FreeNAS Mini XL, max. connections

[bazzacad]

We're currently running a Centos Samba file server that's hosting around 3TB of data. I'm considering moving our data to a FreeNAS Mini XL. We have around 35 staff that connect to this data. Would the FreeNAS Mini XL be able to handy that many SMB connections with a 10gb. NIC & 32gb. RAM?
Yes, I know I can build a cheaper version, but I like the turnkey solution with the support & warranty.

 

[Constantin]

I have been very happy with the Mini XL (with a 10GBe card from iXsystems) but I do not have as many users as you do. I doubt that quantity would be a problem with the 10GBe NIC and a generous L2ARC to help speed SMB operations. The post-sale support via iXsystems has been great. FWIW, I later upgraded to 64GB of RAM and added a L2ARC as well as a SLOG (both Intel S3710).

There are various threads around the forum that detail how SMB operations can be sped up significantly. Here is one regarding DOS Attributes.
There are more that also detail benefits of L2ARC and like.

If your aim is to fill all 8 drives in the XL, I'd choose drives that run cool - in my experience, the bays up high run hotter than the ones further down, even after upgrading to a industrial Noctua PWM case fan in the back. For example, my batch of HGST 7K400's 3TB drives hit 50*C inside the XL during scrubs (but those drives are notoriously hot). Meanwhile, my current He10's run a lot cooler.

 

[bazzacad]

Thanks for the reply. Does SMB need a L2ARC to function better? From what I've read, it seems everyone suggests adding more RAM before adding the L2ARC, but finding more the 32gb. for the XL is difficult & expensive. If I have IX ship the XL with drives, does it come with WD Red's? Would WD Red Pro's see any improvement in speed or cooling? The XL will be in my server room with an A/C unit next to it.

 

[Constantin]

The RAM is hard to come by. I found it on eBay. Took a while though to find that at non-outrageous prices.

It’s a bummer we’re on opposite coasts. I’d be happy for you to try out my machine if you’d be interested in buying it.

Some warranty remains and I just got the motherboard replaced (intel avr54 bug, apparently). It’s got the iXSystems 10GBe Card, two s3710 intel SSDs (Dual SLOG), the OEM 32GB RAM as well as my eBay 64GB purchase, OEM SATADOM, etc.

I have found that L2ARc set to metadata only significantly speeds up my browsing and rsync performance. It does take some time to become fully useful and is flushed every time the machine is rebooted.

I don’t know what drives iXSystems uses, I bought a disk less unit.

 

[Yooshua]

Since this seems to be a production environment, maybe contact iX directly and talk to a rep about a TrueNas setup?

 

[Constantin]

Regarding disks, I’d wager it also matters the type and how they are configured, depending on the use pattern.

For super high iops, you’d want to go SSD. 3TB is “small” enough where eight 1TB drives in a Z2 array should provide plenty of speed and enough headroom for growth. (FreeNAS wants the drives not be fuller than 80%)

 

[Chris Moore]

Thanks for the reply. Does SMB need a L2ARC to function better? From what I've read, it seems everyone suggests adding more RAM before adding the L2ARC, but finding more the 32gb. for the XL is difficult & expensive. If I have IX ship the XL with drives, does it come with WD Red's? Would WD Red Pro's see any improvement in speed or cooling? The XL will be in my server room with an A/C unit next to it.

I highly recommend you get in contact with iXsystems sales so they can work with you on a custom solution. They have many more options available when you talk to them directly, including rack mount models with higher drive/vdev count to ensure that you have enough IOPS to throughput for the workload.

 

[Constantin]

I agree that having a better idea of the workload would help us all make better, more appropriate recommendations.

For example, 35 people in itself may be child’s play even for spinning HDDs as long as the access requirements are intermittent and somewhat random. Accessing lots of small files all the time would be a different use case altogether.

 

[bazzacad]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone. I'll get in touch with sales. The use cases varies, so it's kind of hard to spell out, but I'll give it a shot.
We're an engineering firm. We use a lot of AutoCAD & Revit and other engineering specific software. The average CAD file size is around 1-2mb. Revit models can range from 50-500mb. From what I understand, Revit saves the file locally, then only syncs the changes back to the central model on the server, so it's not transferring the full model each time. Then of course we have the usual Word & Excel workload.

 

[Chris Moore]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone. I'll get in touch with sales.

Let us know how it comes out .