6 Drive miniITX (Storage only)

[martinsempa]

Hey there,

I've been eying with a proper FreeNAS build for quiet some time.
Due to a recent near-loss of important data combined with a good price on 4TB WD Reds I've decided to pull the trigger now :)

My needs:

• Reliable data storage
• File sharing with 1-2 concurrent users
• Idle most of the time
• No need for any transcodes or real computing power (I have a Dell T20 running Proxmox for that)

I already have:

• Case: Node 304 miniITX
• Storage: 6x 4TB WD Red

I want to buy:

• MB: ASRock Rack E3C224D2I
• Ram: 2x Crucial DIMM 8GB, DDR3L-1600, CL11, ECC (CT102472BD160B)
• CPU: ?
• Cooler: Noctua NH-L12
• PSU: Seasonic G-Series G-550 550W
• USB Stick: ?

So from lurking I've gathered that people generally prefer Supermicro, but they don't have a miniITX model for my needs.
Would I be doing something terribly wrong if I got the ASRock?
Also wondering which cheap 1150 CPU to get.

Thanks!

 

[Dice]

Also wondering which cheap 1150 CPU to get.

You should be sure it supports ECC. All cpus fitting into that socket does not.
google: <cpu> intel ark
and look for ECC support.
IIRC the hardware guide covers this (in the resource section).

USB Stick: ?

Typically people sacrifice a SATA port to get a SSD for boot drive. Advantages include reliability, update speeds.
However I can see that route is less enticing in your config. I thought I put it out there in case you missed it.

 

[Ericloewe]

Why Haswell and not Skylake? Double the RAM capacity is very significant, especially if you're limited to two DIMMs.

 

[Jailer]

Why Haswell and not Skylake?

Or Kabylake. IMHO the G4560, G4600 or G4620 are the killer budget CPU's options out there right now and would work perfectly for your intended usage.

 

[joeschmuck]

Why Haswell and not Skylake?

Or Kabylake. IMHO the G4560, G4600 or G4620 are the killer budget CPU's options out there right now and would work perfectly for your intended usage.

Maybe I'm missing this but the motherboard of choice is an LGA 1150 socket. Skylake and Kabylake come in LGA 1151 socket.

The Pentium G3260 supports ECC RAM and is the cheapest one out there (from my very quick search for USA) and is LGA 1150 socket, and should work nicely if all you want to do is run a simple NAS. If you have aspirations to do a lot more like run VMs, this is not the CPU for you.

There is a variety of LGA 1151 socket CPUs which would run cooler and might cost less than a Haswell but you would need to use a motherboard which supports LGA 1151 socket.

 

[martinsempa]

Typically people sacrifice a SATA port to get a SSD for boot drive. Advantages include reliability, update speeds.
However I can see that route is less enticing in your config. I thought I put it out there in case you missed it.

I'd really prefer booting from SSD.
But with only 6 SATA ports on the miniITX boards I've looked at I have to choose between 5 drive Z2 + boot SSD or 6 drive Z2 + boot USB. I'm leaning towards the latter, due to better data/parity ratio and because the risk of using a mirrored USB as boot doesn't seem too bad -- I won't lose my data in case of a failure, right?

Why Haswell and not Skylake? Double the RAM capacity is very significant, especially if you're limited to two DIMMs.

Or Kabylake. IMHO the G4560, G4600 or G4620 are the killer budget CPU's options out there right now and would work perfectly for your intended usage.

To be honest I didn't even consider later generations than Haswell up until now. Reason being I don't need top CPU performance and I'd rather have reliable hardware that's been tested by members of the community.
If you guys recommend newer stuff I'm open to it of course. The G4560 seems like really good value!

I'm looking at:

• MB: Asrock E3C232D2I*
• CPU: Intel G4560
• Cooler: Noctua NH-L12
• RAM: ?**
  
• PSU: Seasonic G-Series G-550 550W
• Case: Node 304 miniITX
• Storage: 6x 4TB WD Red
• USB Stick: ?

*There's another Asrock model with M2 slot but it seems it's shared with SATA0, too bad.
**Not too happy about the brands on the MB Memory QVL. Gonna have to do some more research what works.

 

[Jailer]

I won't lose my data in case of a failure, right?

No you won't. And as long as you keep a current copy of your config file saved somewhere safe re installing and restoring to your previous configuration is trivial.

 

[Dice]

Reason being I don't need top CPU performance and I'd rather have reliable hardware

Reliability is already confirmed for X11 (sky/kabylake) on FreeNAS.
They key metric motivating the upgrade is RAM capacity. The X10 (haswell etc) are limited to 32GB. Skylake X11 doubles that which is really significant.
Get 16GB sticks while at it. At some point, you'll be grateful you've not populated precious RAM slots with smaller sticks. (I know that feeling all too well. Hence 48GB RAM atm).

 

[nukee]

I'd really prefer booting from SSD.
But with only 6 SATA ports on the miniITX boards I've looked at I have to choose between 5 drive Z2 + boot SSD or 6 drive Z2 + boot USB. I'm leaning towards the latter, due to better data/parity ratio and because the risk of using a mirrored USB as boot doesn't seem too bad -- I won't lose my data in case of a failure, right?

