first FreeNAS build

[iamwhoiamtoday]

I'm looking into migrating over from unraid to FreeNAS, and had a few questions regarding storage configurations. I have 5*1TB Hard Drives, and 4*2TB Hard Drives. So far the RAIDZ2 option looks rather attractive. Currently I have about 3TB worth of data to keep on this system.

Would I set that as two different volumes in the same pool? (note: I'm still trying to figure out this ZFS vernacular thingy, so if I mess up.... my apologies. Only so much I can absorb from the stickies at a time)

The rest of the server is pretty straightforward.
Dual E5520 Xeon's (2.26Ghz Quads w/HT)
48GB DDR3 1333
15-bay Supermicro Server Case w/triple redundant PSU's
tp-link tl-sg1016 16-port Gigabit Switch (still need to figure out if Link Aggregation works properly with this...)
I have an older PCI-X RAID card that loves JBOD that I've been using thus far...


tl:dr - 5*1TB drives. 4*2TB drives. How can I configure 'em to leave me with the best storage setup, in regards to Speed, Capacity, Performance, and Bragging Rights? ;)

 

[cyberjock]

Regarding the ZFS vernaculars, read my guide (link in my sig).

 

[iamwhoiamtoday]

Thank you very much good Sir :D

 

[cyberjock]

Honestly, I'd probably do an 8 drive RAIDZ2. Except, you will lose storage space because of the 1TB. But you can upgrade the 1TBs to 2TB and "expand" the zpool to use the complete disk space.

As an alternative, if you want to maximize storage space and reliability, your only other option I'd recommend is a RAIDZ2 of 1TBs and a RAIDZ2 of 2TB as 2 vdevs(1 zpool). That would give you a total of 7TB for your pool. But that configuration is somewhat odd and isn't something I'd necessarily recommend "long term". Ideal is the 8 drive RAIDZ2 in my opinion.

Keep in mind that vdevs, once created, cannot be "changed". Disks can't be added, removed etc. So its important that your "final" configuration have the vdevs in the correct configuration when its created or you will be sorry you didn't do it right the first time.

 

[iamwhoiamtoday]

Going with an 8 drive RAIDZ2 will net me around the same amount of storage space right now as two vdevs, and it expands much better, so I'm going to take that route. Thank you for the advice!