Examples of a mini-ITX FreeNAS build?

[djangofan]

Does anyone recommend doing a mini-ITX FreeNAS build? I don't care as much about eSATA/USB3 performance as much as I do LAN performance. The build I am considering is below but I am wondering what other people would recommend? Also, does anyone have any advice on this form factor? I hoping for a LAN throughput of at least 200-600 Mbps (rather than USB speeds of 3-30Mbps).

APEX MI-100BK $55 250W
Intel® Mini-ITX Desktop Board DH67CF 65W $120
http://ark.intel.com/products/50092/Intel-Desktop-Board-DH67CF
- Onboard VGA, 1 eSATA, 4 SATA, 1000GB/LAN, Audio, DVI out
Core i3-540 $99
4GB DDR-1333 Corsair XMS3 $46


Total price: $325

 

[stevech]

I did it - with an Intel mini-ITX, Atom CPU.

I spent some hours with FeeNAS and decided it was not what I wanted - I'm a techie but FreeNAS seemed to be designed for a full time DB or IT user and not someone (home user) who will fool with it at first but then wants it to become an appliance.

I don't recommend the Atom CPUs - too slow versus (what I have now), AMD E350 dual core - my current mini-ITX uses Gigabit motherboard. It is quite fast, running Win 7 and 1080 HD. File I/O is super low CPU loading.

 

[patchseven]

Intel® Mini-ITX Desktop Board DH67CF 65W $120

Core i3-540 $99

Those two items are not compatible. You need a sandy bridge i3 processor to fit on that motherboard.

Something like an i3-2100 would work well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078

or a sandy bridge pentium dual core chip would offer similar performance for half the price.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116399&Tpk=g620

 

[Hydaral]

I don't recommend the Atom CPUs - too slow versus (what I have now), AMD E350 dual core - my current mini-ITX uses Gigabit motherboard. It is quite fast, running Win 7 and 1080 HD. File I/O is super low CPU loading.

This really does depend on what you are doing with it, I'm running a D525 Atom and I have never seen it over 25% running NexentaStor, might be more with FreeNAS, but if you just using it as a NAS then an Atom should be fine.

 

[stevech]

yes--- the nice GUIs in QNAP/Synology and extra services, if used, do consume CPU power!
But having been down the Intel Atom road, then to AMD E350, I think the latter provides more headroom in CPU speed, and mine supports eSATA and USB3.

 

[calgarychris]

Does anyone recommend doing a mini-ITX FreeNAS build? I don't care as much about eSATA/USB3 performance as much as I do LAN performance. The build I am considering is below but I am wondering what other people would recommend? Also, does anyone have any advice on this form factor? I hoping for a LAN throughput of at least 200-600 Mbps (rather than USB speeds of 3-30Mbps).

APEX MI-100BK $55 250W
Intel® Mini-ITX Desktop Board DH67CF 65W $120
http://ark.intel.com/products/50092/Intel-Desktop-Board-DH67CF
- Onboard VGA, 1 eSATA, 4 SATA, 1000GB/LAN, Audio, DVI out
Core i3-540 $99
4GB DDR-1333 Corsair XMS3 $46


Total price: $325

I went with the AMD-E35M1-I Deluxe with 8Gb of RAM on FreeNAS. I don't get anywhere near the throughput you're looking for though - I'm getting somewhere around 80R 60W but then I haven't tweaked it. I liked the small form factor, passive cooling (although I opted to put very quiet fans in the box) and 5 SATA...

 

[GregN]

I went with the AMD-E35M1-I Deluxe with 8Gb of RAM on FreeNAS. I don't get anywhere near the throughput you're looking for though - I'm getting somewhere around 80R 60W but then I haven't tweaked it. I liked the small form factor, passive cooling (although I opted to put very quiet fans in the box) and 5 SATA...

I'm a big fan of the Supermicro D525 MB.

Though VIA has introduced a set of low powered quad core EP1A boards that look interesting: VIA Intros "World's First" Quad-Core Mini-ITX Boards


Sandy Bridge Mini-ITX boards have the advantage of being upgradable, but more expensive. It is probably worth it, given how storage demands are going.