I've decided to build a small production NAS for hosting some moderately busy small (300-400 GB) VMware ESX 5.0.1 guests. The total size as planned will be between 8 and 12 TB of usable storage, and there are about 10 VMs running, spread across two VMware hosts.
VMware host #1 is an older HP DL580 G5, 64GB ECC RAM, Quad Xeon E7340 2.4 QC Xeons, 2x 146GB 10K in RAID 1 for boot volume, HP NC522SFP dual-port 10 GBe SFP+ NIC with iSCSI offload dedicated for iSCSI.
VMware host #2 is a newer home built Supermicro H8DG6-F-O dual G34 socket AMD platform with dual 6272 16-core 2.1 GHz Opterons, 112 GB ECC PC3-10800 RAM, HP NC522SFP DP 10 GBe NIC dedicated for iSCSI.
Switch fabric is dual HP 5406ZL, with iSCSI on 8-port 10 Gbe ZL modules, HP SFP+ cables.
My proposed "production" FreeNAS box has:
Supermicro X9SRL-F motherboard
E5-2630 2.3 GHz Xeon
4x8 GB -- 32GB total ECC DDR3-1333 unregistered RAM
3x3 TB HGST Ultrastar NAS 7200 RPM 64MB SATA, 2 attached via 6.0 Gbps motherboard SATA ports, 2 attached via 3.0 Gbps motherboard SATA ports.
I've got the NAS set up and configured in a temporary $70 rack chassis, but will be moving it to a Supermicro 2U CSE-826E 12-drive chassis with redundant Fans and PSU before it hits production.
So, my primary concerns are ...
1) Should I plan for a L2ARC or ZIL with this configuration? I was thinking 2x 120 GB Samsung 840 pro for L2ARC mirrored, and try to find a pair of less expensive 32GB or 64GB SLC SSD for ZIL. Is the performance worth it? The VM guests are mostly mail servers, web servers with low transaction rate volume, and some relatively light SQL Server, Mongo DB (on Ubuntu x64).
2) The NAS has 3x3TB disks, and are currently formatted RAIDZ1. I am waiting for my local Microcenter to re-stock some more drives so I can run 6 of them in Stripe/mirror, but it's RAIDz1 for now.
3) The Opteron host has a pretty fast LSI 9266-8i SAS controller, LSI battery backup unit, and 6x 4TB Desktar 7k4000 SATA in RAID 10 + hot spare as local storage. I may pull the Deskstars out and put them in the NAS once the production chassis gets ordered and set up a second volume. The LSI 9266 would be reconfigured as JBOD and the raid battery pulled off.
How much RAM should I put in my NAS? I have 32GB in there now, and can put another 32GB in the open 4 slots. I have the extra memory on hand, but was thinking of putting it into my Opteron VM host if I don't need it for the NAS. Is 32GB sufficient for 6TB storage now and 12-18TB total storage later?
Thanks!
Greg
VMware host #1 is an older HP DL580 G5, 64GB ECC RAM, Quad Xeon E7340 2.4 QC Xeons, 2x 146GB 10K in RAID 1 for boot volume, HP NC522SFP dual-port 10 GBe SFP+ NIC with iSCSI offload dedicated for iSCSI.
VMware host #2 is a newer home built Supermicro H8DG6-F-O dual G34 socket AMD platform with dual 6272 16-core 2.1 GHz Opterons, 112 GB ECC PC3-10800 RAM, HP NC522SFP DP 10 GBe NIC dedicated for iSCSI.
Switch fabric is dual HP 5406ZL, with iSCSI on 8-port 10 Gbe ZL modules, HP SFP+ cables.
My proposed "production" FreeNAS box has:
Supermicro X9SRL-F motherboard
E5-2630 2.3 GHz Xeon
4x8 GB -- 32GB total ECC DDR3-1333 unregistered RAM
3x3 TB HGST Ultrastar NAS 7200 RPM 64MB SATA, 2 attached via 6.0 Gbps motherboard SATA ports, 2 attached via 3.0 Gbps motherboard SATA ports.
I've got the NAS set up and configured in a temporary $70 rack chassis, but will be moving it to a Supermicro 2U CSE-826E 12-drive chassis with redundant Fans and PSU before it hits production.
So, my primary concerns are ...
1) Should I plan for a L2ARC or ZIL with this configuration? I was thinking 2x 120 GB Samsung 840 pro for L2ARC mirrored, and try to find a pair of less expensive 32GB or 64GB SLC SSD for ZIL. Is the performance worth it? The VM guests are mostly mail servers, web servers with low transaction rate volume, and some relatively light SQL Server, Mongo DB (on Ubuntu x64).
2) The NAS has 3x3TB disks, and are currently formatted RAIDZ1. I am waiting for my local Microcenter to re-stock some more drives so I can run 6 of them in Stripe/mirror, but it's RAIDz1 for now.
3) The Opteron host has a pretty fast LSI 9266-8i SAS controller, LSI battery backup unit, and 6x 4TB Desktar 7k4000 SATA in RAID 10 + hot spare as local storage. I may pull the Deskstars out and put them in the NAS once the production chassis gets ordered and set up a second volume. The LSI 9266 would be reconfigured as JBOD and the raid battery pulled off.
How much RAM should I put in my NAS? I have 32GB in there now, and can put another 32GB in the open 4 slots. I have the extra memory on hand, but was thinking of putting it into my Opteron VM host if I don't need it for the NAS. Is 32GB sufficient for 6TB storage now and 12-18TB total storage later?
Thanks!
Greg