Configuring Dell DX6012S for FreeNAS

[JeyNyce]

My job is throwing away a Dell DX6012s. It's a SAN and I have enough drives for it to have 24TB worth of space. What I need to know is what is the best way to configure this SAN for freeNAS. I'm pretty much going to be using it to host my Plex server and file storage. Thanks!

 

[m0nkey_]

You're going to need to provide a few more details regarding it's hardware specs.

 

[JeyNyce]

Specs:
12 x 2TB 7200RPM hard drives
48GB Memory
2 x Intel E5640, 2.66 CPU

I guess my real question would be how would I configure the drives. I have the option of RAID 0, 1, 5 & 10

 

[m0nkey_]

Any HBA you have in the device will need to be flashed to IT mode, FreeNAS requires direct access to the drives.

 

[melloa]

Echo what @m0nkey_ is saying. Find out what controller you have, if you can flash it to IT mode or not. Otherwise get your disks and build something with it using another chassis/motherboard/etc.
I did run on Dells before but they had perc6/i that I could flash to IT and use the backplane/cables from the original server, but couldn't have them running close to my desk ... too noise!

 

[JeyNyce]

I have a Dell PERC H200 and it seems that it can be flash, but it take some work:
http://blog.michael.kuron-germany.d...dell-perc-h200-to-lsi-9211-8i/comment-page-1/

 

[melloa]

I have a Dell PERC H200

I did one of those few months ago and was successful, so not impossible as I didn't know what I was doing ;)

As those a cheap I'd try and test. If it fails you can always ebay a replacement one to get it back to the original working condition.

I guess my real question would be how would I configure the drives. I have the option of RAID 0, 1, 5 & 10

Not sure you got the answer for this: None of the above. You'd be using FreeNAS ZFS to configure raidz2 or 3 or something else. With 2TiB old drives I'd say raidz2 minimum. Don't go stripe.

 

[JeyNyce]

I did one of those few months ago and was successful, so not impossible as I didn't know what I was doing ;)

As those a cheap I'd try and test. If it fails you can always ebay a replacement one to get it back to the original working condition.




Not sure you got the answer for this: None of the above. You'd be using FreeNAS ZFS to configure raidz2 or 3 or something else. With 2TiB old drives I'd say raidz2 minimum. Don't go stripe.

Yea, that's what I'm getting from you guys. If I can flash the card to IT mode, I should be able to install FreeNAS and it should be able to connect directly to the drive. This sounds like a weekend project, LOL!