{ "schema_version": 1, "inspection_date": "2026-11-04", "currency": "USD", "scope": "Read-only server inspection; no benchmark I/O, configuration changes, restarts, scrubs or app changes. Temporary local network alias removed.", "recommendation": { "option": 2, "name": "Separate all-NVMe render tier; retain repaired HDD NAS for Nextcloud and replication", "planning_total_usd": 29503.34, "installed_total_status": "unverified", "reason": "Independent failure and maintenance domain; deterministic flash placement; 100GbE server aggregation for 25GbE clients." }, "current_hardware": { "cpu": "AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor", "cores": 6, "threads": 12, "motherboard": "MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (MS-7C02)", "ram_installed_GiB": 64, "ram_os_visible_bytes": 67352334336, "dimms": "4 x 16GB G.Skill F4-3200C16-16GVK, DDR4-3200 non-ECC UDIMM", "truenas_version": "TrueNAS-SCALE-24.04.0", "hba": "LSI 9207-8i / SAS2308, PCIe 3.0 x8 negotiated", "data_pool": { "state": "DEGRADED", "layout": "one 10-position RAIDZ2 vdev; one position has an in-use 18TB spare alongside original 12TB device", "physical_hdds": [ { "count": 9, "model": "Seagate ST12000NM0127", "nominal_TB_each": 12 }, { "count": 2, "model": "Seagate ST18000VN000-3J3101", "nominal_TB_each": 18 }, { "count": 1, "model": "Seagate ST14000NM0408-2H7131", "nominal_TB_each": 14 } ], "note": "12 physical HDDs includes 11 attached pool/spare members and one dead unpartitioned HDD. Ten effective columns remain limited to about 12TB each.", "zpool_size_bytes": 119984206381056, "zpool_allocated_bytes": 68098406227968, "zpool_free_bytes": 51885800153088, "zfs_used_bytes": 54790445499840, "zfs_available_bytes": 38132370089008, "l2arc": false, "special_vdev": false, "slog": "single unmirrored PNY CS900 1TB SATA SSD" }, "boot_pool": { "device": "single PNY 2TB SATA SSD", "state": "DEGRADED", "read_errors": 1, "write_errors": 295 }, "arc": { "size_bytes": 44364167016, "size_GiB": 41.32, "max_bytes": 66278592512, "lifetime_hits": 31830165306, "lifetime_misses": 75138924, "lifetime_hit_percent": 99.764, "interval_hits": 1557, "interval_misses": 4, "interval_hit_percent": 99.744, "warning": "Historical metadata-dominated cache hit ratio is not proof that a new 30GB scene or concurrent scenes fit." }, "network": [ { "model": "Intel X540-AT2 dual 10GBASE-T", "active_link_Mbps": 1000, "other_port": "down", "active_mtu": 9000, "host_bus": "PCIe 2.0 x4 negotiated" }, { "model": "Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 1GbE", "link": "down" } ], "shares": { "SMB": "running; 3 enabled read-write shares", "NFS": "stopped/disabled; zero exports", "iSCSI": "stopped" }, "read_performance": { "sequential_GBps": "unverified", "passive_observation": "Three 1-second data-pool intervals: 0 read bytes/s; first since-import average 20855003 bytes/s is mixed workload, not sequential capability.", "benchmark_run": false }, "material_health_findings": [ "New versus supplied baseline: additional 12TB data member FAULTED, 62 ZFS read errors; 776 reallocated sectors and 15 reported uncorrectable errors despite SMART PASSED. No known pool data errors.", "Boot SSD write-error count 295 versus baseline 19; read errors 1; SMART PASSED, SATA CRC count 24. Check physical link as well as disk.", "Aging 12TB original under in-use spare has 752 reallocations versus baseline 696; another 12TB member has 624. Device names can change; no serial matching was performed.", "Previously dead 12TB HDD still SMART FAILED; spare remains INUSE; no idle spare. Do not describe this pre-existing failure alone as new." ] }, "design": { "hot_pool": "4 x 7.68TB enterprise PLP U.2 SSDs, two striped 2-way mirror vdevs; separate pool, never HDD special allocation class", "raw_TB": 30.72, "nominal_mirrored_TB": 15.36, "operational_data_budget_TB": 12.288, "capacity_policy": "Keep at least 20% free including snapshot growth; actual ZFS usable space is lower than nominal. Stage active jobs, not the entire existing archive.", "ram": "256GB ECC RDIMM; initial ARC cap 192GiB on dedicated tier, 160GiB on shared upgraded box; validate application reservations before applying.", "network": "100GbE server uplink to CRS518; ten 25GbE clients budgeted: 4 GPU nodes, 4 CPU nodes, 2 workstations. Separate tier also adds one 25GbE connection to old NAS.", "protocols": "NFSv4.1 over TCP for Linux render nodes; SMB3 for workstations. Publish immutable scene/model versions. NFS render-read exports read-only. Separate writable NFS output