I a, currently running truenas core on an ancient HP N54L and it has been working fine for many many years.
It’s about time to upgrade as I need to add more drives.
I was co soldering using one of my old hp z800 workstations, but that is just as old as n54l.
My main issue is what motherboard and processor? I will be looking to run Truenas scale and will be using it for file storage and as a plex server. Additionally I will be looking to run a single, lightweight VM that will be used to back up then as to the cloud (currently idrive).
I will not be looking to do any config migration, but will start from scratch and copy data over from old to new.
The bits of the spec I know:
node 804 case
Support for a minimum of 6 SATA HDDs. I currently have 4 (I think) 3tb Wd reds, but looking to add more of larger capacity.
remote management (ipmi?)
M2 nvme slot. I am looking to use this for boot drive, although I do have a SATA ssd I could use for this, but would rather use this as a single storage drive.
Copilot/chatgpt has given a few suggestions, but each time I get a different answer. Also do I go AMD or an intel? For the lan, I would prefer intel, especially for the 2.5gb interface, but I can use a separate card for that.
I have been considering the ASRock Rack E3C246D4U motherboard with Intel Xeon E-2134, but is this now a bit old?
Thanks.
I’ll be sticking with 2.5g as I have upgraded in the last year. 10g copper switches were out of budget, especially where all/majority of ports are 10gb.
I have one of those. Not a big fan of the layout in the HDD areas, I found it to be rather cramped.
That goes for both the 8 HDD holders in the back compartment due to the sheer amount of cables being routed there and also for the two bays at the bottom where I had issues with them touching or almost touching the motherboard. The bottom bays also leave no room for cabling and you basically need to get properly angled L-shaped cables to fit anything there.
You can make it work, but if I had to choose between the Node 804 and my Define R5, I would pick the latter every day of the week.
The additional drive positions in the motherboard compartment are a bit of a pain to populate, but the drive compartment is manageable with cable ties.
Mind that the case is not silent: Drive noise goes straight out through the top mesh.
The r5 define will be too big. Looking at the specs, it will be bigger than the 450mm depth I have. It’s about the same size as the z800 case and that will not fit there.
Thanks for the heads up though.
You can hear the noise of the hard disks in almost all enclosures. I currently have a Proliant MicroServer Gen8 with 4 hard disks. You can also hear them clicking.
I myself see the fan noise as more of a problem. Especially as the hard disks in the Node 8 are mounted in rubber sleeves. This should dampen the noise of the hard disks somewhat.
The drive bays of most enclosures do not have a noise damper.
I also bought the Fractal Node 8 for my new NAS. However, I will probably replace the Fractal fans with quieter models from noctua. Unfortunately, the Fractal fans do not support PWM, but they are supposed to be controlled by the motherboard (Supermicro).
With the Node 804, drives themselves are the issue. I know it: I own the case.
Fractal fans are not bad; you can bring in Noctuas, and more fans for more airflow, but the drives are noisier than the fans.
That’s because the case has a fan controller board where one can plug non-PWM fans to be controlled globally by one PWM cable to the motherboard.
With a Supermicro board, you’ll need to use a control script going through the BMC anyway.
Noise is not too much of an issue for me. My Poe switch has a noisy fan and my 2 3d printers make a bit of noise when printing. I often print when I am working in the same room.
If anyone has got recommendations for a better case no bigger than the 804, I will consider it.
The best small case out there is now unobtanium, the Lian-Li q26a or b. Up to ten drives in a decent sled configuration (especially with the backplanes), easily removed panels, great air flow, mini ITX motherboard but standard ATX PSU. Just freaking awesome.
