boot device choose

[fisherwei]

hello everyone,

I am upgrading my NAS to a new(2-hand) dell r720xd,
dell provided 2 x 2.5 hdd slot in the back panel, but i plan to use them for L2arc instead of boot device.

then, there are two options for boot device:
1> USB thumb, i have a sandisk CZ80 32G
2> mirrored SD card, but i am not sure how the internal card slots performs.

I know both of them are not recommended, but there seems to be not other choice?

so, which one is better?

 

[jgreco]

Well of course there's another choice, you indicated that there's a 2 x 2.5 HDD bay.

Use this as an excuse to put in some NVMe SSD for L2ARC.

The success of any random USB thumb drive or SD card isn't going to be that great, and is likely not to be a long-term solution. It would be better to get it worked out now.

 

[HoneyBadger]

If you're set on using the 2x 2.5 HDD for L2ARC, then perhaps a USB to SATA adaptor will help alleviate some of the endurance problems with USB drives or SD cards.

There is a single internal USB port on the R720XD (near the power-supply connectors) - you could even connect it internally if you use a USB-to-M.2 enclosure and find somewhere to safely tuck the enclosure.

 

[fisherwei]

Well of course there's another choice, you indicated that there's a 2 x 2.5 HDD bay.

Use this as an excuse to put in some NVMe SSD for L2ARC.

The success of any random USB thumb drive or SD card isn't going to be that great, and is likely not to be a long-term solution. It would be better to get it worked out now.

does the boot device need a mirror?

 

[fisherwei]

If you're set on using the 2x 2.5 HDD for L2ARC, then perhaps a USB to SATA adaptor will help alleviate some of the endurance problems with USB drives or SD cards.

There is a single internal USB port on the R720XD (near the power-supply connectors) - you could even connect it internally if you use a USB-to-M.2 enclosure and find somewhere to safely tuck the enclosure.

you mean the usb portable ssd? will it be better than usb thumb?

 

[jgreco]

does the boot device need a mirror?

It depends. If you don't mind the NAS crashing until you replace the failed boot device, then, no. Make sure not to put any jails or the system dataset on the boot pool, keep a backup of the config file, and that's not a horrible path forward.

 

[fisherwei]

It depends. If you don't mind the NAS crashing until you replace the failed boot device, then, no. Make sure not to put any jails or the system dataset on the boot pool, keep a backup of the config file, and that's not a horrible path forward.

thank you very much