datasets from SMB artist work datasets; ingest outputs after job completion.", "dataset_policy": "1MiB recordsize, lz4, atime off for new large-file datasets; sync standard; dedup off. Separate metadata/asset dataset initially 128KiB. Tune only after representative tests.", "caches": "No L2ARC, special vdev or separate SLOG in either build. Mirror PLP NVMe normal storage; ARC serves repeats. Stage versioned scenes and AI weights once onto node-local NVMe when jobs reuse them.", "nextcloud": "Keep as sync/delivery layer on HDD NAS, not renderer I/O path. Publish finished assets through Nextcloud APIs/client; never write directly into its managed data tree.", "backup": "After HDD repair: hourly hot-tier snapshots, 48 hourly + 30 daily + 8 weekly; hourly one-way replication to HDD target, explicit 12TB combined data+retained-snapshot quota. At least daily independent offline/offsite backup of irreplaceable assets and matching Nextcloud database+data. Independent target capacity/cost unverified; not included.", "failure_domain": "Option 1 hot/HDD pools share motherboard, PSU and OS; snapshots or replication between its pools are not independent machine backup." }, "parts": [ { "id": "board", "name": "Supermicro ATX SP3 motherboard", "part_number": "MBD-H12SSL-I-O", "unit_price_usd": 649.99, "source_id": 2, "url": "https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=supermicro%20h12ssl", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "unverified: indexed starting price; live retailer requests quote" }, { "id": "cpu", "name": "AMD EPYC 7302P, 16 cores, vendor unlocked, new bulk", "part_number": "100-000000049 / EPYC 7302P", "unit_price_usd": 1012.5, "source_id": 3, "url": "https://www.itcreations.com/product/116372", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live page, in stock; vendor-unlocked explicitly stated" }, { "id": "ram", "name": "NEMIX 256GB, 8 x 32GB DDR4-3200 ECC RDIMM", "part_number": "MR25600-324K08-G", "unit_price_usd": 3426.99, "source_id": 4, "url": "https://nemixram.com/products/ddr4-3200mhz-pc4-25600-rdimm-2rx4.js", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live manufacturer JSON; variant 45411293462840; available true" }, { "id": "nvme", "name": "Solidigm D7-P5520 7.68TB U.2 NVMe", "part_number": "SSDPF2KX076T11Z", "unit_price_usd": 3950.0, "source_id": 5, "url": "https://serversupply.com/SSD/PCI-E/7.68TB/SOLIDIGM/SSDPF2KX076T11Z_395356.htm", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "unverified: indexed in-stock price; direct page and browser blocked" }, { "id": "adapter", "name": "StarTech U.2 drive-on-card, PCIe 3.0 x4", "part_number": "PEX4SFF8639", "unit_price_usd": 27.99, "source_id": 6, "url": "https://www.newegg.com/startech-com-model-pex4sff8639-u-2-to-pcie-adapter-x4-pcie/p/N82E16815158437", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "unverified: indexed sold/shipped by Newegg price; live page blocked" }, { "id": "server_nic", "name": "NVIDIA ConnectX-5, single 100GbE QSFP28, PCIe 3.0 x16", "part_number": "MCX515A-CCAT", "unit_price_usd": 749.0, "source_id": 7, "url": "https://qsfp28optics.com/mcx515a-ccat", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live page, in stock" }, { "id": "cooler", "name": "Noctua SP3 dual-92mm tower cooler", "part_number": "NH-U9 TR4-SP3", "unit_price_usd": 109.99, "source_id": 8, "url": "https://www.newegg.com/noctua-nh-u9-tr4-sp3-premium-grade-92mm-cpu-cooler-for-amd-tr4-sp3/p/13C-0005-00142", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "unverified: indexed retailer price; cooler 125mm high" }, { "id": "case", "name": "Fractal Define 7 XL solid black ATX tower", "part_number": "FD-C-DEF7X-01", "unit_price_usd": 294.79, "source_id": 9, "url": "https://www.avadirect.com/Define-7-XL-No-PSU-E-ATX-Black-Full-Tower-Case/Product/13263226", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live page price; availability 3-5 days" }, { "id": "psu", "name": "Corsair RM850e 2025, 850W modular PSU", "part_number": "CP-9020296-NA", "unit_price_usd": 114.97, "source_id": 10, "url": "https://www.newegg.com/corsair-rmx-series-atx-3-1-compatible-850-w-cybenetics-gold-power-supply-black-rm850e/p/N82E16817139336", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "unverified: indexed Newegg price; live page blocked" }, { "id": "fan", "name": "Noctua 140mm PWM fan", "part_number": "NF-A14 PWM", "unit_price_usd": 24.95, "source_id": 11, "url": "https://amazon.com/Noctua-NF-A14-PWM-Premium-Cooling/dp/B00CP6QLY6", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "unverified: