Building a NAS in a mini-ITX

[jgreco]

Because .......... some of us are caught in the middle and plan to upgrade hardware in the near future and starting with FreeNAS allows us to migrate out RAID config file to the new hardware when we get it and are not willin got wait another 8 months till we get another 3-400 dollars of hardware.

Its like buying a Hummer H1 when you know you plan to go off road and will need it but can't afford to buy two vehicles and the Honda Accord you can afford now will not provide the needed off-road capability when you go that route. I guess you never thought of this scenario?

Well then you have to make some choices, right? Life is all about the tradeoffs.

 

[Richman]

Just to clarify, we "experienced people" don't have meetings in dark rooms where we decide who to ignore and when to answer and not answer. It's more of a situation where we all complain about the same stuff in emails to each other. That being said, its pretty easy to see what is ignored because if I want to ignore it there's a good chance everyone else will too. Been around these guys enough to see what they do and don't feel like answering to since we get the same darn questions every week(sometimes twice a day).

That being said, if you do stupid things that resulted in trashing your pool and we know there's little or no chance of recovery, we aren't likely to spend any time on you. Bad RAM with non-ECC is an excellent example. We'll tell you to run a RAM test and when it fails we won't go further. It wasn't our data, we don't have a commitment to fix your data(we are volunteers) and there's virtually no chance of success anyway.
If your hardware doesn't match our recommendations and the problem doesn't appear to be related to your poor choice of hardware then we'll usually help you. But we also have limits...................................

In essence, you'll get out of us what you put into protecting your data. If you showed that you didn't care, we won't either. And if you want to have an attitude with us over it, feel free to. But you didn't have an attitude with yourself when you got stupid and did everything we told you not to do. And Ill basically put you on my "sh*t" list and ignore you, which won't do you any favors even if you go back and do everything right after losing your data.

I won't speak for everyone else here, but I will say this. I am a volunteer. I spend at least 6 hours........................................... Microsoft over the same situation. In fact, most people paid for MCSE certifications(and maybe even training) but aren't willing to pay for FreeNAS training and knowledge.

Well, thanks for that lengthy response when I correctly assumed as much already and the question was meant and posed for everyone and anyone else reading the thread and pretty much half rhetorical. I am not sure how you spend all that time posting such a lengthy response to a rather simple question. maybe that response should be a sticky on the subject of, 'Support Expectations'. Maybe it is and I haven't run across it yet.

I hope any of this wasn't directed to me specifically or personally about attitudes and being stupid and implied in a general focus.

To be clear, I am not the one who mentioned I was using consumer hardware and in forums kicked around a few ideas, mostly or half of which on behalf of other OP making reference or having questions about such. I posted the question you replied to simply becasue even though I knew the answer, I was sure that someone else or at least a few other reading this thread would have that same question. I learned n forums to always try to think ahead as to what info. would help anyone searching this subject and landing on this forum.

Personally, I am trying a way to figure out how to acquire server hardware on almost NO budget only because when I do anything I almost always go ALL-OUT and overkill anything. But with my present budget I realize I may have to get something off the ground and upgrade later. I have done the DAS thing as I have (1) 1TB and (2)500GB external devices and about (3) 1TB extra internal HDD shared along with 8 USB drives and am tired of the setup and restrictions and am not interested in continuing to pursuing such a scheme to backup my files. I have thought of checked into using NAS4Free, OpemMediaVault, and a few others but makes no sense to me to switch platforms in the near future just to upgrade hardware. But then I understand that FreeNAS will also do a RAID5 adn RAID6 in other FS formats but everyone also shy's away from talking about this since everyone always mentions that FreeNAS was made to use ZFS. Maybe you can' t even convert a RAID config file that started with one FS to another like ZFS when you upgrade. I haven't checked this out yet but if so would make this a mute point and sound like a dumb question to most. Point being, most 'Experienced People' say in many different ways that if your not using server grade hw then you may as well not use ZFS. BUt then if it is not possible to convert a config file then you would have to start with ZFS if that is what your ultimately going to have and would be a 'no brainier'.

