Freenas redundancy over time

[speedtriple]

Considering setting up a Freenas.
If the Freenas system-OS-drive crashes after a few years, is it just to replace the OS-drive, reinstall Freenas-OS and then it will pick up the storage pool/RaidZ2?

 

[Basil Hendroff]

Yup, but I recommend that you back up the config periodically so that it can be restored when you rebuild the boot drive. I also recommend mirroring the boot drive.

For interest, have a look at this resource, which demonstrates how easy it is to change systems with FreeNAS https://www.ixsystems.com/community/resources/moving-freenas-to-new-hardware.89/

 

[speedtriple]

Sounds great!
The config-backup in a few years, will it adopt to the then more new release of FreeNAS, or should I then reinstall the same version of FreeNAS as existed at hdd-crash?

I will install FreeNAS as a VM in ESXi. The VM-backup could be a fast recovery, but maybe more safe to do a complete reinstall of FreeNAS-os with the config-backup when the OS/the VM-disk crash?

 

[Basil Hendroff]

The config-backup in a few years, will it adopt to the then more new release of FreeNAS, or should I then reinstall the same version of FreeNAS as existed at hdd-crash?

Good question. I'm not sure, but I would think it's a much riskier proposition between major releases.

 

[no_connection]

Just backup config before and after every upgrade.
You can have redundant boot drives so integrity and uptime of the system can be made.
Redundancy is for uptime, backup is for safety. Good thing to keep in mind.
I am not going to tell you not to use FN in a VM, but do keep in mind there are no good tools to get a vmware disk back. So do make sure you know the implications of what you are doing and how it affects you.