First of all, I want to say that I am writing this from Spain and using DeepL to translate, so please forgive any weird phrasing.
I am a software developer by trade, but when it comes to Systems, Networking, and Hardware, I am a total newbie. I have “no idea” about networks (yet), but I want to learn. My goal with this build is to have a robust home NAS, but also a sandbox to tinker with, break things, and learn (eventually I plan to study for the CCNA, so 10GbE is a goal).
After reading some threads here, I decided to pull the trigger on some used enterprise gear instead of consumer stuff. I think I found some good deals:
Why: ECC was a must for me, and the price seemed right.
Where I need your help:
I have the “brain” and the memory, but now I need to finish the build. The market in Europe is crazy right now, so I need a reality check.
The Storage (HDD) Struggle in EU I am planning a pool of 6 Disks. My idea was a RAIDZ2 (6 drives total = 4 Data + 2 Parity).
Is 16TB still the sweet spot for price/TB?
Question for Europeans: What is a realistic price per TB right now? Can you recommend reliable sellers for refurbished/used enterprise drives that ship to Spain without crazy customs/import fees? (WD Ultrastar? Seagate Exos? Ironwolf?)
Boot Drive & App Pool (The tricky part) I am confused about how to utilize the ports on this Supermicro board efficiently.
Option A: Put a cheap NVMe M.2 drive in the M.2 slot for the TrueNAS Boot OS?
Option B: Save the M.2 slot for an “Apps/Jails” fast pool (Nextcloud DB, cache, etc.) and buy a cheap SATA SSD for boot?
The HBA Question: If I want 6 HDDs + SSDs, I assume I will run out of SATA ports. Should I buy an LSI HBA (4i or 8i) for the HDDs and keep the onboard SATA for boot/apps? Or is that overkill?
Cache / ZFS RAM With 32GB of ECC RAM and only 1Gbps LAN (for now, will upgrade switch later), do I strictly need an L2ARC (SSD Cache) or SLOG? Or is the RAM enough for a home user?
Software / Nextcloud My main immediate use case is Nextcloud for my family.
Should I use the TrueNAS Scale “App” ecosystem?
Or is it better to create a dataset, share it via SMB, and mount it on the clients?
Note: I know this CPU has no iGPU, so I am not planning on doing video transcoding (Plex/Jellyfin), just direct play or file storage.
Future Proofing Eventually, when I learn more, I might want to move this hardware to be a Proxmox node and virtualize TrueNAS. But for now, I want to install TrueNAS bare metal to learn the basics.
TL;DR: I’m a programmer trying to be a sysadmin. I have a Xeon D board and RAM. I need recommendations for cheap/reliable HDDs in Europe, a sanity check on my M.2 vs SATA boot strategy, and any “ZFS for Dummies” resources you recommend (I prefer conceptual guides over heavy math right now!).
Good deals, good start. If you search here for x10sdv you will see a lot of posts recently on some of this from some highly experienced users. Assume that you will change your mind about a lot of things as you become more familiar.
I think you need to specify in greater detail at least one thing: How much data are you contemplating? Double that and you have some minimum size for your pool. Video obviously uses a lot.
Then, you need a backup solution. That could be as simple as a USB drive with enough capacity for your data. As I came up the curve I destroyed my main pool, reconfigured it, restored from the backup, no less than three times.
I would avoid used drives. When I have populated my pools, I’ve bought wd easystores and removed the drives. The sweet spot seems to be in the 16tb+ range (today, a 16tb one is better than a 20tb). Six new drives are a lot of euros, so for two of my NAS I have a two drive mirror as the main pool and an SSD for the boot; in another, because I had existing drives, I did a five wide Z2 (assuming my older drives would be more prone to failure) with an SSD for the boot.
There is a strong view that the M.2 should be used for boot; I used it for the VM /App pool (with data on the main pool).
In Netherlands it’s 18-20 TB right now. Check with local price engines in Spain.
I have bought second-hand drives from a user on ServeTheHome forum. I would avoid “refurbished” drives from professional sellers because the channel was corrupted by fake refurbished drives. Buying new is safer.
This.
A HBA for 6 drives is overkill, and would ruin your low power build.
The x16 slot can bifurcate x4x4x4x4 to host up to 4 M.2 NVMe drives.
(or any full height equivalent)
No SLOG if there are no sync writes.
L2ARC? Run the system and measure (arc_summary in shell). If needed, first increase RAM, then add a L2ARC. 32 GB should be well enough to begin with..