 

[Knowltey]

Because .......... some of us are caught in the middle and plan to upgrade hardware in the near future and starting with FreeNAS allows us to migrate out RAID config file to the new hardware when we get it and are not willing to wait another 8 more months till we get another $3-400 of hardware.

Its like buying a Hummer H1 when you know you plan to go off road and will need it but can't afford to buy two vehicles and the Honda Accord you can afford now will not provide the needed off-road capability when you go that route. I guess you never thought of this scenario?

Well no, I have thought of exactly that scenario because that is exactly the scenario I'm currently in running a Pentium D SL88T with 4GB non-ECC on a 1TB RAID1, but I know not to come crying to the forum when my pool randomly self-destructs because of the current hardware situation not meeting minimum requirements and I know to make sure to keep proper backups that never touch the NAS for just such an eventuality and I know to really only use it for testing purposes until that point in time anyhow when I can save up for my planned build that I poseted a couple of weeks back in the Hardware subforum.

If you're just temporarily using the sub-requisite hardware to test and get yourself familiar with FreeNAS before making an actual investment than that is perfectly fine and expected, but if that's the case then why are you throwing up such a stink about the ECC requirements if you're already planning that route as it is?

But for the people that are just simply wanting a server solution for their home so that htey can access their data from their desktops as well as all their laptops, TV, smartphones, tablets, etcetera, but really don't care enough about the data in questions protection to buy hardware specifically designed for that purpose, then it makes me wonder why they are looking into software and a filesystem specifically tailored for that purpose. ZFS is processor and memory intensive compared to other NAS solutions out there. If the person is simply looking for a music, media, document streamer server and performance is more the concern than data safety than they will simply get better performance out of a NAS solution that caters to that end rather than a NAS solution that caters to the data protection end of the spectrum. You can get performance out of FreeNAS sure, but it will take more hardware requirements than other NAS solutions for example.

Basically if you're just using consumer grade hardware temporarily while you save up for the kind of hardware that complements the OS and filesystem you are using with FreeNAS then you're the person buying the truck in anticipation for that farmland you're savins up to purchase later in the year. But if you're just using FreeNAS because it's the first NAS solution you came across in Google, or found about from any of the various life hack articles that are likely old and actually referring to the software that is now known as NAS4Free but don't really care all too much about the safety and integrity of your data then FreeNAS is probably just a little overkill for you, just like a Hummer H1 would probably be a little overkill for a daily commute on the beltway and you're going to be using a lot more fuel and getting less performance out of the whole deal.

Really? Find me a descent for server board for less than $50 and I will buy one

Find me ANY motherboard under 50 dollars that isn't absolute shit. Server board or not a motherboard under 50 dollars is going to be shit. You don't find server boards under 50 as much because the server board manufacturers know this and don't waste their time with that market segment since people looking for server hardware are going to also be looking for quality hardware, it sort of th entire point of them looking at server hardware.

If you really want to get into the territory of unreasonably priced hardware get into "medical grade" computer hardware where a 4:3 1280*1024 greyscale computer monitor can be yours for a smooth $12K

 

[Richman]

Well no, I have thought of exactly that scenario because that is exactly the scenario I'm currently in running a Pentium D SL88T with 4GB non-ECC on a 1TB RAID1, but I know not to come crying to the forum when my pool randomly self-destructs because of the current hardware situation not meeting minimum requirements........

So do I, so whats the point

............and I know to make sure to keep proper backups that never touch the NAS for just such an eventuality..........

So do I , so why are we discussing this?

..........and I know to really only use it for testing purposes until that point in time anyhow when I can save up for my planned build

You said you know to only use it for backup purposes but then eluded to the fact you keep actual personal data on it and do popper backups. Sounds like a contradiction but so what. What does it matter and what is the point. I mentioned just the same thing earlier that if your backing up your data, so flipping what if you have a bitflip or your RAID explodes, implodes or goes through a worm whole into another universe. You rebuild it off of your backup data. Why would you have to complain to anyone on the forum or not? I think too many maybe even the 'Experienced People' are implementing ONE RAID for their data without backup and hopping to design so much redundancy and fail-safe so that it they could only loose their RAID if all the planets align perfectly and they were standing on one leg, hopping counter clockwise with their tung sticking out to the right...... which COULD happen. Well if they are dong this and don't have a secondary backup I would sure hope that ECC of paramount importance to them.
I lament to a previous poster ............................

