OK complete novice here looking for advice.
Many years ago I built a FreeNAS system, I then upgraded it using a second hand Super Micro X7DVL-E Motherboard and 2 x 8GB RAM.
3 x 1TB WD SATA HDDs
USB Boot Device
It’s been used infrequently and I have known for a while I need to transfer all of the data off it and either buy a NAS (Synology or the like), build a Raspberry Pi based NAS or another PC NAS using TrueNAS.
I am a home user that needs about 3TB storage, for storing things like family photos, home movies transferred from VHS, music, documents etc
I use a Macbook as my main PC, lots of Raspberry Pis and have just installed Linux Garuda on my home (hobby) workshop PC. So would need to access the NAS from those OS systems.
However, last week I switched it on and the motherboard will not POST, I have tried all the usual trouble shooting - removing peripherals, removing and cleaning memory, clearing CMOS, new CMOS battery etc but no joy.
So now is the time to take action!
To rescue the data onto a 3TB removable USB drive I have read that I could simply move the NAS USB Boot and 3 x 3.5" SATA storage HDDs to a different PC. I do have a few old PCs knocking around that I could move the NAS USB Boot drive and HDDs to, however I’m sure these are all AMD - so poss not an option.
So thoughts / advice please:
Advice on immediate data recovery using an old PC?
If I went the new build TrueNAS route, should I use Scale or Core (I don’t have a clue - sorry)?
Hardware advice for low cost TruesNAS build (can’t find a TrueNAS hardware guide (like the one that was on the FreeNAS forum))
Sorry got to keep the costs down on this, so won’t be buying new server grade equipment, more likely a second hand server or server hardware.
Just do that. As long as it can boot (possibly in Legacy mode, if the X7 was set this way) it’s fine.
Clue: One is in active development, the other on maintenance mode.
Depends on what you want. Second-hand is a matter of opportunity so anything goes, especially coming from an X7 system.
As a reference, though, if you’re in Europe, note that you can find refurbished Gigabyte MJ11-EC1 (embedded EPYC) and “new old stock” MC12-LE0 (AM4) for under 100 €.
The thing is I could spend ages searching ebay etc and end up buying something rubbish (been there before).
Based on another thread I have read I think I need to look out for
Rack Mounted or Desktop SuperMicro Motherboard that supports:
LGA1151 6th or 7th Gen Intel CPU
ECC Memory
I then need:
LGA 1151 6th or 7th Gen CPU (Are all the i3, i5, i7, Pentium G and Xeon compatible?)
= 16GB ECC Memory
Suitable PSU (Any min Wattage?)
I’ve seen some SuperMicro X11’s of various types on ebay for under £100 (X11SSH-LN4F, X11SAE) and Intel LGA Core i3 7th Gen for £10.
TrueNAS is compiled for x86-64. AMD CPUs are perfectly fine.
You’re on a correct page (among many possible others).
Within X11, I’d personally go for Cascade Lake (X11SC) over Skylake (X11SS), but this is likely to be more expensive.
So I just pulled an old PC out of my garage, ASUS A8N-E Mobo with an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ CPU and only 1GB Ram. After a bit of a faf with the onboard LAN its all working (bizzarely well TBH) FreeNAS-8.3.0-Release-p1-x64 (r12825)
Yes the X11SC’s are more expensive. Iv’e found a Rack Mount X11SS here
This is a Supermicro 1u CSE-512-350 server X11SSH-LN4F Motherboard with Xeon E3-1220v6 and DDR4-2400-32gb Ram.
All for £90?
But I’ve just had another look and it does not have a drive bay
Or there is this one without CPU or RAM for £139 but does have drive bays (wonder if these will take 3.5" SATA?).
So I bought the 1U Rack Mounted SuperMicro Supermicro 1u CSE-512-350 server X11SSH-LN4F Xeon E3-1220v6 DDR4-2400-32gb Ram
There were only 2 left so I decided not to faf around. I’ll either leave it in the rack and 3D print some drive enclosures, or fit it to an ATX case and get an active cooler.
The manual does specifies a passive and an active cooler but the description is confusing. I think it’s this one.
Quite pricey.
Hopefully this hardware will see me build a solid NAS. I’ll probably switch out the USB for an SSD. The next challenge will be building the new TrueNAS environment. I’ll probably have to buy a 4TB USB HDD and transfer everything from my existing NAS, build the new NAS using my existing 3 x 1TB SATA HDD, then copy everything across via a Laptop connected to the NAS.
Also sourced a compatible cooler from Senetic, which is the Active Cooler listed in the SuperMicro manual as being compatible:
Supermicro SNK-P0051AP4 Cooler
Data Transfer
So, whilst I am waiting for the cooler (not due to arrive until 17 Dec 24 ) I need to identify the best method of transferring the data from the old NAS to the new NAS.
As mentioned earlier in the thread, I have managed to resurrect the old NAS by putting the USB Boot and 3 x 1TB SATA HDD’s into a case with old ASUS A8N-E Mobo and AMD Athlon 64 3200+ CPU, but only 1GB Ram.
I need to use these 1TB HDDs in my new NAS setup, so I need a way of transferring the data to the new setup.
The old setup is running a mega old version of FreeNAS (FreeNAS-8.3.0-RELEASE-p1-x64 (r12825). So I guess this is completely incompatible with TrueNAS Core?
So with my limited knowledge of FreeNAS and TrueNAS, I would presume that my only option would be to transfer the data in two steps.
Copy data from the old NAS setup onto some form of mobile storage.
Copy the data from the mobile storage onto the new TrueNAS setup.
With this meager amount of memory though, would it be safe reading the data from this setup onto an external USB HDD attached to my Macbook?
) I need to identify the best method of transferring the data from the old NAS to the new NAS.