Memory Requirements Question

[ncsuguy]

I'm planning on converting a old dell optiplex 755 that has the following specs listed below into a temporary FreeNas box:

E6750 Core 2 Duo
6GB RAM

On top of that I'm planning on purchasing 4 x 2TB WD Red and running them in a RAID-Z2 configuration.

From what I've read the minimum to support ZFS is 6GB, which I meet, but most post that 8GB+ is 'required' and then you are supposed to add 1GB for each TB of storage.

The main question is, working with the 6GB, will that run as a stop gap reliably for around 6 Months? I plan on swapping out the MB and CPU to a newer vintage within that time frame at which point I would move to 8-16GB. I'm in a rush to replace an aging WHSv1 and with the HDD purchase, I would prefer to keep costs down closer to the $500 range rather than the $800-900 range.

I could purchase a 2x2GB of DDR2 for around $60, but I feel a bit like that's just throwing money away as those components will be of no use as I migrate to the newer MB/CPU.

The usage of the FreeNas would be only for Time Machine Backups and minimal CIFS traffic, no trans-coding or de-duplication, at least in this hardware build out.

 

[ProtoSD]

That should be ok, it might be a bit slower on scrubs and big transfers, but I think it'll get you by for 6 months.

 

[cyberjock]

You should be okay. It's hard to say how much is enough until you put the system into use. My system is used by a single user(me) and I have 32TB of data and 20GB of RAM and my system runs fine for me. I did have to upgrade from 12GB to 20GB though because performance was s-l-o-w. Depending on how loaded your system is and the number of users, you may be fine. I'd say give it a shot and see what happens. If its too slow then consider buying more RAM.

 

[ncsuguy]

Thanks all.

That's what I was hoping for. I know speed will be limited out of the gate but it's also going to be limited to night time backup routines anyway, so speed is not necessary crucial at this point. This system is just the onsite backup. All the media content lives on the new HTPC (which used to be this Dell Box) and will be backed up to the FreeNas. The really important stuff is then sent offsite for 3 points of redundancy.

 

[joeschmuck]

I can run a VM of FreeNAS with 4GB of RAM for weeks without any problems, now that was 8.2, four 20GB virtual drives as RAIDZ1 (on a 1TB slow HD) and I did have MiniDLNA running in a jail as well, and no swap space on the drives. My test system may not be massive but it's good to get a read on the current version I'm testing. So I'm certain 6GB will run fine for what you are looking to do with it. Your CPU really helps you out as well as some folks would try to use an Atom CPU and minimal RAM and expect high speed records.

 

[EugeneA]

I had a very similar setup a while ago and it worked out fine, slow..but steady.. :)

 

[lloydopol]

right now, my FreeNAS box (ver 8.3.0) still used the Pentium D 925, 4GB system ram on ZFS (2 x 2TB HDD on Raid1), Intel Gigabit NIC and w/ a discrete GPU... got no time to install the new HW yet... so, far, it is still stable... i know that it is below the 6GB system ram requirement for ZFS to smoothly work but perhaps, the sun was still shinning on me as of this writing... maybe, my urge to change to use the new HW will start to kick-in as soon as i'll experience "issues" on the current configuration...

i loved FreeNAS (thanks)... oh, the user is only myself though but with 6 PCs connected to the FreeNAS box... 4 wired and 2 wireless...