With aging FreeNAS system, I could use your advice on a new build

TrueNAS General
1

Hello, and thank you in advance for your help.

As of Saturday night I started getting some memory errors with my current build (of course after I ordered 2 spare drives since they were at a good price on Friday)… I also ordered some new RAM to see if i can sort out my current FreeNAS build, here are the full specs: (AsRock c2750D4I, 2x8GB Crucial ECC ram, 1x6TB Seagate (logs and single drive share) 6x6TB HGST NAS drives RaidZ2, EVGA 550 GoldPlus psu, Lian Li PC-Q26B, CyberPower PR1500LCD pureSine. 9.10 STABLE.) A quick amendment to the above, 2 of the HGST drives have failed over time and are now WD60EFPX drives.

One Idea that I’m throwing around is to update a Synology DS418play NAS that i rarely use (it currently has 4x4tb WD Reds in it). But, my thought would be to bulk it up with 4x14TB Toshiba N300 Pro drives and use it as my big data backup. I would backup to it once every few months, most of the time it would be powered off, stuff on there would be more like old archives, old VMs disk rips, old family movies from camcorders which are horribly large, etc.

So with that storage taken care of, I would like a more daily / weekly used NAS. I would also very much like for this build to be as silent as possible. My current NAS is in my office, and while it’s not loud, the sound is always present and on rare occasion when i turn it off, it’s really noticeable how quiet it is in here.

So; the purpose of this NAS would be a Plex server, I convert the movies prior to loading them on it with handbrake, so no real need for on the fly transcoding. I would also store some photos, and the VMs i use for more routine work. I wouldn’t run the VMs from the NAS, i would copy them locally to my laptop, but i would back them up there every week or so.

Storage wise, my thought would be to use 5 or 6 - 4TB Samsung 990 pro with a Z2 configuration. I’m going a little heavy on storage because I want to keep the SSD capacity utilization relatively low in order to prolong life, but i would like 12-16tb of usable space. (depending on cost of the rest of the hardware, i might have to revisit my storage requirements though…)

Ram, I think 16GB is sufficient, but i would like ECC.

I don’t have a strong preference between intel and amd, but I definitely lean towards something fairly low power / low heat.

As for the case, no real preference on size, i would prefer something more manageable size wise, but I would like to avoid odd PSU formats, so I would take some bulk if it gets me a ‘better’ psu. I definitely would like something with dust filters that are easy to clean. I don’t expect this build to be completely fan-less, so I’ll probably get some Noctua fans to move some air, but i want them to be nice and quiet, not an Nvidia gpu hovercraft fan. Some PSUs have a switch so that the fan can remain off until a temperature threshold or power draw limit. My hope would be that with some Noctua fan(s) i could keep enough airflow through the case to not need the PSU fan.

Thank you again for reading and your feedback.

-Phil

2

“

The widely circulated

guideline for TrueNAS is to use 1 GB of RAM for every 1 TB of storage capacity (raw or usable) to ensure optimal performance. However, TrueNAS requires a minimum of 8 GB of RAM to run reliably, regardless of storage size, and the amount of RAM needed is highly dependent on your specific use case. “

For a TrueNAS system with 4 x 14TB Toshiba N300 pro hard drives (56 TB raw storage), you should aim for 16 GB to 32 GB of ECC RAM for optimal performance in a typical home or small office environment. The specific

Toshiba N300 Pro drives do not change the core RAM requirements, which are driven by the ZFS file system and your usage.

RAM Recommendations by Use Case

The amount of RAM you need depends heavily on how you plan to use your TrueNAS server:

Use Case
Recommended ECC RAM Rationale
Basic File Sharing 16 GB (Minimum 8 GB) Sufficient for simple SMB shares and occasional data access. Performance is better with 16 GB.

undefined|----|----|----|

| File Sharing & Media Server | 32 GB | Running additional services like Plex or Jellyfin (via apps/jails/VMs) requires extra RAM on top of the base system requirements for smooth operation. |
undefined|----|----|----|
| High Performance/Many Clients | 32 GB+ | For high I/O workloads, such as iSCSI to back up Virtual Machines or many simultaneous users, more RAM (32 GB or 64 GB) is beneficial for the ZFS Adaptive Replacement Cache (ARC). |
undefined|----|----|----|
| Deduplication | Avoid this feature | Deduplication requires a massive amount of RAM (around 5 GB per TB of stored data) and is generally not recommended for home users. |
undefined|----|----|----|

Key Considerations

  • ECC Memory is Strongly Recommended: TrueNAS and the ZFS file system are designed to protect data integrity, and using Error-Correcting Code (ECC) memory is a crucial part of this protection.

