New build : Intel or AMD, hardware transcoding, Nas case and LinusTech video

[adenisot]

Hi Everyone

 

I have been renting a dedicated server in a data center for almost 8 years with ESXi and my Xpenology inside, did a couple of migrations from different datacenters during those 8 years, it was an amazing setup, I never lost any data and it was the fastest Synology I ever had. My official Synology at home has almost 10 years now and DSM is quite slow.  But now I want to build a new bare-metal Xpenology !! 

 

It started because of THIS video from Linustech : https://youtu.be/boKmZKTKXHc?t=34  and makes me obsessed to make a new "sexy build" with, I hope, the latest CPU to keep this setup for a long time. So a few questions came to my mind and I already did some research but the answers are not so satisfying, mostly in terms of choice for new hardware. So I am asking your experience if you have some tips to go on the good track. 

 

For the hardware, I am hesitating between intel or AMD, but when I read the compatibility with the gen 11 from intel, look like there is some problem and if I want to enjoy the Dual M2 slot on the mini-itx MB I have to use gen 11th to unlock the second M2 slot which is not the case with AMD, the 2 x M.2 slot are accessible with all CPU. There is the two configs I am hesitating : 

 

AMD
Asus ROG STRIX B550-I or GIGABYTE MOTHERBOARD B550I AORUS PRO
Ryzen 5 5600G (has a gpu for the hardware transcoding)
16gb ram ddr4 (ECC if possible)
4 or 5 HDD 8tb in raid
Case JONSBO N1 (I really love this one)
M.2 SSD cache (maybe minimum 128gb)
M.2 sata port extension

 

Or 

 

Intel  
ASUS ROG STRIX B560-I GAMING (or ASUS ROG STRIX Z590-I GAMING but a bit expensive)
Proc :  any 11th gen that you recommend
12 gb ram (ECC if possible)
Same case, M2  and HDD of the AMD config

 

Do you have any recommendations on which configuration to choose? and do you have experience with hardware transcoding on some similar setup? 
I want to go as much as possible on the bare-metal solution to enjoy the cache SSD but any advice on the ESXI part is welcome  

 

thank you for your time guys. 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by adenisot

[IG-88]

On 3/15/2022 at 8:41 AM, adenisot said:

Ryzen 5 5600G (has a gpu for the hardware transcoding)

thats not going to work with syno's dsm

you would need intel iGPU with quick sync video support and a older cpu too as the driver syno is using is from 12/2017

you dont need syno's own videostation then nvidia might be possible

you should read more about the limts of dsm as we are bound to the kernel they use

also watch out for the onboard nic, you cant use a 2.5G intel chip as it only has drivers for linux 5.x and dsm is based on kernel 4.4, itel does not provide source for the driver igc as with other drivers (like igb) - realtek 2.5G nic would be fine or any 10G nic (most newer chips support 2.5G/5G too)

dsm is not a normal linux, its a appliance and comes with "outdated" kernels, there might be some movement to kernel 5.x in 2023 or 2024 but there is no guarantee when they will adopt that

if you dont like true nas as in the video maybe open media vault is more like your thing?

 

taking and hardware build like you did might lead you into a lot of things you cant do or extra investments or loss of expand ability by pcie slot

maybe define the things you need and ask if the projected hardware will do what you want

if you look for hardware transcoding then intel 10th gen lower tier cpu might be the newest you could use now, you can find some into about that herehttps://xpenology.com/forum/topic/28321-driver-extension-jun-103b104b-for-dsm623-for-918-3615xs-3617xs/

-> positive feedback for a i5-9400, i5-9600K, i9-9900T (8086:3E98) to fully working
-> positive feedback for a G6400 (8086:9BA8) to have /dev/dri
-> one user positive feedback for a i5-10600T (8086:9BC8) to fully working with plex
-> one user negative feedback for a i5-10500 (8086:9BC8) to get /dev/dri devices but no transcoding with emby
-> one user negative feedback for a i9-10900 (8086:9BC5) system does not boot anymore - seems to be a solid hands off?