Richman,

To me, ZFS or RAID is not backup. I have a separate backup storage and so should everyone. As such I don't consider ECC memory to be all that important and use consumer based hardware on the FreeNAS systems I have. To me it is no different than a motherboard or cpu failing, or even a fire or flood at home. I can't protect against everything and I can only do risk mitigation, if so I choose.

With that said, I plan to upgrade to a mini itx server board in the distant future.

I am playing devils advocate hear, not that I am going to do this myself. Havn't actually made any definite plans.
What is wrong with the statement by engmsf. We are not talking about all the numb-skulls that never hardly read a thing and when they have issues come crying to the forum. Were talking in general.
We are not talking about data of a financial institution, or hostpital, CIA, NSA, corporate data or irreplaceable data of any sort on a server that just always needs to be up and as little corrupted as possible. Knowltey may say your better off going with OpenMediaVualt. That is personal opinion and I may even actually do that, who knows.

If you're just temporarily using the sub-requisite hardware to test and get yourself familiar with FreeNAS before making an actual investment than that is perfectly fine and expected, but if that's the case then why are you throwing up such a stink about the ECC requirements if you're already planning that route as it is?

What does it matter if you are using sub-requisite hardware for testing or real world if you have everything backed up?
Who is throwing up a stink about ECC? Who......me? I think ECC is great to have and I think I only mentioned it on page 2 until now. The OP questioned it and I took his question further. Sometimes I may play devils advocate.

But for the people that are just simply wanting a server solution for their home so that htey can access their data from their desktops as well as all their laptops, TV, smartphones, tablets, etcetera, but really don't care enough about the data in questions protection to buy hardware specifically designed for that purpose, then it makes me wonder why they are looking into software and a filesystem specifically tailored for that purpose.

No need to wonder too much or loose sleep over it as I already explained the why. But to expound on the why to make it more specific and tailored to your question I will say:
1. FreeNAS is compelling in light of its feature set
2. Doesn't make sense to switch platforms after hardware upgrade if you are planning on implementing ECC at some point. I see the benefit of ECC even for personal home use even though that benefit isn't as large as it is for a corporate or business environment.
3. I'm a geek and like to play with things, even in the enterprise geekdom arena
4. I like the community and development team as I checked out several.
5. I wasn't specifically looking for a 'file system specifically tailored for that purpose' originally. I was looking into RAID and NAS about a year ago and stumbled on ZFS via that route.
6. For web server file storage ....... later in the works.
7. I could get better performance for media files but since I am gong to have more than one RAID array, I don't see the reason to have two boxes. I feel they can perfectly reside in one box and kill two birsd with one stone as FreeNAS will handle that.

Basically if you're just using consumer grade hardware temporarily while you save up for the kind of hardware that complements the OS and filesystem you are using with FreeNAS then you're the person buying the truck in anticipation for that farmland you're savins up to purchase later in the year. But if you're just using FreeNAS because it's the first NAS solution you came across in Google, or found about from any of the various life hack articles that are likely old and actually referring to the software that is now known as NAS4Free but don't really care all too much about the safety and integrity of your data then FreeNAS is probably just a little overkill for you,.....

It wasn't the first NAS solution I came accross, ..... more like the last or second to last.
Overkill? I don't care, I love overkill and sometimes I go overboard in overkilling the overkill.

Find me ANY motherboard under 50 dollars that isn't absolute shit. Server board or not a motherboard under 50 dollars is going to be shit. You don't find server boards under 50 as much because the server board manufacturers know this and don't waste their time with that market segment since people looking for server hardware are going to also be looking for quality hardware, it sort of th entire point of them looking at server hardware.

I found a two used boards that were almost like new for around $30 that had Atheros LAN, and the other had dual Intel LAN and they were not the junk end of the consumer line. If I could find a used server board for double that I would consider going that route immediately.

