Question Help with parts list for building a local backup server / NAS? (for music + video projects, general backups)

[QuestionAsker]

Hello all, building out my first TrueNAS server, and had a few (well, many) questions.

Clarifying use case(s) / purpose of TrueNAS server:

• I want to use this as a backup server / storage server that will run automated weekly backups / cron jobs from my home PC / laptops / homelab mini-pc. Or that I'll power on maybe once or twice a week to access large video projects / music projects, etc.
  • (I have various external HDD's mucking about, one has failed already, not sure what's on what drive, etc.... just aiming to centralize my data storage in one spot, while also moving towards a 3-2-1 backup scheme (while staying independent of 3rd party cloud providers, and subscription costs)).
• I did recently get my Sec+ cert, and would like to learn and apply things
  
  
• Building out a home network that is solid and will last me for the next 10 years or more, and be reliable, and be able to fulfill the following real-world (and educational) purposes:

Educational Goals (for personal learning and to become more employable):

• Properly run and leverage a server (or servers) for home use, to be independent from 3rd parties (as much as possible)
• Proper backup protocol, to never lose data again, and organize / back it up in an intelligent and effective manner
• Scripting / Automation
• Web scraping, to feed into a local LLM from select sources, to more quickly be able to make educated decisions on particular areas, such as research on a certain topic, or finance, etc.
• Training / Using local LLMs
• Security focused stuff: Red Team / Blue Team / OPSEC / etc. (Though lower down in priority list)

Current Setup:

• Local PC (for work, everyday use, and learning LLMs)
  • Ryzen 9950X + ASUS X870E + 128GB RAM + RTX 5060 16GB + 1000W Seasonic (in a Fractal Define 7 XL case, for expandability).
• Homelab (for running services and learning)
  • HP EliteDesk 800 G4 i7-8700T + 64GB RAM
  • OS: Proxmox
  • Low Power and Quiet: Always on
  • 1 x 1TB NVME (Storage); 1 x 256GB NVME (OS)

Services / Functionality to Achieve:

• TrueNAS Scale backup server
  • Solid backup solution, that will run automated backups from Local PC, Homelab, and possibly other devices connected to network (laptops, phones (photos), etc)
  • Will include a BDXL-capable drive, for burning long-term cold storage 25 GB M-Discs, for important projects (to store both locally, and offsite at a family members house, etc.)
• Homelab (or run some of these services on the TrueNAS Scale backup server?)
  • Syncthing (for pc, my iphone, tablets, other laptops, other phones, etc. So I can access them when I'm outside the house too).
  • Nextcloud
  • PiHole
  • Plex(?) - just light use or to experiment though I think
  • Private VPN
  • Reverse Proxy
  • Firewall?
  • Tandoor (recipe website)
  • AI Services (for home security camera, etc, via Coral TPU Adapter, to learn object identification, etc.)
  • Running scripts at night, doing website scrape jobs at night, or any type of script jobs I might need done. Maybe pulling data from APIs, to feed into PC in the morning, for LLM processing, etc
  • PhotoPrism? (Photo backup)
  • Immich? (Self-hosted photo and video backup and management system (Google Photos replacement).
  • Pangolin
  • Metube (YouTube video downloader)
  • Whisper (transcribes audio into text)
    • (Script: Metube download —> transcribe video (Whisper) —> feed into LLM for summary / action items)
  • Unbound is an open-source recursive DNS resolver (from NLnet Labs). (So ISPs can’t see your DNS queries)

Future Projects / Infrastructure to Implement:

• 2nd TrueNAS Scale backup server (offsite, mirrored backup to original server)

Current updated parts list:

• Mobo: ASRock B550 Pro4 - $155
• CPU: Ryzen 7 PRO 4750G ($99 used, off ebay) (has onboard graphics, for Plex. Supports ECC)
• HDD storage: 5 x WD Ultrastar DC HC580 (24TB SATA) - $340 each - (5 wide vdev in RAID2Z)
• ECC UDIMM RAM: 2 x 32 GB Micron MTA18ASF4G72AZ-3G2R (used) - 2 x $185
• OS DRIVES: 2 x used Intel Enterprise SATA drives
• BDXL Drive: ?

