Configuration of Pools - Single or Multiple - Mirror plus other disks

[trnelson]

Hey all,

Just a couple of quick questions which should be easy to answer. I've been trying to research this as much as possible so I wouldn't have to post here, but I'm still missing a few key bits of info specific to my setup. I am building a FreeNAS server and have the following disks available:

• 2x - 2TB WD Red SATAIII
• 1x - 1.5TB SATAIII (I think, maybe SATAII)
• 1x - 320GB SATAII
• 1x - 240GB SATAII
• 1x - 500GB SATAII laptop drive from my MBP when I upgraded to SSD last year
• I already have FreeNAS installed on a 16GB flash drive, ready to go

My mobo has 6x SATAIII slots so I'm good there. Now, my questions:

• I'd like to set up the two WD Red drives in a mirror. This will be my main backup storage and persisted to CrashPlan. Should this ZFS Mirror go in its own pool?
• I'm not sure exactly what to do with the other drives but looking for suggestions. I thought maybe the 1.5TB could serve as a destination for snapshots, but is this a good idea since it's not redundant? Is it worth even using the other drives?
• Do datasets basically work like network shares? It seems to me they do. I assume they could be mapped in Windows?
• I'd like to utilize the server for media streaming also since it will be more than capable (Intel 4340, 16GB RAM) and looking for suggestions on how to utilize my drives for this. I would like to rip my DVDs and CDs, but should they go on the main backup mirror or is that a bad idea? I'd prefer not to lose the rips but if I did, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
• If I were to use the other drives, should they go together in JBOD in their own pool?
• This is probably subjective, but would it be worth installing CrashPlan client on my computers and using that to sync to the backup drive in my NAS? Or is there a more preferable way of backing up my laptops
• Last question! IF I did want to use an encrypted drive, would it make sense to just use one of those extra drives in its own pool?

I guess my main questions really have to do with pools. Is it correct to have multiple pools with different purposes (backup, media, torrents, encryption, etc.) or is a single pool preferable?

Thanks for taking the time to help me!

 

[warri]

I'd like to set up the two WD Red drives in a mirror. This will be my main backup storage and persisted to CrashPlan. Should this ZFS Mirror go in its own pool?

I'd set it up as separate pool. But see my answers below.

I'm not sure exactly what to do with the other drives but looking for suggestions. I thought maybe the 1.5TB could serve as a destination for snapshots, but is this a good idea since it's not redundant? Is it worth even using the other drives?

If you need a bigger main pool you could think about a RAID-Z1 with 2x2TB and 1x1.5TB, which would give you roughly 2.8TB usable space. Otherwise, if it's just a second backup location, you might as well use it as non-redundant backup store.

Do datasets basically work like network shares? It seems to me they do. I assume they could be mapped in Windows?

Datasets itself are actually not related to network shares, but they can easily be shared via CIFS from the FreeNAS GUI - and of course mapped as network drive on the Windows machines.

I'd like to utilize the server for media streaming also since it will be more than capable (Intel 4340, 16GB RAM) and looking for suggestions on how to utilize my drives for this. I would like to rip my DVDs and CDs, but should they go on the main backup mirror or is that a bad idea? I'd prefer not to lose the rips but if I did, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

See the RAID-Z1 idea above. Gives you a bit more space. The small drives are kinda useless, but you could also form a RAID-Z1 from them to gain another ~460GB of space.

If I were to use the other drives, should they go together in JBOD in their own pool?

If you don't care about redundance, put them together as Stripe in their own pool. But if one disk dies, you loose the whole pool - and there won't be any way to do error correction.

This is probably subjective, but would it be worth installing CrashPlan client on my computers and using that to sync to the backup drive in my NAS? Or is there a more preferable way of backing up my laptops

Can't say much about this, I'm usually using plain rsync and have never used CrashPlan. But there are some other topics about backup programs and strategies floating around in the forum.

Last question! IF I did want to use an encrypted drive, would it make sense to just use one of those extra drives in its own pool?

Uhm, this would leave you without redundancy again. And if you need an encrypted pool, it's probably because you store sensitive and important data on it. Better create a separate dataset for sensitive information and use a software solution like EncFS, Truecrypt or others on top of it. Which solution to choose depends on the fact if you need it to be accessible by multiple clients at the same time.

I guess my main questions really have to do with pools. Is it correct to have multiple pools with different purposes (backup, media, torrents, encryption, etc.) or is a single pool preferable?

It makes sense to have multiple pools, if the desired usage differs a lot. For example you might want a pool with less or no redundancy for unimportant or temporary data, but a very secure pool for your backups.


I hope that this helps you a little bit ;)

 

[trnelson]

This is an awesome and detailed answer, thank you! Definitely gets me thinking in the right direction.

I need to think a bit about what to do with those additional drives. They probably won't serve me very well but really not sure what to do with them. I thought about storing my media on them since technically I could lose that without it being a complete disaster, but the more I think about it, it's probably worth just having them backed up in the main backup array. Ripping them all is a lot of work so why lose it in a failure, right? :)

Many thanks for the reply!

 

[Neeraj Saraf]

On this note, I'd like to ask, it it possible to set up 2 x 2TB as mirrored for data and 2 x 1TB mirrored again for snapshots? And is this idea of 2 x 1TB for snapshots feasible? If not, what would be a good practice out here?

Thank you.

 

[SweetAndLow]

On this note, I'd like to ask, it it possible to set up 2 x 2TB as mirrored for data and 2 x 1TB mirrored again for snapshots? And is this idea of 2 x 1TB for snapshots feasible? If not, what would be a good practice out here?

Thank you.

This doesn't make sense. Snapshots don't get put on different drives. Just make one big pool and have all your storage and better performance too.

 

[Neeraj Saraf]

This doesn't make sense. Snapshots don't get put on different drives. Just make one big pool and have all your storage and better performance too.

Noted. Thank you.

 

[Stux]

Does your mobo support hardware raid?

If so, use it to raid0 the 500gb and 1.5TB drives, then make a raidz1 out of the 3 2TB drives you now have.

Don't bother plugging in the 320 and 240, but if you must you'll get an additional 240GB if you add them as a mirror.

That will get you a 4TB system.

When your raid0 fails replace it with a bigger drive ;)

 

[SweetAndLow]

Does your mobo support hardware raid?

If so, use it to raid0 the 500gb and 1.5TB drives, then make a raidz1 out of the 3 2TB drives you now have.

Don't bother plugging in the 320 and 240, but if you must you'll get an additional 240GB if you add them as a mirror.

That will get you a 4TB system.

When your raid0 fails replace it with a bigger drive ;)

Ummmm... No don't do this, it's reckless.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Stux]

Ummmm... No don't do this, it's reckless.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Why exactly?

If it was more than a single device in the pool I'd agree.

 

[Ericloewe]

Does your mobo support hardware raid?

If so, use it to raid0 the 500gb and 1.5TB drives, then make a raidz1 out of the 3 2TB drives you now have.

If you're thinking of Intel Rapid Storage Technology, that won't work at all. There's a reason it's called fakeRAID - it's purely a software solution in the OS driver, which FreeNAS doesn't have.

 

[Mirfster]

Does your mobo support hardware raid?...

FYI, you are responding to a question that is ~ 3 years old... :)
Neeraj Saraf necro'd the thread recently with a different question.

P.S., I agree with SweetAndLow. :P

 

[Stux]

FYI, you are responding to a question that is ~ 3 years old... :)
Neeraj Saraf necro'd the thread recently with a different question.

P.S., I agree with SweetAndLow. :p

Heh :)

That does explain the obsolete drive sizes :)