This is a FreeNAS data disk and cannot boot system

[RDM]

I didn't see that one, do you have a link?

 

[danb35]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5038747&CatId=329

 

[RDM]

Wow thanks @danb35 that looks really nice for that price...

 

[danb35]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Caveat that I've never actually seen one, much less used one, but the specs sound really good for the price. You'd need to add RAM, of course, and you'd probably need a way to hook up a monitor to DisplayPort (though you could work around not having a monitor, if you really wanted to).

 

[RDM]

Geez I didn't catch that. What the heck is a displayport? I use a few older monitors usually with the VGA connector!!

 

[danb35]

You can get adapters, e.g., http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1938981&CatId=467

 

[RDM]

OK awesome! Sounds like a plan...

 

[RDM]

Danbe35 et al...just a status update and a question.

Busy summer but finally managed to get that ThinkServer. And I was able to successfully install FreeNAS ontoUSB.
Guess it was a hardware issue with the other box.

Once I got it going I just went to storage and "Added Volume". It already knew that it was there. Very nice. So I am back to where I started.

Now for my question. Since I got this brand new box I am thinking about throwing Plex on it and turning it into my new Media Server. I take it that it integrates well since its on the addon listing?

I was just looking for some disk advice. The ones I have currently are just crappy old 500GB that I combined for a 1 TB volume.

If I were to get new drives, would it be advantageous to RAID them? I'm not up at all on the ZFS stuff or the storage pooling.

I have had RAID 1 drives for a long time. Never seemed to be of any help when one crashed but then again it was Windows.

And since I'll be serving up mostly videos and pictures wouldn't it be better to have it read from one disk and not two?

Bottom line, should I get 2 say 2TB drives and mirror or pool them or just say screw it and get like a 4TB single?

Thanks again...

 

[SweetAndLow]

Mirrors are absolutely the correct answer. They will give you great read performance, good redundency, easy expandability and easy to add another vdev set in your 4 drive chassie.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[RDM]

OK thanks.

One thing if you could expound on...vdev set?

 

[SweetAndLow]

Vdev is what a group of disks are called in zfs. A single or multiple virtual devices (vdev) make up a zfs pool/volume.

Check it the links in my signature for recommended reading. There is a noob slide show with all this info.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[RDM]

OK I have just finished reading that manifesto, lol. I gotta say I'm more confused than I am normally (old age).

I get the vdevs and the zpools thing.

I was planning to use RAID1 to set up mirroring on 2 4TB drives. But don't use RAIDZ1 (which is RAID5) ? I don't think I need it anyways.

So if I have a 4TB mirrored VDEV and it's in a zpool that should be all I need for a general purpose NAS. Like I said, I am planning on running Plex and have some windows shares on it for maybe some backups etc.

Seems like there is a lot of room for error and it can bite you in the end. I'm not running a production environment so maybe I shouldn't worry.

But once a vdev is built, no more drives can be added to it. But a zpool can be added to by another vdev at some point.
Just thinking if I ever fill up 4TB. I don't think it will happen for a long time.

I just want to make sure since I bought the new box that I don't so something stupid and set up the drives/pool wrong.

 

[danb35]

But once a vdev is built, no more drives can be added to it. But a zpool can be added to by another vdev at some point.

Yep, got it. So if you get over about 3 TB of data on your pool, you can add another pair of drives, mirrored, and you're good to go.

 

[RDM]

Hey Dan, looking for a little more assistance. I added the drives, mirrored and called the VOL FreeNas. So after I guess OS usage I have ~3.5 TB which is fine.

Now, I just shared that using Windows Shares as a drive. All of it. And I don't get it. I thought you had to create a ZVOL?

When I do create a ZVOL I don't have to use the entire device? It seems I can just say 1TB, 2TB etc. If I don't use it all what happens to the mount I shared?

And I think that each ZVOL is shareable? And what is the difference with a dataset? This all came about cause I installed the Plex Addin but I cannot get to the admin page and
I think it's because I don't have any storage defined in the jail for it?

If I only have 1TB of media, should I just create a 1TB and keep the rest in reserves for when I do need it? Or just use it in it's entirety right off the bat?

Thanks again.

 

[danb35]

I thought you had to create a ZVOL?

No. Unless you're using iSCSI, you probably don't need a zvol.