I am planning to upgrade my FreeNAS Box (FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE-x64 (r13452) ) to the current Version 11 and I need some guidance as to the best alternative for Boot Volume.
I am attempting to choose between 2 Mirrored USB Flash Drive and a Single SSD.
In 8.3 I am using a single v8.3 USB Flash drive which houses all the boot code and all the configuration information. I very much like the idea of keeping the system code/config separate from data pools because it eases maintenance and backup. This model is also very easy to clone, and I have an hot swap ready to go should the drive fail (which it did once after about 2 years of service). Given the cheapest quality SSD I can easily buy locally is 120GB, I would like to get some speed / operational benefits from the SSD.
Questions:
How much write traffic does the Boot volume see (assuming that it doesn't have the database on it)?
If I use a single SSD is it OK to keep the database on the boot volume?
If I use a single SSD will it improve GUI response speed (and/or system performance)?
If I use a single SSD can the system be tuned to use the SSD for swap?
If I use a single SSD is it easy to clone the last snapshot and configuration to a flash drive for quick/easy restore to a new SSD if the SSD happens to fail?
As I understand things so far the characteristics of these two choices are:
(Anything I am missing?)
2 Mirrored USB Flash Drive
Cons:
- Destroyed by high write volume
Pros:
- Cheaper
- Doesn't use a SATA Port
Single SSD
Pros:
- Much more robust / able to tolerate a reasonable volume of write traffic
- Musch faster than USB drives (don't know if this is meaningful other than faster boot time)
Cons:
- More Expensive
- Wastes a SATA Port
- No redundancy
Thanks in advance for any assistance/input/suggestions.
I am attempting to choose between 2 Mirrored USB Flash Drive and a Single SSD.
In 8.3 I am using a single v8.3 USB Flash drive which houses all the boot code and all the configuration information. I very much like the idea of keeping the system code/config separate from data pools because it eases maintenance and backup. This model is also very easy to clone, and I have an hot swap ready to go should the drive fail (which it did once after about 2 years of service). Given the cheapest quality SSD I can easily buy locally is 120GB, I would like to get some speed / operational benefits from the SSD.
Questions:
How much write traffic does the Boot volume see (assuming that it doesn't have the database on it)?
If I use a single SSD is it OK to keep the database on the boot volume?
If I use a single SSD will it improve GUI response speed (and/or system performance)?
If I use a single SSD can the system be tuned to use the SSD for swap?
If I use a single SSD is it easy to clone the last snapshot and configuration to a flash drive for quick/easy restore to a new SSD if the SSD happens to fail?
As I understand things so far the characteristics of these two choices are:
(Anything I am missing?)
2 Mirrored USB Flash Drive
Cons:
- Destroyed by high write volume
Pros:
- Cheaper
- Doesn't use a SATA Port
Single SSD
Pros:
- Much more robust / able to tolerate a reasonable volume of write traffic
- Musch faster than USB drives (don't know if this is meaningful other than faster boot time)
Cons:
- More Expensive
- Wastes a SATA Port
- No redundancy
Thanks in advance for any assistance/input/suggestions.