Corral build for home use / home lab

[Lucinde]

Hi guys,

I'm planning to build a NAS running FreeNAS Corral. Apart from the more typical use for backups and sharing files between family members, it will need to run a few containers (nextcloud, emby server for media streaming, Pi-hole, Ubiquiti controller, ...) and a couple of VMs. I don't expect too much load on the VMs, it will be more for testing purposes. It will also be used to store some video from security cams.
The system will be running 24/7, so energy consumption is also something to consider.

What do you think about the following system:

Supermicro X10SDV-4C-TLN2F (Xeon D 1521)
3x HGST Deskstar NAS 6TB 5x HGST Deskstar NAS 4TB
Crucial 32GB kit (2x16GB) ECC RDIMM
Fractal Design Node 304
Seasonic G-series 450W

I was a bit surprised about the price of hard drives these days, I hoped they would have dropped a bit more in price... Anyway, I think 12TB of usable space will be enough. Are 3 disks in RAID-Z enough or should I go for RAID-Z2?
I've read some stories about the X10SDV running hot, do I need an extra fan, or will the three fans in the Node 304 keep it cool?
For the boot device: do you recommend a USB stick or a M.2 SSD like the Transcend MTS600 ?
I assume for my needs it's not really necessary to use a dedicated ZIL or L2ARC drive?


Cheers,
L.

 

[Dice]

I'm planning to build a NAS running FreeNAS Corral

..Corral is no longer under development.
http://www.freenas.org/blog/freenas-corral-status-release-technology-preview-status/

 

[Lucinde]

I know ;)

I have been waiting for it for a pretty long time, so now the time has come to start building.

 

[melloa]

I know ;)

Ok, you know you will be doing 9.10 and upgrading to the new release already on RC1.

Are 3 disks in RAID-Z enough or should I go for RAID-Z2?

I'd use five. Maybe 5x4TiB, instead of 3x6TiB as you are planning.

For the boot device: do you recommend a USB stick or a M.2 SSD

During Corral tests I've moved all my servers to SSD. With the cost going down, might be a more secure option, as USB sticks have a tendency of die. When I used USB sticks, I had three in mirror ...

Will let more experienced hardware folks comment on your other questions.

 

[Lucinde]

..Corral is no longer under development.
http://www.freenas.org/blog/freenas-corral-status-release-technology-preview-status/

Ok, you know you will be doing 9.10 and upgrading to the new release already on RC1.

Oh, sorry, I totally misread Dice's comment.

So, no, I wasn't aware of that (although I subscribed to the newsletter)... Well, that's kind of a bummer. I was excited about the VM support. Well, guess I better wait for 11.0 to come out then. Or maybe even 11.1 for the Docker support... Thanks for letting me know!

Apart from that, any thoughts on the hardware are still welcome.

 

[melloa]

So, no, I wasn't aware of that (although I subscribed to the newsletter)...

As do I. Only the release went out 3/28.

11 has VM support, so you can start playing with it for that. Docker? For now a Linux VM, until nativelly supported? Even Corral had it under Linux and that was one of the points I saw some users raising hell about.

 

[blaco]

I would choose 11RC/nightlies as long as you have to wait for 11.0. For me it is 100% stable - AND Corral was not!
I was so impressed of the UI of Corral, but now I have the same functionality in 11 (nightlies). I realized that a 100% stable UI is much better than a pretty one.

For 11 I'm just waiting for the VM grub support, but you can do a workaround with iohyve (add tunables and setup VMs).

For docker I recommend a Linux VM, for example Ubuntu and create a NFS/CIFS share from the freenas box to the VM.
Install docker, mount the share and use portainer/rancher/... Everything you want ;)
It is much more stable than Corral's implementation of Docker was. At first it was: "wow, cool" - but after running it for a month I had so many many strange bugs...
(And samba+AD permissions did not work for me either :()

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

I think 12TB of usable space will be enough. Are 3 disks in RAID-Z enough or should I go for RAID-Z2?

If you mean, "Are three 6TB disks in RAIDZ1 enough to deliver 12TB of usable storage?", the answer is "no". It's not recommended to go beyond 80% full, plus there is filesystem overhead. Search the forums for @Bidule0hm's capacity calculator.

If you mean, "Is RAIDZ1 a good idea with 6TB disks?", most members would answer "no" to that too. But it's up to you, depending on how much you care about your data. Whatever pool layout you choose, redundancy is not backup, so you must still backup all the data you care about.

 

[Lucinde]

Thanks, melloa and blaco. Running docker in a Linux VM is indeed an good option. Running it straight in FreeNAS looks a bit "cleaner", but I'm sure that will be possible in the near future.

If you mean, "Is RAIDZ1 a good idea with 6TB disks?", most members would answer "no" to that too. But it's up to you, depending on how much you care about your data. Whatever pool layout you choose, redundancy is not backup, so you must still backup all the data you care about.

Ok, in that case I'll consider 5x 4TB, like melloa already suggested. The most important data (family pictures, personal documents, ... ) will be backed up off-site, but I don't want to loose the rest either. Cost-wise it's about the same, I opted for the 3 6TB disks to save space so that I could add an extra 3 disk pool if needed, but if most members think 6TB disks in RAIDZ1 is risky, 5 disks in RAIDZ2 is the way to go. Peace of mind is important too :)

 

[Stux]

RaidZ2 is the way to go.

 

[religiouslyconfused]

RaidZ2 is the way to go.

I run 6 4TB WD Red's in Z2 and it works great on my Xeon E3 build.

 

[Ericloewe]

I'm sure that will be possible in the near future.

Don't count on it. Corral used a VM as well.

 

[danb35]

Running it straight in FreeNAS looks a bit "cleaner", but I'm sure that will be possible in the near future.

Highly unlikely. Docker is fundamentally a Linux technology, and FreeBSD support is limited and doesn't seem to be advancing very well (if at all). As @Ericloewe mentions, FN10's Docker support was via a Linux VM, and any near-future Docker support likely will be as well.

 

[Lucinde]

Alright, in that case running a VM for docker, or running the services straight on the VM without docker will be it.

Apart from that: any extra thoughts on the hardware? :D