21-30k Looking to build PC to host TrueNAS Scale

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panks21

Beginner
Disclaimer: Have near to zero knowledge / experience about PC hardware.

I need to build one PC to host TrueNAS Scale. The storage I am looking for is 20TB (10+10). It should boot up with a dedicated SSD (guess 64GB SSD should be enough)

As it will be hosting storage for various members of the family. It needs to run 24x7
Please suggest what minimum hardware is good enough for such type of build
 
panks21 said:
Disclaimer: Have near to zero knowledge / experience about PC hardware.

I need to build one PC to host TrueNAS Scale. The storage I am looking for is 20TB (10+10). It should boot up with a dedicated SSD (guess 64GB SSD should be enough)

As it will be hosting storage for various members of the family. It needs to run 24x7
Please suggest what minimum hardware is good enough for such type of build
Click to expand...
Pretty much any modest hardware from last several years is sufficient to host a NAS for family needs.
I had a 4th gen i3 chugging 24x7 for many years till I upgraded it a few years ago to an i3 10th gen.

the kicker is
a) The upgrade really wasn't needed
b) The server in question runs 7 VMs - one of the instances from the aforementioned 7 acts as the NAS server :tearsofjoy:

PS: I just noticed you plan to use true NAS.. Now true NAS uses ZFS which significantly bumps up the RAM needs.
I guess the question you need to ask yourself is that whether you really need ZFS over ext4?
 
@superczar
thanks. I am ok for higher RAM as long as it serves my purpose. I need help with below questions:

1) which cabinet / power supply / cooling system
2) what processor -- will intel core i3 10th gen be sufficient? what is equivalent AMD if that can come cheaper? If I go for AMD will it support virtualization?
3) what make / model for RAM
4) SSD hardware? Is M2 Sata an option
5) Hard disk model?? 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch?
 
panks21 said:
@superczar
thanks. I am ok for higher RAM as long as it serves my purpose. I need help with below questions:

1) which cabinet / power supply / cooling system
2) what processor -- will intel core i3 10th gen be sufficient? what is equivalent AMD if that can come cheaper? If I go for AMD will it support virtualization?
3) what make / model for RAM
4) SSD hardware? Is M2 Sata an option
5) Hard disk model?? 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch?
Click to expand...
1. Depends on your configuration. For cabinet, you need to choose a cabinet which has enough + some spare 3.5" drive bays. Power supply will depend on what processor and how many hard disks you go for. Look for a power supply which has enough power to support the overall config + enough number of SATA power connectors to connect all your hard disks
2. i3 10th gen is ok. As a thumb rule, the higher the clock speed of your processor, the higher will be your transfer speeds if you use SAMBA. Virtualization is not need for your application, but as a general knowledge, when you look at datasheet of the processor, look for VT-D for intel and AMD-V for AMD
3. Any RAM which is DDR4 and above 2666 Mhz is ok. AIM for 3000 Mhz RAM, with atleast 1 GB/Terabyte of hard disk space for TrueNAS. since you are going for 20TB storage space, you should buy a 32GB RAM kit. If kit has 8*4GB RAM, ensure motherboard has 4 slots. If motherboard has only 2 slots, then get a kit with 16GB*2 RAM
4. You don't need SSD in TrueNAS unless you want SSD as a Cache device. But Cache device is only needed if you are going to go for a 10G network.
5. Any model. Ideally go for 3.5" SATA. WD RED preferably but green/blue/black will also work. Since your are aiming 20TB, you should get 3 16TB seagate or WD hard disks which can be configured in RAID5 mode . 2 hard disks will store data, 3rd hard disk will be used as parity drive. This arrangement can survive 1 hard disk failure.

Message me if you need exact parts
 
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If you want to use machine just as a nas then go with Amd ryzen cpu (not apu) and get unregistered ecc memory and non msi board. Why ecc? It's recommended for zfs if you're gonna add parity drive.

Latest gen CPU may not have much advantage over older one in your case but older gen tends to consume more power so it's upto you. Get any 4c 8t CPU.
 
I would not suggest TrueNAS Scale if you plan on using containers or VM.
If you just want to store data then TrueNAS Core is all you need.
 
panks21 said:
Disclaimer: Have near to zero knowledge / experience about PC hardware.

I need to build one PC to host TrueNAS Scale. The storage I am looking for is 20TB (10+10). It should boot up with a dedicated SSD (guess 64GB SSD should be enough)

As it will be hosting storage for various members of the family. It needs to run 24x7
Please suggest what minimum hardware is good enough for such type of build
Click to expand...

Your first 2 statements are paradoxical

Anyways, unless you really want to get into the bits, bolts and pieces, would suggest to instead pickup a powerful NAS from the likes of Synology or ASUSTOR. Follow basic security practices or ask someone to help setup the same. And when you do get M365 Family, link up that storages to OneDrive for each, individually.

If you want to DIY, I would first suggest you mention

What is the requirement for now
What could be required in the future
Whatever in these 2 is going to be needed mark with asterix so need to base it in.

Coming to your costs, I hope you know that each 10TB HDD will set you back by at least ~22-24K

TrueNAS scale - any reasons for this? It makes no sense for a RAID1 setup, which you are going to run. You can even do this with OMV
 
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