Question about memory for Dell T30

[chravis]

Greetings All,

I have come across a Dell T30 which I know are popular with newbie FreeNAS users. These come with 8GB of ECC memory installed. I'm attempting to find the proper memory to add to it. I have found this memory on Amazon which several commenters have said is a good fit for the T30.
Kingston Technology ValueRAM 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 ECC CL17 DIMM 2Rx8 Desktop Memory (KVR24E17D8/16)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FM3GBC...olid=2IMD7UPD5XGUY&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

However, Amazon has one of those "Newer model" links pointing to this memory:
Kingston KSM24ED8/16ME Server Premier - DDR4-16 GB - DIMM 288-pin - 2400 MHz / PC4-19200 - CL17-1.2 V - unbuffered - ECC
https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-KSM24ED8-16ME-Server-Premier/dp/B07BGFXV62/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Does anyone know if this second one will work, considering it's $50 cheaper? And I believe both of these options are 2 sticks (8GB each). Can I just drop these in with the existing memory? I didn't know if it's ok to have 3 8GB sticks or is it better to install memory in pairs?

 

[Chris Moore]

It always worries me when they use a generic photo instead of a photo of the actual product. The description sounds like it should work. Amazon has a good return policy if it doesn't. It is a risk.

You could go to Crucial and be sure it is the right thing and it is only $129.
https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/poweredge-t30/CT11003225

Definitely don't go to Dell. They fell down and bumped their head when when they were figuring the price of their RAM:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...=en&s=bsdr&cs=04S2&sku=A9755388&mfgpid=250630

 

[chravis]

Thanks so much for the reply, @Chris Moore. Yeah I don't know what is up with Dell's pricing either. Would I be able to just drop that Crucial 16GB in with the existing 8GB or does everything need to match exactly?

Also, if I may ask you more question - I know there's been lots of debate on these forums about the boot disk (USB vs SSD). It seems like the consensus that I've seen is SSD is the way to go. However, there's always that one guy that says he's been using mirrored USB forever with no problems. I've got two of these (SanDisk Cruzer Fit CZ33 16GB USB 2.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive) that I had planned to use but after looking at your Crucial link, I see several SSDs compatible with the T30, including one for $19.99 (https://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/poweredge-t30). However, I'm not super familiar with all this stuff so I don't know if that is a good route to take or not. Or if you do go SSD, are you supposed to mirror those as well?

 

[Chris Moore]

I've seen is SSD is the way to go.

I have been using SSDs like this on several of the systems at work and they work very reliably:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-SSDS...s-MLC-Internal-Solid-State-Drive/323809423622
I have only ever had one Intel SSD give me any trouble and that one was extremely old with many years of use before it had some retired cells but it was still working.
There are many similar options on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-320-...-Solid-State-Drive-SSDSA2BT040G3/183818782069
I wouldn't spend the money for new, higher capacity, SSDs to use for boot media the speed and capacity are just not needed for FreeNAS. In fact, on my home NAS, I use a pair of mechanical drives similar to this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/40GB-Toshiba-2-5-5400RPM-SATA-Laptop-Hard-Drive-MK4032GSX/264299339918
I think the ones I have are Fujitsu or some other brand, but you get the idea.
The advantage of mechanical drives is that you can run SMART diagnostics on them just like the rest of the data drives in the system to keep an eye on the health of the drives. The ones I am using are at 2.9 years and have given me zero trouble. I bought two for my primary NAS, two for my backup NAS and two for spares but I have not needed to use the spares.

 

[chravis]

Hi @Chris Moore , what are your thoughts on buying recertified hard drives from eBay. Is that a risky move or is it common for freenas builds? I was thinking of either 3TB or 4TB WD Red drives (I don't have tons of data). Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Western-Di...sh=item3fa81df9c4:g:UNEAAOSw9eVXV20E&LH_BIN=1

 

[Chris Moore]

what are your thoughts on buying re-certified hard drives from eBay. Is that a risky move or is it common for FreeNAS builds?

I can't say how common it is. Not many people talk about it.
I bought used drives for my first three sets of drives in my various FreeNAS builds. Starting in 2011, all the way up to 2017, I used nothing but used drives because they were so much less expensive.
I used my tax refund at the beginning of 2018 to buy a full set of new drives so I have all new at the moment:

The thing I saw (my personal experience) is that there was a higher failure rate than is statistically normal for new drives. My solution was to keep spares on hand so I could quickly and easily replace failed drives. In the end, I feel like I saved some money, but it did create a situation where I had to change drives more frequently because of disk failures.

All that said, re-certified drives are different from used drives. Some of the used drives I ordered from eBay had five years of power on hours when I got them and only lasted a year before I needed to replace them. The difference with a re-certified drive is that the manufacturer will have put that drive back to original spec in their factory repair facility. A re-certified drive should be as good as new, but I have seen (at work and at home) re-certified drives fail early. Sometimes those drives still have some manufacturer warranty remaining so you can send them in for replacement.
If you choose to go that route, do a good burn-in test to try and find defects straight away and get any defective drive replaced when it is still in warranty. You might also want to have a spare on hand that is also burned-in and ready to use at a moments notice.

Did you review these resources:

Slideshow explaining VDev, zpool, ZIL and L2ARC
https://www.ixsystems.com/community...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/

Terminology and Abbreviations Primer
https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/terminology-and-abbreviations-primer.28174/

Why not to use RAID-5 or RAIDz1
https://www.zdnet.com/article/why-raid-5-stops-working-in-2009/

The 'Hidden' Cost of Using ZFS for Your Home NAS
https://louwrentius.com/the-hidden-cost-of-using-zfs-for-your-home-nas.html

 

[Chris Moore]

This is also a very useful resource even though it was written using the old GUI:

Uncle Fester's Basic FreeNAS Configuration Guide
https://www.familybrown.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=fester:intro

 

[chravis]

Thank you again @Chris Moore. You've been most helpful. I have looked at some of those resources you linked but it was a few months ago when I first started this process. I had to take a hiatus but now I'm back at it, so I should probably refresh myself.

I've started reading various links (including the ones you posted) about the different RAID options and such. It's still confusing but I'm working on it. I'm wondering, though, if I was to assume (which I know what happens when you assume) that the most I'll ever need in my lifetime is 4TB, and my box only has 4 bays. What is the best strategy? I have again assumed the best would be just to get 2 4TB disks and use a mirror (which would leave 2 empty bays). Is that the best thing to do for simpletons like me or is there a different approach? It seems like most of the resources are talking about lots of discs, and how to expand (or how you can't expand) in the future.

 

[Chris Moore]

that the most I'll ever need in my lifetime is 4TB, and my box only has 4 bays. What is the best strategy? I have again assumed the best would be just to get 2 4TB disks and use a mirror (which would leave 2 empty bays). Is that the best thing to do for simpletons like me or is there a different approach?

I have seen, in my own system, a two drive failure. That would take you data in a 2-way mirror, but you can choose to use a 3-way mirror. It you're trying to save cost, that is pretty safe and a little bit less than the cost of 4 drives for RAIDz2. Mirror vdevs get you some added flexibility for the future.

 

[chravis]

Thanks. I failed to mention that I'll also have the 1TB drive that comes with the T30, but I guess that's not useful if my other drives are 4TB