If you really want to get into the territory of unreasonably priced hardware get into "medical grade" computer hardware where a 4:3 1280*1024 greyscale computer monitor can be yours for a smooth $12K

Don't get me started on the medical field. Course, if I was a Dr. I would be paying someone to build my NAS and this conversation wouldn't be happening.

 

[cyberjock]

I hope any of this wasn't directed to me specifically or personally about attitudes and being stupid and implied in a general focus.

Nope. We had our spat in the Red vs Green thread I think, but that's water under the bridge.

Because .......... some of us are caught in the middle and plan to upgrade hardware in the near future and starting with FreeNAS allows us to migrate out RAID config file to the new hardware when we get it and are not willing to wait another 8 more months till we get another $3-400 of hardware.

Its like buying a Hummer H1 when you know you plan to go off road and will need it but can't afford to buy two vehicles and the Honda Accord you can afford now will not provide the needed off-road capability when you go that route. I guess you never thought of this scenario?

Sure, we've thought of that scenario. We've heard them all. But at the end of the day the problems that have arisen from things such as <8GB of RAM or non-ECC RAM don't give a crap if you're having a bad week, if you have a term paper due and need the server to work "for just today" or if "you've got the parts on order". If you break ZFS, you break ZFS. Period. If you use non-ECC RAM and have bits of corruption from bitflips or bad RAM there is no fixing it by rescrubbing with ECC RAM. Once you've broke it you can't "unbreak" it by buying the correct hardware. Too late and the damage is done.

So... you either buy the right hardware and do it right the first time, or you are really doing something that's kind of stupid(and again, you are on your own). If that means you have to use Linux for a year while you get together the money, so be it. But it's not something we have control of. Blame the technology that needs enough RAM and ECC RAM to function properly. Does this kind of rigidity suck? Absolutely. But that's life. And its not going to change because someone is inconvenienced with the limitations.

I found a two used boards that were almost like new for around $30 that had Atheros LAN, and the other had dual Intel LAN and they were not the junk end of the consumer line. If I could find a used server board for double that I would consider going that route immediately.

If it had Atheros it most certainly was junk. :) The only company worse than Realtek is Atheros. LOL.

 

[jgreco]

If it had Atheros it most certainly was junk. :) The only company worse than Realtek is Atheros. LOL.

Both of whom are willing to send you lumps of coal for Xmas.

 

[Knowltey]

So do I , so why are we discussing this?

That's what I'm wondering. You're the one making a big stink about how we tell people to use server hardware for their server.

You said you know to only use it for backup purposes but then eluded to the fact you keep actual personal data on it and do popper backups.

What? I never said I use it for backup purposes because I know specifically NOT to use it for backups without proper hardware. I said I make a backup of any data I put on it before I even put it on the NAS.

I think too many maybe even the 'Experienced People' are implementing ONE RAID for their data without backup and hopping to design so much redundancy and fail-safe so that it they could only loose their RAID if all the planets align perfectly and they were standing on one leg, hopping counter clockwise with their tung sticking out to the right...... which COULD happen. Well if they are dong this and don't have a secondary backup I would sure hope that ECC of paramount importance to them.

No, all the "experienced people" here are very strong in the opinion that ZFS and RAID are not backups.

What does it matter if you are using sub-requisite hardware for testing or real world if you have everything backed up?

If you fully understand the risks of non-ECC and know how to make safe backups and how to monitor for RAM hardware defects on a routine basis and you want to bother doing such then feel free to use the consumer grade stuff. Thing is a lot of the people that come here looking for assistance don't know about the risks of non-ECC and/or how to make proper backups in which case ECC is recommended for them in order to mitigate as much potential damage as possible. If you are confident in being able to restore from a truck randomly running over your NAS box then do what works best for you. I'd still recommend ECC even for experience people though because it's simply more convenient since it's able to correct it's own errors, and it will help you detect issues sooner rather than later.

Just don't come crying to us when you lose all of your data, because we'll just say "told you so."

It wasn't the first NAS solution I came accross, ..... more like the last or second to last.