you might also look in search engines or here in the forum about positive feedabck about 10th gen cpu's

i have not seen any 11th gen working so far (any Xe will not work for sure, only UHDxxx might work)

 

also when choosing a cpu keep in mind that 918+/920+ you would have to use will only support up to 8 cpu threads so its 8 cores without HT or 4 cores with HT

(you might need to disable HT for best use of the cpu in some cases)

as you can see its most important to plan carefully if you dont know about all the limits

 

On 3/15/2022 at 8:41 AM, adenisot said:

the bare-metal solution to enjoy the cache SSD

guess what, there are limits to that too, nvme is only usable as cache and for write cache you would need two nvme ssd's

maybe esxi is the better choice if you want a versatile system that can use all the hardware, but you might still be bound to intel 10th gen if you want to use syno'sown transcoding

 

edit: i usually sugegst to forget about mini-itx when it comes to expand ability micoATX or ATX can offer way more pci slots and also onboard sata ports

i want my nas to reliable, quiet, good cooled and fast, cool looking comes last

Edited March 24, 2022 by IG-88

[wifi75]

On 3/24/2022 at 8:01 PM, IG-88 said:

thats not going to work with syno's dsm

you would need intel iGPU with quick sync video support and a older cpu too as the driver syno is using is from 12/2017

you dont need syno's own videostation then nvidia might be possible

you should read more about the limts of dsm as we are bound to the kernel they use

also watch out for the onboard nic, you cant use a 2.5G intel chip as it only has drivers for linux 5.x and dsm is based on kernel 4.4, itel does not provide source for the driver igc as with other drivers (like igb) - realtek 2.5G nic would be fine or any 10G nic (most newer chips support 2.5G/5G too)

dsm is not a normal linux, its a appliance and comes with "outdated" kernels, there might be some movement to kernel 5.x in 2023 or 2024 but there is no guarantee when they will adopt that

if you dont like true nas as in the video maybe open media vault is more like your thing?

 

taking and hardware build like you did might lead you into a lot of things you cant do or extra investments or loss of expand ability by pcie slot

maybe define the things you need and ask if the projected hardware will do what you want

if you look for hardware transcoding then intel 10th gen lower tier cpu might be the newest you could use now, you can find some into about that herehttps://xpenology.com/forum/topic/28321-driver-extension-jun-103b104b-for-dsm623-for-918-3615xs-3617xs/

-> positive feedback for a i5-9400, i5-9600K, i9-9900T (8086:3E98) to fully working
-> positive feedback for a G6400 (8086:9BA8) to have /dev/dri
-> one user positive feedback for a i5-10600T (8086:9BC8) to fully working with plex
-> one user negative feedback for a i5-10500 (8086:9BC8) to get /dev/dri devices but no transcoding with emby
-> one user negative feedback for a i9-10900 (8086:9BC5) system does not boot anymore - seems to be a solid hands off?

you might also look in search engines or here in the forum about positive feedabck about 10th gen cpu's

i have not seen any 11th gen working so far (any Xe will not work for sure, only UHDxxx might work)

 

also when choosing a cpu keep in mind that 918+/920+ you would have to use will only support up to 8 cpu threads so its 8 cores without HT or 4 cores with HT

(you might need to disable HT for best use of the cpu in some cases)

as you can see its most important to plan carefully if you dont know about all the limits

 

guess what, there are limits to that too, nvme is only usable as cache and for write cache you would need two nvme ssd's

maybe esxi is the better choice if you want a versatile system that can use all the hardware, but you might still be bound to intel 10th gen if you want to use syno'sown transcoding

 

edit: i usually sugegst to forget about mini-itx when it comes to expand ability micoATX or ATX can offer way more pci slots and also onboard sata ports

i want my nas to reliable, quiet, good cooled and fast, cool looking comes last

 

 

hello I connect to this topic, I would like to assemble a new nas baremetal, I would like to install an amd ryzen 5600g cpu, I am not interested in transcoding.
do you think it is compatible with dsm 7.1?
where can i find the list of compatible cpu?

[wifi75]

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Edited September 2, 2022 by wifi75