RAID0 for a 2SATA controller no usb boot.

[nokeabue]

I'm loading FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE from a pendrive with lots of success.

loading from pendrive has it's own issues:

* probably failing to load if the mobo dies.
* importing ZFS after a crash somehow risks the whole data.

the idea goes the next:
* i have 2 ZFS 1Tb main storage. i want adding a RAID-0 or RAID-1
* i need mirrored loader since my mobo has only 2-SATA and the whole install would definitely eat one of them.
* ATA disks for the loader won't do the job since the PSU seems to crash while on multiple hdd loads
* loading from RAID-SATA dual-ports would be outstanding

 

[pirateghost]

what?

what is the question here?

I don't think you understand the USB concept. I have successfully swapped out my entire mobo/cpu/ram/psu/case for a completely different one (including different sata ports). I didnt touch the import. I took my USB drive (after a fresh install of newest 64bit), fired it up, uploaded my config, and upon reboot everything was just as I left it....

failing to load if the mobo dies?? this isnt windows.

 

[nokeabue]

well yes. FreeNAS recognizes perfectly the pools if already well configured in first place.
what i mean is:
usb loader probably will run with minor tweaks from mobo to mobo. aka amd vs intel.
BUT usb ports are leaky, it's an external port running over 500ma so it has several setbacks
not to say if boot is left to sdcards which might be problematic as i tested

what i mean is i want to bootload straight from datadisks that would be much better even more if the loaders could be mirrored
since we leverage a lot of trouble related to SATA cables and of course the USB slot itself.

it's not just leveraging the eventual gpt boot from usb but leveraging the slot issue.
what are your ideas on this behalf

 

[pirateghost]

it has nothing to do with properly configured POOLS and USB.

perhaps I wasnt clear enough.

FREENAS IS NOT WINDOWS.

you can boot the same USB drive on any machine (within reason) and it will boot and work. If you have a config file backup (you DO backup your config files regularly right?), then you can easily restore that config to any new FREENAS box setup...

if you have poorly configured pools (whatever that means) it doesnt matter if your system drive is USB or SSD, or even HDD....

its quite simple. follow the FreeNAS documentation and install it to USB. Make regular backups of the config. YOU SHOULD BE MAKING BACKUPS OF YOUR DATA REGULARLY TOO, AS ZFS IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR GOOD BACKUPS!!

your concern is really not founded very well. just use a USB and stop worrying or thinking you are going to reinvent the wheel

(i will let you in on a secret though: standard consumer motherboard "RAID" is fakeRAID/softRAID and is fairly useless in this case)

 

[nokeabue]

i'll take advice for ZFS as said. i can read what you mean USB is almost perfect but not close to my needs so far when i need altering /usr for some reason it would take a lifetime
yes we attempt to keep backups up to date (whatever that means)
the idea remains at having near zero downtime if the bootloader does whatever the usb usually does. not the case so far for 8.3.1.
thanks indeed

 

[gpsguy]

@pirateghost is talking about 2 different backups.

One, your configuration file, which is located here: /data/freenas-v1.db Consider creating a cron job to back it up daily.

Two, backup the data stored on your FreeNAS servers. Placing your data on a RAIDz system is not a substitute for doing backups.

yes we attempt to keep backups up to date (whatever that means)

Use quality USB flash drives and keep a ready spare with the system, in case of failure.

Like @pirateghost's example, I too, replaced my system, due to failed hardware. Moved only the drives to the new server. Installed the latest version of FN on a new flash drive, configured the NIC, and once I got into the GUI, I restored my configuration file (from my backup).