Best future proof 4 HDD -> 6 HDD config

[Rilo Ravestein]

Hy guys,

My budget allows for a system with 4x 4TB HDD's, the system is expandable to upto 6 HDDs, so i might be adding two in the future.

Initially i was thinking of creating Striped Mirrored Vdev’s (RAID10) for security and performance. But since i might be adding two HDDs later, i'm not sure this would be the best option.

So my question is, since i really want to have a good performance, and a good/some level of data security (i do make backups of the most important data, but would hate to rip all my CDs, DVDs & Blu-Rays again if i loose a pool), what configuration would you recommend initially, and after adding the two extra HDDs and why?

Thanks!

 

[joelmusicman]

If yow want to do the upgrade route, striped mirrors would work.

However if you can increase your budget, getting all six drives now into a RAIDZ2 config will result in a larger final size while offering superior data protection.

 

[Rilo Ravestein]

But RAIDZ2 is a lot slower

 

[joelmusicman]

Maybe so, but it's plenty fast for most home user scenarios. It might matter in an environment with 25+ users or a massive SQL DB, but RAIDZ2 can still max GbE without breaking a sweat.

 

[HoneyBadger]

But RAIDZ2 is a lot slower

Only for random reads. If you're just concerned with video streaming, even a single drive can handle that.

 

[Rilo Ravestein]

It's for streaming multiple full HD video's to multiple users, (some using plex)... At the same time. I'm using dual intel NICs for channel bonding and a suitable managed switch for this scenario. So i really need a HDD setup that performs well, but would also like some protection.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Video streaming programs tend to buffer a good chunk before starting playback, so the lower performance of RAIDZ2 will be completely masked by that. Regarding the multiple users, even a full-bitrate BluRay only consumes about 50Mbps on average, so you'll have more than enough bandwidth from your network and your drives.

You'll also get more space with RAIDZ2 (4 drives for data vs the eventual 3 in a stripe of mirrors) and for movie storage, space is king.

 

[Rilo Ravestein]

Thanks to you guys, i did some more reading on RAIDZ performance and it seems like that i was thinking of this "issue" totally the wrong way. You are absolutely right, i will never be able to max out even a bonded dual connection with RAIDZ2. Seems like it would be best to stretch my budget and go for the 6 disk configuration from the start then.... Save a little longer... Or sell my bike.

Thanks guys!

 

[joelmusicman]

Depending on how much storage you need now you could finish out the array with smaller disks for now (note that all disks will be limited to the smallest size in the pool), and upgrade with 4tb when budget allows. I wouldn't recommend buying new drives for this purpose though (Buy cheap = buy twice, wind up spending more).

 

[Rilo Ravestein]

Thanks for sharing this idea, but i agee with you on the last part. Don't want to spend more. I'm already going way over budget.