Is FreeNas the right solution as a replacement to Drobo?

[cyb3rdyn3]

Greetings,

I'm currently looking to replace my Drobo S as my primary storage device.
I love my Drobo because it gives me a great level of flexibility. However, lately I've been getting a lot of file corruption issues; not good for primary storage.

I'm wondering if FreeNAS will be able to do the following:

1. Dynamic RAID array expansion. Create an array using 1 TB drives & be able to upgrade the capacity of the array with larger drives without copying data to another device temporarily.
2. Mix and match drive sizes & create an RAID array out of them.

Basically, can FreeNAS totally replace my Drobo with all the bells and whistles Drobo offers?

Thanks!

 

[sonny81]

Are you running check disk utilities (Windows) or similar if on a Mac?

I'm no Freenas expert, but I have been through a lot with the Drobo S.

Here's my two cents:

1. Keep your Drobo - Freenas is no fireproof way of keeping those files safe
2. Schedule a check disk utility tool for the Drobo - file corruption is like cancer; starts off small and gets bigger and bigger. When it hits you, its like it happened all at once.
3. Always shut down Drobo via the dashboard. If you get the "drive in use", etc. message and can't shut it down, shut down the host computer, then wait for Drobo power light to turn yellow, turn off the Drobo
4. Use Drobo for archiving only. Have all your editing done locally and back it up to Drobo
5. Purchase R-Studio and make an image of your entire Drobo. If you have data corruption on your Drobo, R-Studio has a great track record on bringing all the files back. I really screwed up my Drobo on a power outage and my UPS dying before I could shut down (wasn't home). R-Studio brought everything back.

For Freenas:

1. noobsauce made an awesome power point presentation that will answer your question #1. Here's the link: http://forums.freenas.org/showthrea...explaining-VDev-zpool-ZIL-and-L2ARC-for-noobs!

2. Set up Snapshots on your Freenas to save file changes short term, create a second Freenas system and run Rsync to back up your Freenas.

3. Do weekly or bi-weekly (or whatever you feel comfortable with) backups of the Freenas file changes to your Drobo.

4. Buy Second Copy 8 and sync local folders on your host computer to sync with a share on your Freenas as a "Simple Copy" (not a mirror copy, but rather it keeps files on the share even if you delete them on the local machine).

5. For me, though I do Second Copy 8 to sync my computer, I have a RAIDZ2 (very similar to Drobo's dual disk redundancy feature) set up on my Freenas that I manually back up to in case something got corrupted with Second Copy 8

6. Use R-Studio (the one with network drive support) to make images of all your shares, hard drives, etc frequently

I know this sounds crazy and it gets pricey, but I finally bit the bullet and did it (Drobo & 2 Freenas servers). I can sleep at night knowing all of my files are reasonably safe. I have Errors and Omission insurance as well as Liability insurance in the event I loose my business files (photographer) due to an earthquake, flood, or any other natural disaster.

Twice a month, I swap a few pocket drives with my friend who serves as my offsite back up.

I feel your pain about Drobo, but Freenas is not without its issues. Having them both together, however, is a reasonably safe back up system for your files.

 

[cyb3rdyn3]

Thank you.

I'm taking your suggestion on using the Drobo for backup.

Are you running check disk utilities (Windows) or similar if on a Mac?

I'm no Freenas expert, but I have been through a lot with the Drobo S.

Here's my two cents:

1. Keep your Drobo - Freenas is no fireproof way of keeping those files safe
2. Schedule a check disk utility tool for the Drobo - file corruption is like cancer; starts off small and gets bigger and bigger. When it hits you, its like it happened all at once.
3. Always shut down Drobo via the dashboard. If you get the "drive in use", etc. message and can't shut it down, shut down the host computer, then wait for Drobo power light to turn yellow, turn off the Drobo
4. Use Drobo for archiving only. Have all your editing done locally and back it up to Drobo
5. Purchase R-Studio and make an image of your entire Drobo. If you have data corruption on your Drobo, R-Studio has a great track record on bringing all the files back. I really screwed up my Drobo on a power outage and my UPS dying before I could shut down (wasn't home). R-Studio brought everything back.

For Freenas:

1. noobsauce made an awesome power point presentation that will answer your question #1. Here's the link: http://forums.freenas.org/showthrea...explaining-VDev-zpool-ZIL-and-L2ARC-for-noobs!

2. Set up Snapshots on your Freenas to save file changes short term, create a second Freenas system and run Rsync to back up your Freenas.

3. Do weekly or bi-weekly (or whatever you feel comfortable with) backups of the Freenas file changes to your Drobo.

4. Buy Second Copy 8 and sync local folders on your host computer to sync with a share on your Freenas as a "Simple Copy" (not a mirror copy, but rather it keeps files on the share even if you delete them on the local machine).

5. For me, though I do Second Copy 8 to sync my computer, I have a RAIDZ2 (very similar to Drobo's dual disk redundancy feature) set up on my Freenas that I manually back up to in case something got corrupted with Second Copy 8

6. Use R-Studio (the one with network drive support) to make images of all your shares, hard drives, etc frequently

I know this sounds crazy and it gets pricey, but I finally bit the bullet and did it (Drobo & 2 Freenas servers). I can sleep at night knowing all of my files are reasonably safe. I have Errors and Omission insurance as well as Liability insurance in the event I loose my business files (photographer) due to an earthquake, flood, or any other natural disaster.

Twice a month, I swap a few pocket drives with my friend who serves as my offsite back up.

I feel your pain about Drobo, but Freenas is not without its issues. Having them both together, however, is a reasonably safe back up system for your files.

 

[sonny81]

Thank you.

I'm taking your suggestion on using the Drobo for backup.

Glad I could be of help. It has been working great for me so far. I just leave the Drobo unplugged from the computer and wall when I'm not backing it up. Doesn't leave much opportunity for the Drobo to make life difficult :)