Virtualized FreeNAS and Choice of CPU

Miguel Nunes

Explorer
Joined
May 6, 2016
Messages
52
Hi all,

I have been using FreeNAS as a TimeMachine target machine for a while and it works fine.
The server is a HP MicroServer G7 with 16GB ECC RAM and 4x500GB drives running RAIDZ2.

The experience has been good but I have to expand a little bit.

I would like to have a backup server (or maybe turning the MicroServer into one) but I am a bit lost in terms of what configuration to use.

I currently have a SuperMicro X9DRD-7LN4F-JBOD which, if not mistaken, target the Storage Market. Currently it is running dual xeon 2620 v1 with 64GB of ECC RAM 1066MHz (planning to update to 256GB with more 16GB ECC sticks).

I am waiting for a pair of Xeon 2643v2 (they also have six cores, are ivy bridge) with QPI at 8.0GT/s as opposed to the 2620 that is 7.2GT/s.

I need a primary/backup pair to secure data (some datasets might also go to the cloud). The problem is that using the SuperMicro is a bit of overkill. So I though I could virtualise FreeNAS on ESXi and make a hybrid system that would run VMware VMs from NVMe cards and HDDs (the chassis supports 24xHDD 6Gbit/s backplane). I would Allocate 4 or HDDs to the FreeNAS with some PERC controller (The H700 didn't like to boot with the system so I had to disable the OPROM). I could replace it with a SuperMicro HBA that doesn't offer cache but that goes well with expanders and can be passtroughed.

What are your thoughts about this kind of setup for FreeNAS?

I also have Infiniband connectivity that I would like to use for storage and IPC. All my cards have dual ports. 10.0.0.x/24 for IPC and 10.0.1.x/24 for storage.

I have 2 pairs of Xeon 2670v1 that run on SuperMicro x9DRi boards with 256GB ECC RAM each (32GB sticks). I would like them to access volumes on the X9DRD server when running ESXi.

I also have a pair of Xeon 2650v1 that I would like to use as development ESXi based machine.

Is it better to run the Xeon2643v2 for the NAS or the 2620?

This message is a bit confusing, but believe me, I am very confused.

Thanks in advance for you time and help.

MAN
 
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