Need assistance and advice with NFS Server

[sgt-mike]

*** Now if you went with 5th Gen Intel i7-5970K for $30:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/16647090764...RoCclMQAvD_BwE

Then thing open up with that socket LGA-2011-v3 motherboard:
Also DDR3 but... supports up to 64GB RAM, and all the PCIe slots should all be gen 3 (mostly)....

This is the best choice I found:
SuperMicro:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/29599874230...BoCpCgQAvD_BwE
Spec's: https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki...-F_Motherboard
Pros: 2x PCI-E 3.0 x8 (in x16) slots, 2x PCI-E 3.0 x8 (in x8) slots, 2x PCI-E 3.0 x4 (in x8) slots, 1x PCI-E 2.0 x4 (in x8) slot. 64 GB non-ECC RAM. 6x SATA3 ports, 2x SATA2 ports.

Dug a little deeper into this board before fully committing although it's the correct socket doesn't support the i7, but supports the Xeon E5-1600 or the Xeon E5-2600 (4-8 cores)
Not sure how the Xeon stack up against the i7-4790K, i7-5970K, or i7-6700K .

I have heard of the Xeon's but honestly don't know if for my purpose would this beat the i7's or stick with the i7 idea

[MAFoElffen]

I would stay with that i7-5930K. That is late 5th Gen Haswell-e, socket LGA2011-r3. Which yes, that socley also supports Xeon. Lets see, chipset X99...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/39509139141...TAEP2YHXZ7CX5A
Specs look good: https://motherboarddb.com/motherboards/1647/X99-A%20II/

If you did go with a Xeon 2600 series CPU... This board:
https://www.amazon.com/MACHINIST-Mot...1EALw_wcB&th=1
This look like it is has 2 M.2 slots, which one is PCIe and the other SATA. The M.2 SATA, you could use M.2 to 6x SATA, which would then give you 6 more SATA ports... But you would have to check the manual to ensure using that port didn't disable any of the onboard SATA ports. That is a thing sometimes. That board also uses DDR4 memory.

Then back to X99 boards...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/18630139626...4aAm0IEALw_wcB

[sgt-mike]

OK, then LOL....... kinda what I thought on the 5th Gen i7 vs the Xeon 2600 series.

In my searches found a real good deal (auction) on a Intel Xeon E-2697 v2 Dell T7610 that supports two CPU's, of course ships with just one cpu and 48 GB ram. But propriety out the tail end I could go on about the cons 1 external 5.25 drive bay limited drive bays, In my mind wasn't worth the effort. What got me to find it was that sometimes it was actually cheaper to get the CPU (4th to 8th gen) with a old Dell motherboard.

80ish dollars on a Motherboard doesn't blow the budget. Nice find on the board.

[sgt-mike]

been deeply researching the processor you mentioned and it really stands out 6 cores....
Looking over the Motherboards I noticed none have onboard video. This caused me to ponder something.
I understand that I can utilize a GPU in a headless server and configure it to actually engage.
The question is does the GPU actually assist in processing Files in a NAS/NFS setup? I can see where the GPU could really help a media server.





Update on progress
Did Locate a 1000Watt PSU
https://www.ebay.com/itm/14565896543...&segname=12061

Did find the same case you pointed out for less on the shipping.
Had a CPU / Motherboard on a buy now (vendor had 2) , and before I could click on the buy somebody else snatched both....

[MAFoElffen]

You still need a GPU of some type, even in headless. <-- Some Motherboards that will work headless. Others, if the POST looks for a video source, it stops at a fatal order if it doesn't see one. So I would say, yes, but not always true.

With 5th Gen Intel boards, since they usually have a legacy PCI port there, I would throw in a cheap VGA PCI card so it had something to find. But with i7-xxxx-K, the "K" say it has in-chip iGPU... Are yo referring to Xeon Chips?

I have a DELL T720, with dual Xeons. The board has an onboard GPU. That also has 18 2.5" SAS hot-swap bays. If you are talking about the complete system... Go for it. But if for just the mtoherboard... That board will not fit in an aftermarket case. The form-factor and cabling is proprietary to Dell PE.

[sgt-mike]

I've pretty much given up on the Xeon processors only basically because I don't know enough about them, and been going the route of i7-5930K or later gen. in my search, and the processors I'm looking at, all have CPU graphics support. Even if the main board doesn't have onboard video card. I know that some sort of video is needed even in headless be it a onboard chipset or add on card.

The question I have is not relating to anything but does the GPU such as a Geforce dedicated GPU with processor giving a advantage over a standard Video card be it onboard or added. And if so how much is the advantage (like is it worth the added cost of the GPU).

I'm not wording my response to my question clearly. Let me try in another way.

