SOLVED From dream to nightmare: NAS usage impossible and problem unknown

[Amedeo58]

Ho assemblato il mio NAS come da firma. Pensavo che la scelta e la qualità dei componenti fosse di uno standard abbastanza elevato e che non avrei avuto problemi di montaggio e funzionamento, ma mi sbagliavo. A partire proprio dalla scheda madre Supermicro. Non ne avevo mai vista una e quindi mi sono reso conto che ha molte caratteristiche a me sconosciute rispetto alle normali schede madri commerciali. Quindi ho cercato di impostarlo nel miglior modo possibile. Il problema però è che riesco ad installare Truenas e Truenas Scale, ma quando vado a creare i pool, subito dopo, dopo pochi secondi, i pool sono degradati e ricevo messaggi di errore I/O dall'HD. Ho provato anche ad installare diversi sistemi NAS (openmediavault e unraid oltre ai due Truena) ma il problema è sempre lo stesso, problema con gli HD difettosi e/o illeggibili. Per essere al sicuro, ho anche provato a sostituire il controller SAS passando dall'LSI 9200 16i all'LSI 9400 16i, mi sono assicurato che i moduli di memoria funzionassero bene, ho provato tutti gli HD su sistemi windows ed erano tutti efficienti. L'unico modo comprovato per far funzionare il sistema è montare Windows 11 con cui tutto funziona perfettamente, ma non è certo così che dovrebbe funzionare il mio NAS. Chiedo aiuto ai più esperti per capire dov'è il problema: forse qualche impostazione della scheda madre? Non lo so. Quindi solo che non ho più idea di cosa fare o provare. Buttare tutto nella spazzatura? L'unico modo comprovato per far funzionare il sistema è montare Windows 11 con cui tutto funziona perfettamente, ma non è certo così che dovrebbe funzionare il mio NAS. Chiedo aiuto ai più esperti per capire dov' è il problema: forse qualche impostazione della scheda madre? Non lo so. Quindi solo che non ho più idea di cosa fare o provare. Buttare tutto nella spazzatura? L'unico modo comprovato per far funzionare il sistema è montare Windows 11 con cui tutto funziona perfettamente, ma non è certo così che dovrebbe funzionare il mio NAS. Chiedo aiuto ai più esperti per capire dov'è il problema: forse qualche impostazione della scheda madre? Non lo so. Quindi solo che non ho più idea di cosa fare o provare. Buttare tutto nella spazzatura? Chiedo aiuto ai più esperti per capire dov'è il problema: forse qualche impostazione della scheda madre? Non lo so. Quindi solo che non ho più idea di cosa fare o provare. Buttare tutto nella spazzatura? Chiedo aiuto ai più esperti per capire dov'è il problema: forse qualche impostazione della scheda madre? Non lo so. Quindi solo che non ho più idea di cosa fare o provare. Buttare tutto nella spazzatura?

 

[Samuel Tai]

How large is your power supply? These sound like classic difficulties with a power supply that's too small.

 

[Amedeo58]

The power supply is Itek PC GF650 EVO - 650W 80 Plus Gold.

 

[jgreco]

The power supply is Itek PC GF650 EVO - 650W 80 Plus Gold.

I'm not familiar with the brand, but I kinda feel like you might be a bit undersized. Please refer to the following article to help you identify the size you should have:

Proper Power Supply Sizing Guidance

I've seen about 1,000 threads like this one where people decide that they can power a dozen hard drives off a 360 watt supply. DO NOT DO THIS. I've seen another 1,000 threads where people decide to buy the cheapest power supply that they can...

www.truenas.com

And I suggest you also return to the burn-in and testing phase for your build:

Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system

I've been meaning to post some guidance here for a while now. We frequently see people come to the forums with hardware problems that should have washed out in the system build process, but since many of the users here are DIY'ers without professional experience building servers, it goes from...

www.truenas.com

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Nice. Beautiful setup.

See @Samuel Tai's post and check your cabling very, very carefully. Any connector that isn't fully and properly seated can put noise into the system that will wreak havoc.

And I see @jgreco posted...that guy is brilliant. Between him and Sam you're in excellent hands.

 

[Davvo]

Are you using new or used hardware? Did you flash the HBAs? How are you making your Windows tests?

 

[Amedeo58]

Are you using new or used hardware? Did you flash the HBAs? How are you making your Windows tests?

All components are new. As far as I know the LSI 9400 16i card doesn't need to be flashed. Mounting windows 11 the machine works perfectly.

 

[Amedeo58]

Nice. Beautiful setup.

See @Samuel Tai's post and check your cabling very, very carefully. Any connector that isn't fully and properly seated can put noise into the system that will wreak havoc.

And I see @jgreco posted...that guy is brilliant. Between him and Sam you're in excellent hands.

Thank you for your contribution. I hope to solve the problem.

