best utilization of hdd space

Status
Not open for further replies.

dgws

Cadet
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
7
so i've been doing a lot of reading on freenas systems and i think i've got the gist of it now

originally i wanted to build a freenas system from spare parts i've had around, but ended up buying several hdds before i knew anything really about freenas

i have 3x3tb hdds and 1 4tb hdd at this time, one of the 3tb hdd i use in my htpc currently so i'll have to migrate all that stuff over to my freenas once it's built, so my question is this, how should i best utilize my hdd space for maximum storage while maintaining redundancy if a drive fails?

i thought about migrating my info to the 4tb hdd then setting up the 3x3tb hdds in raidz and adding the 4tb as a hot spare. by black friday i'd like to get 2 more hdds, possibly 2x 3tb and have 5 in raidz with the 4tb as a hot spare.

does this sound like a reasonable plan? should i aim to get 2 more 4tb hdds and run 2vdevs with 3x4tb + 3x3tb or 5x3tb + 4tb hot spare?

your expertise is greatly appreciated!
 

gpsguy

Active Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
4,472
Forget about hot spares - the feature doesn't work.

For 3+Gb hard disks, RAIDz2 is highly recommended. Once you create a vdev, you can't add to it. I'd hold off on this project until you acquire at least 2 more hard disks. Create a RAIDz2 volume using 6 disks. Don't worry about mixing sizes. At some point, if you can replace the remaining 3Tb drives with 4Tb drives, the disk space will expand automatically. Perhaps you can borrow a drive from a friend, so you have a place to temporarily move your existing data to and reuse that drive for FreeNAS.

What about the rest of the system? What motherboard, CPU, and RAM do you plan to use? The thumbrule calls for 1Gb RAM for each Tb of hard disk space, with an 8Gb minimum.
 

dgws

Cadet
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
7
so my setup is
mobo: supermicro mbd-x9scm-f
cpu: xeon e3-1230v2
ram: 8gb kingston ecc ram

my question is, im currently using one of the hdds i'd like in my freenas setup in my htpc right now, so i problem will be migrating all of the data from that drive to my freenas and then ultimately taking that hdd out and utilizing it in my nas. I know it would be difficult/impossible to add it to a vdev if i were to transfer the data over from that htpc to my freenas and using the drive, which is why i thought it would be reasonable to use it for a spare (unless you can think of a better way of me migrating over data so i can utilize the hdd space in my nas)

also, i was trying to startup my nas now using the 2x3tb hdd + 1x4tb hdd i have now but freenas wasn't letting me setup raidz when creating a volume. it's "optimal" setting it was making do was using the 4tb as a stripe and then mirroring the two 3tb hdds. any idea on how i could set it up in raidz without having to use command line. obviously i'd be ok with losing that extra tb for now to avoid the 22 hour process its currently taking me to migrate data from the 3tb to 4tb hdd. i'm doing this now just so i can play with it and prepare to have it up and running when i do have all the storage that i want
 

gpsguy

Active Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
4,472
Using the webGUI, you can create a volume with your 2x3Tb + 1x4Tb drives. Select the "Manual setup" option in the lower right hand corner of the ZFS Volume Manager screen.

If you go this route (RAIDz1), please ensure that critical data is backed up in other places. With the larger drive sizes, should you have to replace a drive, there's a chance that you might loose another drive, during the resilvering process.
 

dgws

Cadet
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
7
still leaves me with the question, will i be able to integrate this hdd that i currently have in my htpc into my freenas? how about setting up in raidz1 and then having my extra disk 3tb hdd from my htpc be used as a hot spare. wouldn't this essentially be the same as raidz2?
 

gpsguy

Active Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2012
Messages
4,472
From the manual, "... hot spare, which is not supported at this time". Having the extra 3Tb drive in your system won't provide any failover protection, unless it's in the vdev. And, you can't change from say RAIDz1 to RAIDz2 after you create a vdev.

With Black Friday less than a month away, just setup a RAIDz1 volume with 3 drives, play with FreeNAS and take notes. After you obtain the additional drives, blow this away and set it up for the future.
 

dgws

Cadet
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
7
so i guess what you're saying is i won't really be able to utilize this extra hdd that's currently in my htpc into my freenas?
 

dgws

Cadet
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
7
thanks for your help! looks like ill be having a fun weekend playing with my new toy :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top