greetings

[Yettihead]

First off i'd like to say that i really appreciate the wealth of knowledge that is here and thanks to the folks that run this rig.

getting ready to start my freenas experience and have been reading quite a bit.

my biggest question now is, i have 4x500GB(enterprise) HDD's, a 750GB HD, a 1TB HD, and 4x3TB HDDs, with another 3TB hdd that is currently loaded with data to be pushed into the nas once it's running.. then that drive can be added into the pool.. i am just not sure how to configure the devs.. 3, 4, or 5 disks, raidz2??? or 5+2 with 1 spare.. the options are many, i'm not looking for mega performance.. average is good. I have an adaptec ASR-31605 card in a 3u 16 bay chassis..

i havent found a "for dummies" guide that says.. if you have 3 drives i suggest this xyz config for max storage and highest risk, and if you have 4 drives, this xxa config for maximum protection, etc etc.. but i might have missed it somewhere..

thanks!
have a good one

 

[Yatti420]

WElcome.. http://www.servethehome.com/raid-calculator/ should give you an idea of what you can use with Raidz..

 

[Yettihead]

thanks! that link is good if you only have drives that are all the same size.. that calculator is pretty sweet however..

too bad you cannot add additional disks to that calc.. like, in my case (for example) i have 5X500GB drives, a 750 a 1TB and 4x3TB drives.. would i be better off creating vdev1 as 5x500 + 750 + 1TB and vdev2 as 4x3TB or vdev1 as 5x500 + 750 and vdev2 as 1TB + 4x3TB, and in 6 months or so, replace the 1tb with another 3 or 4TB drive.. I'm leaning towards raidz2...

 

[Yettihead]

gah.. see where reading gets you..
<insert light bulb here>:)
zfs will only calculate the size of the vdev based upon the smalled capacity drive you have in that particular vdev, right?
5x500 + 750 + 1TB equals 7x500GB (and now the calculator makes sense.. )