Starting to migrate, first question on storage/cache.

[Dirk]

Finally moving from old server to new (se sig) after playing with WD for a month plus on getting SMR drives.

I will be moving from the old server to new now (again, see sig). Freenas is installed on a boot drive (Samsung 128GB) separate from the 6 6TB drives. My first question is since this is more storage than the OS needs, can or should this extra space be used for cache since it would obviously be much faster?

This of course would necessitate the drive be partitioned for OS and CACHE separately I'm assuming.

Thanks

 

[SweetAndLow]

Finally moving from old server to new (se sig) after playing with WD for a month plus on getting SMR drives.

I will be moving from the old server to new now (again, see sig). Freenas is installed on a boot drive (Samsung 128GB) separate from the 6 6TB drives. My first question is since this is more storage than the OS needs, can or should this extra space be used for cache since it would obviously be much faster?

This of course would necessitate the drive be partitioned for OS and CACHE separately I'm assuming.

Thanks

No you do not partition your boot device for a cache device. Keep them separate.

 

[Dirk]

No you do not partition your boot device for a cache device. Keep them separate.

Thanks S&L:
I noticed the pool setup allowed for a cache drive but dedicating one of the 6TB drives would be ridiculous. Should I find a way to install another small SSD, or what does Freenas use/want for cache?

 

[danb35]

what does Freenas use/want for cache?

What makes you think you need cache? Using a spinner as cache would be silly (you'd want a SSD, the faster the better), but unless you know there's a reason you need it, don't--you can always add it later if needed.

 

[Dirk]

Good point. I don't know that I need it, but for the effort and expense I've made, since I'm starting out a fresh server I might as well give myself a further education and ensure the server is going in the right direction.

The cache was available to implement in the add pool area so I figured I'd investigate. I'll leave the boot SSD as is and dedicate the six drives to the pool.

Thank you both, I'll move on to the next question (but in a separate to[ic to keep things organized).