indexed Amazon price; live buy-box not verified" }, { "id": "boot", "name": "Samsung 870 EVO 500GB SATA boot SSD", "part_number": "MZ-77E500B/AM", "unit_price_usd": 249.99, "source_id": 12, "url": "https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1606519-REG/samsung_mz_77e500b_am_500gb_870_evo_sata.html", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "unverified: indexed B&H in-stock price; checkout not verified" }, { "id": "hdd", "name": "Seagate IronWolf Pro 18TB CMR SATA repair disk", "part_number": "ST18000NT001", "unit_price_usd": 435.78, "source_id": 13, "url": "https://telecomcreations.com/collections/networked-storage/products/st18000nt001-18tb-ironwolf-pro-enterprise-seagate-nas-single", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live retailer page, in stock" }, { "id": "switch", "name": "MikroTik 16 x 25GbE + 2 x 100GbE switch", "part_number": "CRS518-16XS-2XQ-RM", "unit_price_usd": 1325.0, "source_id": 14, "url": "https://shop.linktechs.net/crs518-16xs-2xq-rm-2", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live retailer page, 11 in stock" }, { "id": "client_nic", "name": "NVIDIA ConnectX-4 Lx dual 25GbE, PCIe 3.0 x8", "part_number": "MCX4121A-ACAT", "unit_price_usd": 259.0, "source_id": 15, "url": "https://qsfp28optics.com/MCX4121A-ACAT", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live page, in stock" }, { "id": "dac25", "name": "MikroTik 3m SFP28 25GbE DAC", "part_number": "XS+DA0003", "unit_price_usd": 58.0, "source_id": 14, "url": "https://shop.linktechs.net/crs518-16xs-2xq-rm-2", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live retailer related-product price; selected length 3m" }, { "id": "dac100", "name": "MikroTik 1m QSFP28 100GbE DAC", "part_number": "XQ+DA0001", "unit_price_usd": 39.0, "source_id": 16, "url": "https://mikrotik.com/product/xq_da0001", "date_seen": "2026-11-04", "verification": "live manufacturer suggested US price, not a reseller quote" } ], "budgets": { "platform_usd": 21935.28, "network_10_clients_usd": 4534.0, "existing_nas_repairs_usd": 1807.32, "separate_server_additions_usd": 1226.74, "tax_shipping_labor_ups_offsite_backup": "unverified; excluded", "price_caveat": "Planning arithmetic is exact for observed listing values. Items marked unverified were indexed prices or quote-only, not live-confirmed current offers. Requote before purchase; not a complete verified installed quote." }, "options": [ { "id": 1, "name": "Upgrade existing box with server platform + independent NVMe hot pool", "parts_quantities": { "board": 1, "cpu": 1, "ram": 1, "nvme": 4, "adapter": 4, "server_nic": 1, "cooler": 1, "fan": 3, "switch": 1, "client_nic": 10, "dac25": 10, "dac100": 1, "hdd": 3, "boot": 2 }, "planning_total_usd": 28276.6, "throughput_budget_GBps": 6, "artist_reservation_GBps": 3, "render_read_budget_GBps": 3, "status": "unverified engineering estimate; existing chassis cooler clearance and PSU capacity/connectors are unverified; purchase blocked until checked", "reuse": "existing ATX chassis, PSU, SATA wiring and SAS HBA; replace motherboard, CPU and RAM, repair HDD/boot, add NVMe normal pool" }, { "id": 2, "name": "Separate NVMe render tier", "parts_quantities": { "board": 1, "cpu": 1, "ram": 1, "nvme": 4, "adapter": 4, "server_nic": 1, "cooler": 1, "fan": 3, "switch": 1, "client_nic": 11, "dac25": 11, "dac100": 1, "hdd": 3, "boot": 4, "case": 1, "psu": 1 }, "planning_total_usd": 29503.34, "throughput_budget_GBps": 8, "artist_reservation_GBps": 3, "render_read_budget_GBps": 5, "status": "recommended; throughput unverified until acceptance tested; several current component prices remain unverified", "reuse": "existing NAS after repair as Nextcloud and HDD replication target; no CPU/RAM/HBA migration" } ], "performance_model": { "units": "decimal GB and TB; seconds rounded; no compression benefit assumed", "status": "unverified estimates, not benchmark results", "formula": "max(30 / 2.5, 30 * render_nodes / render_read_budget_GBps)", "per_client_GBps": 2.5, "artist_assumption": "2 artists each playing 24fps at 60MB/frame requires 2.88GB/s total; reserve 3GB/s", "scene_transfer_scenarios": [ { "render_nodes": 1, "scene_per_node_GB": 30, "option_1_transfer_seconds": 12.0, "option_2_transfer_seconds": 12.0 }, { "render_nodes": 2, "scene_per_node_GB": 30, "option_1_transfer_seconds": 20.0, "option_2_transfer_seconds": 12.0 }, { "render_nodes": 4, "scene_per_node_GB": 30, "option_1_transfer_seconds": 40.0, "option_2_transfer_seconds": 24.0 }, { "render_nodes": 