OK in a media server I can see where a added Geforce GPU (or a radeon insert any brand, think gamer's version here) with a internal cpu & dedicated ram, will it greatly enhance the server with encoding / decoding files to play to the tv (I'm aware that that can be disabled and just serve files, I have mine decoding to the TV).

Now in just serving files role such as a NAS/NFS server does. Will adding a GPU with dedicated cpu / ram aid in the process of serving files enough to justify the cost? versus just a plain onboard video or cheap add-on card using the Main CPU (think i7-4790K as a baseline).

Now with that said even though I used the i7-4790K as a question I'll be looking for a more capable processor such as the i7-5930K or better in the build. Just have not located the cpu/motherboard at the price point I want to pay...... yet.

I did order that case you pointed out in your post, although different supplier I got it for basically what that guy wanted for shipping so that was a win / cost savings. as well as a 1000 watt PSU to sit in there.

[MAFoElffen]

I use Plex Server for my media server. I have an NVidia GTX 1650ti in mine. Along with another slot for my storage controller. My son and others here have moved from Plex to JellyFin. I would consider that GPU as mid-range, and doesn't break the bank. It does what it needs to do.

Along the lines of your question, from Plex: https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250347-transcoder/

Same for JellyFin: https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/ad...-acceleration/

So yes, it helps.

But be aware, that for a NAS for a media Server, then you need at least 2x PCIe x16 slots. One for a GPU and One for a HBA disk storage controller, so you add many drives.

Just saying, keep that in mind.

Or just have the NFS shares hosted there, and the Media Server running on another machine with a good GPU (another option).

Mine is on my Workstation, which is dual-boot... Where Plex Server comes up in both Ubuntu & in Windows. That way, whichever it is booted as, my wife can still have access to the media server. Have to keep her happy.

[sgt-mike]

Yes when I brought up the Media Server, mine it is it's own machine having it's own files / CPU / GPU / ram locally serving the TV only.

It was only for a comparison vs just serving files as two separate machine.

That is why I brought up the NAS/NFS machine and GPU question, which will be it's own machine dedicated to just that function a file server. It will catch the backup's (this is in addition to the backup's I have on external drives) from the media server, and other computers. I was wondering if a high speed GPU (by high speed GPU i mean any board that exceeds the normal onboard controller / just a vga card) actually helps a lot in just serving files. And is it's extra processing enough tradeoff to justify cost .So my take away is yes within reason from your response. That NVidia GTX 1650 is along the I was thinking of, if the main board I chose doesn't have a decent onboard controller, not overkill yet enough to aid in the machine's function.

The Pcie slot dilemma you mentioned is another reason that I asked the question, mentally I'm trying to look ahead At how many slots and what type will be needed.
While at the end having a empty slot or two.

The HBA's ... I was thinking 16 ports or higher each one (HBA Card) in addition to what the Main Board has. With plans to populate 2 slots at the least, yet leaving room (slot) to add a additional if needed.
2 HBA'a at 16 ports each will allow 4 - 2.5" 8 bay cages or 8 - 4 bay cages.

My vision of the NAS/NFS is not to run 24x7, but as needed, which means once I set it up I'll look at /into wake on lan function. Or just walk over to it and turn it on if that function is not supported before need /use.

[MAFoElffen]

Dang. I wrote you a post last night... With lots of links for 12 port LSI SAS HBA cards @ EBay. And don't see it now.

The best deal I found for you was this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20414862155...BoCsSsQAvD_BwE

It is PCIe x8 gen 3.0. The 4 port SAS cables usually run about $18 each. 4 x4 = 16. That card supports SAS/SATA.

On GPU for a files server. No doesn't matter. The onboard -GPU is fine. It's just a file server. For that matter, if you wanted to store your media files there is an NFS share, it will be fine. <-- Then your media server can cannect to the file, and it's GPU can help with decoding...

For a file server, your priorities are storage pools, disk I/O and network throughput... And the ability to add more and more storage as needed. Then the ability to manage that storage.

The types of disks depend on what they will be used for and the priority of the I/O, whether reads or writes, and how large 'the files' are.

HDD is good for mass media and backups... Though too slow a disk, and your backups will take longer. 20TB Recertified Enterprise HDD drives are cheap. Even if you look into Recert'ed "lots" of SAS drives...

There is this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/26416718817...RoC0uQQAvD_BwE

Just an example, but... Big investment outlay out-front. New 15K rpm SAS drives 20x 600GB = $1100. That comes out to $50 each. But that is only a little over 11 TB total.

