Best Configuration For Server With 8 Drive Bays

HarryMuscle

Contributor
Joined
Nov 15, 2021
Messages
161
I got a good deal on a purpose build machine with 8 hotswap SATA bays and two NVME slots and now I'm trying to determine the best configuration for my needs. This server will primarily stream Linux ISOs and hold a few TB of archived personal data. No databases, no constant writing of data, basically an archive server with semi regular reading of data for streaming purposes. That means performance isn't really important but data safety is. My ultimate backup in case my house burns down will be storing the few TB of irreplaceable data in the cloud (most likely Amazon Glacier Deep Archive ... yes I know it costs a fortune to restore). I have 8x 12TB hard drives, 2x 2TB SATA SSDs, and 2x 500GB NVME SSDs that I would like to use in this server. Here are some of the possible configurations I've thought about that include local backups (all configurations will have the two 500GB NVME SSDs in the two NVME slots and house the OS so I won't include them as part of the possible configurations):

Configuration 1:
6x 12TB drives as raidz2 to store data
2x 2TB SSDs as mirror to store data
2x 12TB drives as single drives (one file system per drive) in USB enclosures as backup destinations
Buy 2x 12TB drives and use them as single drives (one file system per drive) in USB enclosures as backup destinations
Notes:
- an alternative on this configuration would be to find a 4 bay USB enclosure that works with TrueNAS and use that to house the 4 external drives used for backups instead of using individual drive enclosures

Configuration 2:
6x 12TB drives as raidz2 to store data
2x 12TB drives as single drives (ie: one file system per drive) as backup destinations
Replace 2x 2TB SSDs with M.2 versions and add them to the server via a PCIe card as mirror to store data
Buy 2x 12TB drives and use them as single drives (one file system per drive) in USB enclosures as backup destinations
Notes:
- similar to configuration 1 but instead of having all 4 backup drives connected via USB two are housed internally
- extra cost and hassle of selling existing SSDs and buying M.2 versions

Configuration 3:
8x 12TB drives as raidz3 to store data and use snapshots for backups
Replace 2x 2TB SSDs with M.2 versions and add them to the server via a PCIe card as mirror to store data
Notes:
- this would give more usable space compared to configuration 1 or 2 at the expense of using snapshots as backups instead of storing them on a separate file system (not sure if that's a good trade off especially since I don't know if I'll even need the extra space)
- extra cost and hassle of selling existing SSDs and buying M.2 versions

Configuration 4:
2x 12TB drives as mirror to store data and use snapshots for backups
2x 12TB drives as mirror to store data and use snapshots for backups
2x 12TB drives as mirror to store data and use snapshots for backups
2x 12TB drives as mirror to store data and use snapshots for backups
Replace 2x 2TB SSDs with M.2 versions and add them to the server via a PCIe card as mirror to store data
Notes:
- I have no need for a single large pool and even prefer to divide my data across multiple pools for organization purposes so having multiple pools is not considered a negative
- extra cost and hassle of selling existing SSDs and buying M.2 versions
- not sure if this offers more or less redudancy compared to a raidz2/3 setup

Configuration 5:
4x 12TB drives as single drives (one file system per drive) to store data
4 x 12TB drives as single drives (one file system per drive) as backup destinations
Replace 2x 2TB SSDs with M.2 versions and add them to the server via a PCIe card as mirror to store data
Notes:
- this configuration would be similar to configuration 4 but the mirroring would be done manually via the backup process
- compared to configuration 4 the plus side is that backups are stored on a seperate file system instead of using snapshots for backups

Thanks,
Harry
 

Etorix

Wizard
Joined
Dec 30, 2020
Messages
2,107
You do not mention any jail/VM so I do not see a use for a SSD mirror pool…
For storing bulk data and serving media files a 8-wide raidz2 (or raidz3) will do.
 

c77dk

Patron
Joined
Nov 27, 2019
Messages
467
Remember TrueNAS needs a whole disk (2 if mirrored) for OS

Edit: need sleep - you had that covered
 
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