M.2 SSD as install drive for FreeNAS + Plugin Jails?

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Sokonomi

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I was wondering if it is possible to install FreeNAS on an M.2 drive and still use it to store some jails on it as well.
I have a spare 128Gb M.2 Drive, and I feel it could be put to good use somehow in a FreeNAS.
But I think FreeNAS destroys all partitions prior to install, so im not quite sure if its possible.
 

Chris Moore

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I was wondering if it is possible to FreeNAS on an M.2 drive and still use it to store some jails on it as well.
No, the boot pool is not available for any other purpose besides booting the OS and it can be used to store the system dataset and log files.
I have a spare 128Gb M.2 Drive, and I feel it could be put to good use somehow in a FreeNAS.
You could put it in as an additional SSD drive where you could mount you jail root but you can't do both boot and jails from the same SSD.
But I think FreeNAS destroys all partitions prior to install, so im not quite sure if its possible.
That is true. When you use a dive as a boot media, it is fully re-partitioned as part of the prep to make it a bootable drive.
 

Sokonomi

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Ok, so ill need a good ultraslim flashdrive regardless then.
Would I benefit from having the jails on a fast M.2 for unpacking archives?
Or should I just plop them in a dataset on the main (RaidZ1) array?

Thanks for answering!
 

Chris Moore

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Ok, so ill need a good ultraslim flashdrive regardless then.
For a boot drive?
Would I benefit from having the jails on a fast M.2 for unpacking archives?
I used a separate SSD for my jails at one point but I ran out of room after a couple years because the way I use my Plex jail, all the movie metadata is stored inside the jail. I had to move the jail root to the main pool. I didn't see a huge difference in performance for the way I use my jails.
Or should I just plop them in a dataset on the main (RaidZ1) array?
That is what I have now, a jails dataset on the main pool, but I do suggest a RAIDz2 pool to give a bit of extra security from disk failure.
Would you like to post your build plan for review and comment? Others can often offer advice that is helpful.
 

Sokonomi

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Yes, installing FreeNAS on a USB flashdrive is common practice I believe? I think the installer specifically mentions it as well? Using an entire HDD/SSD drive seems like a bit of a waste of space anyway, since it hogs the whole media for its boot pool.

Jails can pile up quickly I pressume. From what I understand, downloads from transmission and sabNZBd start in jail until they finish and get moved to the main pool? Add ontop of that, metadata and posters and whatever plex might put out while transcoding videos and such, this could gum up the works quickly. I have two spare 1TB drives, could they serve as a fast (striped) pool to use for jails and other miscellaneous guff?

I wouldn't mind posting a build plan, though budget is a really big factor. Its the main reason I went with RAIDz1; I cant afford a second spare. Really the thing has to be as cheap as possible while utilizing what parts ive got laying around. :') It wont be the princess at the ball.
 

Chris Moore

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Yes, installing FreeNAS on a USB flashdrive is common practice I believe? I think the installer specifically mentions it as well? Using an entire HDD/SSD drive seems like a bit of a waste of space anyway, since it hogs the whole media for its boot pool.
USB drives were suggested at one point to save needing to use a SATA port for a boot drive. SSD is the current recommendation due to the high reliability.
Ref: Hardware Requirements: http://www.freenas.org/hardware-requirements/
I have two spare 1TB drives, could they serve as a fast (striped) pool to use for jails and other miscellaneous guff?
Sure, that would work. It might be better to mirror them instead of a stripe and a 1TB jail pool would probably serve for quite a while. My original SSD for jails was 256GB and I outgrew that, but only just a little, the current jails dataset is only 450GB after a couple years of slow growth.
though budget is a really big factor. Its the main reason I went with RAIDz1
RAIDz2 has been the recommendation for several years now because of the possibility of a second drive failure taking the pool out before you can recover from the first dive failure. I think that is covered in this presentation if you want to take little time to look at it:

Slideshow explaining VDev, zpool, ZIL and L2ARC
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/
 

Sokonomi

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Good to know that half a Tb is about what a jail pool will consume. In that case, the pair of 1Tb drives will do nicely.

I know what RAIDz2 is and why it is recommended, I just don't have the extra 100 bucks to spare for it. Only about 350gb of my data is really important, so perhaps I could mirror that dataset to the 2x1Tb disk pool as a backup instead. Losing the rest of my 4x3Tb disk pool would be an unfortunate loss in the unlikely event of 2 disks dying in a row, but nothing a couple nights of downloading cant bring back.
 

Chris Moore

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Losing the rest of my 4x3Tb disk pool would be an unfortunate loss in the unlikely event of 2 disks dying in a row, but nothing a couple nights of downloading can't bring back.
Alright, I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the risks.
There are several people on the forum that rotate a backup drive in and out of their system as a single disk pool where they backup important files and then store them in a fire resistant box or at another site as a safeguard against catastrophe. It may not be something you can do at the moment, but something to keep in mind for a future improvement to the system.
 

Sokonomi

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Offsite storage has definitely been on my mind, unfortunately cloud drives can get costly at that size. I do have a spare external 1Tb drive that I could plug once a month to avoid the scenario of having all my eggs in one basket. I do intend to add to the NAS once budget permits.

I heard about a plugin for FreeNAS that would let you register multiple free cloud accounts, which it would then 'pool' together and manage as one big collective backup cloud storage. It sounds a bit sketchy, but it might do in a pinch, for now. Does this ring any bell?
 

Chris Moore

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I heard about a plugin for FreeNAS that would let you register multiple free cloud accounts, which it would then 'pool' together and manage as one big collective backup cloud storage. It sounds a bit sketchy, but it might do in a pinch, for now. Does this ring any bell?
Sounds interesting, but I have not heard of that.
 

Ericloewe

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Half a terabyte for jails!?
 

Chris Moore

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