FreeNAS scalability question

[soulman1949]

Hi there

I have a FreeNAS installation that's been running for a while, maybe 3 or 4 years (FreeNAS-8.3.0-RELEASE-x64 (r12701M)). It consists of 3 HDDs (3TB each) and I'm running this pool at close to 90% capacity, which I know is too high.

However, I have some spare cash and am thinking of buying one (or two if I can afford) additional 3TB HDDs. So here comes a scalability question. Can I incorporate them into my existing setup so that the existing storage is expanded within the current pool (if my terminology is correct) - if so, how? Or do I have to transfer my data some place else and reconfigure as a new pool?

Forgive me if this is a basic question but my usage of FreeNAS has more or less been "out of the box" without really getting to grips with what happens "under the bonnet/hood".

Thanks

Alan

 

[hugovsky]

What type of raidz are you using, if any? My best advice is to take a look at the guides in my sig about zfs for noobs. You will find your answer there.

 

[soulman1949]

Thanks, just downloaded the ZFS for n00bz guide, which I'm about to read.

Sorry what's radiz?

 

[soulman1949]

I just read "¨You cannot add more hard drives to a VDev once it is created" in the "ZFS for n00bz" guide. So how do people achieve scalability?

 

[anodos]

I just read "¨You cannot add more hard drives to a VDev once it is created" in the "ZFS for n00bz" guide. So how do people achieve scalability?

If you have a pool consisting of a single 6-disk RAIDZ2 vdev, you expand it by adding an additional 6-disk RAIDZ2 vdev.

 

[jgreco]

You can also replace the 3TB disks with larger disks like 6TB disks.

 

[soulman1949]

Useful replies, many thanks.

My photos are backed up elsewhere, but the purpose of the NAS was to bring all my media files together and the photos are merely the first part of the project. Money is a big issue - I'm retired and basically from time to time spare funds can be directed toward the purchase of additional HDDs but I certainly cannot consider huge expenditure, those days have gone - hence my initial statement of adding HDDs one (or occasionally two) at a time as the need changes and as funds permit!

It's not an issue to start over, adding one drive and rebuilding, but obviously, I'd rather not do it, if I can avoid it, hence the original question.

I recognise that one option may be to bite the bullet and go for an alternative NAS product which would better meet my requirements.I guess life is a series of compromises and I need to think through what is my preferred route. Many thanks for your thoughts and comments.

Regards

Alan

 

[Montel Bahn]

Allan,

I doubt changing NAS product will be worth your time, effort or money.
However, 90% full is very problematic. It's not possible to give specific advice but you might want to consider:

If you will be taking more photos, videos, it's simplest to replace the drives with larger drives,
as recommended by jgreco. You can resell, your existing 3tb drives, or more likely, repurpose these
for your back-up plan. You will need to replace all 3 before your storage space increases.

Do you need redundant protection for all your 'media', since cost is a primary criteria?....
You can add a single drive as it's own pool, for stuff like tv shows, or DVD rips if you keep the original DVD disks,
as long as you realize that you could loose this data at any time.

You can add 2 drives as a separate mirror pool, and transfer stuff there.
This pool should be more reliable than your existing (I'm assuming!!!) RaidZ1 pool.
You might want to transfer your most precious photos there.

Lastly, the standard advice will be to add another RaidZ1 pool of 3 drives.
Of course, you need 3 free SATA ports, and sufficient power supply, etc.

That's the overview....lots of details need to be filled in. Good luck with your research.
You'll have to supply all your hardware details and give more concrete criteria/goals to get
more feedback.

 

[johnblanker]

I think replacing your exixting drives would be a better option if u need to use the old ones for backup. If u dont do backup, then just add those new drives to your existing setup to double your storage. I wouldnt be able to sleep without a backup but that might be just me. A nas devise like synology or qnap allows you to add by popping in a single drive, yes. But a 5 bay syno unit is going to set you back about $600. Then u still have your issue of buying a new hdd to expand.