  • ZFS Uses All Available RAM: ZFS will use as much RAM as you can provide for its cache (ARC), which drastically improves performance by reducing the need to access the slower spinning hard drives. Unused RAM is essentially wasted RAM in a TrueNAS system.

  • The 1 GB per TB Rule: This is an old general guideline and a good starting point, but it’s not a hard-and-fast rule, especially at higher storage capacities. For your 56 TB raw capacity, you would technically be at 56 GB based on that rule, but 32 GB is often adequate for home use and offers significant performance benefits over the minimum.

Based on the AI result, seems like you are under estimating how much ram you need. You need more. 32gb seems to be the safe bet, which is what i use for myself.

However, it’s the worst time to be buying ram right now, but if you then what to do

If you want to go noctua fans for case fans, they are indeed good performers and can also do well even at low rpm. However, expect to pay their premium price for a premium product.

If however you want bang for buck, i suggest you look artic fans that are quite good for the price. This is what i bought for my own truenas rack case. The one you want is dual ball bearing rated for 24/7 for specs. Make sure the size matches what fits in your case.

another thing to consider, for the motherboard, do you need ipmi? or not? ipmi is mostly for the remote access management.

or an alternative is something like jetkvm

for myself, i got neither of these things. Instead i used a LONG hdmi cable that just barely reaches my truenas server (yes my server is next to my desktop. it’s my bling :rofl: ), toggle display so it shows the truenas server. I did this for when initially setting up truenas by flashing the truenas OS from usb stick to install onto the ssd. And also when i am diagnosing truenas to confirm the current ip if am not sure. But other than those scenarios, i don’t typically need to do that, so the cable is left unplugged unless needed.

So just imagine if your situation where your truenas is not close to a monitor, then your choices are, IPMI, jetkvm (or similar), or drag a monitor closest to the truenas and hook the hdmi cable. So which suits you? you best plan for this.

if IPMI is a must, then that narrows your motherboard choices to something that has ipmi. but even without ipmi, you can go with jetkvm which gives you the same functionality more or less, so you can check truenas backend screen from your LAN or even remotely.

as for PSU dust filters that i don’t know. But be careful when cleaning because even when powered off, there may be electricity in there. The most i did was use a dust blower. i also use gloves so i don’t get shocked. so careful

For a TrueNAS system with 4 x 14TB Toshiba N300 Pro hard drives, you need a high-quality Power Supply Unit (PSU) with a capacity between 300W and 450W from a reputable brand, with an 80 Plus Gold or Platinum efficiency rating.

Power Calculation & Requirements

The primary consideration is not the total wattage, but the PSU’s efficiency at low loads and its ability to handle the startup current of multiple hard drives.

  • Hard Drive Power Consumption (Typical Operating): Each 14TB Toshiba N300 Pro consumes around 6.77 W during typical read/write operations and about 4.54 W at active idle. For four drives, this is roughly 27 W (operating) to 18 W (idle).

  • System Components: A low-power CPU, motherboard, and RAM typically consume around 40-60 W in total under load.

  • Peak Startup Power: The critical factor is the power surge when all drives spin up simultaneously. Each drive can peak at around 12W-20W during startup, meaning a potential combined startup load of 48W-80W just for the drives, in addition to the rest of the system.

A quality 300W-450W PSU from a reputable brand will easily handle this while remaining in a highly efficient operating range for a 24/7 NAS.

Recommended PSUs

Focus on reliability, efficiency, and stable power delivery over high wattage. Look for models from established brands that offer a good warranty (7+ years is a good indicator of quality).

  • Seasonic Focus GX-650

    : While a slightly higher wattage than strictly necessary, this fully modular unit is known for exceptional reliability, an 80 Plus Gold rating, and a long warranty, making it a solid, long-term investment for a 24/7 server.

  • Corsair RM Series (e.g.,

    RM450

    or

    RM550

    if available, or step up to RM650x): These are highly recommended for home servers due to their efficiency, low-load performance, and quiet operation (zero RPM fan mode at low loads).

