Can i use amd ryzen apu with freenas?

[Wiztech38]

I am trying to decide what cpu i want for my freenas server maybe some someone can answer this. Can i use amd ryzen with apu built in with freenas? Since graphics cards are still sky high i do not want to use my spear graphic cards so i was wondering is amd ryzen apu ok to use?

 

[jgreco]

FreeNAS and TrueNAS will run on any AMD64 CPU architecture. However, you do need a minimum of 8GB of RAM, and ideally you should pick a server-optimized mainboard to use it on.

The term APU has been retired by AMD, and there is no such thing as an "AMD RYZEN APU".

FreeNAS and TrueNAS cannot make significant use of a GPU, if that's what you meant. They are both capable of running headless, or on a serial console, once set up. The headless thing is probably ill-advised. Serial console is fine, but many non-server mainboards can't pull off that trick. A Ryzen CPU with built-in GPU is fine but may be wasted. The only real use for a GPU is for stuff like Plex transcoding.

Since you haven't proposed any particular bits of hardware here, it's hard to provide specific feedback/criticism/suggestions.

 

[mihies]

...The headless thing is probably ill-advised. ...

Out of curiosity, why would that be ill-advised? I mean once you setup the server, you don't need monitor anymore since there is SSH for that. Unless something goes really really wrong.

 

[Ericloewe]

You’re not wrong, but Murphy is a sneaky bastard.

 

[Sparkey]

Use a server board with IPMI and headless is no problem. Murphy be damned.

 

[jgreco]

Out of curiosity, why would that be ill-advised? I mean once you setup the server, you don't need monitor anymore since there is SSH for that. Unless something goes really really wrong.

Well, two things. One, I actually referred to in my response above, is that many/most non-server mainboards tend to freak out if there is not some sort of VGA device "available". The other is that new servers on untested hardware tend to be problematic, and sometimes need adjustments, manual intervention, etc. I know we've had discussions of BOTH these classes of problems on this forum in the last month or two.

For purposes of this discussion, "headless" means in the traditional UNIX sense of not having a configured /dev/console. A serial console is a valid head for a UNIX system, but (as already mentioned) might or might not be acceptable to the PC BIOS. The last truly competent PC platform I saw with serial console support was Intel's ISP1000, which actually automatically defaulted to serial console if no video card was installed, and all BIOS console I/O was presented in a usable manner on the serial port. It could also do dual, so you could go "keyboardless" and use a serial terminal for typing input while displaying output on VGA (which also still came out on serial). This made for a lovely experience in the data center, because they had clearly worked with people who were responsible for racks of machines. IPMI/BMC made this a moot point in the end though.

 

[jgreco]

server board with IPMI and headless is no problem

Well, perhaps by a 1990's definition of "headless" where we understood "head" to mean that there was a monitor ("head") sitting there.

More recent definitions of "headless PC" require there to be no keyboard/video/mouse support, because developments such as KVM switches and IPMI still provide the KVM devices to the operating system. If the operating systems believe them to be there and you can (or need to) actually use them, you've really got a headed configuration, just one where you're using a switchbox or IPMI (which is really just a network-enabled KVM extender for the purposes of this discussion) to attach the head.

Since a VT100 or other serial terminal are the classic "head" for a UNIX system, the presence of a serial console can qualify as a "head".

Basically, if there's a way to log into the system's console, such as VGA+PS/2, VGA+USB KB, serial, etc., and could type "root" at a login: prompt and "halt" at a command prompt, you do not have a headless configuration. Note that IPMI typically presents as VGA+USB to the host platform.

I advocate against headless configurations because if you lose network connectivity (ability to reach :80/:443 or ssh:22) it becomes VERY difficult to safely ascertain the host state and shut it down safely. You are probably limited to trusting ACPI power-off, and that sucks.

That is the reasoning behind the specific definition of "headless" I am using here.

 

[mihies]

Well, two things. One, I actually referred to in my response above, is that many/most non-server mainboards tend to freak out if there is not some sort of VGA device "available". The other is that new servers on untested hardware tend to be problematic, and sometimes need adjustments, manual intervention, etc. I know we've had discussions of BOTH these classes of problems on this forum in the last month or two.

For purposes of this discussion, "headless" means in the traditional UNIX sense of not having a configured /dev/console. A serial console is a valid head for a UNIX system, but (as already mentioned) might or might not be acceptable to the PC BIOS. The last truly competent PC platform I saw with serial console support was Intel's ISP1000, which actually automatically defaulted to serial console if no video card was installed, and all BIOS console I/O was presented in a usable manner on the serial port. It could also do dual, so you could go "keyboardless" and use a serial terminal for typing input while displaying output on VGA (which also still came out on serial). This made for a lovely experience in the data center, because they had clearly worked with people who were responsible for racks of machines. IPMI/BMC made this a moot point in the end though.

Ah, ok, you mean without a graphics card of any sort. Yes, that's indeed not the best idea.

 

[Wiztech38]

Thanks all the information. Would it be better to use amd ryzen with built in graphics or intel with built in graphics?

I read that i would only need a graphics card to install it then i can remove it since freenas is run by my ip address in read browser. Is this information correct?

 

[jgreco]

Thanks all the information. Would it be better to use amd ryzen with built in graphics or intel with built in graphics?

I read that i would only need a graphics card to install it then i can remove it since freenas is run by my ip address in read browser. Is this information correct?

Well, the problem here is the mainboard.

Newcomers to FreeNAS have often never been faced with issues you are now facing, and one of them is "choice of mainboard". If you are coming here from the desktop or gaming worlds, you may understand the difference between a desktop mainboard and a gaming mainboard. Similarly, there are "workstation" and "server" mainboards.

Server mainboards are optimized for the task of being a server, and one of the interesting things about them is that because they typically offer IPMI, they have their own built in VGA (not GPU) graphics card. This means that you can take a non-"built-in-graphics" CPU such as an E3-1230 CPU, put it on a mainboard like an X9SCM, and you nevertheless get a video output. It isn't generated by the CPU, but rather by a cheap VGA card built into the mainboard.

There are two classes of people on the forum who obsess over "built in graphics". One of them are the people who have a legitimate server need for it, such as for Plex transcoding. The other are the people who are not aware of server boards, or are intent on mis-purposing a desktop/gaming board as a "server".

The correct answers to your question really depend on which one of these kinds of folks you are.

Why are you interested in the built-in graphics? What is your use case?

For a nice Ryzen experience that doesn't require built-in graphics, some people like the ASRock Rack X470D4U

For a nice Intel experience that doesn't require built-in graphics, some people like the Supermicro X11SSH line of boards.

These are far from the only available options.

So to circle around here:

freenas is run by my ip address in read browser. Is this information correct?

FreeNAS can totally be managed in that manner, yes. However, many non-server mainboards will freak if they do not have an obvious VGA/video/keyboard attached, so you may not be able to get into FreeNAS to begin with. You really need to pick parts that are capable of getting you there.