Installing TrueNAS core on Samsung Evo 870

alex.8913

Cadet
Joined
Feb 22, 2023
Messages
5
Hi there,
I am new to TrueNAS and looking to install TrueNAS Core for my PowerEdge R720, but I want to get some recommendations before I install and buy a new SSD drive. From reading another post, it seems the Samsung 870 wouldn't be the best choice in terms of longevity because it x/TB write is low (2,400 TB Write time to be exact from google or five years) TrueNAS would be for my home lab, and I want to be able to run a few windows server environments, Run Plex and Fileshare. I will more than likely use TrueNAS for file storage than anything else

Things I am looking in for a drive
  1. Longevity (if I have to replace drives every two years until I can get a premium SSD, that would be fine or, at the bare min, a year
  2. A drive that wouldn't break the bank in terms of first-time startup
  3. Speed for me isn't a huge big deal, but fast would be nice
  4. Storage is a big deal. I would prefer to have at least a 4 TB SSD or more
Questions
Would it be safe for me to use the Samsung Evo 870 250 Gigs for installation and use something like the Kingstone DC500M for my actual storage? I know it only has 2 TB of capacity, but as of right now, it would be cheaper to get that than the 4 TB evo for my first-time startup I can always use the SSD in another project when it comes time to swap to a more premium ssd. Would there be a premium SSD drive that would have at least 4 TB or more in capacity and that has a high life expectancy? As of right now, I am trying to avoid the Western Digital Gold SSD only because of the price.

Newegg links
Kingston DC500M https://www.newegg.com/kingston-tec...00M-_-0D9-001B-001Z1-_-Product&quicklink=true

Samsung Evo 870 250 gigs https://www.newegg.com/samsung-250gb-870-evo-series/p/20-147-791

My System Specs
(Dell Poweredge R720)
Processor: 2x Xeon 2.4 Gig E5-2609 ( I will be eventually swapping to a better and faster processor in that generation that has 12 cores)
Ram: 24 Gigs 1066 Clock Speed ( Additional Ram will be added eventually to be able to virtualize everything)
Storage: TBD
Perc is set to (IT) mode
 

artlessknave

Wizard
Joined
Oct 29, 2016
Messages
1,506
Samsung 870 will probably outlive you, unless you are reinstalling the OS multiple times a day.
 

Ericloewe

Server Wrangler
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Feb 15, 2014
Messages
20,175
You're speaking a lot in the singular, which is worrying. SSDs aren't magic and will fail, so you should be looking to set up at least a mirror.
 

joeschmuck

Old Man
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May 28, 2011
Messages
10,970
I think two critical pieces of information that is missing is, your Use Case and How Critical is your data?

If the data is not critical or very important to you, a single boot device might be just fine. I use a single boot device and I make a weekly backup of my configuration file so should the boot drive die, I can fairly easily recover. It should take me about 20 minutes, just because it's mostly the replacement of a bad SSD and then loading TrueNAS and the easy part, restore the configuration file.

But if you do not feel like messing around with that and your system MUST be online all the time, a mirror is close to a true mirror. If you need HA, I'd get a RAID card to bootstrap from and mirror, but that is more advanced than we normally preach, and I don't want to confuse some folks about RAID cards in TrueNAS.

So you can use the NVMe, it will last a very long time when you are talking about TBW. Death due to component failure (infant mortality) can happen of course. Would I be concerned about wearing out the 980? Hell no. Why? Because my Windoze computer will write in a day more than a TrueNAS boot drive would write in a year. Okay, truth be told I did pull that out of my rear, but the Samsung 980, 970, etc, will not wear out on you, not as a boot drive. And I'd buy the least expensive one, not the smallest capacity. Some drives go on sale and they are larger in capacity.

Last thing... Make sure you have the system on an UPS. This is as critical as any other piece. A power brownout or outage or spike can take your system out or just corrupt something, including the boot drive.
 

alex.8913

Cadet
Joined
Feb 22, 2023
Messages
5
I think two critical pieces of information that is missing is, your Use Case and How Critical is your data?

If the data is not critical or very important to you, a single boot device might be just fine. I use a single boot device and I make a weekly backup of my configuration file so should the boot drive die, I can fairly easily recover. It should take me about 20 minutes, just because it's mostly the replacement of a bad SSD and then loading TrueNAS and the easy part, restore the configuration file.

But if you do not feel like messing around with that and your system MUST be online all the time, a mirror is close to a true mirror. If you need HA, I'd get a RAID card to bootstrap from and mirror, but that is more advanced than we normally preach, and I don't want to confuse some folks about RAID cards in TrueNAS.

So you can use the NVMe, it will last a very long time when you are talking about TBW. Death due to component failure (infant mortality) can happen of course. Would I be concerned about wearing out the 980? Hell no. Why? Because my Windoze computer will write in a day more than a TrueNAS boot drive would write in a year. Okay, truth be told I did pull that out of my rear, but the Samsung 980, 970, etc, will not wear out on you, not as a boot drive. And I'd buy the least expensive one, not the smallest capacity. Some drives go on sale and they are larger in capacity.

Last thing... Make sure you have the system on an UPS. This is as critical as any other piece. A power brownout or outage or spike can take your system out or just corrupt something, including the boot drive.

I would say that since I'm using this for a file server and there is going to be other people's data on this server. I would say that it's somewhat crucial that the ssds I put in don't go to crap. So a premium SSD would be ideal in my case. I'm not sure how to run nvmes in the server tbh i haven't looked into it just yet. The server does have a raid controller that came with it when I bought it (Perc H310) i was able to reflash it to (IT) mode from what my understanding is doing so is that it makes the drives pass straight through to the os.

So, in summary, would the 870 be an okay drive to use 24/7? If not, what other drive should I look at besides the NVME's that you were talking about? Could you point me in the right direction

Now in terms of ups, I currently have two 1500VA waiting to arrive
You're speaking a lot in the singular, which is worrying. SSDs aren't magic and will fail, so you should be looking to set up at least a mirror.
If I was to setup a mirror, how would I do so? would I just mirror all of the drives that I have, including the os drive?
 

Ericloewe

Server Wrangler
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Feb 15, 2014
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I think you need to take a step back and do some research before proceeding (recommended reading).

including the os drive?
You can mirror the boot pool, but that is entirely separate from whatever other pools you might have on the system - and those are the ones that probably matter most.
 

joeschmuck

Old Man
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Joined
May 28, 2011
Messages
10,970
If I was to setup a mirror, how would I do so?
First I'd say to read the User Guide online, it tells you about selecting a boor mirror, but in a nut shell, when you install TrueNAS, you select two drives during the installation process and those become mirrored.

I would say that it's somewhat crucial that the ssds I put in don't go to crap. So a premium SSD would be ideal in my case.
You do not "need" premium SSD's for boot devices, good SSD's are fine. Some folks like Samsung like myself, and some folks have had bad luck with Samsung and will never buy them again. Remember, this is a boot device, not the main storage. I'd personally select a single 2.5" SSD, but that is just me.

So, in summary, would the 870 be an okay drive to use 24/7?
Sure, but you do not understand that the boot device has very little activity. It would last until you were in your grave if you were based on TBW value.

@Ericloewe beat me to this thread response and I agree with him, you need to do some more reading and research.
 
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