BUILD (1st) Sweet storage of mine

[DJABE]

Hello folks,

I expose to comments && suggestions my future primary NAS build.

• (sh)Intel® Pentium G3220 http://ark.intel.com/products/77773/Intel-Pentium-Processor-G3220-3M-Cache-3_00-GHz
• MBD-X10SLM-F-O: http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/xeon/c220/x10slm-f.cfm
• Crucial 16GB DDR3 ECC Unbuffered Kit http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?IMODULE=CT2KIT102472BD1339
• OR Kingston ValueRAM 16GB DDR3 ECC KIT SKU: KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G http://www.kingston.com/us/memory/search/?partid=kvr1333d3e9sk2/16g
• 4x 3.0 TB WD RED

Primary use: iSCSI target for a dedicated Hyper-visor machine (ESXi 5.5) -8 VM's max.
Secondary use: various local storage, nothing too demanding (samba backups or rsync...)

I'm considering 2 mirrors (2 vdevs) since expected performance would be better then RAIDZ2. But I'll play with both to see what suits better my needs.

Someday I can upgrade to 4 more RED's, and 2x8GB of RAM (that will max out supported size by this mobo).

 

[Yatti420]

I don't run ISCI/ VMs etc.. I believe iscsi/VM use requires alot of ram? 32gb min?

 

[DJABE]

I said that all the 'brain power' is on a dedicated ESXi machine, only the data are 'elsewhere' on a dedicated sweet storage of mine. I already tried this with a 10 year old machine acting as NAS with iSCSI target. It worked nice for that old thing and only 1.5 GB of RAM (single core Athlon XP 3200+). OFC I haven't tried ZFS, only UFS...

Or am I missing something in your post?

 

[cyberjock]

First: You've already asked some of these questions elsewhere. Not sure why you are making another thread on this topci.

Second: You've horribly underestimated the amount of RAM you'll need, the potential for a ZIL/L2ARC, etc. And don't think you're going to skirt the price if I tell you that you're going to need 64GB of RAM+ to avoid iscsi timeouts.

Until then.. good luck!

 

[DJABE]

That's why I opened new topic as you might suggested elsewhere. We haven't discussed anything iSCSI related.

I'll read more on ZIL/L2ARC. If I cannot fit into this build, then I'm not sure I will even bother with ZFS. After ECC this would be too much :)

 

[cyberjock]

That's why I opened new topic as you might suggested elsewhere. We haven't discussed anything iSCSI related.

I'll read more on ZIL/L2ARC. If I cannot fit into this build, then I'm not sure I will even bother with ZFS. After ECC this would be too much :)

Now you see why I do consultation services. ;)

My crystal ball tells me you are done with ZFS now.. lol. You just don't know it yet.

 

[DJABE]

You mean 'know-how consulting'? ;)
OKAY, let's get serious.
What is the best way to achieve iSCSI target for ESXi machine, and also to use NAS for other 'normal' things like RSYNC/CIFS backup from desktop machines etc.


My hardware list is specified in the first post.
Regarding RAM, maximum I can get is 32 GB (MB limit). And I can order instead of 2x8 kit, two kits (4x8 total) right away.

Starting point: 4 x 3TB RED's. Later I can add more.

I'm seriously considering skipping RAID-Z(2), in preference to maximize IOPS with ZFS mirror. Since I don't need at this point that much TB of space, I'm able to do 1:1 mirror in 2 vdevs.

Now if we conclude that even with that kind of setup I cannot get reasonable performance and data protection... I must wonder how nicely I can work with Nas4Free running on a 10 year old machine with ~1.5 GB of RAM... (my 1st expirience with FreeNAS/NAS4Free).

Thanks in advance to everyone who might comment out.

 

[cyberjock]

Yeah, what you are saying is exactly why I said:

My crystal ball tells me you are done with ZFS now.. lol. You just don't know it yet.

You'll be looking at replacing much of your hardware, and buying more. So again, you're done with ZFS unless you are ready to spend the money to basically make a whole second build.

 

[DJABE]

OK so ZFS and iSCSI is too much for a home build, even with 32 GB ECC and a server grade mobo? OK, what about UFS? Any other options?

 

[DJABE]

Because of these reasons, ZILs and L2ARCs are not overly useful and only add cost,
complexity, and can add complexity to data recovery if you have issues in the future.
In general if you aren’t using a zpool to serve iscsi devices using an ESXi server to
access FreeNAS storage with NFS for the ESXi store, then a ZIL and L2ARC provide
very little benefit.

I did my homework.
So I could run an ESXi datastores on a NAS box via NFS instead of iSCSI, all on ZFS pool?
Or I shouldn't even dare to ask... :)