Well not you specifically, but a lot of people come here because it's the first one they find, or they read about it in that Lifehacker article about repurposing old computer hardware into a NAS, but was technically written back when NAS4Free was known as FreeNAS.

I found a two used boards that were almost like new for around $30 that had Atheros LAN, and the other had dual Intel LAN and they were not the junk end of the consumer line. If I could find a used server board for double that I would consider going that route immediately.

Rofl, Atheros. Seriously if a motherboard has anything Atheros on it, it isn't worth your time of day even considering it. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't trust a $30 motherboard further than I can throw a stone. Going that low in price unless it's a really good sale or something is just asking for trouble. The electronics involved in motherboards should not be that cheap and I'd think you'd really have to be cutting a lot of corners to be able to get it down to that price.

 

[jgreco]

If you really want to get into the territory of unreasonably priced hardware get into "medical grade" computer hardware where a 4:3 1280*1024 greyscale computer monitor can be yours for a smooth $12K

Actually don't bother. Speaking as someone who has worked on building "medical grade" (actually operating room grade) computer hardware, I can tell you that it basically falls into a few categories. One is the stuff that's actually custom built, which is typically small run custom design, manufacture, programming, etc., which is expensive because it really does cost lots to make specialized gear. Then there's the equipment where you take most of the parts off-the-shelf and they get put into assemblies of varying customness, which is typically a lot less expensive, but is still priced like they made the whole thing themselves. Then there's the crap where there's little-to-no value to be added, such as your greyscale computer monitor, so they maybe put a hospital-safe power supply in an otherwise standard assembly, slap a label (and a massive markup) on it, and call it a day.

But this is a trick anyone can pull. Hey, look, I'm selling NAS-grade system boards for the bargain price of only $600. I'll even include a "FreeNAS Inside" case jewel... woooooooo....

The underlying point, of course, is that it is easy for equipment to be marked /up/. You're just padding someone's pocket. But for a cheap motherboard, TANSTAAFL. If you're paying $50 for a board, then the mfr likely paid less than that for the parts that went into it. Not promising for quality or reliability...

What we've seen time and again is that mfrs will create "prosumer" products that nevertheless cut corners, such as Realtek ethernets or other misfeatures, and charge a premium rate. They'll also create "entry level" products that cut every possible corner, and there's your $50. You are basically screwed in both directions, because the least common denominator is "we got Windows to work on it."

So I am depressed every time someone decides to ignore my "find a good server board" advice with as much enthusiasm as they possibly can. A good server board usually costs about the same as a decent desktop board plus an Intel ethernet card.

 

[Knowltey]

Actually don't bother. Speaking as someone who has worked on building "medical grade" (actually operating room grade) computer hardware, I can tell you that it basically falls into a few categories. One is the stuff that's actually custom built, which is typically small run custom design, manufacture, programming, etc., which is expensive because it really does cost lots to make specialized gear. Then there's the equipment where you take most of the parts off-the-shelf and they get put into assemblies of varying customness, which is typically a lot less expensive, but is still priced like they made the whole thing themselves. Then there's the crap where there's little-to-no value to be added, such as your greyscale computer monitor, so they maybe put a hospital-safe power supply in an otherwise standard assembly, slap a label (and a massive markup) on it, and call it a day.

But this is a trick anyone can pull. Hey, look, I'm selling NAS-grade system boards for the bargain price of only $600. I'll even include a "FreeNAS Inside" case jewel... woooooooo....

The underlying point, of course, is that it is easy for equipment to be marked /up/. You're just padding someone's pocket. But for a cheap motherboard, TANSTAAFL. If you're paying $50 for a board, then the mfr likely paid less than that for the parts that went into it. Not promising for quality or reliability...

What we've seen time and again is that mfrs will create "prosumer" products that nevertheless cut corners, such as Realtek ethernets or other misfeatures, and charge a premium rate. They'll also create "entry level" products that cut every possible corner, and there's your $50. You are basically screwed in both directions, because the least common denominator is "we got Windows to work on it."

So I am depressed every time someone decides to ignore my "find a good server board" advice with as much enthusiasm as they possibly can. A good server board usually costs about the same as a decent desktop board plus an Intel ethernet card.

