I'm after some technical assistance having dug around a lot of posts here .
A bit of background driving my interests in Xpenology...
I currently use a DS1813+ 8 bay NAS and am looking at shifting from 1GBe to 10GBe networking for my main file transfers. I do not do VM work or run a lot of other stuff on my NAS - it will be for file storage and backup/serving files.
I use SSD's for storage and as scratch disks in my PC (useful info in terms of bottlenecks).
I don't use link aggregation as I am predominantly using a single target. I was hoping for SMB Multichannel (SMBMC) to become more mainstream and even though it can be enabled in the latest DSM beta it seems Microsoft has neutered it in Windows 10 by killing off teaming in all but enterprise editions (Intels NIC software will allow it properly again but that's still being worked on).
I've found very little info on how this will play out so I'm examining a 10GBe link as part of my next NAS upgrade.
There is no reasonably costed 8 Bay in Synology's lineup that allows 10GBe and supports BTRFS (the only unit is also EOL).
I decided to look at Xpenology as I like DSM and thought it would be a robust and less of an admin overhead than running freenas or other server OS.
Given that the nearest options with Synology sell for about $3.5k Australian I don't mind paying a bit for hardware - I am just quite stumped as to what hardware I should be going after. I've done a lot of reading but knowing the ins and outs of different models isn't easy.
So.... if I lay out some requirements I would hope people can offer advice?
1. RAM - I'm looking at ECC to reduce the risk of introduced errors. (I mention this up front as it influences mb and cpu choices).... I see a lot of discussion of relative merit but have not seen a lot with regard to BTRFS and ECC.
2. CPU - if it's ECC RAM must the CPU be a Xeon? (Intel for best compatibility with future DSM upgrades?) A low power choice and something that has enough grunt to push decent data rates across 10GBe to/from my PC (I'll use mech drives in NAS, SSD in local PC).
3. Motherboard.
Needs sufficient SATA ports or at least 2 PCIE slots for 10GBe card and an HBA for the extra SATA connections. Cheap but reliable option.
It has 10 SATA 3 ports onboard plus an m.2 (not sure how I can store the DSM package for boot etc... even after reading around here )
Also has PCI-e 3.0 for 10GBe card, and SATA HBA if I wantto expand further later on.
4. SATA HBA - depending on motherboard I may need one. Looking for availability of reliable option and availability if replacement were needed.
5. Case: initially looking at Hot swap drives but that's likely not essential if I number everything and setup my connections in sequence (so I Can find the drive to swap out etc). I don't really have room for a rack mount.
Mid tower or smaller case - I have been looking for one I could put 2 by ICY box 5 bay (3x 5.25" ) into or 3 of the 3bay ones (2x5.25"). I'd likely put feet on the side and lay the case down.
Alternatively one I can just install 10-12 drives in internally would be ok.
I found a sharkoon ages ago but it seems to be unavailable now.
Simple and cheap. smaller the better .
6. PSU: standard ATX of 400W would be fine for my size needs?
7. 10GBe card - Intel X540 (RJ45) dual NIC. (need 2 cards - one for PC and one for NAS). Aim is to have direct connection with no switch and continue running my existing 1GBe LAN for internet, 1GBe links of laptop etc to NAS. This is feasible yes? I'd prefer to avoid purchasing a 10GBe switch at this point .
8. Disks: Likely to continue running 4TB in RAID 6. Cost for drives is ok and will come down as I need to expand more. DUal disk redundancy gives me some protection in case of URE on rebuild. I have a backup anyway that I will be taking of the NAS data (it's just a PITA to copy and rebuild again vs replacing a disk). I did consider RAID 10 but I want an expandable array. I'd rather a seperate backup target than that anyway really in case of hardware failure other than the disk.
Have I missed anything? Given my overall goal of REliability and simplicity I'd be looking for hardware that is 100% compatible with the mainstream build of Xpenology.
Question
mgrobins
Hi,
I'm after some technical assistance having dug around a lot of posts here .
