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CPU, RAID-Z and Performance
- Thread starter MDMurdock
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jgreco
Resident Grinch
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RAIDZ performance is probably more tied to how well you design your pool. Most modern processors are sufficiently zippy to handle the relatively modest computational requirements for parity computations at gigabit speeds. You can look around the forums and find people getting decent speeds out of Atoms and E350's, though maybe not gigabit. Throwing lots of CPU and cores at RAIDZ doesn't make much of a difference over throwing just enough to handle the task - it just sits there wasted. That said, CPU prices are such that you can (and probably should) buy a larger CPU than you think you really need... because sooner or later there'll be some ZFS feature you want to make use of that'll eat CPU. ;-)
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So I think you got your answer in post#2 but I'd like to add a bit more.
If you are looking to build a system from scratch then you should set your sights on an inexpensive dual core CPU running at 1.6GHz or something better, and this is just my personal advice. This should handle anything you would do with FreeNAS. RAM is your next key component, do not skimp. You don't need blazing fast RAM, it's the quantity that makes the difference. 8GB minimum but 16GB if you can, again this is a personal preference but ZFS/RAIDZ performs better with more RAM. And you need to know what your FreeNAS server will be used for primarily. If it's lots of small files then you need to design the pool properly, if it's for streaming media and moving large files then you can have a poor pool design with minimal impact. So a RaidZ1 with four hard drives is a poor design while a RaidZ1 with five drives is a good design. The four drive design is fine for more home use but in a business environment where you were sharing lots of small files, the five drive is better. Locate a posting from noobsauce80 and visit his link in his tagline, it explains the pools well.
If you are looking to build a system from scratch then you should set your sights on an inexpensive dual core CPU running at 1.6GHz or something better, and this is just my personal advice. This should handle anything you would do with FreeNAS. RAM is your next key component, do not skimp. You don't need blazing fast RAM, it's the quantity that makes the difference. 8GB minimum but 16GB if you can, again this is a personal preference but ZFS/RAIDZ performs better with more RAM. And you need to know what your FreeNAS server will be used for primarily. If it's lots of small files then you need to design the pool properly, if it's for streaming media and moving large files then you can have a poor pool design with minimal impact. So a RaidZ1 with four hard drives is a poor design while a RaidZ1 with five drives is a good design. The four drive design is fine for more home use but in a business environment where you were sharing lots of small files, the five drive is better. Locate a posting from noobsauce80 and visit his link in his tagline, it explains the pools well.
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