Hardware dilemma... Fix, TrueNAS server, or Dell server

TrueNAS General
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As you see from my signature I have Super-micro system. Around 2015 I got used 24 bay 4u case with backplane. New SM MB with IPMI, flashed IP mode, all of this…
It’s been working, but not without issues.

One day SAS2 backplane went out.

Now we had electrical issues in a house, I am not sure what exactly happened. I got few emails with reports on UPS not being available…

Now system wouldn’t start. I had spare PS, it wouldn’t start with it either, so it’s not PS. According to my buddy it is MB and most likely capacitors on it? “Common for those around 10yo”…

Just a week ago I was contemplating if I should go Synology or something else for ease of home use. After all pros and cons decided to stay with TrueNas.

Now… For subject of this topic…
I kind of don’t want to mess with current hardware anymore. Disks are pretty good (1-2 yo), but everything else…
I checked TrueNAS server, around $2k for hardware, which is OK, but…
FYI: I don’t really care about official support of software. Or hardware. With warranty lead times it kind of doesn’t matter.

My friend (he is sysadmin/hardware guy) told me to just get DL380 gen 9/10 and go with it. THere is 2U 12bay servers. They are 5yo, but supposedly very reliable and parts readily and quickly available. And it would be much much cheaper.

With all that, I really want to simply plug discs in and roll. I mean, I have boot array of 2SSDs which I hope will simply run in new hardware. I also hope my 6 drive main storage will also simply run on new hardware.

What are your thoughs? Where I am getting at, I just don’t want to mess with hardware(post setup), minimize breakdown. It’s not about money spent.
I just feel that DELL hardware will be reliable.

What I do worry about is noise, I kind of want system to be quiet.

Capability-wise, it would be nice to have some oomph for running media center, and perhaps 1-2 VMs since it’s only home server I have and don’t plan to have anymore. DELL also wins here as those dual CPU, lot’s of RAM, etc.

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I’m using the Truenas Mini R (coming from the Mini X+). I have 7 Ironwolfs in it and it’s quiet as a mouse (I sit two feet from the unit). It’s on my desk even though it’s a rack mount unit. I serve large video files with it and run the Nextcloud app. The T3 youtube channel is stating you might be able to install something like the Intel A310 low profile GPU in it for media.
Pro’s: New unit, trouble free, just slide your drives in it and forget about it.
Con’s: Passive cooling (no cpu fan) and gets a little warm (53C to 65C). Memory limited to 64g even though Supermicro website states this board could go to 128g.

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Cool! MiniR is what I was looking at. Realistically, do I need more than 32G if I run home media center and regular file share for home/small office use?

I have a Q: Does it have space inside to put 2 SATA SSDs where I have my OS installed right now? As mentioned in my post - IDALLY I’d like to retain configuration, storage, etc…

Being “new” and “quiet” really resonates… Does it have 10G card to begin with?
Is it capable of running Windows VM on top of TrueNas

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I guess “the jury is still out” on that…
Here’s a screen shot of my memory usage.

mini r memory2
mini r memory21331×993 43 KB

The unit comes with a WD Blue nvme 250g with the OS preinstalled on the motherboard.
Is I see it, you would have to use two of the 12 3.5 slots with adaptors from ixsystems (unless I’m wrong) to use yours.

It does have two 10g ports on the motherboard.
I don’t use VM’s at the moment, can’t tell you…

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Guess it’s rhetorical Q. ZFS cache will take whatever you give it. My use is actually very very limited. I am mostly concerned with media server part of use and VM. From what I read so far it should work for my use case…

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My Mini R serves media files to Jellyfin installed on a Dell 7050 (ubuntu 24.04 lts) I’ve never tried (yet) the Truenas Jellyfin app.
It’s also my understanding that the Mini R would be capable of serving “direct stream” video without a GPU. If your going to need to transcode video your going to need something like the Sparkle (intel chipset) A310. You just need to ask around and find someone transcoding with the Mini R or Mini X.

