Advice on NAS set-up

[adrianwi]

Still quite new to this, so please be gentle!

I'm looking for some advice on the best way to configure my home storage using the 2 devices I have.

I've been running a Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ with 4x2TB WD (green) drives setup in RAID5 (~5.5TB) for about 18 months and have gradually filled with a combination of media (films/tv/music/etc.) and personal data backups. I have a 2TB USB drive attached which takes weekly backups of the files I really would be devastated to loose (photos, own company data, etc.)

I've also kept further backups of the media on seperate 3TB drives in the garage, so when a friend mentioned having a HP Microserver N40 spare and suggested looking at FreeNAS (rather than buy a new NAS device - the ReadyNAS won't take 3TB drives) it looked like a sensible option.

After a fairly steep learning curve and lots of trial and error, I finally got the N40 up and running FreeNAS 9.1.1 with 3x3TB Seagate drives and 16GB RAM. Then spent some more time working out how to configure users, groups and permissions before testing time machine backups (about 3 hours to backup 160GB data wirelessly on my MBA) and copying data across from my ReadyNAS (about 5 hours for ~500GB TV shows) which seemed pretty good?

A 4th 3TB Seagate drive arrived yesterday, so I popped it in to create a new volume and suddenly realised I had some decisions to make. I was originally planning to replicate the set-up on the ReadyNAS, which I believe in ZFS is RAIDZ1 but the FreeNAS was recommending a mirror (2x2), which would only give me the same ~5.5TB space as the ReadyNAS. When I changed it to RAID it recommended RAIDZ2 which gives me the same space but from what I've read slower performance. When I changed it to RAIDZ1 it said this wasn't an optimal configuration, but does give me ~8TB space.

I tried this configuration, but copying the same test data from the ReadyNAS looked like it was going to take about 15 hours, so almost 3 times as long as when configured with 3 disks.

Anyway, hopefully that's enough (too much) background and I was hoping for some advice. Once I'd moved the data across to FreeNAS I was planning to create a single volume on the ReadyNAS to use as a backup for the N40, so how would you suggest configuring FreeNAS? I'd like a good balance between space, performance and redundancy, although wondering whether having a 2nd device backing up provides enough redundancy. The goal at the start was to create more storage (I'd anticipated having ~9TB to play with) given the ReadyNAS is almost full.

In terms of the data, some is invaluable and I would be devastated to loose whilst some would be upsetting to loose but not irriplaceable so not the end of the world, just inconvenient.

Any advice or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

ps: once I've got the storage side sorted, I was hoping to configure FreeNAS as a Plex Media Server, which I currently have running on my iMac.

 

[cyberjock]

I'd never do anything less than RAIDZ2. RAIDZ1 has been a nightmare for many users here because typically when one disk fails another is failing too. Suddenly you have an unmountable pool and are really upset at your lost data. RAID5(aka RAIDZ1 or single disk redundancy) "died" back in 2009, so why you'd consider it reliable is a little beyond me. Yes, RAIDZ2 may be slower, but weigh your options carefully when you decide that performance is more important than reliability. Especially if you'd be devastated if you lost the pool.

 

[adrianwi]

Firstly, thanks for the advice.

My balance is between capacity, redundancy, and performance probably in that order, which is why I'm not too keen on RAIDZ2.

Having played some more and thought about how to use the two devices, I'm still swaying toward RAIDZ1 even with the increased risk. It gives me more capacity, and if storing critical data across two devices gives me additional protection should 2 disks fail in the same device.

 

[cyberjock]

Well, i'm not sure why you asked for opinions if you have already decided that capacity is more important than redundancy. RAIDZ1 was declared "dead" in 2009(as read from the link in my sig). If you want to rely on "dead" technology then have at it. Just don't be too shocked if you have a single disk failure and end up losing the pool.

 

[adrianwi]

I do appreciate your advice, as someone with clearly more experience than I have as a home enthusiast, and at the time of asking I was still uncertain which was the best solution to my specific requirements.

After seeking advice in a number of places, and giving more thought as to how much storage I need and what data was important and what was not, I think a RAID5 is the most appropriate. I've read the link in your signature, to an article from 2007 last commented on in 2009, and wonder if the argument still holds true 4 years on? I suspect lots of people are still using RAID5 as a reliable storage solution, and only really have problems with lost data where they didn't consider appropriate backup solutions. I think most people still advocate the need to backup more resilient RAID6 solutions?

I've ended up with a HP Microserver N40 (and 16GB RAM) running FreeNAS with 4x3TB drives in a RAIDZ1 configuration and a ReadyNAS NV+ (pretty old tech now) with 4x2TB drives in a X-RAID configuration. The FreeNAS will be used to store media (e.g. films, tv shows, music, etc.) and to backup 3 Macs connected to the network. I'll be using the ReadyNAS to backup the FreeNAS data I don't want to loose, so this is effectively stored on at least 2, but more often than not 3 devices (e.g Mac, FreeNAS and ReadyNAS). I also have a USB drive attached to the ReadyNAS than can be used as a further backup of that!

I'm hoping the chances of failure across all 3 are very low, as I could afford drives to fail simultaneously in 3 devices and still not loose important data.