Rack mount NAS build

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servethehomefan

New Member
Mar 31, 2024
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I have plenty of room in my home rack and would like to build a NAS server. I'll plan on running TrueNAS Scale. The only app within TrueNAS will be NextCloud and Plex.

This is a home environment so I don't need crazy specs, redundancy, etc. Noise isn't a huge deal since I have a dedicated room for the rack equipment but I do have room so 3U or 4U is fine.

* Minimum 4 of 3.5" spinning HDD and maximum of 8.
* Minimum of 1 of 2.5" SSD or NVME and maximum of 2.
* ECC memory. DDR4 is preferred as I have 4 x 8gb sticks pulled from another system.
* 1 Gbps NIC is fine but 2.5 or 10G is preferred. If 1 Gbps NIC then prefer two of them to run LAGG otherwise I'll toss in a 10G NIC into a PCIe x 4 slot.
* Maximum chassis depth is 23".

Do I go with Supermicro or AsRock Rack for the motherboard?
Do I buy all the components new and build it myself or should I buy an off-lease server?
Do I buy a random rack chassis or do I stick with Supermicro chassis?
Where is a solid source for parts for this build or for off-lease equipment?
 

nexox

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May 3, 2023
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I haven't entirely kept up on prices but if you're in the US you can probably snag an E5 V4 Xeon (DDR4) Supermicro 2U system (chassis number 826) that checks all your boxes for a reasonable price. Trays to fit 2.5" drives with a passive bracket can be annoying to find because ebay sellers almost never get the right angle on the photos to display the two additional mount holes which distinguish them from the older trays, but many 826B systems come with two rear 2.5" hot swap bays.
 

mattventura

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Nov 9, 2022
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The advantage of buying a Supermicro chassis, IMO, is that you can keep upgrading to new backplanes which is pretty much the only part that really would ever become "obsolete". Plenty of board options, including ones that have NVMe ports built-in if you go for the 2.5" NVMe route (which you could do with either a rear cage or a front backplane with NVMe).
 
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servethehomefan

New Member
Mar 31, 2024
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Are there any Supermicro chassis that are less than 25.5" depth? Clicking through a dozen or so on their website seem to all be at or greater than 25.5".

@mattventura Great point about Supermicro versus just a random chassis; the plethora of accessories, backplanes, front backplanes, motherboards, etc. Seems like it is a very modular system design. The Chassis Number 826 that @nexox mentioned looks wonderful albeit 25.5" depth which is really pushing the size of my rack depth and really hurting vertical air circulation. Previous searches I came across Supermicro 825 and 514 chassis and my head is spinning from all of the options with nuanced differences between them all.
 

nexox

Well-Known Member
May 3, 2023
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Ah I forgot about the depth issue, and the 25.5" number doesn't include anything you can remove, that's from the back side of the rack ears to the back edge of the chassis.
 

bugacha

Active Member
Sep 21, 2024
232
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I have plenty of room in my home rack and would like to build a NAS server. I'll plan on running TrueNAS Scale. The only app within TrueNAS will be NextCloud and Plex.

This is a home environment so I don't need crazy specs, redundancy, etc. Noise isn't a huge deal since I have a dedicated room for the rack equipment but I do have room so 3U or 4U is fine.

* Minimum 4 of 3.5" spinning HDD and maximum of 8.
* Minimum of 1 of 2.5" SSD or NVME and maximum of 2.
* ECC memory. DDR4 is preferred as I have 4 x 8gb sticks pulled from another system.
* 1 Gbps NIC is fine but 2.5 or 10G is preferred. If 1 Gbps NIC then prefer two of them to run LAGG otherwise I'll toss in a 10G NIC into a PCIe x 4 slot.
* Maximum chassis depth is 23".

