Dear All,
I’d like to build my first own NAS and use TrueNAS Scale as the OS. I’ve been reading through the hardware documentation guide TrueNAS Community Hardware Guide 2021-01 Edition Revision 2a) as well as some hardware recommendation threads on this forum. I feel that I got the basic concepts of what’s needed to properly build a NAS and nailed it down to a builds (with some alternatives/options). I wanted to check with you, whether this makes sense, is a sane build, if you have improvements in mind or if I have totally missed something.
Requirements
First a list of requirements/necessities/prerequisites for my NAS build.
- I am to 98% settled on the Jonsbo N3 as my case, which only supports mITX motherboards. I know that this poses a big limitation, but I want a rather small, compact and minimalistic case. The only reasonable alternative I found was the Treasure Pro - but it is very hard to get and comes with a huge price tag.
- It should be as silent as possible without impacting the performances.
- It shall be fast, reactive and reliable.
Use case
My use case is quite simple and straight forward.
- I will run TrueNAS bare metal and use it almost exclusively as a Storage/Data Server - no other applications/containers/etc. needed, since I have a separate server for these tasks.
- Editing of medium sized files on the NAS (but no editing of large media files (4K movies etc.)).
- Streaming of movies/series via the other sperate server.
- A maximum of 3-4 simultaneous users/clients (both read/write) will have access to the NAS. Users have either MacOS or Linux systems.
- All parts should be directly available (in the EU).
Build
Overview
Here a small overview of the build I have in mind.
Component | Main choice | Alternative 1 | Alternative 2 |
---|---|---|---|
Motherboard | Supermicro X12STL-IF | ASRock E3C246D2I | Supermicro SoC board |
CPU | Intel Xeon E-2314 | ||
HDD/Storage | Toshiba Enterprise MG08/09 (edit) | Toshiba N300 | Seagate EXO X X16 |
Boot Drive | cheap SSD | SuperDOM | |
RAM | 1*32GB ECC UDIMM | 1*32GB ECC RDIMM | |
PSU | Seasonic Prime Fanless PX ATX | Seasonic Focus GX 550W |
Motherboard
The motherboard seems to be the central choice, when building a NAS. Due to the case I am limited to mITX motherboards. My main choice would be the Supermicro X12STL-IF. As an alternative I came up with the E3C246D2I from ASRock, which hosts 8 SATA connectors (via OcuLink) vs. the 6 on the Supermicro, but has an older socket type.
With a SoC board (from Supermicro) on the other hand I could go down a totally different road. Here the options seem to be a bit broader: Starting with the A2SDi-2C-HLN4F (2* 1.5GHz) through the A2SDi-4C-HLN4F (4* 2.2GHz) “up” to the A2SDi-8C±HLN4F or the A2SDi-H-TF (each 8*2.2GHz). One of the advantages of a SoC board would be the use of the (cheaper) RDIMMs as well as the lower energy consumption of the embedded CPU. Yet, I am absolutely not used to such boards. Is there anything to consider in particular when building on such a board? (E.g. do they have a shorter lifespan, need an additional CPU fan etc.) And do you have good experiences with these?
CPU
With the Xeon E-2314 I took the cheapest suitable CPU for the X12STL board, since I have the feeling it is still overpowering for my use case. Concerning the SoC board: Which of the above named mainboards is powerful enough for my use case?
HDD/Storage
I would start with 3 Toshiba Enterprise MG09 (edit) 16TB HDDs. I would put them in a 3-way-mirror, since I have read, that with such large drives it is almost imperative to have at least 2 fallback HDDs during resilvering when 1 drive fails. My decision to choose such large hard disks is due to the fact that they are helium sealed and thus quieter than their counterparts. Or is it better to start with a set of smaller drives (e.g. 3*8TB) and extend along the way? If so, are the differences in noise level noticeable? Would you opt for something different than a 3-way-mirror?
Boot drive
Here I am not settled yet - but I guess either SSD or SuperDOM is fine.
RAM
My choice would simply be the cheapest ECC RAM (UDIMM or RDIMM in the case of the SoC board) from Micron or Kingston. I would start with a single 32GB stick and upgrade if necessary. Or would you opt for 2*16GB dual channel?
PSU
The Prime Fanless is Platinum and delivers 450/500 Watts, whereas the Focus SGX is Gold and delivers up to 550 Watts - but comes with a smaller price. Both options seem valid in my opinion.
LAN
The last mentioned SoC board (A2SDi-H-TF) has 2*10GbE LAN ports. Is it advisable (in terms of foresight) for my use case? Or is 1GbE enough?
Questions
Besides the questions corresponding to the individual parts I have a few general ones:
- Which build is better for my intended use and has the best long-term prospect?
- Is there any bottle neck that I couldn’t spot in the given builds?
- Anything else I should be aware of besides the hardware when setting up TrueNAS?
Many thanks already for your help and support!