Cheaper DDR3 Unbuffered-ECC RAM

LucidlyKataklys

Hi Guys,

Currently specing up my new DIY-NAS box and need to get some Unbuffered-ECC RAM.

Looking to get 32Gb, cheapest I've found so far is 4x8Gb of Kingston ValueRam for just over £63 per stick on Amazon.

Annoyingly registered ECC RAM is dime a dozen, but Unbuffered-ECC seems to be a rarity.

I'd prefer to not have to get a server grade board, as I already have the CPU and can get a decent ASUS board (Only about £65) that also supports U-ECC RAM (unless a board/CPU combo is less than board/U-ECC RAM).

Anyone got any decent places that sell U-ECC RAM cheaper? I'd push to buying 2x8Gb now then another 2x8Gb later.

bsod

The question that springs to mind is :


why

AndyPix

This ^^^^ lol

AndyPix

32gig of ram in a nas box !!

Most overspecced system on the planet !

LucidlyKataklys

Why ECC RAM? FreeNAS with RAIDZ2, plus virtual machines running on one of the jails (plus other jails running alongside this).

Why 32G? RAM, FreeNAS requires 8Gb alone for running with some of the extra features running (Compression, BACULA, CrashPlan etc.).

Why so much storage? Personal storage and I need to improve my storage skills, let them go a bit rusty going from sysadmin to developer.

bsod

http://birdsong.fm/index.html

pmartin86

I too question the 32gb, I've got a "DIY NAS" at hyome, it runs a stripped down version of Windows 7, has a 4 x 1tb RAID and comftably serves both myself and my partner with streaming media and storage

This is specced at 2.2ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 x 2gb DDR2 RAM. It never stutters, even when running a "virtual" blu-ray

LucidlyKataklys

Here is my breakdown of using 32GB RAM:

FreeNAS: Min 8GB for RAIDZ2, plus an extra 6GB due to running compression, quicker rebuilds, plugins and size of zPool (30TB+) - 12GB
Plugins:
Jail1: VirtualBox1 - Media Library/Sorters etc - 4GB
Jail1: VirtualBox2 - ETL/Cube Server - 6GB
Jail1: VirtualBox3 - DB2 - 2GB
Jail2: SMTP/LDAP - 1GB

Total - 25GB

Plus I'll probably use another 2-3GB on a web server, leave me some room if I need to create another zPool in the future.

This is closer to a NAS/ESXi box rolled into one, due to the CPU I have being too powerful for a pure NAS (ECC requirement from FreeNAS/ZFS).

Edit: I do appreciate people suggesting a smaller amount of RAM, but I will be using most of the RAM rather than letting it idle. Same with the CPU I'm using, if it's idle I'll be running BOINC (SETI or LHC)

tavernman

How many power supplies, ethernet ports and sata cards have you got? I think the 32GB is fair but you still have got several single points of failure

Fightsback

On the server front, top offer from ebuyer here:

4 bay (cold swap only)

16gb max ram

HP ProLiant Gen8 G1610T MicroServer £110 (after cashback) Was £310 on release.

http://www.ebuyer.com/517760-hp-proliant-gen8-g1610t-microserver-712317-421

review here:

http://www.itpro.co.uk/server/21302/hp-proliant-microserver-gen8-review

Cycrow

LucidlyKataklys wrote: »

Here is my breakdown of using 32GB RAM:

FreeNAS: Min 8GB for RAIDZ2, plus an extra 6GB due to running compression, quicker rebuilds, plugins and size of zPool (30TB+) - 12GB
Plugins:
Jail1: VirtualBox1 - Media Library/Sorters etc - 4GB
Jail1: VirtualBox2 - ETL/Cube Server - 6GB
Jail1: VirtualBox3 - DB2 - 2GB
Jail2: SMTP/LDAP - 1GB

Total - 25GB

Plus I'll probably use another 2-3GB on a web server, leave me some room if I need to create another zPool in the future.

This is closer to a NAS/ESXi box rolled into one, due to the CPU I have being too powerful for a pure NAS (ECC requirement from FreeNAS/ZFS).

Edit: I do appreciate people suggesting a smaller amount of RAM, but I will be using most of the RAM rather than letting it idle. Same with the CPU I'm using, if it's idle I'll be running BOINC (SETI or LHC)

I would question the amount of ram, the storage amount is 30TB?
FreeNAS + zfs recommends 1GB per 1TB of space in the array. So ideally you would need 30GB just for the array, which such a large array, and lots of other things running, 32gb may not even be enough.


ECC ram isn't a requirement for FreeNAS, its a recommendation, you dont need it, although it is highly recommended so you dont risk corruption in the zpool
Also remember that both the motherboard and cpu need to support ECC, im assuming your using AMD?