SSD buying advice

[andypm1982]

I’m planning on migrating over my hardware super micro 24x disk shelf to freenas and gathering some info on what SSDs to buy.

Ive been seeing a lot of speak about intel S3700 ssds. I know they are abit older now but prices on eBay are reasonable. Or are there any more recent comparable drives??

also does anyone have any advice on how I should present them to freenas? I’m looking at 2 potential scenarios.

1st is to add 4x ssd as a hardware raid10 to my esxi host and pass the other 4 directly to freenas using a hba or 2 is to use all 8 in a hardware raid10 on my esxi host and just pass a 1tb virtual device through to freenas as a slog l2arc device for the 12x 4tb sas disks currently in my super micro disk shelf.

I also have a couple of windows virtual server on my esxi host that just do dns and active directory servicing for my network that would be sharing whatever config I use on the host itself.

any advice would bevaluable.

 

[Herr_Merlin]

I am doing pretty much the same for my private server.
I would just use a hardware RAID1 for the ESXi, a DC and the OS vmdk of trueNAS. and attach 6 SSDs as mirrior to trueNAS for the VMs.

 

[andypm1982]

I don’t plan on running any of the vms from trueness. I use hardware pass through etc and esxi is far easier.

all I want truenas for is file sharing, Plex media streaming and the ability to saturate 10gb for smb transfers. Plus I host a rust dedicated gaming server for myself and some friends so looking for high iops for esxi guests.

 

[rvassar]

I don't think there's a lot of gain to be had after the S3700's. Some of the consumer drives may be faster here and there, but unsuitable for purpose in FreeNAS. The crux of the problem is SATA III & 12gb SAS are all too slow. The enterprise SSD stuff is moving to native NVMe. Samsung P1735, Kioxia CM6's, etc... I've held a standard size 2.5" disk in my hand with 15.8Tb of storage... All it takes is money.

 

[joeschmuck]

All it takes is money.

I like that quote.

As for using SSD's, well the S3700 drives are good but if you go that route, purchase new drives that have a full 5 year warranty. They reason they are cheaper now is becasue they are discontinued. You might want to look at something newer as @rvassar has recommended. I'd like to have a 15.8Tb SSD, actually maybe three of them as a 3-way mirror but my wallet is not that large for a project like this, and my wife would snip my winky off.

 

[andypm1982]

I’d love to purchase new enterprise ssds but in the current climate used is my only real option and I’m looking for a solution that I can just drop into my r720 without needing additional cards etc. So sata/sas is what I’m looking at.

currently have 8x 600gb 2.5 sas disks that i want to swap out for ssds. Yes they may not be the quickest by today’s standard but even 2 sata ssds will give me more iops than my current config. So 8 even used aslong as they have a decent life span left in them should be fine. If they last me 12months until current economical stuf changes I’m also happy with the outcome.

what I need to know is how I can make truenas benefit from them?? Either giving truenas direct access to 4 of them or by giving it access to a chunk of space on an 8 disk raid10 array of ssds.

 

[rvassar]

Oddly enough... If you're careful, you can find some good used Intel S3x00's on eBay. I picked up a couple 120gb S3500's for mad-SLOG experiments for $20/ea with 85% write endurance remaining. Not the fastest drive, but at that price I can't really complain. (@joeschmuck thinks he has it bad... I'm married to an MSci Accountant!)

 

[andypm1982]

I have an offer on 8x S3700 400gb for $400 with approx 90% health remaining.

 

[joeschmuck]

If they last me 12months until

That is good that you have realistic expectations, too many people that join here feel they will spend very little money to produce a monster of a system. I hope the system works out for you as expected. I'd also recommend that your perform a SMART Long test on each drive and if the results are good, then possibly a secure erase, but that is up to you since it will slightly increase the wear leveling value, but it may increase initial performance if whoever you purchased them from didn't secure erase them. Honestly, I'd test the throughput and if it is slower than expected, only then would I do a secure erase one drive and test again to see if it improves. If it does then you will know it wasn't secure erased before they shipped them to you.

Hey, just things to think about. And good luck!

 

[Chris Moore]

Did anyone notice the part of the question about using hardware RAID to pass disks to FreeNAS, with the FreeNAS running in a VM?

also does anyone have any advice on how I should present them to freenas? I’m looking at 2 potential scenarios.

All drives should be presented directly to FreeNAS for management as some type of ZFS pool. You should never NEVER use any kind of hardware RAID controller with FreeNAS. You need a SAS HBA / SAS expander to give FeeNAS direct connect to the device.

1st is to add 4x ssd as a hardware raid10 to my esxi host and pass the other 4 directly to freenas

1st is to add 4x ssd as a hardware raid10 to my esxi host and pass the other 4 directly to freenas using a hba

or 2 is to use all 8 in a hardware raid10 on my esxi host and just pass a 1tb virtual device through to freenas

This might be even worse.

 

[joeschmuck]

Did anyone notice the part of the question about using hardware RAID to pass disks to FreeNAS, with the FreeNAS running in a VM?

What I read was he plans to run a RAID10 for his VM and then he asked how to present the other drives to FreeNAS. At first I thought it was all RAID10 but after reading it closer, I convinced myself that wasn't the case. Except for the last line about creating a 1tb vmfs where it sounds like he understands what he's doing, I just don't think it's a smart thing to do. The OP has been here for over half a year and has a server already. Hopefully he knows what he's doing.

 

[andypm1982]

Yes my server is well established and I have used hardware raid for over 10 years with both adaptec and perc controllers. This will be the first time I’m relying on a software raid configuration. I plan to trial 4 ssds on the hardware perc controller and then use the 9207 lsi hba I have to pass the other 4 ssds straight to the freenas vm to build a zfs raid mirror. I also will be using a 9207-8e to pass the 12 4tb sas spinners I have which will also be used for a zfs mirrored pool as I use them in a hardware raid10 already.

long term plan is to have everything excluding the 4 esxi ssds presented directly to freenas as I am keeping my eyes out for a used backblaze/storinator chassis and like the idea than freenas doesn’t care how the drives are connected aslong as it can see them.