I had the same issue and eventually bought a cheap IO Crest SATA card from Amazon and run the boot SSD off of that. It's obviously not the recommended solution compared to buying something like an M1015, but I of course run the pool drives off of the motherboard still to eliminate any concerns.

 

[joeschmuck]

Due to your requirements I'd say 16GB RAM is more than sufficient. As others have suggested, start with a 16GB stick of RAM (if the MB supports it) and you can always add another if you find out you need more.

I too would recommend a newer CPU and of course I really like my setup but it's not a MiniITX.

The motherboard you selected looks to be fine. The CPU G4560 will work too.

The USB Flash Drive for booting your system, I'd recommend something like a Sandisk Cruzer-Fit 16GB USB 2.0 ( MFR: SDCZ33-016G-B35) or similar. Note the clearance issues with the USB port and SATA ports on the motherboard , but I'm assuming you want to put the boot USB device inside the case, you could put on on the backside of course. A USB 3.0 device typically generates more heat and if you buy cheap 3.0 devices, they typically will fail. Also once you have your system up and running, backup your configuration file and keep it safe. This will allow you to make a speedy recovery should the USB Flash drive fail and you need to replace it.

The RAM, maybe someone else here has that motherboard but a bit of research should allow you to find ECC RAM that was not tested. When I purchased my RAM, what I got wasn't on the QVL so I looked for lower capacity RAM that was tested and took a leap of faith that the quality of the larger untested RAM was the same as the lower capacity RAM. It all worked out fine.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Lots of CPU talk but you can also just use the stock cooler and skip the nactua. You can also drop down to the 450watt version of that power supply. 550w is way too much.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[martinsempa]

Thanks for the numerous and helpful replies!

I've stumbled upon this alternative MB Asrock Rack C236 WSI, which is miniITX, 8 SATA, no IPMI, and upon a huge problem for a Kaby Lake based build.
Just like the E3C232D2I, the Asrock Mainboard only supports Kaby Lake CPUs on the newest BIOS version. But in order to POST to upgrade the BIOS, I'd need to use a compatible (Skylake) CPU first :(

@joeschmuck:
In terms of RAM, I think 16GB will be plenty for strict NAS usage, but having the ability to upgrade in the future is nice I guess. I've only had good experiences with Crucial, hoping I can rely on them on this build too.

@SweetAndLow:
I'm sure the stock cooler would be enough, I'm just a total Noctua fanboy!
I think the 450W version of the PSU is not modular, so I'm willing to sacrifice some efficiency for that.

 

[Jailer]

While IPMI is not a must have, once you've used it you won't want another sever board without it.

 

[joeschmuck]

The main difference between Skylake and Kabylake is the Graphics are better for the Kabylake. The x86 instructions were not improved except for a slight increase in the clock speed which is almost not worth mentioning. So a Skylake would do very well since FreeNAS doesn't care about the graphics.

Crucial RAM is pretty reliable.

I too highly recommend using just the stock CPU cooler. I use mine and it's whisper quiet. Save a few bucks now and if you really think you need a larger heatsink, add it on later.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Thanks for the numerous and helpful replies!

I've stumbled upon this alternative MB Asrock Rack C236 WSI, which is miniITX, 8 SATA, no IPMI, and upon a huge problem for a Kaby Lake based build.
Just like the E3C232D2I, the Asrock Mainboard only supports Kaby Lake CPUs on the newest BIOS version. But in order to POST to upgrade the BIOS, I'd need to use a compatible (Skylake) CPU first :(

@joeschmuck:
In terms of RAM, I think 16GB will be plenty for strict NAS usage, but having the ability to upgrade in the future is nice I guess. I've only had good experiences with Crucial, hoping I can rely on them on this build too.

@SweetAndLow:
I'm sure the stock cooler would be enough, I'm just a total Noctua fanboy!
I think the 450W version of the PSU is not modular, so I'm willing to sacrifice some efficiency for that.

The g-series is all semi modular except for the 360w version. Check out my signature I basically own the system you are building. It was my first freenas system and now it's a gaming PC.

 

[martinsempa]

While IPMI is not a must have, once you've used it you won't want another sever board without it.

Yeah, I've already got (basic) IPMI on my VM host, very nice to have for sure. Think I'm gonna settle on the server mainboard instead of the workstation.

The main difference between Skylake and Kabylake is the Graphics are better for the Kabylake. The x86 instructions were not improved except for a slight increase in the clock speed which is almost not worth mentioning. So a Skylake would do very well since FreeNAS doesn't care about the graphics.

From terms of the architecture there is no big difference, but the current pricing situation makes Kaby Lake way more attractive:

For 50€, I could get:

• G4400 (Skylake): 2x 3.30GHz
  
• G4560 (Kaby Lake): 2x 3.50GHz /w HT

That's an easy +40% performance for the same price!
I'll probably try to lend a Skylake from a friend or so, do the update, and get the Kaby Lake.

The g-series is all semi modular except for the 360w version. Check out my signature I basically own the system you are building. It was my first freenas system and now it's a gaming PC.

Oops, totally missed that, thanks!

 

[Ericloewe]

You don't need an older processor with an ASRock board. They don't charge for the IPMI BIOS flasher. At least they didn't use to.