  • Cooler Master MasterWatt Series

    : A good balance of price and performance, often cited as a reliable option for low-wattage systems.

Why Efficiency and Quality Matter

  • 24/7 Operation: A NAS runs continuously, so a power-efficient (Gold or Platinum rated) PSU will save you money on electricity over time.

  • Reliability: A quality PSU provides clean, stable power, which is vital for protecting your valuable data on the hard drives.

  • Low-load efficiency: Many PSUs are designed for peak PC loads (e.g., gaming PCs with powerful GPUs), but a NAS often idles at a very low wattage. Ensure you get a model that maintains good efficiency even at loads under 100W.

my vote goes for the Seasonic Focus GX-650. Found a review for their GX-750 :thinking: mostly because it has a 10 year warranty

https://seasonic.com/focus-gx/

the Corsair RM650x looks good as well.

There is no RM650x (ATX v3.1), providing a tremendous edge to the RM650e (ATX v3.1). There are not many 650W PSUs compatible with Intel’s newest ATX spec (and the PCIe CEM 5.1), so the competition is not fierce in this category. With its 12V-2×6 socket set at 300W max output, the RM650e can support the upcoming NVIDIA RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti models, which have 250W and 300W TDP, respectively.

1 Like
3

thanks for your reply mogglestiltzkin, sorry i wasn’t clear. the 4x14TB i would put in a Synology DS418play nas using their OS just as a quick and easy storage for the large bulk of bytes. It wouldn’t be a trueNAS. Access would just be 1 computer at a time.

The ‘silent’ system i’m trying to build would be a TrueNAS system using Samsung 990 Pro 4tb drives. I’m mostly interested if this would be a good thing to build or if the idea is fundamentally flawed. Thanks for all the hardware suggestions.

Good question about IPMI, absolutely not needed, the box would sit on a shelf next to me in my office and i have a monitor right next to it and a little usb keyboard.

I’m not sure if this a good reference point, but that’s all I have and my Current FreeNAS with 6x6TB and PlexServer has 16gb ram and i never had any performance issues with it. It’s connected to a single 1GB ethernet link so, that’s what got saturated.

thanks again for all the great info, any suggestions on MBoard and cpu?

1 Like
4

for amd i read that asrock is usually the go to if you need something that has working ecc support.

but the problem is, for AM5, asrock was in the news for having issues with the 9800X3D cpu.

But there is now newer info. Wendel could not find the issue. So the assumption here was, maybe there has been a motherboard revision that fixed the issue. I think he mentioned asrock went back to previous suppliers for the components or some such, and maybe that fixed something?

Anyway, how i built my own truenas server may not be ideal. others suggested i don’t over spent on the cpu and motherboard.

so what i got was something similar to a desktop pc build. for motherboard i went with a msi B650 tomahawk.

This is the case i got. rm41-h08 silverstone 4u

i put it inside this open floor rack which also contains my other networking equipment like 24 port switches, router and above a wifi ap

z1Gn2Gl
z1Gn2Gl684×793 182 KB

my build didn’t use ecc ram however.

my build log thread for this is here. it’s pretty long. along the way others posted suggestions. this was in 2024 so might be slightly outdated, but maybe you can get some ideas for yourself based on comments by others?

2 Likes
5

if u r going for a rack build, sliger looks good

they even have options to pre-add noctua fans for you if you want that add on. some of their cases even supported horizontal mounting for the graphic card (depending on the case model).

Only reason i didn’t go sliger, because it’s not available in my region.

I think open floor rack is nice, but maybe you want a desktop nas build using something like a jonbo?

i’m not a fan of desktop nas these days, but they are an option and a popular for homelabers. i rather just use rack mounting these days.

If you want to store something like a jonbo desktop nas type, then something like a big shelf would do. i use a big metal/wooden 5 wood shelf with no partitions to store a bunch of desktop NAS in a row (old nas i barely use other than for backup).

PS: the jonbo N5 drive insert looked crappy. not sure whether N6 fixed that. that was my main gripe with the N5.

