Booting off drive in USB hub... Good/bad?

[skidrash]

I'm building a system and the mobo I'm using (ITX) has only two internal USB headers and two external ports. For various reasons I don't want to bring the external ports into the case, and I find that I need 3-4 ports internal. Would it be safe/good/bad to install a USB hub internal, and have my OS thumb drives connected through that?

Specifically I'm looking at buying this unit:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031ESKJA/?tag=ozlp-20

Are there any concerns/problems with this idea? I wonder how well this unit would hold up in an always-on situation... Do I run any risk to my storage pool if the hub were to die and disconnect the OS drive during use?

Thank you

 

[HoneyBadger]

> I find that I need 3-4 ports internal

May I ask what for?

 

[gpsguy]

Assuming you plan to use your external USB ports for your storage drives -- this is a bad idea.


Sent from my phone

 

[cyberjock]

Many installed USB cards are not bootable, and they often aren't compatible with FreeBSD, and many aren't even reliable in FreeBSD.

So... good luck!?

 

[skidrash]

Ok, in order:
-What for?
This is complicated; but basically two ports (they are covered front-ports) for USB thumb drives to hold the OS (one production and one for test), one port for a LCD screen (related to another project), and a 4th optional port for connection to the power supply circuit for firmware updates from a Live CD. The case is extremely tight and rather inaccessible, so I want everything connected that I may ever need, so I don't have to re-open it.

-External USB for storage?
No way; I will not be using USB for storage (all the storage drives will be SATA over SAS). There are only two external (rear) ports, and I want to save them for keyboard/mouse/removable media/etc.

-USB cards not bootable?
I will ultimately be connecting to the onboard USB controller, which is bootable. The card that I linked is not a USB add-on card. It is only a USB hub, specifically packaged for internal installation. It even says that it requires no OS drivers, as it is only a hub.

So my questions are:
1) Can I boot FreeNAS from a thumb drive that is connected through a USB Hub?
2) Would there be any risk to my data pool if the USB Hub failed and dropped the OS drive while the sytem was operating?

 

[skidrash]

So I decided to go ahead and order this USB hub and try it out.

I guess part of my question is "What does FreeNAS do if you unplug the OS thumb drive while it is running? Does it crash? Does it even care? Does it pose a threat too my storage pool?"

If someone has any more thoughts on the matter I'd like to hear them before I waste a whole bunch of time.

 

[joeschmuck]

I think you are going to find out for the rest of us as we won't be pulling our USB Flash drives to test this out for you. Not sure why you would think you could connect two FreeNAS USB boot devices at the same time, doubt that will be fun to manage, if it even works. I also didn't know FreeNAS supported putting a monitor on a USB connection.

My opinion is you are taking a huge risk and really haven't given this enough thought or maybe your data just isn't important and you have lots of time and money. You got some folks attention but we were just curious what you were trying to do. If you get it working, post your system specs and let us know.