Is my hardware up to spec?

[Tadd]

Hi, I would like to create a zfs mirror using 2 4TB disks. I will be using a power edge 860 with the following specs: single Xeon 3220, 4 GB ddr2 ecc (upgradeable to 8), 2 onboard sata connectors (no PERC installed), dual gigabit. I will primarily be using this for network storage and transcoding through PLEX. Will I run into the 2.2 TB HDD limit? Is this an acceptable setup for what i want? P.s. I will be using both onsite, online backup as well as offline, offsite backup.

 

[anodos]

Hi, I would like to create a zfs mirror using 2 4TB disks. I will be using a power edge 860 with the following specs: single Xeon 3220, 4 GB ddr2 ecc (upgradeable to 8), 2 onboard sata connectors (no PERC installed), dual gigabit. I will primarily be using this for network storage and transcoding through PLEX. Will I run into the 2.2 TB HDD limit? Is this an acceptable setup for what i want? P.s. I will be using both onsite, online backup as well as offline, offsite backup.

Make the upgrade to 8GB RAM.

 

[cyberjock]

First the ugprade to 8 isn't optional. That will bring up up to "minimum specs" for FreeNAS.
Second, if you plan to run plex for transcoding you are going to be woefully disappointed with your server's performance assuming it can even keep up with transcoding.
Third, the 2.2TB limit is going to be totally dependent on your hardware chip, its revision, BIOS version, etc. That's not a question for this forum, nor should it be answered by this forum, nor did you even provide enough information to actually answer the question anyway.
Fourth, if you plan to run Plex in a jail, you're going to need more than 8GB of RAM. You need to have 8GB of RAM plus whatever RAM you are going to need for jails on top of it. I can tell you that my plex server uses 1GB+ when nobody is using it, and can often hit 2GB of use with just 1 user.
Fifth, you may find that your hardware won't even boot FreeNAS. Often Dell/HP/etc isn't even compatible with FreeBSD and won't even boot.

tl;dr - Your hardware is inadequate for this task. You're going to need to look at something bigger if you want to use FreeNAS. You may

 

[Tadd]

Well first off, i was planning on upgrading the memory in the near future, seeing as how cheap ddr2 memory is on eBay. Second, I find it hard to believe that the quad core X3220 will have trouble transcoding. Up until a month ago i had this same server(with a single 1.5TB drive) running windows server 2008R2 and plex; it never skipped a beat. In fact, at this very moment, I have a very ancient PE 4600 (2 P4 based xeons, 32 bit, scsi) handling my local transcoding needs via windows server 2003 and ps3 media server while I re-dedicate my PE 860. I would estimate that my dinosaur 4600 transcodes more than 80% of my media without problem while simultaneously doubling as a white noise generator and space heater for my chilly basement. So unless the zfs adds some enormous burden to the cpu(please tell me if it does), I think it will transcode alright. Third, good point. I will contact Dell or just take the Damn thing to microcenter and see what it does when a 3 or 4 TB drive is connected to it. Fourth, are your memory recommendations based on minimum or recommended requirements? Fifth, I have 6 different model Dell servers or workstations and they all boot FreeNAS or FreeBSD.

 

[anodos]

8GB is very strongly recommended for stability reasons. I've seen people have problems at 4GB. I'm not a zfs guru, but I wouldn't say it has significant CPU overhead. I did some testing a while ago on a P4 xeon space heater. It does like lots of RAM, and adding RAM is the typical solution to performance problems (ie make sure you have room to increase beyong 8GB if needed). Since you already have the hardware you might as well test it.

 

[cyberjock]

I'm so happy you are going to compare FreeNAS to Windows and then try to tell us that since it works on Windows it must be workable on FreeBSD. /sarcasm

Hint: FreeBSD is NOT Windows. FreeBSD is FreeBSD. Windows is Windows.

Windows doesn't have ZFS. ZFS kills systems with a FSB, and you have a FSB. That's the reason why I said your hardware is inadequate. If it weren't for the FSB (and assuming you have enough RAM, etc.) it would be fine. But, you have a FSB>

 

[Tadd]

Is your role as forum guard dog to condescend people who offer a counter points to your advice? At no point did I actually compare windows to FreeBSD. I pointed out that my CPU performed more than adequately in a windows environment and did not understand why it would not function equally as well in a BSD environment. I also do understand that windows does not have ZFS; that is why I am here. I want to migrate away from H/W RAID; I am concerned about things like data corruption and loosing my array during rebuild. I like the idea of using a server for FreeNAS, is there a rack mountable, money conscious server you have in mind that would be adequate for what I am looking for? I prefer Dell because it is what i am familiar with but am willing to try other solutions. Please advise.

 

[cyberjock]

Well, you sure sounded like you were trying to compare to Windows when you said that it performs fine in Windows. That's why I said what I said.

The biggest problem you're going to have with hardware that is <5 years old is compatibility. If you read our stickies on hardware recommendations we provide some parts that are basically guaranteed to work with FreeBSD. A lot of hardware doesn't work on FreeBSD. Dell/HP/etc often don't work because Dell/HP/etc sell hardware that is almost exclusively Windows with many supporting Linux. So for plenty of users looking to repurpose a store-bought server they find it won't even boot without crashing/panicing.

If you want to go money-conscious while getting stuff that is guaranteed to work (and provide good performance) the hardware stickies are the place to go. Aside from hard drives many users build a server for less than $1000, and some for less than $800. I think my server (minus the chassis, PSU, and hard drives) cost me less than $800.

If you haven't taken the time to read my noobie presentation please give it a read (link in my sig). It's a great first stop for someone that's never touched anything except Windows and needs somewhere to start. Many things you take for granted in Windows suddenly is the opposite of what you want to do in FreeBSD/FreeNAS. ;)

 

[Tadd]

Cyberjock, I have read your hardware guide and inow see that my PE 860 is probably not suitable for what I want; despite the fact that it has ECC memory, server chipset, and dual gigabit NIC. I will go ahead and migrate my files to it (i will forget transcoding for now) while I begin planning a FreeNAS build. Is it possible to incorporate redundant PSU's into a build such as you might find in a branded server?

 

[cyberjock]

Is it possible to incorporate redundant PSU's into a build such as you might find in a branded server?

Absolutely, just buy a chassis that has that built-in. Keep in mind that if you are trying to be cost-conscious that you might find the best deal is to buy a used chassis on ebay (some will have a motherboard, CPU, RAM, etc.) and you can throw that stuff away (or resell) it and get a slightly used chassis for 1/2 to 1/4 the cost of a new chassis.