# hardware advice



## pcohen (Jun 16, 2011)

Hi,

I am new to the forum and also to FreeBSD (some experience with Linux though), so sorry if this post is in the wrong place and in that case please help me to target the right forum.

A few days ago, I decided that finally I would like to set up a NAS at home. My two main requirements were that it would use ZFS and also be based on a free distribution. I was not able to find something satisfactory (or affordable) thus I decided I could build it by myself. In that case, I decided I could extend a bit the "basic" service of a NAS to have more a kind of home server whose main purpose would be data storage and protection. But my aim is also to be able to embed a basic WebServer and some basic services like WordPress. Let's add some small DB (Postgres) or a git server.

My goal is mainly to store private data (pictures or music) but I think it would be a bit overkill to have two servers for a home usage. I would like to have an SSD on which I deploy a FreeBSD with dedicated services and 3 HDDs of 1TB based on ZFS with RAIDZ. Initially I wanted to use FreeNAS but based on my readings, I think that I could not get the flexibility I would like to have and FreeBSD looks like a very good solution in order to have flexibility, free software and ZFS.

So here is the kind of server I would like to build. Could you give me your advice? (Sorry links are in French but that should not bother too much).

Box: 
Chenbro ES34169 - 120W
http://www.materiel.net/mini-boitier-pc/chenbro-es34169-120w-55347.html

CPU:
Intel Core i3 2100T 
http://www.materiel.net/processeur-socket-1155/intel-core-i3-2100t-64484.html

MotherBoard:
Asus P8H67-I DELUXE (RÃ©vision B3)
http://www.materiel.net/carte-mere-mini-itx/asus-p8h67-i-deluxe-revision-b3-65953.html

SDD
Crucial M4 64 Go SATA Revision 3.0
http://www.materiel.net/disque-ssd/crucial-m4-64-go-sata-revision-3-0-67142.html

HDD x3
http://www.materiel.net/disque-dur-...ital-caviar-green-s-ata-1-to-64-mo-53069.html
Western Digital Caviar Green S-ATA - 1 To - 64 Mo

Memory ideally 8GB, but is 4GB enough?

My goal was also as I plan to have this server up and running to reduce as much as possible power usage.

Thanks in advance for your advice.
Best Regards.


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## wblock@ (Jun 16, 2011)

The case has a nice look.  It's small inside, particularly for three hard drives.  Use plenty of fans, and tie the cables into bundles so they don't restrict airflow.

CPU is fine AFAIK.

Can't tell what wireless chipset the P8H67 motherboard includes; no way to tell if FreeBSD drivers are available.

Probably won't be running X, so Intel onboard video doesn't matter.

Caviar Green drives don't have the best reputation, but I think it's more on lack of performance than reliability.


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## pcohen (Jun 17, 2011)

Hi and thanks for your answer.



			
				wblock said:
			
		

> Can't tell what wireless chipset the P8H67 motherboard includes; no way to tell if FreeBSD drivers are available.



Honestly that is not my main concern, maybe I can search if there is a similar version without WiFi. Anyway if WiFi works I am fine otherwise I can live without.



			
				wblock said:
			
		

> Probably won't be running X, so Intel onboard video doesn't matter



That is definitely out of scope. Again if it works, I won't complain but this is out of my "requirements"



			
				wblock said:
			
		

> Caviar Green drives don't have the best reputation, but I think it's more on lack of performance than reliability.



That is the key point. Initially I started with 7200rpm (Hitachi for example) but then I was wondering if slower disks would not be enough. It will reduce power consumption, heat and certainly noise. The question remains on the tradeoff on the performance lost.

My goal will be mainly storing pictures and sometimes reading. I would say I will spend 60/70% of the time writing data (and in that case performance is definitely not a concern). Rest of the time, I will access these pictures or music to view/play them. It will not be highly intensive but I would like to have reasonable performances (I think anyway that the main constraint will be probably more my network than disk speed).

Thanks for advice.

Regards.


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