First Time Setting Up TrueNAS and Building My First DIY NAS - Storage Hardware Question

[viperrcr]

I will be building my own DIY NAS with an itx mobo, a 8-bay case, 64GB RAM, Ryzen 5 5600G CPU (built-in GPU) and will be installing 6x6TB hard drives. I plan to install them with RAIDZ2. TrueNAS will live on a dedicated 256GB NVME connected on the bottom of the mobo.
My question is this:
I plan to install an adapter that connects to my NVME connector on the top side of my mobo that has 6xSATA connectors on it and will be populated with all 6 of my 6TB hard drives. When I do this, do I have to change the Bifurication settings on the motherboard or anything else I might need to do for this type of situation? I have never used an adapter like this before or have used the NVME port for any other purpose than NVME drives. I did not want to go with a PCIe card option as I wanted to keep that only slot open for future 10G network adapter expansion so I thought this to be my best solution. Will the speed of the drives be adequate with this adapter pictured below? The NAS will be hooked into an internal 2.5G network with two other desktop computers.
Thanks for any and all help!

 

[Ericloewe]

There's no such thing as a NVMe port. NVMe is a protocol on top of PCIe for SSDs. In this use case, there are many, many different connectors used. The card you show is in the M.2 form factor.

It is also a piece of junk AHCI SATA controller crammed into an M.2 card. As a ply documented, this is not the correct way to attach disks with any sort of reliability.

When I do this, do I have to change the Bifurication settings on the motherboard or anything else I might need to do for this type of situation? I

Bifurcation has nothing to do with this. This is a bog standard PCIe SATA controller, and as such a single device.

I'm not sure why you felt the need for the additional controller, though, there are many appropriate miniITX server boards with 6+ SATA ports...

 

[Etorix]

@viperrcr Short take: Do not use this adapter.
For advice, describe your use case and describe your (planned) hardware in detail.

 

[viperrcr]

@viperrcr Short take: Do not use this adapter.
For advice, describe your use case and describe your (planned) hardware in detail.

I am only using this as a simple file server for storing video media files for my HTPC and backups for the HTPC and my gaming PC. This will likely only be utilized once or twice per week. I am thinking of turning it off while I am not using it for less wear, security and electricity costs (what are your thoughts on this - should I leave it on???). I am the only one that would use this NAS and it is right near both of my other computers. I will have dedicated backups made for the data occasionally with a couple of larger 14TB HDD's should the m.2 controller fail and cause catastrophic data loss. I do have all of these parts already and awaiting to build this sometime next month.

Hardware:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
CPU Cooler: Thermalright AXP90-X53 Thermalright fan replaced with 92mm Arctic F9 PWM PST fan
MOBO: Gigabyte B550i Aorus Pro AX AM4
Case: KCMconmey 8+2 Bay DIY NAS Case
Case Fans: 2x80mm Arctic F8 PWM PST
Power Supply: FSP Flex Guru 500W
Memory: 2x32GB DDR4-3200 Mushkin Enhanced Silverline
TrueNAS OS Drive: Kioxia 2230 256GB Gen3x4 NVME mounted on underside of the mobo using a 2230 to 2280 adapter (or I could use a 2280 500GB Samsung 980 NVME that I have an extra one of but figured since this is just an OS dedicated device, it might be overkill and I could utilize the Samsung as external USB storage)
M.2 Slot to 6X SATA Adapter for SATA Data Drives in RAIDZ2: 6x6TB 7200rpm 128GB cache drives
Fan wire grills for all fans should there be tight issues with cable management and the fans

 

[Ericloewe]

I am only using this as a simple file server for storing video media files for my HTPC and backups for the HTPC and my gaming PC. This will likely only be utilized once or twice per week. I am thinking of turning it off while I am not using it for less wear, security and electricity costs (what are your thoughts on this - should I leave it on???). I am the only one that would use this NAS and it is right near both of my other computers. I will have dedicated backups made for the data occasionally with a couple of larger 14TB HDD's should the m.2 controller fail and cause catastrophic data loss.

None of that changes the advice you were given. Frankly, it's irritating when people show up and ask "is this a good option?", are told no, and then say "oh, I bought it anyway".

 

[Etorix]

I do have all of these parts already and awaiting to build this sometime next month.

That is the sad part: You're stuck with the gamer motherboard without reliable support for ECC, only 4 SATA ports where you need 6 (which could be found in mini-ITX motherboards), and a Realtek NIC.

Any chance you could send back some of this hardware for a refund, or repurpose it for a desktop?

Failing that, you could:

• Make a 4 HDD NAS, using the motherboard ports (use larger HDDs to reach the desired capacity); or
• Get a LSI 9200/9300 HBA (and hope that the 2.5 G NIC will keep up with the demand of a single user).

The second option could make the most use of your 8+2 case.
The common theme is: Do not use the 6-SATA-on-M.2 thing! (unless you're prepared to lose all your data)

 

[viperrcr]

None of that changes the advice you were given. Frankly, it's irritating when people show up and ask "is this a good option?", are told no, and then say "oh, I bought it anyway".

Thank you for your advice. I am sorry you found it annoying. If it bothers you to the point you are annoyed, just ignore the question maybe. I was mostly inquiring about the bifurication as I do not know much about what that does. Thank you for particularly answering that question for me though, I appreciate that.

 

[viperrcr]

That is the sad part: You're stuck with the gamer motherboard without reliable support for ECC, only 4 SATA ports where you need 6 (which could be found in mini-ITX motherboards), and a Realtek NIC.

Any chance you could send back some of this hardware for a refund, or repurpose it for a desktop?

Failing that, you could:

• Make a 4 HDD NAS, using the motherboard ports (use larger HDDs to reach the desired capacity); or
• Get a LSI 9200/9300 HBA (and hope that the 2.5 G NIC will keep up with the demand of a single user).

The second option could make the most use of your 8+2 case.
The common theme is: Do not use the 6-SATA-on-M.2 thing! (unless you're prepared to lose all your data)

I will consider returning the m.2 adapter for an LSI 9200/9300. I was using an old Zyxel NAS540 with only 1gb port and it would perform reasonably well with my current needs. Only one computer will be accessing the NAS at a time so I would "think" the 2.5gb connection would suffice even better that what I had. I would be backing up the data pretty frequently to mitigate the loss of the m.2-SATA adapter should it crash. Would you consider sacrificing the possible upgrade path to future 10g for using the LSI 9200/9300 instead or possibly an Asmedia chipset PCIe card?
Would this fit the bill and to set this up, is there any unique BIOS settings I would need to make to utilize it or is it pretty much plug and play for TrueNAS?

https://www.amazon.com/SXTAIGOOD-9207-8i-SATA-SAS-PCI/dp/B0BXDK6JGX/ref=psdc_284718_t1_B0C2YMJHY3

Thank you for your help!

 

[Etorix]

The risk with Realtek NICs is that they are known to collapse under the load that ZFS may throw. But data remains safe.

Weird SATA controllers, and especially port multipliers, are a liability and can damage a pool beyond repair in one go. So a proper LSI HBA, such as the one you linked to, is the best use of the PCIe port. Make sure to have the right cables for your backplane (I suppose it takes 8 individual SATA rather than two SFF-8087 or 8643), and as short as possible for both cable management and data integrity (longer cables are more suited for for SAS).

 

[Ericloewe]

The risk with Realtek NICs is that they are known to collapse under the load that ZFS may throw. But data remains safe.

Most of the time anyway, there was that one bug that actually corrupted data.