Parts I already have:

- Cooler Master HAF 922 Case (5 x 3.5" bays + 5 x 5.25" bays)
- PSU
- CPU Liquid Cooler


Questions:

• ECC UDIMM RAM
  • Will the 2 x 32 GB Micron MTA18ASF4G72AZ-3G2R (used) work for my setup? I believe another RAM SKU is recommended, but I cannot find any of them
• HBA
  • Since 2 x SATA SSD Boot Drive + 5 x SATA HDDs will exceed the mobos 6 x SATA ports, should I get a cheap PCIe-SATA card for the second boot SSD, or install an HBA (LSI 9300-8i) to add headroom for more drives later? (second 5 drive vdev)
• BDXL Drive
  • Any recommendations for a solid BDXL drive for burning 25 GB cold storage archival M-Discs?
• General
  • Any other suggestions / recommendations / advice? Anything I missed?

 

[QuestionAsker]

(redacted, posted reply by mistake)

 

[Shmee]

Sounds like a good project. A couple general tips:

First, for ECC, you may want to double check that the motherboard supports it, as well as with what firmware revision. Next, if you want to get a hotswap cage for the HDDs, there are many 4 drive and 5 drive cages that use 3 5.25" bays. However, all the 5 drive cages I have seen do NOT have the proper grooves in the side, needed for the notch fingers that most desktop cases have. These notches are used to hold ODDs in place and will block these cages if they don't have grooves, unless you mod the case. I found this out on my first TrueNAS project.

I would look into getting a decent but cheap SAS HBA (used/refurbished), flashed into IT mode. This will give you more ports and should work better with TrueNAS. Once you have enough posts here, you can check out the for sale section, I believe there are several members here with spare HBAs for sale.

And I believe many of those services you mention can be run on TrueNAS, either as apps or in VMs, depending on what version you have and how you set them up.

Lastly, I am not sure how your network is setup, or how many devices you have can support over 1Gbps Ethernet, but if this is server is going to be backing up lots of data and you want it to transfer faster, you may want to look into mulitgigabit NICs and switches.

 

[QuestionAsker]

Sounds like a good project. A couple general tips:

First, for ECC, you may want to double check that the motherboard supports it, as well as with what firmware revision. Next, if you want to get a hotswap cage for the HDDs, there are many 4 drive and 5 drive cages that use 3 5.25" bays. However, all the 5 drive cages I have seen do NOT have the proper grooves in the side, needed for the notch fingers that most desktop cases have. These notches are used to hold ODDs in place and will block these cages if they don't have grooves, unless you mod the case. I found this out on my first TrueNAS project.

I would look into getting a decent but cheap SAS HBA (used/refurbished), flashed into IT mode. This will give you more ports and should work better with TrueNAS. Once you have enough posts here, you can check out the for sale section, I believe there are several members here with spare HBAs for sale.

And I believe many of those services you mention can be run on TrueNAS, either as apps or in VMs, depending on what version you have and how you set them up.

Lastly, I am not sure how your network is setup, or how many devices you have can support over 1Gbps Ethernet, but if this is server is going to be backing up lots of data and you want it to transfer faster, you may want to look into mulitgigabit NICs and switches.

Thank you Shmee, all very important points, thank you for mentioning them. I didn't know about the 3 x 5.25" Hot Swap Bay issue, I'll have to look into that once I expand the vdev.

I confirmed my mobo and cpu will take ECC, but had this question regarding ECC for my TrueNAS build:

For a TrueNAS, Would a 2 x 32 GB 3200 ECC RAM kit ($370) have significantly better performance than a 4 x 16 GB 2666 ECC RAM ($250) kit?

I'm guessing the 4 x 16 GB 2666 RAM kit would the choice here, or for future proofing would going with the more expensive 3200 RAM be the better choice?

 

[Shmee]

While I am not really familiar with the Ryzen 4000 Pro series, in general Zen 2 and Zen 3 CPUs/APUs benefit a good bit in performance with faster memory. At least with Zen 3 CPUs, 3200 to 3600 MT/s is generally the sweet spot, and to my understanding the APUs can benefit even more, and some of them can handle over 4000 MT/s due to different memory controller.

Maybe @DAPUNISHER could help you some more regarding the performance of Ryzen memory scaling on AM4?