Shopping list for hardware

[zoekeeper]

Hi, building my first TrueNAS server and after reading some hardware guides planning to purchase following items. I would appreciate if someone have any tips or recommendations.

Most important usage for server is to work as home NAS and run few applications (at least Home Assistant, Pi-Hole). At the start 2x 4TB storage is enough.

Motherboard: Supermicro X11SCL-F (https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/x11scl-f)
CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 (https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...ocessor-6m-cache-3-60-ghz/specifications.html)
Memory: 1x Kingston 32GB DDR4 2666MT/s ECC Unbuffered DIMM (https://www.kingston.com/datasheets/KSM26ED8_32HC.pdf)
SSD: 2x small SDD's for boot and apps
HDD: 2x WD Red Plus (CMR) - 4 TB - 3.5" - 5400 rpm
PSU: Seasonic G12 GC 550 Watt (https://seasonic.com/g12-gc)

 

[Etorix]

Solid list. 1*32 GB RAM suggests that you intend to upgrade to 64 GB later, at which point the "cost-optimised" X11SCL may limit you.

 

[zoekeeper]

Yeah, I did notice that it takes only up to 128GB. Not sure how things will work with 32GB RAM when adding more applications but let's see. Had to do some cost optimization since previous Linux server is 10+ years old which means most of parts needs to be upgraded.

 

[Etorix]

Your i3 is limited to 64 GB RAM anyway; you'd need a Xeon E-2000 for 128 GB. I was thinking about the C242 and its lesser I/O than C246, in particular SATA ports.

 

[ChrisRJ]

@zoekeeper , what do you want to do with your NAS?

 

[zoekeeper]

Your i3 is limited to 64 GB RAM anyway; you'd need a Xeon E-2000 for 128 GB. I was thinking about the C242 and its lesser I/O than C246, in particular SATA ports.

Thanks, I didn't realize there was 64GB limit in i3. Need to check how much extra lower range Xeon's would cost. It's bit hard to find Supermicros and Xeons used here in northern Europe which is causing problems with budget.

@zoekeeper , what do you want to do with your NAS?

Primary purpose of server would be home NAS to store photos and documents. No need for big storage.
Usage would also include at least

• Home Assistant (currently running in RPi4 so would need more stable environment)
• Pi-hole
• Nextcloud or similar to sync photos from Android to NAS
• Jellyfin or similar (non-mandatory requirement)

I also have old Ubuntu server hosting some private webservices and databases which could be moved here if it's possible.

 

[Etorix]

That use case should fit in 64 GB RAM, and even in 32 GB.

 

[zoekeeper]

That use case should fit in 64 GB RAM, and even in 32 GB.

In that case i3 could be enough. I checked some local online stores yesterday but didn't find Xeon 2100/2200 series used and cheapest new (Xeon E-2124) was around 250€ which is more than double the price of i3-8100.

You mentioned C246 earlier - what kind of difference we're talking? Does it matter in practice if I use HDD & 1GB network? There is at least X11SCH-F-O available with +50€ extra cost (it also has 8xSATA compared to X11SCL-F's 6xSATA) which could be an option. What does that -O at the end mean (no explanation here https://www.supermicro.com/products/Product_Naming_Convention/Naming_MBD_Intel_UP.cfm)?

 

[Etorix]

-O: retail (box with full set of accessories)
-B: bulk (in a bag with I/O plate and… that's it)

A little comparison, or browsing the product pages shows generally better I/O on the H:
X11SCH: C246, 8 SATA, PCIe x8 + x8 (CPU), 2*M.2
X11SCL: C242, 6 SATA, PCIe x8 + x4 + x4, 1*M.2

 

[zoekeeper]

Ok ok, I misunderstood we were talking about speeds. Two more SATA ports wouldn't hurt with ~50€ price difference so might go with that one.

 

[zoekeeper]

Does it matter from performance point-of-view if 1x32GB or 2x16GB RAM is used? In case I need to update later to 64GB I wouldn't want to use two slots at this point.

 

[Etorix]

Using both memory channels should be better than using one. But you can upgrade from 2*16 to 4*16 GB; this is DDR4, there's no penalty for going from 1 to 2 DIMM-per-channel.

 

[joeschmuck]

Does it matter from performance point-of-view if 1x32GB or 2x16GB RAM is used?

Technically the two would be interleaved which would increase your memory speed a bit, but I don't see you benefitting from that for your use case, but if things were running a little slow, you could say that the data going in/out of the RAM is running as fast as it can. Based on the MB's above, you would have four memory slots so if you plan to upgrade to 64GB, you can go either route. Here is a decision you must make, for me this would be a decision about cost and the possibility to troubleshoot a RAM problem. Having two sticks means you can remove one if one of them is giving you problems. If you are not a person who likes to tinker with computer hardware then this may not appeal to you. The other factor is cost, which is cheaper? If the cost difference was not significant then I'd again choose the two 16GB sticks. This is just how I think.

 

[ChrisRJ]

Does it matter from performance point-of-view if 1x32GB or 2x16GB RAM is used?

With the other components you mentioned and your use-case: Absolutely not. There is a speed difference, but it is below negligible if you compare it with the HDDs.

To put things into perspective: If you were running an application like high-frequency trading (i.e. fully automated system to place 10k+ stock market orders per second) it would be a factor. But the bottleneck are your HDDs and they are several orders of magnitude (more than a thousand times) slower than RAM, let alone the CPU and its built-in caches.