BUILD Best drive format for use as RAID10

[mudshark]

I did a build already but the writes were so slow I am doing it over hoping to improve things.

I understand that w/ enough memory ZFS file system is best but I have only 8G so I'll not be using zfs.
I also understand (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that I ought to format the drives with 4K sector support for best performance.

I'll be using (4) 3T drives that will be mirrored/striped for a 6T total.

That said the formatting options I have in my disk manager are:
btrfs
ext2
ext3
ext4
fat 16 or 32
hfs
jfs
ntfs
xfs
reiser4
reiserfs

BTW, how can I actually measure my read/write speeds?
I already see the NIC is at 1G/full duplex so I turn my attention to the drives themselves.

Thanks all!
RG

 

[krikboh]

You are apparently not using FreeNAS...


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[mudshark]

To format the drives this time? Correct.
The build I did before was letting FreeNAS have it's way with my raw disks and that performance was disappointing so I thought best to begin with optimally formatted drives.

So, if you know, if any of the above options are ideal for my above described drive config please say so.
If you have a better way then please say so too!

Much appreciated.
RG

 

[krikboh]

Assuming you are using FreeNAS 9.3 your only option is to format the drives to ZFS. Previous formatting will make no difference. If you had performance issues the problem is probably insufficient hardware.


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[marbus90]

6TB storage on 8GB ram can work, even with ZFS. Feel free to test it and keep the order form for more RAM ready.

If it crashes, it's usually caused by your current system and not the "low" RAM itself. Can you state it for the record?

 

[krikboh]

Are you using the MSI motherboard and AMD proc from your previous post? The Realtek LAN on that board and the Athlon X3 could both be a bottleneck.

 

[marbus90]

The AMD CPU isn't a "bottleneck". It's just not recommended due to interopability problems. The Realtek LAN however... yeah, toss that...

 

[mudshark]

Not crashing. Seems to be working really well but for the slow write speeds. I do think I can get by w/just the 8G RAM. I'll have to try it for a while.
Hummm, I was writing LARGE files at the time... I wonder if it's just a large file thing.
Otherwise, could be a chosen disk setting???
In STORAGE > VIEW DISKS there are altered options there.
* 10 min spin-down
* APM LVL 64
* Acoustic level Medium
* Enable SMART
Also, thinking now that while doing this initial restoration of all the files from my previous server I should also probably turn off SNAPSHOTS and SMART TESTING.

 

[9C1 Newbee]

I wouldn't monkey with preformating. FreeNAS doesn't care. 9.3 is gonna do ZFS anyway.

I suspect it is your hardware. It plays a big part in issues such as these. Hell, there is even a forum rule stating you need to post your hardware specs. Without those, I can't see how anyone can help you. Hope that helps.

 

[mudshark]

Right, I didn't post specs this time... It was meant to be a very specific question, one that would apply to any hardware config, but I was wrong. Thanks.

I will try an add-in NIC then... Also any feedback on the VIEW DISKS drive settings?

 

[9C1 Newbee]

Good luck posting your system information.