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Done… Ordered system with 32G. Will go from there and see how it works with mediacenter. From what I understand it depends on “other side” AKA TV where I will be watching. Perhaps I won’t even need to transcode anything.

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Here’s my post on how my upgrade when after mine arrived.

Upgrade the Ixsystems Mini X to the Mini R system - #6 by alleykat

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Why did you install “addon tp-link 2.5g card”?
Wouldn’t 10G RJ45 card on NAS do what you need?
Reason I ask I have Unifi Flex 2.5G switch, I was hoping I can connect freenas to it as is and have 2.5g to workstations…

Also, in my case, unfortunately, I don’t have system backup, ideally I need to boot from same boot mirror. Thats what I think to do, not sure if possible.

And then I have my raid of 6 disks which I really can’t afford to lose data. (no backup - don’t ask :()

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I “upgraded” my lan to 2.5g a few years ago. All clients and switches. The 10g on the Truenas machines doesn’t “fall back” to 2.5g only 10g or 1g. I would need a switch that does 10g,5g,2.5g,1g In the future I’m thinking of upgrading to 10g and then I would free up the slot. The Mini’s only have one extra slot, PCI-E 3.0 x4
Having said that you woudn’t be able to try a GPU low profile card if you need to use the slot for a 2.5g low profile network card.

If you are running Truenas, and have the boot drive go down, replace it and reload your backup config and your good to go. I’m not sure most of us need boot mirrors. Others here might chime in.

Which ZFS RaidZx are you using? Or are these ZFS mirrors? Please tell me your not using “standard” hardware raid…

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I have raidZ2 with 6 drives. From what I gathered I should be able to simply import it even if I do fresh install of TrueNAS. Will need to recreate shares of course…

Re: 10g. Its a bummer. I didn’t know those don’t fallback to 2.5/5
I have this new Unifi flex 2.5g switch with 10g uplink port. Not sure but maybe I can use it with built in 10g?! That would be super nice for my setup

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WD Reds (4tb) - in progress

These may be a problem if they are as you describe them. 4 TB WD Reds are SMR drives and unsuitable for use in TrueNAS.

Please post the model number(s) of your drives and/or check them yourself against the information found at List of known SMR drives | TrueNAS Community

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I believe those are good, they passed all tests and been working for over year

WD40EFPX

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Great news, I was afraid you were going to tell me those drives were from a hardware raid system… and not ZFS raidz. I had backed up my Truenas config and once I re-installed my config on the new system (updated to Scale and my config was from Scale) then installed my drives everything came back including my shares.

I didn’t know this at first either, wasn’t a deal breaker for me. I was not ready to spring for a new switch and cards for the other lan machines to bring the whole network to 10g. I need to budget for that.

I’d be curious to know which OS (Core or Scale) yours ships with. If its Core just follow my update suggestions.

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WD40EFPX is a Red Plus, not a Red - and they are CMR, not SMR. I’m glad for you.

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It came with Core. First thing I did, connected my old boot drive, disconnected shipped drive, booted and saved config. Now I am updating to Scale. Not sure if it makes difference between update to Scale one by one vs simply doing fresh install?

After series of updates, I am up to recent Scale version. It shows “Community” edition. Is it expected? Should I have “Enterprise” with hardware?

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Sounds like you’ve really weighed your options carefully. If your drives are still solid and you’re not tied to official support, going with a DL380 Gen9 or Gen10 seems like a smart move—especially if you’ve got a trusted friend who knows the hardware well. Those boxes are built to last, and the 12-bay 2U setup gives you plenty of room for future expansion. Plus, saving a chunk of cash compared to new TrueNAS hardware is always a win. Curious to hear what you end up deciding!

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Sounds good! I think you only get the Enterprise version if you bought a license with paid support, don’t know. Mine says Community also.

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Update was uneventful. I simply restored settings on new nas and inserted all drives. Everything works! Back to configuring

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Does your Mini-R make any sounds. It’s not loud but it makes this u-u-u-u sound which is very annoying. Any way to control fans on those?