i am thinking about building a new TrueNAS with new hardware. I am currently using TrueNAS Core and i want to buid the new one with TrueNAS Scale and then migrate the data.
I want to have a 19" case to fit in my rack, so i want to go with the following hardware:
1x [AMD Epyc 4124P]
2x [Kingston Server Premier DIMM 16GB, DDR5-5200, CL42-42-42, ECC, on-die ECC]
1x [ASUS ProArt B650-Creator]
1x [Dynatron / Inter-Tech A-24 / A24]
1x [Inter-Tech IPC 4U-4408, 4HE]
1x [be quiet! System Power 9 CM 400W ATX 2.51]
I would like to use the ASUS ProArt B650 Creator because, if i understand correctly, it provides 2x PCIe 4.0 x8 slots. One x8 will be used for the network card, the other one should be used for the HBA.
Which HBA should i use?
Desktop motherboard = not the best choice for a server.
Why AM5? Why go for a rack, ECC-certified EPYC and then NON-ECC RAM (“on-die ECC” is NOT real ECC)?
8 bays (for 4U that’s ridiculously low), no expander, so you need 8 ports.
A 9200/9207/9211/9300-8i will do.
None of that explains the AM5 part…
Actually, if you’re not planning on using SAS drives, you could even go for a motherboard with 8 SATA ports and reverse breakout cables.
AM5 is a new socket and it has an integrated iGPU. So i do not need PRO CPU with an AM4 socket or a dedicated graphics card.
Also with AM5 i am able to use Epyc processors.
“Newest and greatest” is actually not a good criteria for building a NAS.
As for the EPYC part, you’re aware that here this is mostly a brand slapped onto desktop-class CPUs, as in “Xeon E” (= Core with ECC). And you’re throwing out the “EPYC” part by going for non-ECC RAM and a consumer motherboard (does that even supports EPYC 4004?).
If you’ve not bought the parts yet, may I suggest that you take a second look at AM4 (MC12-LE0 if you’re in Europe) or older Intel CPUs (e.g. E3C246D4U2-2T with a Core i3-9100 or Xeon E-2100/2200) and DDR4 ECC UDIMM?
You won’t need an iGPU in either case because these server boards come with a BMC for basic video output (or remote configuration). But could still have one (and proper ECC) with a Ryzen PRO APU on the AM4 side, or with the Intel CPUs (any transcoding intended?). And these could come out cheaper than your AM5 plan.
On a second look, the 400 W PSU is somewhat too light for 8 drives. Bumpt that to 500+.
Where are you located? (for product recommendations)
My suggestion is looking for used server gear. You don’t need the newest hardware, and the newest hardware might not even be supported that well.
Suggestion (if you live in Europe):
400€ for a complete running system with 10G Ethernet, 64G RAM, enough PCIe, 12 SATA/SAS bays, IPMI hardware,… The only caveat is the LSI controller hat needs to bei reflashed with IT firmware.
… and of course drives.
I considered buying one of those, but for my rack it is depp. It does not fit into it. Thats why I started with that Inter-Tech IPC 4U-4408 case. The length between the poles are about 57 cm, it is a standard network, but without the back panel.
There is also a DELL Poweredge T330, which i would buy from servershop24.de but i could not find a rackmount kit for that server.
I have the same problem, and I also removed the back door of my rack. You need these rails:
MCP-290-00058-0N
They will fit into your rack. The standard MCP-290-00053-0N are too long, so check the part number!!! The rails attach to the case with hooks. For the short rails some of the hooks near the back aren’t used. You need to break them off in order to slide the inner rails into the outer rails.
This is a suitable drop-in replacement. Remove the old, and the bbu, plug in this one, connect the two SAS cables, and go.
I recommend this board with one or two M.2 SATA SSDs as boot device. https://www.delock.de/produkt/89473/merkmale.html?g=1140
There are free SATA ports on the mainboard that you need to use.
SATA boot drives can be small. 64G is enough.
Ethernet: The system has 4 10G RJ45 onboard. Either use an RJ45-SFP+ on your switch or …
I use these cards in my servers, and they just work, and they are cheap.
Thank you. But it says that it is for max 8 SATA/SAS devices. How many SATA disks can i use with that supermicro?
I am a little bit confused, because the old controller also only had “8 ports”
The trick is the SAS expander chip on the backplane. This works like an Ethernet switch but on SAS/SATA level. It’s the same on the 4U 36 bay systems - all 36 drives are fed by 8 SAS lanes. Since SAS is 12G and no mechanical drive maxes out 6G (3G is enough for most of them) there is (almost) no speed penalty.
