Having a hard time setting up my FreeNAS server user/permissions etc.

[ExobiT]

Hi there

I have a hard time figuring out the best way to setup my FreeNAS server. Currently i have this (all brand new)

HP ML310E Gen8
3.5 Ghz Quad core
16Gb ram
3x3TB Western Digital red NAS hdd (Primary storage)
1x 128GB SSD (Cache ?)
1x8Gb Kingston usb with FreeNAS 9.2.1.5 x64 running
some build in raid card (disabled that, running ahci)

What i need from this server is to server files to users through CIFS. But i need both file security but also performance.

Currently we have some ugly BlackArmor 220 NAS running, and this new server is going to replace that in every way (regarding file structure and shares). The BlackArmor is serving its files through CIFS there is 2 folders(2 shares as well). We have 10 users that have access to both read/write to all files/folders. This is what i need from the new server (They are using their local password on their computer)

First question: With this system, how would you do it ?

Second(aka, this is what i've tried so far)

Setup FreeNAS running on the usb. Created storage space with the 3x3tb disks called test. Under there i have created a zfs dataset called nuuknas. Now comes where i seem to get lost. Who are the owner of the "primary" test storage supposed to be, and then who should the owner of the dataset. And so on, again with "users" and "groups" I've played around a lot with user/group permissions in the web interface and sometimes i can get it to work. And sometimes i cannot login, and sometimes i can login without entering password.


I hope i explained my problem well enough, English is not my first language. And my knowledge to Linux/Unix do not reach very far.


Edit: Forgot: the volumes i've created is raidz1.

 

[cyberjock]

I won't try to help with permissions. We(the experienced users) have learned not to touch permissions questions because of the complexity. But, I will give you some very distilled tidbits of recommendations.

1. Get rid of that SSD. Unless it's your boot drive, you shouldn't be using it for anything related to L2ARC or ZIL. If it's your boot drive you should put FreeNAS on a USB stick and use that SSD for something that is useful. You can't benefit from an SSD on your system and it is almost certainly making things slower.
2. Verify SMART is working for your drives despite disabling the RAID controller. If it isn't, consider your configuration to be unsafe for data. I just got done writing posts to 2 people that have serious problems(they will both probably lose data) and neither one does SMART testing. If either one had setup SMART testing properly then they both wouldn't be in the predicament they are in.

 

[ExobiT]

I won't try to help with permissions. We(the experienced users) have learned not to touch permissions questions because of the complexity. But, I will give you some very distilled tidbits of recommendations.

I'm not trying to anything "new" with userpermissions. I'm asking how to do the initial setup. WHO are supposed to own the shares and drives for everything to work correctly!

1. Get rid of that SSD. Unless it's your boot drive, you shouldn't be using it for anything related to L2ARC or ZIL. If it's your boot drive you should put FreeNAS on a USB stick and use that SSD for something that is useful. You can't benefit from an SSD on your system and it is almost certainly making things slower.
2. Verify SMART is working for your drives despite disabling the RAID controller. If it isn't, consider your configuration to be unsafe for data. I just got done writing posts to 2 people that have serious problems(they will both probably lose data) and neither one does SMART testing. If either one had setup SMART testing properly then they both wouldn't be in the predicament they are in.

FreeNAS is allready running on the USB, not the SSD. But why whouldn't i get better performance using the SSD for l2arc or zil - From what i've read everywhere here, i would get better performance using the ssd for caching

 

[cyberjock]

I'm not trying to anything "new" with user permissions. I'm asking how to do the initial setup. WHO are supposed to own the shares and drives for everything to work correctly!

That depends. Might be "root", might be some domain admin group, might be a user. There is no "proper" setup for everyone. It's very much personalized for your exact situation. This is *precisely* why we don't try to help people. We can't just say "do these 3 commands and everything will be 'setup' for you". You have to know, understand, and apply the permissions for your exact situation. Unfortunately, for us to help you we have to have all of your situation. For us, it's really not worth the effort to personalize some command line commands for every single user that has a permission problem(and we see at least 5 a day in the forums and even more in IRC). There is no way to "dumb down" the permissions. It is what it is and it's something that either you figure out for yourself or you give up.

FreeNAS is allready running on the USB, not the SSD. But why whouldn't i get better performance using the SSD for l2arc or zil - From what i've read everywhere here, i would get better performance using the ssd for caching

Because adding either one of those(or both for that matter) puts more strain on your ARC. If you don't already have a cubic assload of RAM(and therefore a good sized ARC) you'll see performance drop because of that strain.

At the deepest levels the L2ARC and ZIL stress the ARC. But, each provides a benefit as well. As long as the stress you are putting on the ARC is less than the benefit, it's a win and you should do it. The problem... you needs lots of ARC before the balance of either of these can lean in your direction. That's why the manual says "maximum motherboard memory is recommended before considering an L2ARC or ZIL". From what I've seen in the forums based on probably 100 users or more, until you hit 64GB of RAM, using either one is a fool's errand.

I've even discussed this in my noobie presentation because everyone shows up, thinks like a Windows user (moar hardware = moar faster!), the shows back up here wondering why their pool performance is crap. Then I get to respond with the short and curt with "do what I said or don't complain when you are unhappy". The key is applying the *right* hardware for your situation. Hint: Even if you had enough L2ARC, there's only specific scenarios where L2ARCs are beneficial.. and none of them are what "home users" will do. I don't use an L2ARC or a ZIL, and even if I had enough RAM, I *still* wouldn't use one.

 

[ExobiT]

Are you or do you know anyone with professionel experince with setting up freenas, i'm willing to pay for someone to setup this machine. I just need it to work and perform decent on Monday latest :)

 

[cyberjock]

Are you or do you know anyone with professionel experince with setting up freenas, i'm willing to pay for someone to setup this machine. I just need it to work and perform decent on Monday latest :)

See my signature. I do consultation services for people on an "as-needed" basis. :)

 

[ExobiT]

It seems I'm not able to PM you. Please email me your hourly rate and skype ID to openworld1234@outlook.com

 

[cyberjock]

Sorry, no chance i'll email to an address like that. Quite suspicious if you ask me. But I'll send you a forum PM.

 

[ExobiT]

Sorry, no chance i'll email to an address like that. Quite suspicious if you ask me. But I'll send you a forum PM.

A bit paranoid huh, well if you can PM me then please PM me your skype ID and hourly rate instead, because i dont think i'm able to PM anyone :S

 

[ExobiT]

That email is just my "random" email because i dont want to post my company info here

 

[cyberjock]

That's understandable. You have a PM. ;)