When factoring in bay and switching costs, you may find it’s worth upgrading to max-1.
I plotted the costs and there was a small uplift comparing the then sweet spot (16TB) against 22TB. But then the then largest (24TB) were fully 50% more expensive per TB.
When considering how much it would cost to materially upgrade from 6x16TB to something larger in the future (assuming only six drives), i decidesd to just pay marginally more per TB and get the 6x22TB (skipping the very expensive (at the time) 24s.
@elorimer Thanks for bringing me back down to earth. You’re absolutely right about backups, I’ll definitely implement a 3-2-1 strategy once the main pool is up and running.
The Storage (update) @Stux@etorix I decided to pull the trigger regarding the drives. I picked up 6x Seagate Expansion 26TB (external) for a total of €2,124.14 (I can cancel the order if you think this is stupid of me). I watched a video on youtube Are Shucked drives still a good value? Checking out the 28TB Seagate Expansion HDD, but now I’m second-guessing myself because I know the general advice is to pick internal retail drives (or specialized NAS drives). It’s done now, so I will have to shuck them. Fingers crossed regarding the warranty and the drive models inside!
For this specific low-power build (Xeon D-1521), could you please recommend specific PSU models?
I am looking for:
High efficiency at low loads (since it will idle most of the time).
Reliability over aesthetics (I don’t need RGB or fancy sleeving).
Just enough wattage to safely spin up the 6 drives + the CPU.
Case & Cooling Recommendations
I currently own a Fractal Meshify XL, but it is massive. I’m looking for something much more compact and “stealthy” to tuck away in a corner.
Requirements: Must fit the Supermicro X10SDV (Mini-ITX) and the 6x 3.5" HDDs.
Aesthetics: I do NOT need tempered glass, LEDs, or gaming looks. I prefer a simple, functional, and budget-friendly box that breathes well.
Fans: Once the case is picked, which budget-friendly fans (no RGB) do you recommend to keep the drives cool without sounding like a jet engine?
Fan Control Script @Stux, first of all, a huge thank you for your Build Report thread (Node 304 + X10SDV). It has been an incredible resource for me.
I saw you created a Perl script to handle fan speeds on these X10 boards to avoid the IPMI “hunting” issue. Is that script still the recommended way to handle cooling today on a modern TrueNAS install?
I’ll keep this thread open to post some build logs once the parts arrive. Thanks again!
X10SDV, 6 drives? Definitely a Fractal Design Node 304. Your choice of Gold ATX PSU with it (higher ratings are certainly not worh it…).
You’ve already found Capitain Stux’ build thread for this case.
These external Seagate drives, with HAMR Baracuda (or whitel label version thereof, please report) are certainly a good plan today… if you factor in that there won’t be no meaningful manufacturer warranty, so in case of failure within 3-5 years, the plan is that you get a spare and be your own insurer.
Shucking is an acknowledge practice.
Shuck them one by one. Keep the box, put the nondrive bits in the box, and put a post it in the box with the serial number of the drive, so the serial numbers on all three match up. If the drive alone doesn’t qualify for a warranty, putting it all back together might.
100TB Z2!!
Run the burn in cycle, too, (which will probably take a month!)
Me, I would put it together in the big case you have with an existing supply, while you have room to work. When you are up and running, you can put it back together into the 304 with care.
I’m having a bit of a panic attack and I am considering cancelling the order before they arrive.
I’ve been reading up on SMR vs. CMR, and I’m afraid I might have overpaid for drives that will turn out to be SMR once I open the enclosure. On top of that, I read about Seagate’s ERC (Error Recovery Control) and how it affects ZFS. I understand that if a drive hangs trying to recover a bad sector, TrueNAS might treat it as a timeout, drop the drive from the pool, and leave the pool in a degraded state.
My main concern is that these external drives might come with modified or locked firmware that lacks proper ERC support, causing instability. Given the mixed reviews I’m seeing…
Since I can still cancel my order, could you please recommend some specific “proper” NAS drive models (Commercial Names or specific Part Numbers) that are safe bets?
I want to look for alternative deals over the next few days because I can still cancel my order. I’m basically looking for the “standard” drives that are known to be reliable and have all the necessary features (CMR, ERC, etc.) for the kind of TrueNAS builds most people on this forum use.
SMR has disappeared from consumer-facing lines, and most enterprise lines, beyond 8 TB (in 3.5" size). These days you have to look for SMR drives to get one (if your really want that!) rather than avoid them.
and using DeepL to translate, so please forgive any weird phrasing.
Where I need your help:
