See posting #52!
--
I'm working on a somewhat enthusiastic home NAS system and would like your feedback on my choice of parts.
Here's the details so far, reasonsoning why I chose these is below.
Build’s Name: Work in progress
Operating System/ Storage Platform: FreeNAS/FreeBSD
CPU: Intel® Atom™ C2750
Motherboard: SuperMicro A1SAM-2750F
Chassis: Fractal Design NODE 804
Drives: 6 × Seagate ST4000DM000 Data Sheet (PDF), Product Manual (PDF)
RAM: This RAM doesn't fit as pointed out by BlueLineSwinger. 2 × 16GB Samsung DDR 3 1600 CL 11, ECC Reg. 1.35V
Add-in Cards: 1 × IBM ServeRAID M1015 (2 × 4 Port SATA/SAS HBA)
Power Supply: TBD
Other Bits:
Mostly classical “Home NAS” usage, like storage of audio/video, other random files. (AFP, SMB/CIFS)
Plex- & Firefly (mt-daapd/iTunes) server. Must be capable of live transcoding two full HD video streams simultaneously. (CPU supports SSE/VMX but I don't expect Plex to use it at all.)
Local backup target for OS X's TimeMachine.
Other remote machine's backups over ssh/rsync each to their own FreeBSD jail.
Some Jails/VMs for mixed software/OS services & testing. (CPU is VT-x/EPT capable.)
ZFS-RAID Z2 for the main storage pool connected to the HBA.
ZFS-RAID Z1 for further backup storage (probably by recycling a few existing spindles I can free up once this box is in production) connected to the onboard SATA 2 ports.
Encrypted storage supported by AES-NI.
Probably the usual things you forgot that only come to mind after you have ordered parts. What could that be?
Intentions:
Low energy consumption when idle yet enough power for the power user in me. Silent operation, as few fans as possible, as many as needed. Large fans to keep the rpms down and the noise frequency low. I prefer good quality components over cheap ones but don't want to spend unnecessary amounts.
IPMI interface goes to my management LAN.
2 × Gbit/s ethernet ports trunked for file access
Remaining 2 ethernet ports used for jails/VMs, likely on different VLANs. (TBD)
HBA goes into the PCIe 8 × slot. The 4 × slot remains empty for now.
I intend to run the HDDs in acoustic managed mode for silent operation given the performance impact is worth it.
No gfx or audio on this box.
Open questions:
Feel free to disagree and suggest better components and please tell me why!
CPU: The Atom C2750 has 8 cores (8 threads, no hyperthreading) and provides plenty of multithreading speed yet has very low power consumption and support for up-to 64GB RAM. (ZFS and VMs looove RAM, though I'll start with 32GB.)
Why not these CPUs?
1.35V modules use less power than 1.5V modules and stay cooler leading to better energy efficiency and more silent operation. Can save between 4W (idle) and 8W (loaded) with 4 × 16GB DIMMs unscientifically extrapolated from this comparison of 1.5V/1.35V RAM on this forum. Modules as speced by SuperMicro for the chosen motherboard.
Motherboard:
Why not these MBs?
Why not this one?
The LSI SAS 2008 RAID Controller/ HBA Information thread here has been of tremendous help for me! Thanks to Pieter!
Disks
Based on experiences by Backblaze with tons of disks, building their Storage Pod 4 and also my personal experience.
Why not this one?
MacLemon
--
I'm working on a somewhat enthusiastic home NAS system and would like your feedback on my choice of parts.
Here's the details so far, reasonsoning why I chose these is below.
Build’s Name: Work in progress
Operating System/ Storage Platform: FreeNAS/FreeBSD
CPU: Intel® Atom™ C2750
Motherboard: SuperMicro A1SAM-2750F
Chassis: Fractal Design NODE 804
Drives: 6 × Seagate ST4000DM000 Data Sheet (PDF), Product Manual (PDF)
RAM: This RAM doesn't fit as pointed out by BlueLineSwinger.
Add-in Cards: 1 × IBM ServeRAID M1015 (2 × 4 Port SATA/SAS HBA)
Power Supply: TBD
Other Bits:
- A small-ish SATA SSD (probably Samsung EVO).
- 2 × Mini-SAS SFF8087 to SATA breakout cables. (SAS8087OCF-06M)
- A bunch of cables that I've missed to list here
- Cable ties, velcro, to keep things tidy.
- Standard power cord
- UPS to cope with power dips/surges, to cleanly shut the box down in case of a power failure.
Mostly classical “Home NAS” usage, like storage of audio/video, other random files. (AFP, SMB/CIFS)
Plex- & Firefly (mt-daapd/iTunes) server. Must be capable of live transcoding two full HD video streams simultaneously. (CPU supports SSE/VMX but I don't expect Plex to use it at all.)
Local backup target for OS X's TimeMachine.
Other remote machine's backups over ssh/rsync each to their own FreeBSD jail.
