SOLVED boot drive recommendations

[hilton8r]

I booted from a single 8gb thumb drive somebody gave to me for years without any issues. When it failed, I switched to a 32gb transcend thumb drive. It failed the first time I updated my nas. I recovered again, but again it failed the first time I updated my nas. I don't know if this is simply a crappy brand thumb drive or whatnot, but I won't be doing any more upgrades until I better understand what is happening and implement a solution. I currently have the following issue:

Boot pool status is DEGRADED: One or more devices has experienced an unrecoverable error. An attempt was made to correct the error. Applications are unaffected..

I don't know if I can recover from the mirrored thumb drive yet. But I'd rather ditch the thumb drives sooner than later.

I've read the updated hardware documentation, and understand that later releases perform more read/writes. I read that sata dom is preferred over thumb drives. I'll have to pull the cover off my tower to be sure I have available sata ports because I don't have any more drive bays available for small ssd drives.

When I first built my nas, I recall reading a document that warned about specific hardware, and I think it even recommended specific hardware. I can't find anything like that now. These suckers look to be a bit pricey, especially if I'm buying 2 for mirroring. I have a supermicro mobo, so I'm thinking of buying supermicro sata dom's.

Would something like this work?
https://www.amazon.com/Supermicro-S...ild=1&keywords=SATA+DOM&qid=1614134251&sr=8-2

I would probably go with an 8gb to save a few bucks if I find one. I just want to be sure I'm heading down the correct path. Let me know if my system specifications are needed. Thank you,

John

 

[ChrisRJ]

Depending on your case you could still fit in 2.5" SSDs without a regular slot using velcro tape or something similar. Those SSDs will likely be cheaper than a Supermicro SATA DOM

 

[wolfman]

If you still have available SATA-Ports, velcro-mounting is a valid option. My goto OS-drives (for TrueNAS & Proxmox) are Crucial BX500 120GB SSDs. Never had one fail; but also always mirrored.

If you are out of SATA-Ports, a NVMe-Riser-Card - or onboard if available - might be an option! But check your manuals if you have Boot-support for that.

Third option might be an external 2,5" SATA to USB hard drive enclosure.

 

[hilton8r]

Depending on your case you could still fit in 2.5" SSDs without a regular slot using velcro tape or something similar. Those SSDs will likely be cheaper than a Supermicro SATA DOM

Thank you for your reply. I already own 2 128gb ssd drives that aren't being used for anything. I don't think I have anywhere to velcro them to though. I'll pull the cover after work today to check for available ports and mounting points.

 

[hilton8r]

If you still have available SATA-Ports, velcro-mounting is a valid option. My goto OS-drives (for TrueNAS & Proxmox) are Crucial BX500 120GB SSDs. Never had one fail; but also always mirrored.

If you are out of SATA-Ports, a NVMe-Riser-Card - or onboard if available - might be an option! But check your manuals if you have Boot-support for that.

Third option might be an external 2,5" SATA to USB hard drive enclosure.

Thank you for your reply. I'll pull the cover after work today to check for available ports and mounting points. I already have a Kingston 128gb ssd and a Patriot Zephyr 128gb ssd that I can use. I'll read up on NVMe riser cards as well. If I have sata ports but no place to velcro ssd's to, I'll invest in the sata dom option.

But now that you mention it, I remember purchasing a card that I used for two external drives when I first built my nas. Those drives died on me, so I'll have to see if I still have that card lying around. I think it was a card that could be switched to external or internal connections.

 

[hilton8r]

@wolfman @ChrisRJ Thanks again for your assistance.

I do have sata ports available, but realized I don't have any available power connections. I can't find my external sata card either.

The supermicro 16gb sata dom physical dimensions were listed as 2.76 L x 3.54 W x 0.79 H inches on Amazon, and that didn't sound correct to me based on what I previously read elsewhere. I was finally able to confirm the actual dimensions as 1.25 L x 1.25 W x .25 H on supermicro site. Additionally, my supermicro x11ssm-f mobo has two sata ports with a power pin, so I don't need a separate power cable. My tower has a funnel that directs air flow that is in front of those two sata ports, so these should be small enough to fit.I just ordered 2 for a total of $95.