First Time NAS Build, have some Questions.

[Nervosa]

I'm in the process of putting together a NAS around the SuperMicro X9SCM.

Ill probably start off using something like the G2020, unless I can find a e3-1220 on the cheap (unless its really needed)
I would like to do zfs and raidz2.

Now, I never dealt with making a raid before, so what I would like to know is..

Am I able to start off with 1 drive, then pick up a new drive each month or so.
Once I have two extra drives (3 total) switch to raidz2 (seen somewhere that you can do it with 3, correct me if I'm wrong. I know with It would still look like I only have the size of 1)
Then add a 4th and 5th over time, maybe up to 6 if needed?

Is going about it like this easy, like "hey NAS you have a new dive have fun", or would each time I add I drive would I have to back up then format everything?
Would it be better to just use the 1 till I have 5 ?
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Is there something I can run on my desktop (task bar) and maybe phone (android) to monitor the NAS in case a drive fails or another issue?
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Another thing I would be interested in doing is also using this as an NVR (on different drives) with at least 4 cams. Is there a freenas plugin or a way to do this? (a parts list or built thread would be helpful too) I'm guessing it this is possible the xeon would be the way to go.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Am I able to start off with 1 drive, then pick up a new drive each month or so.

You either need to plan your storage ahead of time and start with the right number of drives, or plan to tear down and rebuild the pool to add drives.

But what you really need to do is start reading all the hardware recommendation and ZFS guides, so you have a better idea of what's possible and what's recommended.

 

[Nervosa]

I figured it would be like that. I did read the recommended number was 6 in quite a few posts.
Guess Ill start with 1 then rebuild once I have 5. Thanks for the quick reply btw.

 

[Mirfster]

Have a look at the link in my signature under "Recommended Reading". Great info/advice to be found there.

 

[joeschmuck]

I think the most important thing you should do if figure out what you want to do with your FreeNAS (this helps to calculate the CPU and RAM needed) and how much storage capacity over the next 3 years you expect to need, then double that value. The idea is to keep your pool capacity well below 80% full, and 50% full would be a great place to be. And as mentioned before, you cannot just add a drive to your NAS to expand the capacity without adding serious risk to your data and rebuilding your pool is the proper method when you do have enough drives on hand. And a word of good advice, ensure you have a copy of any important data elsewhere, that goes for any NAS solution you end up with.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

I did read the recommended number was 6

There's no magic to having 6 drives in a vdev. It just happens to be a good compromise between many factors for a lot of users: redundancy, available storage, case capacity, drive ports, power requriements ...

 

[Nervosa]

I think the most important thing you should do if figure out what you want to do with your FreeNAS

Back up, stream movies (would only be to one device) and NVR if its also possible (on a separate drive).
Wife wants to get one of them kits and if I could get some IP Cams, a PoE switch and use freenas seems like it would save space and money.
I did see something about setting up cameras to FTP to the server, but I would rather a plugin or something that would prune old files and allow one to view remotely which I didn't see in the plugin section