Critique my FreeNAS build list, please.

[orian]

Hi everyone,

I am currently putting together a FreeNAS server that I will use for NAS, SAN, and iSCSI targets in my home. It will host my media via CIFS and also be used with an iSCSI target as a datastore for my ESXi home lab. Any feedback on my build list or potential issues would be highly appreciated. I really want to avoid having to buy/RMA stuff because things don't fit/aren't compatible and I want to get it right on the first try.

Specific questions I have about this build:

• Does anyone have any experience with the Supermicro CSE-836BA-R920B case and the MBD-X8DTi-LN4F-O motherboard in terms of fit?
  
• Does anyone have any experience running the particular Crucial ECC RAM (CT16G3ERSLD41339) with the MBD-X8DTi-LN4F-O motherboard in terms of compatibility?
  
• It looks like the Supermicro CSE-836BA-R920B case has SFF-8087 connectors on the backplane, how does the backplane power the hard drives (Molex, SATA, etc.)?
  
• Does anyone have any recommendations for this combo for a HSF. I just picked an Intel BXSTS100A based on reviews and want to be sure it will fit.

Builds Specs:

OS

Freenas 9.2.1.6 on 16GB USB memory stick.

Storage Layout

16x - 4TB drives.
8 drives per HBA and VDev.
2 zpools.
RAIDZ2 on each zpool. (2 drives can fail per zpool)
24TB usable per zpool, 48 TB usable total. 4 drive failures allowed in total.

Case

SUPERMICRO SuperChassis CSE-836BA-R920B Black 3U Rackmount Server Case 920W Redundant 80PLUS Platinum

PSUs

2x - 920 watt redundant PSU's included in above case.

Motherboard

SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DTi-LN4F-O Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 Extended ATX Dual Intel Xeon 5500 and 5600 Series Server Motherboard

CPU

Intel Xeon E5645 Westmere-EP 2.4GHz 12MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 80W Server Processor BX80614E5645

HSF

Intel BXSTS100A Active heat sink with fixed fan

RAM

4x - Crucial 16GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Server Memory Model CT16G3ERSLD41339

HBAs

2x - LSI Internal SATA/SAS 9211-8i 6Gb/s PCI-Express 2.0 RAID Controller Card, Single

HBA cables

4x - StarTech Model SAS8787100 3.28 ft. Mini-SAS Cable with Sidebands

HDDs

16x - Seagate Desktop HDD.15 ST4000DM000 4TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

I have just a few suggestions, mainly using 2011 socket instead of the older 1366.

Motherboard
Xeon E5-2620 v2
diff RAM
diff HSF

Newer motherboard has 8x SAS via chipset so could do away with 1 of the LSI cards. It also has more RAM in case you want to upgrade later. The size of the motherboard is 13.68 x 13 which is the supported size listed on that case. A different HSF is needed for 2011 support as well so i listed that. Overall the cost will go down with the CPUs + 1 less LSI card even after the increase of the motherboard. The CPU speed was a bit less than the 1366 but turbo frequency is nearly identical and higher base speed CPUs were available but the cost seemed a bit high for the difference. Different memory is 1600 speeds and nearly identically matches supermicro's matching part M393B2G70BH0-CK0.

 

[nsafreak]

Ummm I have just 1 question, why on earth are you going with so much CPU horsepower on an application that really will not make much use of it? I may be misunderstanding your stated use case but you list:

FreeNAS server that I will use for NAS, SAN, and iSCSI targets in my home

That's not something that you need the power of a Xeon processor for, hell an i3 could handle the workload that you're describing. There just seems to be a lot of overkill for data services that you're describing unless it's also going to be an ESXi host.

 

[orian]

I have just a few suggestions, mainly using 2011 socket instead of the older 1366.

Motherboard
Xeon E5-2620 v2
diff RAM
diff HSF

Newer motherboard has 8x SAS via chipset so could do away with 1 of the LSI cards. It also has more RAM in case you want to upgrade later. The size of the motherboard is 13.68 x 13 which is the supported size listed on that case. A different HSF is needed for 2011 support as well so i listed that. Overall the cost will go down with the CPUs + 1 less LSI card even after the increase of the motherboard. The CPU speed was a bit less than the 1366 but turbo frequency is nearly identical and higher base speed CPUs were available but the cost seemed a bit high for the difference. Different memory is 1600 speeds and nearly identically matches supermicro's matching part M393B2G70BH0-CK0.

Ummm I have just 1 question, why on earth are you going with so much CPU horsepower on an application that really will not make much use of it? I may be misunderstanding your stated use case but you list:



That's not something that you need the power of a Xeon processor for, hell an i3 could handle the workload that you're describing. There just seems to be a lot of overkill for data services that you're describing unless it's also going to be an ESXi host.

Thanks for your replies! Sorry, I should have mentioned I already have the following from what I listed above:

E5645 CPU
2x - HBA's
64GB RAM
16x 4TB HDD's

I had listed those because I already have them and would like to reuse as much as possible. I really just figure I can take all that a throw it in a case with a motherboard/hsf and call it a day.

 

[Stuka85]

What are your plans for this NAS?

 

[orian]

What are your plans for this NAS?

NAS, SAN, and iSCSI targets in my home. It will host my media via CIFS and also be used with an iSCSI target as a datastore for my ESXi home lab.

 

[crashtech]

I would want to sell the E5645 and buy an L5609. Less heat and power, and net about $100 on the swap. Win win.

 

[Burpo]

Buy it already assembled & running. Add your drives, CPU's, memory, etc = $300+

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3U-Supermic...123824?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item233cd00fb0

 

[mfenn]

NAS, SAN, and iSCSI targets in my home. It will host my media via CIFS and also be used with an iSCSI target as a datastore for my ESXi home lab.

SAN == iSCSI for your uses since you don't have FibreChannel or Infiniband. So you don't have to list both out.

To answer your question about the backplane, the backplane is connected to the internal PDU by three molex cables. These should come pre-wired. Refer to page 5-6 of the manual for a description.

 

[Ayah]

Ummm I have just 1 question, why on earth are you going with so much CPU horsepower on an application that really will not make much use of it? I may be misunderstanding your stated use case but you list:



That's not something that you need the power of a Xeon processor for, hell an i3 could handle the workload that you're describing. There just seems to be a lot of overkill for data services that you're describing unless it's also going to be an ESXi host.

ZFS, it loves memory.

Buy it already assembled & running. Add your drives, CPU's, memory, etc = $300+

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3U-Supermic...123824?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item233cd00fb0

that amount of memory will make him suffer (32GB max) and he says he already has the hardware.

I'm assuming he's going to lag his nics together.

-----

those cables are overpriced and afaik those HBAs don't support sideband. buy monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10254&cs_id=1025410&p_id=8189&seq=1&format=2
they've worked great for me.

I would advise against that cpu cooler. I would suggest the Dynatron G618 to fully utilize the functionality of the fan shroud.