6

you can read the work log for the other users comments. they would know better than me, especially for things like what works best for ECC and the bare minimum u need for a NAS without over spending like i did. Mine is more or less considered an overkill build for a NAS cause it crosses into desktop pc territory in terms of specs :sweat_smile:

7

rampocalypse :sob:

good thing i bought 2 kits of ram between this and last year DDR5 32gb (16gb x 2) for each. one for my truenas and another for desktop pc. so i narrowly dodged a bullet :rofl:

8

AsRock RACK. Not the same company (server) as AsRock (consumer).

2 Likes
9

oo i didnt know that. guess its ok then :thinking:

10

I have some homework cut out for myself :slight_smile: . Thanks for the links and all the information. Regarding other people’s builds, i struggle a little because my processing and bandwidth needs are far lower than other setups that I see, but I just want so much more storage capacity. Also, wanting a near silent NAS build with no HDDs is also slightly oddball build. Again, i have seen some, but they are on bigger cpu, nice NIC cards either 10GB or link aggregation, etc which isn’t something I need.
My Intel ATOM processor has done everything i need it to do and it’s passively cooled on my AsRock board. I do have Noctua fans in the case because of all the HDDs in it, but a passively cooled cpu is pretty rare now.
Do AMDs run warm compared to Intel? The last time I dealt with AMD was early 2000s if memory serves me right and that thing could double as a space heater.

So just to confirm 2 things, if you all know;

  1. in theory, 4 x 14TB in a Synology NAS (DS418play) should work, right? (Documentation states 14TB drives work and max array size is 108TB). But outside of that, is there something I’m forgetting?

2-A) Going with 4TB Samsung 990 Pro Nvme drives in a ZFS array, would a Z1 configuration be sufficient, or with SSDs you really want Z2?

2-B) Is the ZFS array very busy with the read and writes / scrubs if data is relatively static? Lets say I only have a few files that change weekly, does it shift around the array a lot during scrubs? What if I’m just mostly just reading files? I’m trying to best-guess my expected lifespan out of this setup. (plex reading files, and weekly backup of a few files, will i grind the SSDs after a couple of years, or 10 years is theoretically possible…)

2-C) For the O/S drive, any ole small SSD will do right? or is there something i should look for?

Thanks for answering my 2 little questions :slight_smile:
that’s how i do math for my budget on these things before showing the CFO (wife) for approval.

again, thank you for reading and all the information in those videos!

-Phil

Summary

This text will be hidden

11

Yeah, it is the opposite now. It has been a rough several generations for intel. This is coming from someone with both Intel & AMD CPUs in multiple systems from the last several gens. Currently I’m only buying Intel if it is a steep discount. Don’t get me started on 13 & 14th gen intel instability…

I was going to advise avoiding paying for this dual core 2gb ddr3 system - until I realized that you already own it. I don’t know if Synology has locked things down further than before - I’ve read about them removing features if you aren’t using the drives they want, so all I can do is refer you to their QLV:

Depends on your personal risk tolerance. When 1 drive is failed, replacing & resilvering will stress the rest of the drives & you’re most at risk until you have redundancy back up in raidz1. Z2 gives you some additional wiggle room. However this is mostly with HDDs that’d take a while to resilver, I’m not sure how relevant this is for nvme.

Scrubs would generally be read exclusive unless an issue is found & corrected. I don’t think you’d cause long term wear issues that are worth worrying about.

Anything functional will be fine - backup the config periodically. Treat your boot drive as a consumable. Restoring from a failed boot drive with a clean install & config import is MUCH more painless than it sounds; just don’t forget to make config backups periodically. It is magic how everything is quickly back to normal the first time you do it.

3 Likes
12

At this time, Intel made some very fine room heaters too…
Nowadays, Intel Core/Xeon E use insane power at max load but have low idle power. AMD Ryzen CPU have higher idle power but are more efficient under load; APUs have lower idle power—but then you need the PRO versions for ECC.

SSDs resilver much faster than HDDs, and have lower URE rates so, in theory, “RAID5 is not dead” for them. The risk, however, is multiple simultaneous failures—and SSDs can fail without warning.
Note that NVMe drives will need PCIe lanes, or a PCIe switch. SATA SSDs, although they have not much of a future and are not cheaper than NVMe, may still have benefits for capacity.

Xeon D-1500, Atom C3000, and maybe even some ‘T’/‘GE’ socketed CPUs may be passively cooled… with a lot ot airflow in the case. Better put a small quiet fan on their heatsink anyway.

2 Likes