Convert Synology Rackstation RS3617xs+ to TrueNAS

[sozotech]

I have an existing Synology RS3617xs+ with 12 drives in it and a Expansion unit RS1217RP with another 12 drives in it. I would like to convert this unit to be TrueNAS core and was wondering if anyone has done this? I am not worried about saving the data on the existing unit.

The Synology hardware for this unit looks similar to that of some of the TrueNAS X10 units. It has an Intel D-1531 processor (2.2GHz / 6 cores) which can take up to 64G of ECC RAM, an Intel 10G dual port network card in one of the PCIE slots. It also has 4 on board 1G NICs but I am not sure what brand. I am not sure what type of disk controller card Synology uses, but their filesystem is BTRFS which is a software RAID like ZFS so would assume ZFS would have direct access to the disks.

Appreciate your feedback. Thanks in advance!

Eric

 

[Chris Moore]

I have an existing Synology RS3617xs+ with 12 drives in it and a Expansion unit RS1217RP with another 12 drives in it. I would like to convert this unit to be TrueNAS core and was wondering if anyone has done this?

I have converted two NETGEAR ReadyNAS systems and two QNAP NAS units over to TrueNAS. I can only imagine that the process would be similar. In the NETGEAR ReadyNAS units there were internal 2.5" drive bays where I mounted SATA SSDs to be my boot pool. In the QNAP systems, they had internal SATA power and data ports but I had to find my own way to mount the drives. The system boards were similar and used the same BIOS vendor, so I bet it was OEM from the same company. The QNAP system had VGA built into the system board, so that was easy, but I had to add a video card to the NETGEAR ReadyNAS so I could boot into the BIOS and change the boot order and do the initial configuration.

I am still using the QNAP systems two years later and the ReadyNAS systems have been going strong for about a year and will probably keep going to retirement. It has not presented any serious difficulty.

I am concerned about what the connection is between the Synology RS3617xs+ and the Synology RS1217RP .. I can't find anything (so far) that tells me definitively, but this document makes it sound like the interconnect might be InfiniBand .. I am not sure that is supported by TrueNAS.

https://global.download.synology.com/download/Document/Hardware/HIG/ExpansionUnit/17-year/RX1217/enu/Syno_HIG_RX1217_RX1217RP_enu.pdf

 

[sozotech]

I have converted two NETGEAR ReadyNAS systems and two QNAP NAS units over to TrueNAS. I can only imagine that the process would be similar. In the NETGEAR ReadyNAS units there were internal 2.5" drive bays where I mounted SATA SSDs to be my boot pool. In the QNAP systems, they had internal SATA power and data ports but I had to find my own way to mount the drives. The system boards were similar and used the same BIOS vendor, so I bet it was OEM from the same company. The QNAP system had VGA built into the system board, so that was easy, but I had to add a video card to the NETGEAR ReadyNAS so I could boot into the BIOS and change the boot order and do the initial configuration.

I am still using the QNAP systems two years later and the ReadyNAS systems have been going strong for about a year and will probably keep going to retirement. It has not presented any serious difficulty.

I am concerned about what the connection is between the Synology RS3617xs+ and the Synology RS1217RP .. I can't find anything (so far) that tells me definitively, but this document makes it sound like the interconnect might be InfiniBand .. I am not sure that is supported by TrueNAS.

https://global.download.synology.com/download/Document/Hardware/HIG/ExpansionUnit/17-year/RX1217/enu/Syno_HIG_RX1217_RX1217RP_enu.pdf

Thanks for your reply. The cable between the main unit and the expansion unit is InfiniBand. I'll do some checking to see if anyone else has gotten InfiniBand working but that may be a show stopper. Worst case, I suppose I can pull the drives and just put them in a supermicro server.

 

[Arwen]

Their was one NAS vendor using BTRFS, but they only used it's file system features. For RAID, it was something else, and I want to say it was hardware RAID controller. They had some funky method to detect errors in BTRFS, and translate it to the RAID. Then have the RAID correct the error. Sounded like a something I would never want to use.

So, check the SATA / SAS interface controller to make sure it's not a full on hardware RAID.

Remember, BTRFS is still not RAID-5/6 reliable;

https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Status

 

[Chris Moore]

Worst case, I suppose I can pull the drives and just put them in a supermicro server.

The only bad in that is that you would need a new system board, CPU and RAM and probably a SAS controller. I built my own servers a few times. It isn't hard and you can do it with second hand parts from eBay pretty inexpensive. The sellers have really jacked the prices lately though. A couple years ago, I picked one of these up for $350 and look what they are selling for now:

Chenbro NR40700 4U Storinator 48-bay Storage Server Chassis (Disc Array) Chia | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Chenbro NR40700 4U Storinator 48-bay Storage Server Chassis (Disc Array) Chia at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[Newfoundland.Republic]

ook what they are selling for now

Sweet Mother!

 

[Chris Moore]

Sweet Mother!

Yes. I wish I had bought several when I could get them for $350...