1st build feedback and recommendations.

[Dreqd]

Hey all,

I've played around a bit with Freenas so i know the basics. I have a strong background in IT just not with bsd or linux (know enough to be dangerous).

I'm getting ready for my 1st legit setup and wanted to run it by everyone to check for best practices and whatnot. How would you all set this up?

Primary use ~12tb of media storage (just storage). I have a small HTPC that Plex & OTA Antenna is already installed on for processing.
Secondary use - 1-2 small linux VMs for work testing

Fractal Node 804
Asus Prime B450M-A/CSM
32gb ram
Ryzen 1600 (12nm refresh)
Nvs315 GPU
2 h310 perc cards flashed in IT mode
5x 4tb drives z2(~12tb)
2 (old) 64gb ssd for Freenas OS mirroed.
1 nvme ~256-512 for VMs.

I'm mostly looking for suggestions on vPools and for Slog which might require more drives

 

[artlessknave]

I spy, with my little eye... a consumer board that may or may not actually work with ECC (amd seems to acknowledge that it should technically work but they do not test it). is the "nvs315 GPU" because the ryzen has no onboard? the NIC is also realtek which is usually best to avoid for servers.

most in these forums are gonna say "Get supermicro and ECC", not only because of brand trust, but also, ipmi is glorious and ECC increases reliability.

you are extremely unlikely to need a SLOG. general rule of thumb is if you dont KNOW you need SLOG because you have usage data, you probably ...dont. the only thing that would likely benefit from SLOG that I is see is VM's, and you are storing them on nvme anyway kind of negating that questionable need. almost everything SLOG does is done by RAM drastically faster, an nvme is damn near aproaching RAM speeds, and you would be recomended to have a UPS anyway. actual SLOG drives are expensive, because there is no point if they aren't powerloss resistant (think 500-1000$).

I'm not sure what you mean about "suggestions on vPools"; you will have 3 zpools, eg. freenas-boot, tank, vmtank. I can't think of where in freenas that the term "vPool" would be used.
I'm also not sure why you need 2 h310's for 7 drives. doesnt the node max at 8-10 drives anyway? you can use the mobo sata ports for the extra 4. (unless of course you are using all SAS drives but that's probably insane)

 

[Dreqd]

Thanks for the input. Totally agree on the ECC/Intel side.

In my case most of the storage is video/audio so it's write once and stream to clients so ECC seems like overkill. IPMI would be awesome but the cost just doesn't make sense for the workflow.

I have 2 of those h310s from servers we decomm'd from work so I figure future proof if I wanna add more drives. But your correct, the node maxes at out at 10-12 with ssd/nvme hiddy holes it has for them.

It's a glorified media NAS with me wanting to tinker a bit on the VM side. Seems like I'm on the right track and might need to simplify some things more than I thought.

 

[artlessknave]

In my case most of the storage is video/audio so it's write once and stream to clients so ECC seems like overkill. IPMI would be awesome but the cost just doesn't make sense for the workflow.

SLOG would be even more overkill, since it would do nothing for this workflow. SLOG is only applicable to synchronous writes, and i dont think CIFS can even do sync writes. the thing about ECC is it ensures that that once written is actually written, but if you are just streaming...ahem, "ripped", media that you have other copies of, then ya, it not gonna matter too much.
I would use 1 h310 + mobo ports, and have a spare h310 for another project or as a backup.