 

[Amedeo58]

I'm not familiar with the brand, but I kinda feel like you might be a bit undersized. Please refer to the following article to help you identify the size you should have:

Proper Power Supply Sizing Guidance

I've seen about 1,000 threads like this one where people decide that they can power a dozen hard drives off a 360 watt supply. DO NOT DO THIS. I've seen another 1,000 threads where people decide to buy the cheapest power supply that they can...

www.truenas.com

And I suggest you also return to the burn-in and testing phase for your build:

Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system

I've been meaning to post some guidance here for a while now. We frequently see people come to the forums with hardware problems that should have washed out in the system build process, but since many of the users here are DIY'ers without professional experience building servers, it goes from...

www.truenas.com

I'm not familiar with the brand, but I kinda feel like you might be a bit undersized. Please refer to the following article to help you identify the size you should have:

Proper Power Supply Sizing Guidance

I've seen about 1,000 threads like this one where people decide that they can power a dozen hard drives off a 360 watt supply. DO NOT DO THIS. I've seen another 1,000 threads where people decide to buy the cheapest power supply that they can...

www.truenas.com

And I suggest you also return to the burn-in and testing phase for your build:

Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system

I've been meaning to post some guidance here for a while now. We frequently see people come to the forums with hardware problems that should have washed out in the system build process, but since many of the users here are DIY'ers without professional experience building servers, it goes from...

www.truenas.com

Thank you for the posts that you have suggested and that I have read carefully. They are very useful. When I bought the power supply I sized it above all considering the consumption of the HDs. The Toshibas consume around 8.5W in operation and 4.5W in idle. Let's say that in all I have a consumption of less than 100W for the HDs. Considering the motherboard, the RAM, the processor and the SAS controller and the network card, I don't think I can reach the consumption of 200W. I decided to be prudent to buy the power supply with a good margin of available power and therefore the choice was that of 650 W. The power supply, although not very well known, has good characteristics and good quality materials. It is not cheap! But I'm also willing to change it.

 

[Samuel Tai]

The primary mistake enthusiasts make when building a TrueNAS system is to extrapolate their experience from previous PC builds. This frequently leads to errors in spec'ing components, since you're building a server, not an ordinary gaming PC. Consumer power supplies tend to prioritize the 12V rail to allow for CPU/GPU overclocking, and neglect the 5V and 3.3V rails needed for peripherals. Even though your power supply may appear to be large enough, it may actually not be supplying the required power to all your 5V peripherals.

From the datasheet for your Itek power supply, it only specifies 12V, so I suspect it's sacrificed power on the 5V and 3.3V rails to prioritize the 12V rail.

 

[Amedeo58]

The primary mistake enthusiasts make when building a TrueNAS system is to extrapolate their experience from previous PC builds. This frequently leads to errors in spec'ing components, since you're building a server, not an ordinary gaming PC. Consumer power supplies tend to prioritize the 12V rail to allow for CPU/GPU overclocking, and neglect the 5V and 3.3V rails needed for peripherals. Even though your power supply may appear to be large enough, it may actually not be supplying the required power to all your 5V peripherals.

What would you suggest? I can buy a new power supply and try.

 

[Samuel Tai]

Search for server power supplies. Many are available with 80Plus gold, and they all should advertise the max Amps on all rails.

 

[Redcoat]

As far as I know the LSI 9400 16i card doesn't need to be flashed.

Sorry you are not having the good experience that you planned for. Take a look at post #9 in this thread https://www.truenas.com/community/threads/anyone-using-lsi-sas-9400-16i.77409/#post-627256

There may be others covering issues if you search on 9400 16i

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

OR...unplug the HBA and controller card and plug in one new/unused/spare boot drive and one new/unused/spare data drive and set up the server with just two drives.

650W x (50%*) x 80% usable capacity = 260 W continuous output for 10 drives plus the system seems a bit on the small size. Check out my specs, I'm running around 200W continuous with 8 top-tier drives that sip power.

---
*Chinese marketing correction factor. I'm very serious on this and not knocking any product or brand. With my job I import things regularly and for the most part this is a reasonable correction factor. There are name-brand reputable products that can meet and sometimes exceed specifications, itekCASE is "probably" not one. I would not trust that hardware to an unknown power supply. (this coming from a guy whose name-brand system caught fire.... )

 

[Amedeo58]

OR...unplug the HBA and controller card and plug in one new/unused/spare boot drive and one new/unused/spare data drive and set up the server with just two drives.

650W x (50%*) x 80% usable capacity = 260 W continuous output for 10 drives plus the system seems a bit on the small size. Check out my specs, I'm running around 200W continuous with 8 top-tier drives that sip power.

---
*Chinese marketing correction factor. I'm very serious on this and not knocking any product or brand. With my job I import things regularly and for the most part this is a reasonable correction factor. There are name-brand reputable products that can meet and sometimes exceed specifications, itekCASE is "probably" not one. I would not trust that hardware to an unknown power supply. (this coming from a guy whose name-brand system caught fire.... )

 

[Amedeo58]

Okay, you convinced me. I'll do a thorough research and in a few days after replacing the PSU I'll let you know if that was the problem (I really hope it's that and nothing else!!!).

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

You might consider checking back here first, and we'll try to save you some money/time/hassle/other on your choice if possible? Or better yet, confirm you've done a bang-up job and should have great results.

Also, there may be other issues, if you have the time and inclination you might want to try the current PSU with just two drives (come to think of it there's no data on the ones you own since the setup keeps going bad, so you could use those). A bad PSU could still cause issues, that's where @jgreco's advice about burning-in a system is like handing someone gold. The more you know and document your situation now the more you'll have to work with when you change things.

 

[Amedeo58]

This morning I brutally unplugged 7 out of 10 HDs to see if the system would work with the SAS controller still plugged in. I would have unplugged another one if the situation was still the same and then unplugged the SAS controller. The pleasant surprise: the system works and is stable. The created pool is finally stable and fully functional. I must therefore thank you for making me understand the problem in the configuration of my machine. Now I have to buy a power supply to match (I think I'll get a Seasonic 850/1000 W). Thanks again.

 

[Davvo]

Make sure you understand what RAIDZ1 means.

 

[Samuel Tai]

Now I have to buy a power supply to match (I think I'll get a Seasonic 850/1000 W).

Excellent choice. Seasonic power supplies have a solid reputation here.