Minimum Hardware Requirements

[dogdog]

I wanted to use an old Dell Vostro PC - around 9 years old - as a NAS with FreeNAS.

I will only be using the NAS to back up files on a LAN.

The Dell PC has two 320 GB hard drives but only 4 GB of RAM (Dual Channel DDR2 667 MHz [4 x 1024MB]). The processor is E6750 Core 2 Duo Processor (2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 4MB cache) - it is a 64 bit processor.

However I read that for FreeNAS to work at least 8 MB of RAM is required. This was in FAQ's: http://www.freenas.org/faq/ ("3. What do I need to get started with FreeNAS?")
- I would be using a USB Flash Drive with more than 8 GB capacity (probably 32 GB).

Does this mean that FreeNAS on my old Dell PC will not work at all, work with limited functionality or work but the processing will be slow??

Many thanks for any help.

 

[cyberjock]

First, this is NOT the NAS4Free forums. NAS4Free is NOT FreeNAS, so you should probably amend your post to make more sense.

Second, you mention RAM, then quote the FAQ for boot device size. The two are not the same.

Third, I doubt NAS4Free requires 8MB of RAM minimum.

So please fix your post because you really make no sense. :/

 

[danb35]

as a NAS with NASFree.

Then why are you here? NAS4Free has its own forums. Your hardware is not adequate for FreeNAS.

 

[dogdog]

I understand the difference between FreeNAS and NAS4Free. I am asking about FreeNAS - so I am in the right place.

Sorry for mistype in my post. My original query was entirely about FreeNAS. I have corrected the original post.

I understand the terminology - the difference between RAM and boot device.

I only have 4GB of RAM as described in post.

I mentioned the size of the USB Flash Drive (probably 32 GB) in case this affected the use of RAM.

I would be grateful if you could now address my query.

Many thanks.

 

[jgreco]

Does this mean that FreeNAS on my old Dell PC will not work at all, work with limited functionality or work but the processing will be slow??

Option 4:

It means it'll work right up until it doesn't, and at the point where it doesn't, you may be royally screwed, because recovering from a bad situation typically requires *more* RAM for the ZFS pool import process, and you won't have any options there.

I originally boosted the minimum RAM from 6GB to 8GB due to a persistent run of people with 4GB and 6GB systems reporting that their pools were irretrievably lost. Many of them said "this was working great for me."

 

[dogdog]

A bad situation means a disk failure??

FreeNAS ZFS pool import process is used when after a disk failure I replace the disk and then want to rebuild files on new disk - have I understood correctly??

Essentially I wanted to just use my old Dell to try FreeNAS and then if I liked it I can think about a more up to date box with FreeNAS.

Then if I am using old Dell with 4 GB of RAM and FreeNAS all should be OK until I get a disk failure??

 

[danb35]

I only have 4GB of RAM as described in post.

Then, as I said above, your hardware is inadequate for FreeNAS. The minimum requirement, as stated in the docs, is 8 GB. If all you want to do is test the system, and you know you won't ever store any important data on the system in that configuration, go ahead--it will probably work for a while without apparent problems. Until it doesn't.

I mentioned the size of the USB Flash Drive (probably 32 GB) in case this affected the use of RAM.

It does not.

 

[cyberjock]

The reality is that the middleware doesn't always work right unless you have 8GB of RAM. So even as a "test box to goof around and see if you like FreeNAS" it's not a good system because it may not even do basic things like create the zpool. We've had users that couldn't create the zpool because of insufficient RAM.

Bottom line, you can't get a good experience for how good (or bad) FreeNAS is without the 8GB of RAM minimum. :(

 

[dogdog]

What do you mean by "middleware"??

 

[dogdog]

I know that buying another 8GB of RAM for my Dell is relatively inexpensive but essentially this is wasted money.

If I have a spare USB Flash drive (in addition to one with ISO and one that will be used to boot) can I configure either FreeNAS or the Dell to use flash drive as additional RAM and achieve the 8GB minimum in that way??

 

[cyberjock]

Middleware is the secret sauce that FreeNAS uses to "get the work done".

FreeNAS really is a combination of:

1. FreeBSD (10.3 as of the current build of FreeNAS)
2. Middleware (tons of python code that makes all the "magic happen")
3. The WebGUI (the pretty stuff you look at through your browser)

The WebGUI literally triggers the Middleware to do the work that you specific in the WebGUI.

When you have insufficient RAM to keep the system up, the kernel forces user processes to terminate unexpected. Literally everything that runs in the user space (middleware, the services you use like CIFS, NFS, etc., and the WebGUI services like django and nginx) all are potential targets to be terminated unexpected and without apparent reason. So you can be working on the system and suddenly if nginx is killed by the kernel you suddenly have no more WebGUI to speak of until you reboot.

It results in an unreliable system that can have random problems without cause and will be virtually impossible to really "troubleshoot" except to simply add more RAM and then see that the problem goes away.

 

[depasseg]

What do you mean by "middleware"??

The yummy goodness that makes the web interface actually do stuff to the underlying OS.

 

[cyberjock]

If I have a spare USB Flash drive (in addition to one with ISO and one that will be used to boot) can I configure either FreeNAS or the Dell to use flash drive as additional RAM and achieve the 8GB minimum in that way??

There is no way to do that. You need real RAM. ;)

 

[jgreco]

Then if I am using old Dell with 4 GB of RAM and FreeNAS all should be OK until I get a disk failure??

No. It may actually be okay, but only until something bad happens. Then it is very possible that you will no longer be okay, and you may lose access to your data, or, worse, actually lose your data.

Do not try to reinterpret this sentence into something that is more favorable-sounding to your desired endgame.

 

[dogdog]

Hopefully last question!!

Is DDR RAM EEC by definition??

 

[danb35]

No.

 

[dogdog]

So how do I find out if the DDR RAM that I have is EEC?? Is there an easy way??

 

[danb35]

If you don't know that it is ECC, the odds are near-zero that it is. Otherwise, the only way I know of is to Google the model number.

 

[jgreco]

So how do I find out if the DDR RAM that I have is EEC?? Is there an easy way??

Yes. What you have isn't ECC RAM, and even if it were, your CPU and mainboard ALSO need to support ECC RAM, which they don't, so to make a long story short, you've got a poor system to run FreeNAS on.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

So how do I find out if the DDR RAM that I have is EEC?? Is there an easy way??

Count the memory chips (ignore any smaller chips). An even number indicates non-ECC, an odd number indicates ECC.