I don't know how many HDDs i should buy

[Zwck]

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for reading past the topic. I am not sure how many HDDs i should buy. Currently I employ a qnap consumer nas with 2*3TB WD Reds, and the hardware for my freeNAS that i already own follows:

• X11SSH-F (6 sata connectors)
• crossflashed IBM LSI ServeRAID-M1015 ( 16 sata devices)
• i3 6300
• 16Gb ECC RAM
• m2. 128Gb ssd (but thinking about a sataDOM)
• a Sharkoon t9 + 3 Icydock flexcage mb97sp-B (max 15HDDs i can put comfortably in the case)

What I like to have is the option to start smallish and then expand as I go.

Maybe something like this vdev0(4hdd+1 parity drive) + vdev1(4hdd+1parity drive) + vdev2(4hdd+1parity drive), although raidz1 is dead?

thx

 

[nojohnny101]

I'll jump in really quick (I'm on my phone) and say you need to provide more background. Planning storage is all about assessing your storage needs now and 2 to 5 years from now.

What is the current footprint of your data? How much do you anticipate your data needs growing? Do you primarily use your storage for archiving or active file sharing?

Also please search and find the CFS primer information and abbreviation so you can use the correct terms. 4+1p doesn't make sense.

 

[Zwck]

......

Well, i have 4TB on my other NAS filled, I am part of a 6 person family and we successfully replaced dropbox/gmail to the QNAP commercial solution, i have no idea how fast i will grow, hence i am asking how to start small and then expand in the future.

 

[nojohnny101]

i have no idea how fast i will grow, hence i am asking how to start small and then expand in the future.

Did you read the ZFS Primer on the different raidz levels?

You are giving way too little information for me to provide a reasonable answer. The number of drives depends on what type of redundancy you want, what your current and future vdev layout looks like, etc etc etc.

Start with answering the question I outlined above and if you don't already know, read up on pools, vdevs, and the zfs primer guide.

 

[Zwck]

Hey @nojohnny101 thanks for helping an inexprienced noob, what i have read was this http://doc.freenas.org/9.3/zfsprimer.html and the ppt from cyberjock.

to answer your questions:

Storage Needs: now 5TB in 5 years 25TB
Primary Needs: 40% filesharing 40%archiving 20%hosting virtual machines

What I thought is that i start with one volume consistent of 5 HDD each ~3TB in RAIDZ1 leaving me with ~12TB usable space. Coming next or the year after i'll create a new volume again with 5HDDs @ 3TB in RAIDZ1 adding another 12TB

After reading cyberjocks ppt and the often cited webarticle raidz1 is dead go raidz2, i am wondingering if it is better to start out with 6 HDDs in raidz2

 

[anodos]

Hey @nojohnny101 thanks for helping an inexprienced noob, what i have read was this http://doc.freenas.org/9.3/zfsprimer.html and the ppt from cyberjock.

to answer your questions:

Storage Needs: now 5TB in 5 years 25TB
Primary Needs: 40% filesharing 40%archiving 20%hosting virtual machines

What I thought is that i start with one volume consistent of 5 HDD each ~3TB in RAIDZ1 leaving me with ~12TB usable space. Coming next or the year after i'll create a new volume again with 5HDDs @ 3TB in RAIDZ1 adding another 12TB

After reading cyberjocks ppt and the often cited webarticle raidz1 is dead go raidz2, i am wondingering if it is better to start out with 6 HDDs in raidz2

6 drives in raidz2 is a good choice. In a couple of years as your storage needs increase, expand your pool by adding a second 6-disk raidz2 vdev. If you think you'll need 25TB storage, plan to have 40TB. ZFS likes to have free space, and estimates are almost always overly optimistic.

 

[Stux]

Given your 15 hot swap bays, I'd recommend starting with one 7 way Raidz2

Then you can add another and still have one hotswap bay left for safe disk replacements.

Of course, since you only have 14 SAS/SATA ports...

 

[SweetAndLow]

Mirrors are also a good choice when you want to slowly add drives over time. It's easier to add 2 drives than 6 drives of cost is a concern.

I don't like your icy dock thing. It's probably going to fail and might cause data loss. That case is a gaming case which could be improved. Less colors, more noise dampening and more cooling.

