ECC RAM Freenas

[vorb]

Hey, i'm going to build my first small Freenas server and they strongly recommend using ECC Ram (1GB per TB) but i can't find many motherboards that run them (itx). Apparently they protect your data much better than DDR3 or non - EEC and overall functionality of the server.

Does it matter about the motherboard or is it the cpu that the ECC ram depends on to run properly or both?

I'm bit of a noob here, so sorry

 

[vorb]

This is for home use, yes. So i will be fine then going with intel and drr3. That was the plan until i did a bit of research so always better to ask, thanks.

 

[vorb]

The bulk of my info will be movies, tv shows, plex media server and prob like a mumble server.

Also i'd like to go with recommended hardware for FreeNas, I spent way more time than i thought i would have, trying to find ECC compatible components, from mobo->ram->xeon chipsets as its not a filter option in the menu nor is there much info online about them, while at the same time trying to keep cost down low.
So im going to just go with a simple setup, what do you think of this little build? Anything i should change? I will be adding more HDD's in the future but for now to get thing running, i think this may do.

Fractal Design Mini-ITX NODE 304 Case White
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/fractal-design-node-304-htpc-chassis-white-ca-024-fd.html

ASUS S1151 Mini-ITX H110I-PLUS-D3 DDR3
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-1151-ddr3-itx-motherboard-mb-664-as.html

16GB DDR3 Kingston HX318C10FBK2/16 (2x8G) 1866MHz HyperX FURY BLACK RAM
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/king...al-channel-kit-hx318c10fbk2-16-my-196-ks.html

Intel S1151 Pentium G4400 3.30Ghz Dual Core CPU PN BX80662G4400
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inte...ocket-lga1151-processor-retail-cp-593-in.html

3TB WD 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s Red HDD PN WD30EFRX
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/wd-r...-s-64mb-cache-hdd-oem-wd30efrx-hd-398-wd.html

550 Watt Fractal Design Integra M 80+ Bronze Modular Power Supply

 

[vorb]

Given the choice between those parts and a mini server such as the HP Microserver or the Dell T20 I know what I'd choose. For the same money you could probably get one with a Xeon and ECC support.

Not as small or pretty, but who looks at a NAS?

Yeah i could do that or buy a pre-made system, but really this is just something else to challenge myself in. also i really like this case

The motherboard you've listed is a DDR3 board. IIRC, regular DDR3 voltages can damage Skylake - which is why you're supposed to use DDR3L low-voltage RAM.

This is the DDR4 version of that board:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-1151-ddr4-itx-motherboard-mb-687-as.html

It's slightly cheaper as well.

Oh yes, thank you i didn't pick up on that

The reason why you're struggling finding a suitable board is because you're looking in the wrong place. You're building a server not a desktop!

Check out their best practice guide here :
http://www.freenas.org/blog/a-compl...are-design-part-i-purpose-and-best-practices/

Also you should be on their hardware section of their forum. There's some great information there.

Thanks for this link, i have been having a look through their forums, didnt realise there was so much variables to building a nas. I could be in over my head here as i said i'm a beginner in this area. Looks like i have a lot more research to do before committing to buy the right components to make it stable and usable.
I'm now back to 50/50 on using ECC compatible hardware. The argument of using seem to be a hot topic on their forums.

Thanks for the input