A bit of background driving my interests in Xpenology...
I currently use a DS1813+ 8 bay NAS and am looking at shifting from 1GBe to 10GBe networking for my main file transfers. I do not do VM work or run a lot of other stuff on my NAS - it will be for file storage and backup/serving files.
I use SSD's for storage and as scratch disks in my PC (useful info in terms of bottlenecks).
I don't use link aggregation as I am predominantly using a single target. I was hoping for SMB Multichannel (SMBMC) to become more mainstream and even though it can be enabled in the latest DSM beta it seems Microsoft has neutered it in Windows 10 by killing off teaming in all but enterprise editions (Intels NIC software will allow it properly again but that's still being worked on).
I've found very little info on how this will play out so I'm examining a 10GBe link as part of my next NAS upgrade.
There is no reasonably costed 8 Bay in Synology's lineup that allows 10GBe and supports BTRFS (the only unit is also EOL).
I decided to look at Xpenology as I like DSM and thought it would be a robust and less of an admin overhead than running freenas or other server OS.
Given that the nearest options with Synology sell for about $3.5k Australian I don't mind paying a bit for hardware - I am just quite stumped as to what hardware I should be going after. I've done a lot of reading but knowing the ins and outs of different models isn't easy.
So.... if I lay out some requirements I would hope people can offer advice?
1. RAM - I'm looking at ECC to reduce the risk of introduced errors. (I mention this up front as it influences mb and cpu choices).... I see a lot of discussion of relative merit but have not seen a lot with regard to BTRFS and ECC.
2. CPU - if it's ECC RAM must the CPU be a Xeon? (Intel for best compatibility with future DSM upgrades?) A low power choice and something that has enough grunt to push decent data rates across 10GBe to/from my PC (I'll use mech drives in NAS, SSD in local PC).
3. Motherboard.
Needs sufficient SATA ports or at least 2 PCIE slots for 10GBe card and an HBA for the extra SATA connections. Cheap but reliable option.
I did see this one - ASROCK X99 - Extreme3 http://www.umart.com.au/newsite/goods.php?id=29070
It has 10 SATA 3 ports onboard plus an m.2 (not sure how I can store the DSM package for boot etc... even after reading around here )
Also has PCI-e 3.0 for 10GBe card, and SATA HBA if I wantto expand further later on.
4. SATA HBA - depending on motherboard I may need one. Looking for availability of reliable option and availability if replacement were needed.
5. Case: initially looking at Hot swap drives but that's likely not essential if I number everything and setup my connections in sequence (so I Can find the drive to swap out etc). I don't really have room for a rack mount.
Mid tower or smaller case - I have been looking for one I could put 2 by ICY box 5 bay (3x 5.25" ) into or 3 of the 3bay ones (2x5.25"). I'd likely put feet on the side and lay the case down.
Alternatively one I can just install 10-12 drives in internally would be ok.
I found a sharkoon ages ago but it seems to be unavailable now.
Simple and cheap. smaller the better .
6. PSU: standard ATX of 400W would be fine for my size needs?
7. 10GBe card - Intel X540 (RJ45) dual NIC. (need 2 cards - one for PC and one for NAS). Aim is to have direct connection with no switch and continue running my existing 1GBe LAN for internet, 1GBe links of laptop etc to NAS. This is feasible yes? I'd prefer to avoid purchasing a 10GBe switch at this point .
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Intel-X5 ... SwiONYNP-9
8. Disks: Likely to continue running 4TB in RAID 6. Cost for drives is ok and will come down as I need to expand more. DUal disk redundancy gives me some protection in case of URE on rebuild. I have a backup anyway that I will be taking of the NAS data (it's just a PITA to copy and rebuild again vs replacing a disk). I did consider RAID 10 but I want an expandable array. I'd rather a seperate backup target than that anyway really in case of hardware failure other than the disk.
Have I missed anything? Given my overall goal of REliability and simplicity I'd be looking for hardware that is 100% compatible with the mainstream build of Xpenology.
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