Hello,
I have just completed my first FreeNAS box from old components I had laying around; it has the following specs:
Intel E8400 CPU at 3.0GHz (Socket 775)
Gigabyte Motherboard (supports 16GB ram)
12GB G.Skill RAM (I will upgrade to 16GB when I need to)
550W Cooler Master PSU
3x 3TB Seagate HDDs.
I am quite happy with the build thus far; the speeds are good and I have the active directory permissions working reasonably well. I created a 3 disk vdev in RAIDZ1 for a total of 5.2TB usable storage. I was wondering if I should bite the bullet and buy two more drives now and rebuild the pool with a 5 disk Vdev (my wife won't be happy about this). Eventually my storage requirements will surpass the 5.2TB and I'll need to expand the pool with another Vdev. If I keep my current configuration I will need to either add another 3 disk Vdev or rebuild the full array later on as a 5 disk Vdev. Rebuilding the pool later on when it is almost full will be much more time consuming as I have a copy of all my files on a (almost full) 3TB WD Green drive now.
So, in my situation:
Are 5 disk vdev's that much better than 3 disk vdev's to warrant the extra expenditure now (and possible wife wrath)?
Should I buy two more disks and rebuild the pool now as a 5 disk vdev when it is easier, or rebuild it as a 5 disk vdev later on?
Or, should I leave the 3 disk vdev and just add another 3 disk vdev when I need the extra storage?
Thanks!
I have just completed my first FreeNAS box from old components I had laying around; it has the following specs:
Intel E8400 CPU at 3.0GHz (Socket 775)
Gigabyte Motherboard (supports 16GB ram)
12GB G.Skill RAM (I will upgrade to 16GB when I need to)
550W Cooler Master PSU
3x 3TB Seagate HDDs.
I am quite happy with the build thus far; the speeds are good and I have the active directory permissions working reasonably well. I created a 3 disk vdev in RAIDZ1 for a total of 5.2TB usable storage. I was wondering if I should bite the bullet and buy two more drives now and rebuild the pool with a 5 disk Vdev (my wife won't be happy about this). Eventually my storage requirements will surpass the 5.2TB and I'll need to expand the pool with another Vdev. If I keep my current configuration I will need to either add another 3 disk Vdev or rebuild the full array later on as a 5 disk Vdev. Rebuilding the pool later on when it is almost full will be much more time consuming as I have a copy of all my files on a (almost full) 3TB WD Green drive now.
So, in my situation:
Are 5 disk vdev's that much better than 3 disk vdev's to warrant the extra expenditure now (and possible wife wrath)?
Should I buy two more disks and rebuild the pool now as a 5 disk vdev when it is easier, or rebuild it as a 5 disk vdev later on?
Or, should I leave the 3 disk vdev and just add another 3 disk vdev when I need the extra storage?
Thanks!