Lol, that wasn't Richman saying that, that was me saying it to Richman.

 

[jgreco]

That's odd. Wonder how that happened.

 

[jgreco]

Interestingly enough tapatalk claims your message as:

Richman replied to "Building a NAS in a mini-ITX"

wtf.

 

[Richman]

If it had Atheros it most certainly was junk. :) The only company worse than Realtek is Atheros. LOL.

Then appearantly Intel is the only company that makes a descent LAN chip as I havn't heard anyone complain about them yet.

That's what I'm wondering. You're the one making a big stink about how we tell people to use server hardware for their server.

No, your the only one saying I am making a big stink. I am merely arguing both sides of the coin which I see both sides pretty clearly. You and a few other seamed to be the only ones that think a broken RAID is ALL devastating and the world comes to an end.

What? I never said I use it for backup purposes because I know specifically NOT to use it for backups without proper hardware. I said I make a backup of any data I put on it before I even put it on the NAS.

That's what I meant to say, exactly as you said you said and I knew you said what you said and didn't mean to say that you said something else that you didn't say words that sounded like I was putting in you mouth when I was saying what I was saying incorrectly because I didn't say it right and we were really saying the same thing ....... err something, if you can follow that.

No, all the "experienced people" here are very strong in the opinion that ZFS and RAID are not backups.

Then can I ask an honestly serious question here. Why is everyone so afraid to loose a RAID and acting like your data is instantly gone and/or its the end of the world. Is it really that hard to rebuild a RAID with your config data and reload your data from backups? I've never done it yet but doesn't sound like it is a show stopper or all that difficult or am I missing something?

If you fully understand the risks of non-ECC and know how to make safe backups and how to monitor for RAM hardware defects on a routine basis and you want to bother doing such then feel free to use the consumer grade stuff. Thing is a lot of the people that come here looking for assistance don't know about the risks of non-ECC and/or how to make proper backups in which case ECC is recommended for them in order to mitigate as much potential damage as possible. If you are confident in being able to restore from a truck randomly running over your NAS box then do what works best for you. I'd still recommend ECC even for experience people though because it's simply more convenient since it's able to correct it's own errors, and it will help you detect issues sooner rather than later.

Sounds logical. But, OMG that must have hurt really really bad to punch that one out on the keyboard. I can hear you telling your therapist, "I didn't wanna say it, I didn't mean to say it, ....." LOL Tell us the truth, did it leave a mark?

Just don't come crying to us when you lose all of your data, because we'll just say "told you so."

Anyone hear that? I musta screamed so loud I am sure you had to hear it. I have heard that statement so many times I think that why I'm bald. Is there some kind of filter I can use to filter that out. No really though, that shouldn't be a 'STICKY' It should be a freekin BILLBOARD so that everyone can see it and nobody has to ever say it again. I have only been browsing and reading the forum about a week and musta read that at least 60-70 times no exaggeration. I, Richman, do solemly swear to never come into FreeNAS forum and ever cry because I lossed my data do to not using ECC under penalty of having to use nothing but Windows OS's for the rest of my natural born life. How is that? Does that cover everyone and make you all feel warm, fuzzy and safe?:D

Well not you specifically, but a lot of people come here because it's the first one they find, or they read about it in that Lifehacker article about repurposing old computer hardware into a NAS, but was technically written back when NAS4Free was known as FreeNAS.

Not me, I do way too much research. The kinda person that researches things to death. One of the things I overkill, resuscitate and kill again. I have a research sickness.

Rofl, Atheros. Seriously if a motherboard has anything Atheros on it, it isn't worth your time of day even considering it. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't trust a $30 motherboard further than I can throw a stone. Going that low in price unless it's a really good sale or something is just asking for trouble. The electronics involved in motherboards should not be that cheap and I'd think you'd really have to be cutting a lot of corners to be able to get it down to that price.

Yeh, I've heard that before a few time and don't know why I typed it other than a I seen it was supported by BSD, or it was a joke .......

