BUILD First FreeNAS attempt - looking for critique

[steve.long]

I was recently hired by an engineering firm and I quickly realized a desperate need of a network storage solution. I've heard about FreeNAS and how great it is, so I've determined I will build the NAS for my company.

Here is the hardware list I've compiled

Chassis- Fractal Design Node 304 Black
Boot Drive- SanDisk SSD Plus SDSSDA-120G-G25
Mobo- Supermicro Mini ITX A1SAI-2750F-O
(There is a deal on one vendor site which has the Intel Atom C2750 Processor included with the above motherboard. I was planning on using that for my CPU unless that is an especially terrible choice.)
RAM- 2d x Kingston 8GB Module - DDR3L 1600MHz KVR16LSE11/8
PSU- Corsair RM Series, RM750
HDD- Seagate 8TB Archive HDD SATA

I worked my way through the 4 part FreeNAS Hardware Design blog and I think this should provide what I need. Most of what will be stored and accessed from this NAS are CAD drawings and the occasional system image.

I'm also totally flexible on Hard Drives, so if I've made a poor selection I'd love to know why.

Lastly, I'm not sure I understand physical RAID controllers. I thought I read somewhere that I should let FreeNAS control the RAID, but I see other builds that have RAID controllers included. So I'm unsure of myself in this area.

This is my first post! Thanks for all of your expert help.

 

[CraigD]

Welcome

I would start by reading this

Never ever use archive drives they are not suited for NAS use and some people have had problems with kingston memory

A USB2.o boot drive and 2 hard drives in a mirror for a start

If you need 8TB of secure storage 3x5TB Hard Drives are needed if in z1

Don't be in a hurry

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Welcome.

I'm also totally flexible on Hard Drives, so if I've made a poor selection I'd love to know why.

1. How much storage do you need?
2. What is the expected growth rate?
3. What are your uptime requirements?
4. What is your backup strategy?

No matter how you answer, a single 8TB Seagate Archive drive is unlikely to be the correct choice.

I see other builds that have RAID controllers

Where?

FreeNAS uses ZFS, which is a software RAID solution that requires direct control of the disks to deliver the best results.

 

[BBarker]

How much data do you anticipate having on your NAS initially? You should consider either mirrored with two drives or RAIDZ2 with 4 drives for your initial setup. You can always expand later by changing to larger drives or adding more vdevs to your pool.

I think your PSU is overkill so unless you are getting a great deal in it, you may want to reconsider.

 

[BigDave]

I'm also totally flexible on Hard Drives, so if I've made a poor selection I'd love to know why.

ZFS is all about helping to keep your data safer with redundancy. Using several drives, along with "copies" of your data stored on the volume.
If you store your data on a single drive and it dies, your data is gone. If you need 8TB of storage, give some thought to forming a pool that will grow
and have enough "free space" (full drives slow down right!) to be usable without a lot of file maintenance. six 3TB drives (configured RAIDz2) would give you approx.
8TB of usable space, with room to grow.

 

[steve.long]

Welcome.

1. How much storage do you need?
2. What is the expected growth rate?
3. What are your uptime requirements?
4. What is your backup strategy?

Excellent questions! I left out crucial information.

1. I'd like to have ~24TB of usable space, so I was going to go with 5 x 6TBs or 4 x 8TBs.
2. Growth is probably about 200 GB a year, but I expect that to gradually increase as younger employees come in who prefer AutoCAD to manual drafting.
3. 24/7 uptime is not imperative, 600-1800, M-Sa would suffice.
4. Budget permitting, my backup strategy would be an identical offsite device, replicating every evening. Otherwise I might need to find an online service- Google nearline or something similar.

 

[steve.long]

How much data do you anticipate having on your NAS initially? You should consider either mirrored with two drives or RAIDZ2 with 4 drives for your initial setup. You can always expand later by changing to larger drives or adding more vdevs to your pool.

I think your PSU is overkill so unless you are getting a great deal in it, you may want to reconsider.

I'd like 24 TB usable- I realize I made it look like I'd only have 1 drive. As far as PSU, this guide scared me into going beyond what I thought I needed.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

1. 24TB usable requires about 29TB of raw storage, plus redundancy, in order to stay below an 80% usage threshold. 5 x 6TB or 4 x 8TB is not going to deliver this, even if you choose a RAIDZ1 configuration (not recommended for large drives).
2. Seems like a very manageable growth rate. If you plan for 50-60% utilization at launch, you'll have a few years before you have to expand your storage. Of course, if you've underestimated, this won't apply.
3. This means you'll have ample opportunity to shut down the system for drive replacement if necessary - good.
4. Identical offsite device is a sound strategy, if budget and internet bandwidth allow.

[*] https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/zfs-raid-size-and-reliability-calculator.28191/

 

[BBarker]

I'd like 24 TB usable- I realize I made it look like I'd only have 1 drive. As far as PSU, this guide scared me into going beyond what I thought I needed.

Here's an awesome thread showing recommended PSU based on CPU and number of drives. I think it shows an Atom based system with 8 drives is fine with a 450 watt PSU. Don't quote me on that but it's a great read.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/proper-power-supply-sizing-guidance.38811/

 

[steve.long]

1. 24TB usable requires about 29TB of raw storage, plus redundancy, in order to stay below an 80% usage threshold. 5 x 6TB or 4 x 8TB is not going to deliver this, even if you choose a RAIDZ1 configuration (not recommended for large drives).
2. Seems like a very manageable growth rate. If you plan for 50-60% utilization at launch, you'll have a few years before you have to expand your storage. Of course, if you've underestimated, this won't apply.
3. This means you'll have ample opportunity to shut down the system for drive replacement if necessary - good.
4. Identical offsite device is a sound strategy, if budget and internet bandwidth allow.

Interesting. I guess I will need to select a larger chassis and include more/larger drives. Or is there a solution I'm missing?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

I will need to select a larger chassis and include more/larger drives.

Correct.