Migrating from one FreeNAS system to another

[The Rook]

I'm not too worried about the clients that will be playing the media. Those are both options I've been considering along with some others. I'm most concerned that my existing hardware does not meet the requirements for a FreeNAS setup. Specifically the non-ECC memory. I understand a little bit about why it is better, but am not clear on why not having it could risk losing data.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

not clear on why not having it could risk losing data

This question has been debated to death, here and elsewhere, and I doubt there will never be full agreement on the exact nature of the risks. Nevertheless, there's absolutely no doubt that not having ECC RAM increases the risk of data loss, regardless of the OS and filesystem in use. Therefore, when the topic is raised in these forums, the argument is way over in favor of ECC, because it just seems silly to go to all the trouble and expense of putting together a decent FreeNAS box and then skimp on the RAM. The pertinent question (also applicable to other components) is, "Why bother with FreeNAS & ZFS if you don't value your data enough to use ECC RAM?"

EDIT: asking myself that question is largely what led me to migrate from a Dell Vostro 420 with 8GB of non-ECC RAM to my current FreeNAS box.

 

[The Rook]

I guess I had always hoped I would be able to just use my existing hardware for a FreeNAS. For some reason I thought that FreeNAS was more compatible with older hardware. I was unaware of the recommendations for higher hardware requirements, especially with regards to the ECC RAM.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

For some reason I thought that FreeNAS was more compatible with older hardware.

Could be at least 2 reasons:

1. It used to be, back in the FreeNAS 7 days. FreeNAS 8 was the start of a new direction. NAS4Free continues more directly from FreeNAS 7.
2. A lot of external resources are about repurposing old hardware for use with FreeNAS.

 

[The Rook]

A lot of external resources are about repurposing old hardware for use with FreeNAS.

That is where I initially learned about FreeNAS. Perhaps it was an older article that was for FreeNAS 7.

 

[diedrichg]

I'd say your estimate on the cost of the Pi is high by a factor of two--this starter kit, for example, would appear to include everything you need (and a few things you don't) for under $70, and there are others for less yet. Plex on the server and RasPlex on the Pi would be another option (and it's what I use).

You are right. I was thinking back to about 4-5 years ago when I bought my Pi. I opted for a 32GB SD card because I copy my shows to it since I travel for a living. Streaming is not usually an option in hotels with stupid-slow internet. With the Emby for Kodi add-on it's awesome because all library actions are synced to the Emby server so when I get home, any watched shows are remembered in the position they were left off.

 

[pirateghost]

You are right. I was thinking back to about 4-5 years ago when I bought my Pi. I opted for a 32GB SD card because I copy my shows to it since I travel for a living. Streaming is not usually an option in hotels with stupid-slow internet. With the Emby for Kodi add-on it's awesome because all library actions are synced to the Emby server so when I get home, any watched shows are remembered in the position they were left off.

Which is exactly how Plex handles things too. Quite nice to use rasplex on my pi2's in conjunction with my plex server

 

[The Rook]

Could be at least 2 reasons:

1. It used to be, back in the FreeNAS 7 days. FreeNAS 8 was the start of a new direction. NAS4Free continues more directly from FreeNAS 7.
2. A lot of external resources are about repurposing old hardware for use with FreeNAS.

You mention NAS4Free and after taking a look at it's system requirements, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be best for me to just go with that instead of FreeNAS.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

NAS4Free

Could be, only you can decide. Their community seems to be less conservative than the FreeNAS community regarding hardware recommendations and such. As an outsider, it's hard to tell what the impact of that is on things like MTTDL.