Raidz2 with 12 drives on single Vdev/Zpool?

[RichTJ99]

Hi,

I have been having a hard time figuring out the best way to have a backup of my data on my main freenas server. Part of the issue is I seem to want to recycle the 12x 2TB drives i have floating around from various pc builds over the years.

I recently bought 4x 6TB WD reds with the intention of putting them into my N40L box in a Raidz1 as a primary backup for my existing freenas box (drives are being badblocked right now).

I then started to think that I really do like the Mobo in my main build - supermicro x10sl7-f. It has 14 Sata ports & I started to think about either building a third freenas box (for additional file replication) - primarily because I have the drives.

As another backup only box, I could get 16GB of ECC for $100, mobo $225, PSU I have, G3220 - $70, Maybe some sort of rack case?

Any suggestions on that one?

 

[depasseg]

As a tertiary backup, I personally see no issue with 12x2TB RAIDZ2 (I'd even consider Z1).

As a datapoint, my main system is backed up to an enclosure with ~24 2TB drives as well as to a separate backup server running 6x6TB in Z1.