Low power build - pfsense, nas and pbx

[Mrapoc]

Hi all

Looking to make and setup my first home server. I aim for it be virtualized - pfsense for home router / firewall and other goodies to mess with. Also to replace my current nas - file share with external access via a VPN. I also want to host my own PBX and mess with that. Fibre will be 76/20 so not super duper fast.

So I need to spec one up for uk purchase - what's the going spec? Supermicro looks good but pricey....started off thinking hey let's just build a decent router...then it evolved!

 

[Patrick]

How big is the NAS in terms of disks?

 

[Keljian]

Are you planning on running other VMs on it too?

 

[Mrapoc]

Current nas is only 1tb (2 disks raided) but as I would like to use it for some offsite backups could do with perhaps 4 drives?

Only definites atm are pfsense and freenas kinda thing. Semi learning experience - esxi and vm-d are must haves aren't they?

Thinking how consumer grade stuff will handle it...raid card in pcie and Intel dual nic on pcie too. Power efficient? Maybe with a low end i3? J1900 maybe

 

[Keljian]

i3s don't have vt-d, so consumer wise you would be looking at i5s as a minimum. The problem with consumer hardware is (generally) lack of ECC, which you kind of want for freenas.

If you can live without ECC, have a look at my build here and use it as a template: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...---My-new-home-home-office-server-build.6801/

Scale processor/ram appropriately

I have since changed the Nic to a Mellanox connectx-2, and will change it again for a Chelsio t420 in the near future.

 

[CreoleLakerFan]

Sounds like you're looking at a Xeon E3 based build. You could probably save a bit by going with a v2 E3, but there's no getting around the fact that UDIMMs are relatively expensive.

 

[Mrapoc]

i3s don't have vt-d, so consumer wise you would be looking at i5s as a minimum. The problem with consumer hardware is (generally) lack of ECC, which you kind of want for freenas.

If you can live without ECC, have a look at my build here and use it as a template: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...---My-new-home-home-office-server-build.6801/

Scale processor/ram appropriately

I have since changed the Nic to a Mellanox connectx-2, and will change it again for a Chelsio t420 in the near future.

That's a nice spec and nice energy usage. I'll keep scratching my head whether I need ECC or not. Am I right in thinking anything below 40w odd is going to be like a bare minimum cpu that will limit me if I want to do anything other than file sharing and basic routing?

I'm just measuring my nas usage from the plug too and the router as a comparison.

 

[Keljian]

That's a nice spec and nice energy usage. I'll keep scratching my head whether I need ECC or not. Am I right in thinking anything below 40w odd is going to be like a bare minimum cpu that will limit me if I want to do anything other than file sharing and basic routing?

I'm just measuring my nas usage from the plug too and the router as a comparison.

Thanks! - It was heavily planned and very much carefully bought.

Basically when you start dropping total idle system wattage below about 40W (unless you run all SSD, where you can get it to about 35~W) you start limiting the potential ram/processor power you can have. Also any gains around there in terms of dropping wattage are marginal

Examples: I can probably scrap a fan or two to save 2-3W, but at a cost of the life of the drives. I can probably drop 2-3W by going low power memory, at a high cost vs benefit. I can probably get 2-3% better efficiency by going a picopsu setup ..

These add up but are within margin of error for me and despite power costs being relatively high where I am, the payoff time for the changeover is not worth the time/effort/money.

Regarding ECC vs Non ECC - really I can't comment. ZFS is not ready for me, BTRFS isn't ready for me, so I run EXT4. And by not ready, you either can't easily grow the volumes or the system isn't stable enough

 

[canta]

if you want Virtulaize that do not have access to direct I/O access. I3 could be the cheapest solution.

if you only to virtualize pfsense, and some 1-3 not heavy duty VMs.. J1900 or N3150 (or minimall J1800 or N3050), with just a warning: only support 1 to 2(or 3) pcie 1X slots.

for all in one together.. E3 V2 or V3 would be minimal...

if you are living in US, lenov T140 e3 V3 version usually popping-up for ~$280-300 with 4g ecc..
I think, that the lowest route for the price.

or need more memory.... e5 is minimal

 

[canta]

That's a nice spec and nice energy usage. I'll keep scratching my head whether I need ECC or not. Am I right in thinking anything below 40w odd is going to be like a bare minimum cpu that will limit me if I want to do anything other than file sharing and basic routing?

I'm just measuring my nas usage from the plug too and the router as a comparison.

I am running E3 V3 (ts140 transplanted to 2U SM) and running proxmiox 3.4 with kernel 3.X:
* 3 power hunger backplate fans of 80mm
* 1 cpu fans that came from TS140
* 1 sunon maglev fan for HBA card
* 1 M1015 card
* 2 SSD, Microm M500 and Seagate (forgot the model, this eats more power than M500)
* 2 WD black Drives, with APM 254(power consumption rise when set to 254). power hunger on warning...
* 1 dual old NIC intel card (around 2X power consumption compared with i340 or i350)
* platimun 500W SM PSU
* 4X8G DDR3L RAM

total idle with not busy VMs:28W-30W..
when running recording with motion detection on ZoneMinder VM, would jum to 35-40W..
when running extra 2 VMS: Windows, and ubuntu desktop running and doing processing, jump to 50-55W...

I guess that would help you to pick your decision!!

note:
please do not cheap on picking up fans!!, better safe than sorry since the machine is running 24X7 days

 

[Mrapoc]

I'm trying to see how much power this will draw...but it will certainly open up the platform to much more. So cheap!

Rather than VM freenas - I could just setup a ubuntu server or the like and create shares that way using hardware raid?

Whats the thoughts on it? Will I need a minimum of 16GB?

http://www.ebuyer.com/670719-lenovo...50022uk?reevoo_page=3#reevoo_embedded_reviews

 

[Keljian]

I run lubuntu desktop as my file server VM, I am familiar with it and it works well. You can use Linux in any which way to do the job for you. The question is do you want the reliability that comes with ZFS or not?

I found open media vault to be pretty good as a Linux based file server

 

[Mrapoc]

I'm pretty much decided on a ts140. Great price and good power usage. Time to see how I can go about pfsense and file sharing (virtualized)

 

[Mrapoc]

Well...found the TS20 - Xeon build for £199 ex vat with £70 cashback too...so cheap!

Got that instead - got 16GB (2x8gb) off ebay for £50 (ECC) and £21 for a dual nic intel i350...now I just need a 6gbps raid card (sata) for a bargain and I'll be sorted!

 

[canta]

Please share your final....