Some Jails/VMs for mixed software/OS services & testing. (CPU is VT-x/EPT capable.)
ZFS-RAID Z2 for the main storage pool connected to the HBA.
ZFS-RAID Z1 for further backup storage (probably by recycling a few existing spindles I can free up once this box is in production) connected to the onboard SATA 2 ports.
Encrypted storage supported by AES-NI.
Probably the usual things you forgot that only come to mind after you have ordered parts. What could that be?
Intentions:
Low energy consumption when idle yet enough power for the power user in me. Silent operation, as few fans as possible, as many as needed. Large fans to keep the rpms down and the noise frequency low. I prefer good quality components over cheap ones but don't want to spend unnecessary amounts.
IPMI interface goes to my management LAN.
2 × Gbit/s ethernet ports trunked for file access
Remaining 2 ethernet ports used for jails/VMs, likely on different VLANs. (TBD)
HBA goes into the PCIe 8 × slot. The 4 × slot remains empty for now.
I intend to run the HDDs in acoustic managed mode for silent operation given the performance impact is worth it.
No gfx or audio on this box.
Open questions:
- Which ATX power supply to get? Should be very silent and energy efficient. (Eyeing an 80 Plus Gold or Platinum model) Will 450W be ok-ish, even if I decide to add more HDs later up to a maximum of 10 (LFF) and 2 (SFF) which fit in the chassis? (ATX PSU up to 260mm fits.) I also need to get power to all the spindles.
- Is it likely that I need more fans than the 3 × 120mm fans that come with the chassis? (It can accomodate up to 10 fans but I don't intend to build a hovercraft.)
- I'm looking into getting a TPM 1.2 module for storing SSH host keys of the box. Any suggestions what TPMs work with FreeBSD?
- I'd like to connect my hardware random number generator to one of the USB ports. (preferably an internal port.)
- This bullet intentionally left blank.
- Have I missed something totally obvious? I'm not that used to building my own boxes.
Feel free to disagree and suggest better components and please tell me why!
CPU: The Atom C2750 has 8 cores (8 threads, no hyperthreading) and provides plenty of multithreading speed yet has very low power consumption and support for up-to 64GB RAM. (ZFS and VMs looove RAM, though I'll start with 32GB.)
Why not these CPUs?
- Atom C2758: Supports QuickAssist which is less suitable to general server tasks but better for network packet handling. C2758 vs. C2750
- Atom C2550: 4 Cores/4 Threads version. About half the multithreading performance which would still be enough for video transcoding. 5W less power consumption under full load, not much of a difference when idle. C2750 vs. C2550
- Xeon E3-1230 v3: Significantly higher power consumption. Limited to 32GB RAM. (I intend to upgrade to 64GB RAM within a year.) E3-1230 vs. C2750
1.35V modules use less power than 1.5V modules and stay cooler leading to better energy efficiency and more silent operation. Can save between 4W (idle) and 8W (loaded) with 4 × 16GB DIMMs unscientifically extrapolated from this comparison of 1.5V/1.35V RAM on this forum. Modules as speced by SuperMicro for the chosen motherboard.
Motherboard:
Why not these MBs?
- ASRock Rack C2758Di: A tempting alternative at a good price point. It sports additional 4 × SATA 3 and 2 × SATA 2 ports providing enough SATA ports. They are powered by Marvell SE9230, SE9172 which are known for poor throughput and stability problems. Only 2 × Gbit Ethernet ports + IPMI. ASRock does not have any reputation in the server market.
- SuperMicro A1SAi-2750F: Pretty much identical. mITX form factor opposed to µATX. Hence only a single PCIe 8× slot. Only actual downside being the use of SO-DIMMs which are more expensive and hard to get. Since there is enough space in the chassis for a µATX board I prefer the one listed at the top.
- SuperMicro A1SA7-2750F: This board would pretty much be the perfect fit with its 16 × SATA 3 ports powered by an LSI 9116 controller. Since it uses a proprietary form factor which doesn't fit in any standard chassis it would have required use of a SuperMicro chassis which are great in the data center, but acoustically inappropriate for home use.
Why not this one?
- LSI SAS 9211-8i: This would be my HBA of choice The chosen IBM controller is identical to this one. Its firmware can be crossflashed. The LSI original is about twice the price for the same product. They are based on the LSI 2008 controller chip.
- A gazillion other LSI PCIe controllers…
The LSI SAS 2008 RAID Controller/ HBA Information thread here has been of tremendous help for me! Thanks to Pieter!
Disks
Based on experiences by Backblaze with tons of disks, building their Storage Pod 4 and also my personal experience.
Why not this one?
- HGST HDS5C4040ALE630 (Datasheet (PDF)): I'd actually prefer this drive over the Seagate model. I mostly rejected the HGST disks because I already have 3 Seagates I can use and mixing brands is not the smartest idea. The Seagate disks are about 20% cheaper than HGST.
MacLemon
Last edited: