Help me safety check my system

[olger]

Hello everyone!

So after about 6 months of using FreeNAS & ZFS I've started feeling somewhat comfortable with it. I just bought a UPS & 16 GB of memory for my system, and now consider myself done with the setup. I should clarify, I mean "done" in the sense that I don't know anything else I can do to protect my data. And that's why I'm here. I'm looking for input, any input at all, regarding data safety (or other improvements). Backups are done on a regular basis, of course.

Let me start off by giving you some specs & information. I'm running a HP MicroServer (N54L) with 2x WD Red 3TB in a mirror & 16 GB RAM instead of the 2 GB that came with the machine. I also have a UPS all set up, solely for the NAS. I boot FreeNAS off a USB-memory.

The NAS is built for home usage, and is used by a 4-person family. We store just about everything on it. Usually there is not more than 1 or 2 people using it at the same time, we are very pleased with the performance so far.

The UPS is newly installed, and has been function-tested after setup. I changed the upsmon password. Configuration was quite basic, I think that about covers all you need about the UPS? I plan on doing some form of battery-test on a yearly basis.

The RAM is also fresh off the shelves. Ran 3 passes of memtest, took a little over 6 hours, no errors. It shows up in the system information in FreeNAS. Is there anything I should do, considering I ran FreeNAS & ZFS on 2 GB (I know, I know, playing with fire is bad) for 6 months?

Posted previously to get some help with ZFS Scrubs & SMART tests, here's what they look like:

I think that about covers it, let me know if I missed something. All input is very welcome!

 

[cyberjock]

Everything looks good. No complaints I can see.

Did you setup emailing? If you can receive test emails then you just have to sit back and relax and wait for FreeNAS to email you someday.

There are a few threads that might be useful for you though:

1. Automated nightly backups of your FreeNAS config file.
2. Automated integrity checks of your config file.
3. Nightly email of SMART info on your system.

 

[joeschmuck]

I'll comment on the SMART Test... I run the short test nightly because SMART can at best notify you up to 24 hours prior to your drive(s) failing, but most of the time it tells you it's almost gone or is dead. It's best to run those nightly and there is no noticeable wear on the drive. As for the long tests, I run mine weekly on a Tuesday morning and I always know when that is, no need to wonder what day a long test falls on. Every 2 weeks is fine, maybe set it up as ever 2 weeks on a specific day of the week.

Run the MemTest86 longer than 3 tests. Run it at least overnight or as long as you possibly can (2 days). It will show any stability problems you might have.

The scrub is a personal call, I use the default of once a month. Since your data is checked with each read, I don't see the need to check it any more often than the default.

Lastly, when you schedule events, try not to use something like 2:00 AM, use 2:07AM. This helps you troubleshoot a problem becasue if the problem starts around 2:07AM, you might be able to isolate it to your event. A few things happen in FreeNAS at certain times so you want to avoid those.

 

[joeschmuck]

Damn you Cyberjock, you type after than I do! I'm going to take a shower and quit for the day.

 

[dtemp]

1. Automated nightly backups of your FreeNAS config file.
2. Automated integrity checks of your config file.
3. Nightly email of SMART info on your system.

I tried searching; could I get a link for the auto integrity checks?

 

[olger]

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Thank you both for the great suggestions, I have looked into everything mentioned and made some minor tweaks.

 

[cyberjock]

I tried searching; could I get a link for the auto integrity checks?

It's in the how-to guides section. Check it out there. ;)

 

[dtemp]

It's in the how-to guides section. Check it out there. ;)

Whelp I tried searching, and I read the post titles going back 3 years, couldn't find it. Found some other interesting posts to read though.

 

[wyoben]

Here is the link http://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/nightly-check-of-freenas-database.19999/#post-113088. Hope this helps.