FreeNas Guidance - Should I use FreeNas?

[slarabee]

Hello all,

Sorry for the newbie type post but I really need some basic guidance here.

I set up FreeNas on an old desktop just for testing to see if it would be a good solution for my needs and I'm not having any issues with hardware etc...

I'm just not sure is FreeNas (or any NAS) is the best way to go for what I need.

I'm trying to achieve a simple RAID 1 mirror, that synchs the data for backup of a third stand alone drive of SMB Shares.

Where my understanding is falling short:

When disks are removed from storage pools, is all that data lost unless it can be returned to a FreeNas pool?

What I'm trying to achieve is a simple raid mirror backup of my primary data drive, but I don't want that data locked into a specific format that prohibits me from retrieving the backup if I don't have a FreeNas server to work with?

I hope that makes sense. I really like the platform, and it has some pretty amazing features, just not sure if it's the best way to go for my needs.

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

Sean

 

[Samuel Tai]

When disks are removed from storage pools, is all that data lost unless it can be returned to a FreeNas pool?

For a mirror zpool of n drives, the mirror will survive the loss of n-1 drives.

I'm trying to achieve a simple RAID 1 mirror, that synchs the data for backup of a third stand alone drive of SMB Shares.

If I understand your scenario, you have 3 drives, 2 of which you desire to use as a mirror zpool, and 1 of which you'll use as a 1-drive stripe zpool for SMB shares. It would be better for data safety to create a zpool with 2 mirror drives, and 1 spare drive, to host the SMB shares. Then if any mirror drive failed, the spare would automatically be promoted to a full mirror.

Alternatively, you could create a straightforward 3 drive mirror, and forgo the spare drive.

What I'm trying to achieve is a simple raid mirror backup of my primary data drive, but I don't want that data locked into a specific format that prohibits me from retrieving the backup if I don't have a FreeNas server to work with?

Because this is a mirror, all the disks would have a straight-forward GPT partition layout. Each would have a small FreeBSD swap partition and a ZFS data partition. You'd be able to move your disks to any system that can mount a ZFS partition to recover your data without a FreeNAS server, unless you use encryption. Then you'd be stuck.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

Just to expand a bit for completeness' sake.

Because this is a mirror, all the disks would have a straight-forward GPT partition layout. Each would have a small FreeBSD swap partition and a ZFS data partition. You'd be able to move your disks to any system that can mount a ZFS partition to recover your data without a FreeNAS server, unless you use encryption. Then you'd be stuck.

Unless you keep backups of your geli keys (which you definitely should do if you use encryption). If you do, any system which has geli and zfs support will be able to access your data.

 

[Basil Hendroff]

I'm just not sure is FreeNas (or any NAS) is the best way to go for what I need.

I do wonder if FreeNAS might be overkill for what you're trying to achieve. If your requirement is straightforward, as it initially appears to be, an off-the-shelf NAS may be the way to go.

that synchs the data for backup of a third stand alone drive of SMB Shares.

Can you elaborate on this? A context is required. Where does this standalone drive reside?

What I'm trying to achieve is a simple raid mirror backup of my primary data drive, but I don't want that data locked into a specific format that prohibits me from retrieving the backup if I don't have a FreeNas server to work with?

Assuming your primary data drive is on a Windows PC, a Veeam agent for Windows (which is free to use, but limited to one backup job if I recall correctly) in conjunction with an external off-the-shelf NAS might just fit the bill.

 

[slarabee]

Thank you much for the responses.

This clarifies everything for me nicely and I think that FreeNas will work out great for my needs. My only concern was what happens to the data when removed from a pool. As long as I can pull the drive and mount it in another system that has ZFS dupport (and geli should I decide to encrypt), then I have no worries.

Sean

 

[slarabee]

I do wonder if FreeNAS might be overkill for what you're trying to achieve. If your requirement is straightforward, as it initially appears to be, an off-the-shelf NAS may be the way to go.


Can you elaborate on this? A context is required. Where does this standalone drive reside?


Assuming your primary data drive is on a Windows PC, a Veeam agent for Windows (which is free to use, but limited to one backup job if I recall correctly) in conjunction with an external off-the-shelf NAS might just fit the bill.

@Basil - It may a bit over kill, but I have other plans for it as well. It will act as my file server, and server data to my media server as well.

Thanks again.

Sean

 

[Adrian]

As long as I can pull the drive and mount it in another system that has ZFS dupport ...

Not that I have tried this, but beware of ZFS Feature Flags. See https://www.ixsystems.com/community/resources/zfs-feature-flags-in-freenas.95/

 

[Yorick]

Feature Flags are a thing, which means the "other system" to mount a drive in would be a recent Linux with a recent ZoL / OpenZFS build. That way, all feature flags that FreeNAS / TrueNAS Core offers are supported.