID...I think it's open source. It could host the file share and run a VM for the workstation. FreeNAS supports the use of VMs but they don't run like butter and they don't support hardware pass-through like for GPU acceleration. ESXi and I believe UnRAID can do this but I have no experience with either.

 

Your client is definitely better off having a dedicated server and dedicated workstation. Honestly combining the two makes no sense considering the nature of what a file server is.

UnRAID cost money, ESXI is free up to 8 CPUs.

 

I would go with FreeNAS or a simple off the shelf system for the same price. Considering you haven't ever build a system before, you are really deep in if you screw up. 

Personally i'd suggest you download and install FreeNAS on another system and learning the group policies and how to set it up properly before getting it up at the customers location. Also find out if the network you are setting it up for are in DMZ host or have open ports, all this causes security risks that you will be held responsible for if something goes wrong.

[myselfolli]

On 25.3.2018 at 7:07 PM, Mattias Edeslatt said:

Do your client already have a solution for backup? I guess he don't want to lose his "sensitive" data?

 

If you isn't going to use ECC-memory, just get a cheap Pentium och i3, it's more than enough for a storage server. Better to put some $ on a UPS to protect against surges and data corruption.

 

Don't mix server and workstation, the client should not use the same system, for anything else, apart for virtualization of a system accessible from another computer.

 

Otherwise you just could put a bunch of disk in a regular PC that he use and host the files from the same system via simple file sharing if the files needs to be accessible for multiple users or from several systems.

"Don't get ECC RAM, but protect against data corrpution"?