1st build - Misc Questions

[ck42]

So, I'm looking at building my first FreeNAS system (currently running a single drive Synology w/external USB drive as a backup).

I've done a bit of reading and poured through many threads here and have ended up with some questions. Some hardware related, others topology related.

First, this is for a home based setup that will contain family photos, CD music rips, MKV's, and about 5 household computer's documents/emails/etc.

What I'm contemplating is a simple 2 physical drive mirrored system, w/ another drive that is not physically connected to the NAS, for backup. No encryption, no L2ARC, no ZIL. Just a nice simple mirror setup.

1) So after reading, RAIDZ1 isn't recommended, but it seems to be the only ZFS choice when using only 2 drives, right?

2) If so, and if I continue to only want to use 2 drives for a mirrored setup, would I then be steered away from ZFS and towards another filesystem for a RAID1 style setup?

3) If I use RADIZ1 and 2 drives for a mirrored configuration, it seems that I should be okay if I've followed all the recommendations for a proper setup (UPS, ECC RAM, Enterprise grade drives, etc, etc). It seems the only major risk should be events where 1 drive fails....and this leaves me temporarily w/o any redundancy, right?

Considering CPU selection - The NAS will be in my small office room (along with a ridiculous amount of other computer and wireless equipment (work for a 'networking' company) and my room is also my lab. As such, my little home office struggles in the summer to stay cool....and fan noise drives me crazy. So, I've been converting all of my personal networking devices and computers in the office to small/quiet/low power systems. I love mITX/picoPSU systems! :D

So having said that, I want to build this NAS such that it's sufficiently powerful, yet quiet and not pumping out much heat.

4) Again, based on the reading I've done, it appears to be the case that unless I'll be encrypting or making use of Jails, I only need enough processor power to saturate the GigE connection (if I'm wanting to maximize file transfer speed) right? This seems to be the main driver in CPU selection, based on everything I've read.

5) If the above is true, then I'm considering either: G3220T (35W) or an Atom 2758 board/cpu (A1SRi-2758F). I'm confident that that Pentium would be a good choice, but I'd be willing to spend the extra money on the Atom system - granted that I can get feedback indicating that this new Atom would actually perform well in my system. The really low power aspect is certainly enticing.

6) Would the recommendation for a absolute minimum of 8GB RAM also still apply to a 2 drive mirrored setup? ....not that I would save much $ by skimping with only 4GB - just curious.

7) Does FreeNAS have a function that could run a scheduled backup of the system to another network drive? (would be my backup drive). Naturally, I'd also have a completely separate backup plan on DVD, as well as offsite backup.

 

[survive]

Hi ck42,

Let me try and answer your questions:

Raidz (like RAID-5) isn't recommended anymore but in your case you just want to do a mirror of 2 drives so zfs is perfectly valid to use. Running a mirror won't use a lot of proc at all so a G3220(T) would be a perfectly fine proc to use. Honestly the new Atom board would be total overkill to just run a mirror....it that's all you expect to ever do with the system you could even pick one of the 4 core Atoms and be just fine. I would encourage you to go ahead & get the second 4GB DIMM simply because zfs loves the RAM.

-Will

 

[ck42]

Really appreciate the feedback.
I'm still really curious about CPU selection though - As I questioned originally, is it correct to say that in my instance, I only need enough CPU power to ensure that network I/O isn't a bottleneck?
Because if this is true, then yea....I'll then end up trying to see just how low I can go with the recent Atom boards. :) Maybe an Atom 2558 based model (same, but 4-core)

 

[beemaster]

1) Why do you want to limit yourself to 2 drives? This might be not safe for your data.
Do you know why RAIDZ1 became 'not recommended'? Because there is a probability that second disk fails right after first one.
You can pick lower capacity disks for example 4 x 2TB instead of 2 x 4TB for about the same price.

2) Have a look on AsRock C2550 board. I'm planning to buy it for my future build. Might be worth to check out.

 

[ck42]

The decision for a 2-drive setup was two-fold: One, I wanted something very compact. Space in the home office is getting to be a real premium. Secondly, in my personal experience with drives over the last 20 years, I'm estimating that losing both drives within 48hrs of each other (would have a replacement drive on my doorstep within 48hrs) is pretty darn slim. I've personally never had two drives fail at the same time. In the event that this DID happen, that's what my backup drive/media is for. Worst case, I simply have to get two new drives and rebuild everything from backup. Nothing in this NAS will be something that needs guaranteed access 24/7.

As for the AsRock m/b...yea, I'm thinking that I may change things from a 2758 to a 2558 or 2550. Once I decide, it then just comes down to feature differences *if there is more than one vendor selling a m/b with the Atom I decide on*.