Do I go with Supermicro or AsRock Rack for the motherboard?
Do I buy all the components new and build it myself or should I buy an off-lease server?
Do I buy a random rack chassis or do I stick with Supermicro chassis?
Where is a solid source for parts for this build or for off-lease equipment?
Google eBay for H12ssl-i + 7402P combo, you can order it complete with 256 ECC and CPU fan

Silversone makes excellent chassis, really depends on your sizing

eBay is the source of parts, you can buy Mellanox Connects 4 lx 10G capable card ery cheap
 
Last edited:

servethehomefan

New Member
Mar 31, 2024
19
1
3
Google eBay for H12ssl-i + 7402P combo, you can order it complete with 256 ECC and CPU fan

Silversone makes excellent random racks, really depends on your sizing

eBay is the source of parts, you can buy Mellanox Connects 4 lx 10G capable card ery cheap
The only results from eBay of H12ssl-i + 7402P combo show 4 or 5 sellers all of which are in China. What I want to avoid is not being able to source parts in the future if something goes bad. Any particular chassis that you would recommend?
 

servethehomefan

New Member
Mar 31, 2024
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Regarding depth limitation, I hope you're not trying to fit this into a wall-mount cabinet, yes?
No, it is a full rack on casters. It is a 27" depth rack. The actual depth from front panel to rear panel is more around 30" but I have to keep air circulation in mind.
 

unstuffed6125

New Member
Dec 14, 2024
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I'm building out truenas box now that it sounds like is similar in intent, I'm using:

ASRock Rack E3C246D4U2-2T - $250 - has dual 10G, ipmi, 8 sata ports
Xeon E-2146G - $80
2x 32G DDR4 ECC - $150
16G Optane for boot - $5
ASUS Hyper M.2 X16 PCIe 3.0 X4 Expansion - $50 - board only does 8x4x4 bifurcation so only 3 nvme slots on this will be usable of the 4
Sliger 3702 case - $370

I wanted to keep it under 20" but with 27" you might want to look at cheaper case options.
 

bugacha

Active Member
Sep 21, 2024
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servethehomefan

New Member
Mar 31, 2024
19
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3
I'm building out truenas box now that it sounds like is similar in intent, I'm using:

ASRock Rack E3C246D4U2-2T - $250 - has dual 10G, ipmi, 8 sata ports
Xeon E-2146G - $80
2x 32G DDR4 ECC - $150
16G Optane for boot - $5
ASUS Hyper M.2 X16 PCIe 3.0 X4 Expansion - $50 - board only does 8x4x4 bifurcation so only 3 nvme slots on this will be usable of the 4
Sliger 3702 case - $370

I wanted to keep it under 20" but with 27" you might want to look at cheaper case options.
That motherboard and case look awesome.

But this is exactly where my head spins..... that motherboard is out of stock from any US based retailer but it can be found on eBay new and used. I just don't understand this. Are server components simply not "stocked" at Newegg, Amazon, etc like non-server components? I've noticed the same thing with a lot of Xeon processors and ECC memory.
 

unstuffed6125

New Member
Dec 14, 2024
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I bought the mobo and cpu on ebay. These things are kinda niche in that they're older stuff (I like used - save some money) so enterprise customers aren't going to buy older generation products, and they're not products for most home users. Think of it like buying a used brocade switch that are popular here. You get a good deal on something that would otherwise be e-waste.
 

Greg_E

Active Member
Oct 10, 2024
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Buy a short rack rail kit for Supermicro chassis that you choose, about $110 usd. That will fix the short depth issue, the end of the server will be about flush with the back of the rack.
 

servethehomefan

New Member
Mar 31, 2024
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Buy a short rack rail kit for Supermicro chassis that you choose, about $110 usd. That will fix the short depth issue, the end of the server will be about flush with the back of the rack.
To be clear, I am looking for a short depth chassis because I don't want the chassis to go all the way to the back of the rack (air flow restriction)
 

servethehomefan

New Member
Mar 31, 2024
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Looking at Intel X550-T2 NIC, does it matter if it is a Lenovo or Dell pull? I'm seeing a bunch on eBay saying it was a pull from one of those manufactuers.
 

seany

New Member
Jul 14, 2021
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Certainly not the cheap option, but the 45drives homelab chassis would fit your depth requirement which is pretty shallow. I don't even have and switches in my rack that would fit in there :p
 

bugacha

Active Member
Sep 21, 2024
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Certainly not the cheap option, but the 45drives homelab chassis would fit your depth requirement which is pretty shallow. I don't even have and switches in my rack that would fit in there :p
Silverstone makes short 4U cases at much much cheaper price.

With 45drives you pay a lot for a backplane.