This one is a lot of 10 new SAS 600GB drives which comes out to about $59 each:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/25453017628...86.c101224.m-1

This is a 5-pack of Factory Refurbished 20TB 7200k Enterprise SATA HDD's: https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Exos-...c&gad_source=1

That comes out to about 57 TB of usable storage in RAIDZ2. Refurb'ed 20TB enterprise drives run about $250 each. But you can find 12 TB refurb'ed Enterprise drives at NewEgg for $99 each...
https://www.newegg.com/seagate-exos-...BoCqpwQAvD_BwE

Be aware that the warranty on Seagate Factory Refurbished Exos X14 Enterprise drives is 2 years, compared to 3 years new.

You can find deals if you shop around. And with the hardware foundation more open, you have a lot more choices open to you with what you can do.

If ZFS RAIDZ2, I would start out at vdevs of RAIDZ2, and add each of those vdevs of the same. At 12 TB each for 5 drives, that comes out to 34 TB per each vdev @ $495 per vdev, or $14.50 per TB of storage and fairly fast enterprise drives. If you need more, then later on, add another vdev of 34 TB RAIDZ2 when you can afford it, to that same pool.

Is an investment...

[sgt-mike]

yeah the thing I did not cover is the budget ($300.00 a month)... that will determine how soon this will take effect to get the server somewhat even close to completion.
The power supply (1000watt) arrived today, looks to be in really good shape (have not tested it yet)
Xtreme Gear XG-H1000 PCI-E Cable 120mm Fan ATX 12V Gaming PC 1000W Power Supply https://www.ebay.com/itm/145658965432

The case (Cooler Master HAF 922 High Air Flow Mid Tower PC Case -5 external 5.25" bays, 5-3,5" internal Bays) https://www.ebay.com/itm/315101475632 has not been shipped yet maybe sometime in 3 weeks that individual will get off his tail and get it going LMAO.

Looking at the drives you posted (3.5" format) would cause me to change the cage format that I was thinking in the external 5.25" bays. I was thinking of cages that housed 2.5" drives in each. But that is not a bad thing as a 3 bay 5 drive cage would be nice as well. Or even a mix if I use the 3 bay (5.25") 5 drive (3.5') cage with a singe 1 bay (5.25") 8 drive 2.5" (I was thinking SSD's here) or even down to 4 drive 2.5" (be that enterprise spinning disk or even SSD's) would still allow me a single 5.25" empty external bay. Versus the orginal Idea of all the 5.25" external bays being setup for 2.5" drives.


" The best deal I found for you was this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/20414862155...BoCsSsQAvD_BwE "
That was along the line I was looking at (LSI) I like the ability to switch between SATA /SAS as I haven't truly landed on that yet .
If I was to go to enterprise class sata with that controller doesn't mean I cant upgrade to SAS later when a good buy comes along (which I like the throughput speed of SAS vs SATA).

Currently I'm watching this mobo cpu combo
https://www.ebay.com/itm/23550462736...Bk9SR_acpNXVYw

down side I see is micro -atx .....I glanced at published benchmarks as a workstation /gaming/etc looks to be OK for the use as a server.
also watching this one
https://www.ebay.com/itm/18637006651...Bk9SR4Cw76fUYw

which will put on the search for cpu (i7-59XXK) and a cooler as well as RAM. but it is a ATX.

That is just two of the 5 or 6 I'm watching on ebay as well as Goodwill...

Cages:
I'm currently biding on this one https://www.ebay.com/itm/18636979160...torefresh=true

but I know I can get the same thing (different manufacturer) from Newegg for $69.00 + shipping new (both are sata/sas capable ebay & newegg), but my thoughts was that the small SSD's installed within the posted one on ebay could serve as a cache (provided they are faster than the other vdevs) , even if the drives are used they might be ok enough to get started. But I'm not going any higher than new cost even if it has drives. I mean heck 120gb ssd drives are cheaper today.
I looked at the 5.25" cages for 3.5" drives price point is slightly higher, but not by much. I'm not stuck on the 2.5" drive format. and would happily stick them (3.5" ) in.


Flipping back to the Mother board I like the idea of the operating system sitting on a M2 slot NvME 60gbs or so separate from the ZFS array's.

34TB is probably way more than I need ..... but then again .... when I needed a truck to tow with I bought a 3500 (1 ton) .... storage capacity is like a truck's towing capacity - there is no such thing as too much.

looked that the vendor on ebay you pointed out for the 500gb they do have a offering of 10 - 300gb 3.5" sas for a little above $300,00 which might be a start point based on my budget then grow it from there. Just a thought or rather a option not what i plan doing.


Added on April 6th
while watching that cage I pretty much decided to kinda go a different route in filling the external drive bays. now focused on the Motherboard /CPU/ cooler , I did find a i7-59030K processor at a not too bad of a price. just need to nail that motherboard down.