8, "scene_per_node_GB": 30, "option_1_transfer_seconds": 80.0, "option_2_transfer_seconds": 48.0 } ], "excluded_time": "USD composition, metadata/file opens, EXR decompression, CPU initialization, node disk writes and VRAM upload", "degraded_pool_performance": "unverified; do not depend on estimates during failures" }, "acceptance": [ "Repair and verify HDD and boot health before treating existing NAS as backup. No such action performed during inspection.", "Use a supported stable TrueNAS release selected and migration-tested at deployment; do not claim the installed 24.04.0 is current.", "Verify NIC link negotiation, PCIe widths, cooling, PSU cabling, driver compatibility, secure access and end-to-end MTU before data migration.", "On newly built isolated hot pool, test at least 8GB/s aggregate large-file reads and 2.5GB/s per 25GbE client; then replay two 24fps EXR streams plus 4 and 8 distinct 30GB scene loads with cold caches. Targets are not existing measurements.", "Verify an independent snapshot restore and Nextcloud database+data restore; only then migrate production." ], "sources": [ { "id": 1, "url": "https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/h12ssl-i", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 2, "url": "https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=supermicro%20h12ssl", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 3, "url": "https://www.itcreations.com/product/116372", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 4, "url": "https://nemixram.com/products/ddr4-3200mhz-pc4-25600-rdimm-2rx4.js", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 5, "url": "https://serversupply.com/SSD/PCI-E/7.68TB/SOLIDIGM/SSDPF2KX076T11Z_395356.htm", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 6, "url": "https://www.newegg.com/startech-com-model-pex4sff8639-u-2-to-pcie-adapter-x4-pcie/p/N82E16815158437", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 7, "url": "https://qsfp28optics.com/mcx515a-ccat", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 8, "url": "https://www.newegg.com/noctua-nh-u9-tr4-sp3-premium-grade-92mm-cpu-cooler-for-amd-tr4-sp3/p/13C-0005-00142", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 9, "url": "https://www.avadirect.com/Define-7-XL-No-PSU-E-ATX-Black-Full-Tower-Case/Product/13263226", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 10, "url": "https://www.newegg.com/corsair-rmx-series-atx-3-1-compatible-850-w-cybenetics-gold-power-supply-black-rm850e/p/N82E16817139336", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 11, "url": "https://amazon.com/Noctua-NF-A14-PWM-Premium-Cooling/dp/B00CP6QLY6", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 12, "url": "https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1606519-REG/samsung_mz_77e500b_am_500gb_870_evo_sata.html", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 13, "url": "https://telecomcreations.com/collections/networked-storage/products/st18000nt001-18tb-ironwolf-pro-enterprise-seagate-nas-single", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 14, "url": "https://shop.linktechs.net/crs518-16xs-2xq-rm-2", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 15, "url": "https://qsfp28optics.com/MCX4121A-ACAT", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 16, "url": "https://mikrotik.com/product/xq_da0001", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 17, "url": "https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/Basic%20Concepts/Pool%20Structure/Special%20vdev.html", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 18, "url": "https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/Basic%20Concepts/Pool%20Structure/Caching.html", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 19, "url": "https://www.truenas.com/docs/scale/shares/mixedmodeshares/", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 20, "url": "https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/configuration_files/external_storage_configuration_gui.html", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 21, "url": "https://solidigmtechnology.jp/content/dam/solidigm/en/site/products/data-center/d7/p5520/documents/Solidigm_D7_P5520_P5620.pdf", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 22, "url": "https://mikrotik.com/product/crs518_16xs_2xq", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" }, { "id": 23, "url": "https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/b450-tomahawk-max/Specification", "date_seen": "2026-11-04" } ] }