Entry Level hand made NAS VS out of the box cheap NAS

[LucaP]

Dear members, greetings to everyone since I'm new in the forum and i'm a NAS subject novice too.
My new FreeNas little server is the one in signature.
Excluding the WD 4Tb drives, all the other parts are second hand or come from other systems I had.
I obviously installed freenas 11.3.
Anyone could tell me how will it benchmark vs an out of the box low level NAS (using the same storage...)?
Just to understand if it really worths the time and efforts spent
Thanks in advance for your patience and your answers

 

[Constantin]

I think we need a bit more detail. Such as disk layout and the intended use. With just two disks in the pool, are you planning on running a mirror?

 

[LucaP]

A pool with 2x4Tb and 2x1Tb Mirrored

 

[Constantin]

So, a single pool with two VDEVs?
What are you trying to benchmark against?

• Bulk storage? Databases? PLEX? etc.
• What type of protocol are you intent on using (SMB, iSCSI, AFP, etc.)?
• Use case really matters - what do you want to do with this thing?

 

[LucaP]

Right now just backup storage through samba, maybe I'll try Plex multimedia in future

 

[Constantin]

With four drives in a 2 VDEV array, you should have some decent IOPS. The ethernet connection may become the gating factor re: total throughput and I expect IOPS to exceed those of my machine.

Thats a great motherboard. As you expand your drive needs, it'll allow you to do so inexpensively via PCIe HBA cards. If / when your needs expand, consider going to something like a 6-drive Z2 VDEV to only lose two drives to parity out of six. That's a better ratio than the 50% your mirrors are costing you right now and it arguably gives you better pool security also since the pool will be able to tolerate two drive failures per VDEV instead of just one. The only downside is slower write speeds, though with that use pattern you are unlikely to notice.

I don't see a mention re: boot disk. Are you using SATA or USB? If USB, hopefully not a on flash USB stick? (those tend to fail over time if used as a boot drive)

 

[ChrisRJ]

@LucaP , is there any particular reason for this question? Or do you just want confirmation that you made the right decision? ;-)

 

[LucaP]

I don't see a mention re: boot disk. Are you using SATA or USB? If USB, hopefully not a on flash USB stick? (those tend to fail over time if used as a boot drive)

I'm unfortunately using a usb stick to boot, i don't like wasting a sata slot for booting...

 

[LucaP]

@LucaP , is there any particular reason for this question? Or do you just want confirmation that you made the right decision? ;-)

It's too early to answer, I'm just setting up the nas, then I'll have to manage the client for automatic backup.
Time spent on PC does have a cost even if you are not spending any money, it's the most precious resource we have...
I've figured out this solution it's the most customizable and expandable

 

[LucaP]

I'm unfortunately using a usb stick to boot, i don't like wasting a sata slot for booting...

I forgot to thank you, your answer is very interesting and detailed :)

 

[Constantin]

No worries. inexpensive SATA SSDs are available used for less than $20 and likely will be more reliable than the USB stick you're using now. At the very least, save a configuration backup to your computer to have handy in case the USB stick gives up the ghost. Makes reviving your server / pool much quicker.

 

[LucaP]

No worries. inexpensive SATA SSDs are available used for less than $20 and likely will be more reliable than the USB stick you're using now. At the very least, save a configuration backup to your computer to have handy in case the USB stick gives up the ghost. Makes reviving your server / pool much quicker.

I've also an old WD raptor, do you think it would be better?

 

[kiriak]

I have a Synology 218+ with 2X4 TB disks in BTRFS in mirrror.
I play with TrueNAS (and FreeNAS) the last 12 months on various old hardware I have.
My data are about 1.5 Tb and are slowly increasing, do not expect to be more than 2-2.5 TB in the next 2-3 years.
I don't use Plex or similar apps.

There are advantages and disadvantages in every solution.
Synology is plug and play even if you know little about a NAS. There are built in apps that are more or less difficult to deploy on FreeNAS (like Synology Drive vs Nextcloud) or do not exist at all at FreeNAS (like PhotoStation).
TrueNAS takes a little more time but for specific tasks it is easier than Synology even for a noob like me. Also can do thinks that Synology cannot, that may be useful even for home users, like replication to USB HDDs and many more.
TrueNAS is also open source, important for some people.

If you have the hardware, even old and not appropriate, set up a test machine and check yourself if it fits your needs.

 

[LucaP]

I have a Synology 218+ with 2X4 TB disks in BTRFS in mirrror.
I play with TrueNAS (and FreeNAS) the last 12 months on various old hardware I have.
My data are about 1.5 Tb and are slowly increasing, do not expect to be more than 2-2.5 TB in the next 2-3 years.
I don't use Plex or similar apps.

There are advantages and disadvantages in every solution.
Synology is plug and play even if you know little about a NAS. There are built in apps that are more or less difficult to deploy on FreeNAS (like Synology Drive vs Nextcloud) or do not exist at all at FreeNAS (like PhotoStation).
TrueNAS takes a little more time but for specific tasks it is easier than Synology even for a noob like me. Also can do thinks that Synology cannot, that may be useful even for home users, like replication to USB HDDs and many more.
TrueNAS is also open source, important for some people.

If you have the hardware, even old and not appropriate, set up a test machine and check yourself if it fits your needs.

Thanks Kiriak, I was going to build the server using old HW I dismissed, but after reading the HW requirements and some discussions about them I bought some HW to conform those requirements.
My goal is to stop worrying about losing data on HW failure at home: so it's better for me to build a system which can reasonable be reliable.

 

[Constantin]

I've also an old WD raptor, do you think it would be better?

If it's a spare drive, why not? The biggest downside to such a drive is the higher heat and power consumption. It should be able to tolerate a lot more writes than the flash memory on a inexpensive USB flash stick.

I agree with kiriak that TrueNAS has a steep learning curve and fewer plugins than Synology. But ZFS also has a better track record than BTRFS re: detecting bit-rot, etc. While I appreciated the ease with which Synology, ReadyNAS, or QNAP could be set up, none of them offer the flexibility that TrueNAS does - a TrueNAS system can be easily tailored to meet your exact use case (in terms of hardware and software) whereas these consumer-grade solutions are aimed at the broader market.

Not every plugin will be available, that's a reflection of how limited the marketshare of TrueNAS is in the residential / SOHO market, where such plugins are popular. If iXSystems decides to move TrueNAS Core to Linux also that may change since Synology / ReadyNAS / and QNAP-land is linux based.

To me, the marginal work required to get TrueNAS going / maintained is justified by ZFS, the up-to-date protocols (netatalk), the sponsorship of open-source (put in my donation yesterday), and the ability to tune the system. Not everyone will want to put in that kind of time and effort and for that market segment, a Synology, ReadyNAS, or QNAP may be a better answer, especially if BTRFS meets your definition of "good enough".