 

[Zwck]

Mirrors are also a good choice when you want to slowly add drives over time. It's easier to add 2 drives than 6 drives of cost is a concern.

I don't like your icy dock thing. It's probably going to fail and might cause data loss. That case is a gaming case which could be improved. Less colors, more noise dampening and more cooling.

yeah I actually have a couple of noctua fans flying around that i'll be using instead of this LED crap, so i am not to worried about that.

About the cage, are these back plates failing that often? I saw a couple of people using them.

 

[Zwck]

Given your 15 hot swap bays, I'd recommend starting with one 7 way Raidz2

Then you can add another and still have one hotswap bay left for safe disk replacements.

Of course, since you only have 14 SAS/SATA ports...

I thought the LSI raid controller specifies up to 16 SATA drives, but i might be completely wrong.

Question: is there a problem if i split one vdev over 2 raidcontroller?

 

[SweetAndLow]

yeah I actually have a couple of noctua fans flying around that i'll be using instead of this LED crap, so i am not to worried about that.

About the cage, are these back plates failing that often? I saw a couple of people using them.

Not sure what their failure rate is. I just know that anyone who builds a good system doesn't use them and they will never be suggested from someone on here. Go ahead and try if that's the way you fit all your disks in. But if strange things happen and your ask about them, those icydock things will be the first red flag.

 

[Stux]

I have one. It's good.

 

[anodos]

Not sure what their failure rate is. I just know that anyone who builds a good system doesn't use them and they will never be suggested from someone on here. Go ahead and try if that's the way you fit all your disks in. But if strange things happen and your ask about them, those icydock things will be the first red flag.

Icydock has always struck me as being 'gamer!' quality components. Of course, as we all know things marketed towards gamers are designed with looser tolerances... kinda like Cyberjock's mom.

 

[Stux]

There is a knock off brand called "icy box"

As far as I know, icy dock made a name for themselves with their cooled 2.5 to 3.5" bay converters. These were quite popular in Australian IT circles when 2.5" Sata took off and everything was still 3.5" bays.

I'm quite happy with my icydock. A colleague was impressed enough he bought one too.

It has a thermostat controlled fan, with a good design for drawing cooling air equally past all drives.

Fan is modular and easily replaceable.

They make dual ported versions too.

Yes, it's not datacentre grade, but for "Enthusiast" it seems pretty good.

See backup NAS signature link.

 

[Ericloewe]

I don't like your icy dock thing. It's probably going to fail and might cause data loss. That case is a gaming case which could be improved. Less colors, more noise dampening and more cooling.

Ever look at my sig? I'm running essentially the same thing. There's not much that can fail, it's a simple backplane, fan and chassis. As for the chassis, it has a crapton of 5.25" drive bays with external access. It's a bit flimsy, but the drive bays fix that once they're in place.

Icydock has always struck me as being 'gamer!' quality components.

You must be confusing it with something else (possibly sharkoon), since their stuff just looks bland. Definitely not Supermicro quality, but it's good enough.

I thought the LSI raid controller specifies up to 16 SATA drives

Definitely not. 8 SAS channels. Of course, you can multiplex them with expanders, but that's a different matter.

 

[anodos]

You must be confusing it with something else (possibly sharkoon), since their stuff just looks bland. Definitely not Supermicro quality, but it's good enough.

Probably. More likely explanation is that I'm being old and curmudgeony.

 

[Zwck]

Actually, I went through all the senior people signatures and looked what they had for the hardware.

Given your 15 hot swap bays, I'd recommend starting with one 7 way Raidz2

Then you can add another and still have one hotswap bay left for safe disk replacements.

Of course, since you only have 14 SAS/SATA ports...

So the MB has only 6 Sata ports, is it ok to basically connect these 6 sata ports to 6 hdds, + 1 sata port from the LSI raid card, and combine these to one raid2 with 7 drives?

 

[danb35]

So the MB has only 6 Sata ports, is it ok to basically connect these 6 sata ports to 6 hdds, + 1 sata port from the LSI raid card, and combine these to one raid2 with 7 drives?

Absolutely.

 

[Zwck]

Absolutely.

Thx. and performance wise, is there a problem if i dont follow the 4,6,8 drive rule in the raidZ2 setup?

 

[Bidule0hm]

No, not a problem ;)