 

[Richman]

So I am depressed every time someone decides to ignore my "find a good server board" advice with as much enthusiasm as they possibly can. A good server board usually costs about the same as a decent desktop board plus an Intel ethernet card.

Yeh me too bro ;) .....I really loose my enthusiasm and get depressed when people do that also ....... know what you mean :D I was looking at this one today,
SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O

and thinking heavy one it.

 

[Barry]

Then appearantly Intel is the only company that makes a descent LAN chip as I havn't heard anyone complain about them yet.

How about Broadcom?
Is the FreeBSD support for Broadcom NICs good?

I've had nothing but great experiences with them (mostly from HP) in Linux servers and firewalls.

Barry

 

[jgreco]

How about Broadcom?
Is the FreeBSD support for Broadcom NICs good?

I've had nothing but great experiences with them (mostly from HP) in Linux servers and firewalls.

Barry

Yes, Broadcom bge is fairly common especially on AMD kit. In the '90's and early 2000's we were a mosly AMD shop and usually used DEC 21n4n (dc) for 10/100 or Broadcom for GbE, but a rash of failures including some disturbing short-lifetime issues with bge (and Opteron) caused us to head back to Intel.

The Intel ethernet stuff has the very peculiar quality of being very readily available PLUS at the same time even most cheap desktop Intel ethernet chipsets are very usable as a high performance FreeBSD interface. Intel also authors and maintains its own high perf driver for FreeBSD/Linux, which to me is better than a reverse-engineered driver or a driver written by a volunteer who may not be able to dedicate as much time to it as Intel's driver group. From a practical PoV, you can get a six port GbE card for about $150 (Silicom PEG6i).

I am definitely not an Intel fanboi but I *am* largely pragmatic. I view the above points as a compelling argument in favor of Intel ethernets.

 

[jgreco]

SUPERMICRO MBD-X10SL7-F-O

Prices still a bit high on that. $220 would be nice and $200 would be compelling.

But look at the X9DR7-TF+ as an example, $650 for an E5 board WITH a built-in LSI2208 and dual 10GbE. The retail version of the 2208 by itself http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118160
costs as much as the whole damn Supermicro MB!! Plus the integrated devices mean your slots are all free.

You still need to shop around to figure out what makes the most sense of course, but a smart shopper can get pretty good deals on server boards.

I've been putting X9SCi-LN4F into old 1U storage servers where the 1 PCIe thing isn't an issue, and it is just about the perfect board for the job... there would be no other good way to get quad ethernets AND an add-on LSI controller into a 1U.

 

[gpsguy]

Since I only have about 1Tb of data, I have multiple backups on 2 different filesystems.

Now, imagine someone with 15Tb or so. Some might only backup the critical data. For ISO's, an acceptable risk, one might skip the backups and just download them again, if they lost their array. But, adding extra disks to the array for RAIDz2 or RAIDz3 might be cheap insurance.

Some users have a second FreeNAS box onsite, that they replicate the data to. Others might replicate across the country. In the latter case, one might have to take a trip out to a colo facility in order to get the data. Do you have a RTO?

If you haven't done it before, you ought to test it out. Otherwise, one could end up in a situation, where you find out the backups are bad.

Why is everyone so afraid to loose a RAID and acting like your data is instantly gone and/or its the end of the world. Is it really that hard to rebuild a RAID with your config data and reload your data from backups? I've never done it yet but doesn't sound like it is a show stopper or all that difficult or am I missing something?

 

[Michael Wulff Nielsen]

Personally i have 3,6 TB of data that I need to backup. The most cost effective solution I have found is to upload it all to crashplan.

It will take 7 months but what the h... I hope I never have to do a complete restore. :)

 

[jgreco]

Heh who knows, might take longer to back up than your cloud provider is around.

 

[Richman]

Personally i have 3,6 TB of data that I need to backup. The most cost effective solution I have found is to upload it all to crashplan.

It will take 7 months but what the h... I hope I never have to do a complete restore. :)

You must have about a 1.5Mb/s upstream because I have plain brown package average TWC RR and estimate it would take me about 15 or more months to upload that to a remote server. But it would only take me 27.777 Days to download it again. But now were getting off topic again.