Supermicro X7SPA-HF build

[lior.amsalem]

Hi all,
I've ordered all the parts for my next home NAS build and I'd like share and ask some Q's/ share some thoughts.
Currently I own HP media vault running debian with 2 disks. (one 500GB and one 1.5GB)
Till now, decided go go with ATOM based build. I've ordered the following:
Case: Chenbro ES34169 (120W PSU), 4 BAY Hot Swap.
MoBo: Supermicro X7SPA-HF i choose it because I likes the D510 CPU, the 6xSATA (ICH9R) and the IMPI control.
DRAM: 2GB HYNIX SODIMM 667Mhz - only because it's recommended on SM site.
Still not sure and would like some advices on the following:
OS HDD: 1XSSD for OS only 2.5 inch drive. (Intel 40GB SSD?)
DATA HDDs: 4x1.5TB (cost/size related decision) - still not sure which one to get:
1. Samsung F2
2. Samsung F3
3. WD?

which os to use? for sure it's not going to be a windows server cause i'm a linux guy.
currently trying to decide between the two:
1. Ubuntu server w/Raid5 and ext4/xfs
2. freenas w/ZFS

As for performance, I'm hoping to get something like 65MB/s (or more if possible).

I'll appreciate any help.
Be sure I'll publish some benchmarks and a review when done/ while experimenting with the build.

Thanks in advance,
Lior

 

[00Roush]

Straight up I will tell you that you will probably not see really high performance from FreeNAS with ZFS. Of course this is just based on my limited amount of testing. Using the built in file system (UFS) I have had very good performance with FreeNAS (90+ MB/sec) but not so much with ZFS. I haven't really tested it out in a while though.

For the data drives my recommendation is to go with the fastest versions you can if you are wanting better performance. In your case I would probably go with the Samsung F3's as they have very good performance and are priced well. As for the OS drive an SDD would probably be overkill but it really depends on what you plan on running. For a simple file server chances are you would not see a difference between a cheap 2.5" HDD and a SDD once the system has loaded up. Just my opinion though.

So far I have not really seen much data on the performance of a DIY Atom setup. The Atom based NAS units for sale seem to have good performance but so far I have not seen much info about a DIY Atom setup that is capable of 70 MB/sec+ read/write speeds. So I am interested to see how the build turns out for you.

00Roush

 

[lior.amsalem]

Hi,
a little update.
Got all the HW yesterday, doubled the DRAM and now I got 4GB RAM.
I've decided to go with 4 x Samsung F2 1.5GB drives, got them yesterday.
I've also got an Intel 40GB x-25m SSD for L2ARC. (hope to get some more performance using the L2ARC)
Decided to go with FreeBSD, and it'll be running of a patriot XT Rage 8GB USB.

 

[tropmonky]

I'd skip the SSD, it's simply not needed. I'd go with FreeNAS, much easier to setup than any vanilla Linux setup. The HD's, Samsung's are awesome, and the F3's are great, thought I doubt you'd see any diff between the two drives in this setup.

I'd try the new FreeNAS 8Beta, and I'd load the OS on a mini usb stick. Remember, you don't need any more than 1GB to load the OS.

I currently have a DIY FreeNAS box serving up iSCSI in my VMware environment.

 

[UrbanVoyeur]

I'm using the same board, with 4GB RAM, and with FreeNAS ZFS and a LSI SAS3081E-R board. The OS in on mirrored Kingston 16 GB SSD - way more space than needed but they were dirt cheap on sale, and leave space in case I want to change OS's, and sip power. The SSD's for the OS add nothing to performance. I got essentially the same performance from a 1 GB CF card.

FreeNAS 8 is much faster than 7, but it is still under heavy development.

But my goal is not absolute speed, but high density storage and very low power consumption.

 

[spooky667]

Hello. I have the exact same dilemma you had when you started this thread. Could you post some performance benchmarks please and thanks!

 

[Jesse B]

I'd skip the SSD, it's simply not needed.

He's using the SSD as an L2ARC caching device, which *should* improve performance quite considerably.

I'd go with FreeNAS, much easier to setup than any vanilla Linux setup.

FreeNAS is great and easy to set up, but FreeBSD and any Linux distro really isn't all that difficult. I find most of the stuff is just common sense. There's also numerous guides online. FreeNAS is based off FreeBSD anyways