Maxed System RAM, SSD Cache?

[DanPrs]

My system's mobo has a capacity of 16GB of RAM, which I have maxed. At the moment I have 3x3T HDDs with ~2.5T of data. Most of the data just sits there except I guess for new media downloads that are served to Plex and the large picture library.

The first question is, can I add a dedicated cache device to the existing volume?
What is the real world performance difference from what I have now?
If this is something worth considering, from the wiki and someone's powerpoint(...) would a 64GB SSD be advised? What type or any suggestions?

 

[cyberjock]

Really? Every 2-3 days someone shows up and asks the same question you are asking... so let me ask some questions..

1. Did you even read my noobie presentation? Hint: If so, the answer to your question is already there. Seriously. I put it in there because I was tired of the 3+ threads per week on the same question. So feel free to avail yourself of the opportunity to read the guide and then stop considering an L2ARC.

2. Did you even search the forums for other users asking about L2ARCs? Did you read the answers they were given?

3. How much more speed do you think you are going to get? For most of us, you approach Gb LAN speed pretty quickly. So if you are already at 75% of rated wire speed, do you think you're going to get over 100%?

I really should just start issuing warnings or bans for asking the same question that's asked so frequently, answered in the manual and in my noob guide....

The answers aren't in hiding. They are out in plain sight for the world to see, yet the question must still be asked...

/smh

PS: Don't expect me to read this thread again.. good luck.

 

[DanPrs]

Since he's not gonna read it again I guess it's ok to curse him out :p

Nah he's helped out before and I appreciate all the help and answers, even the ones where Cyberjock comes off as an asshole. Which I guess he his, but justifiably so.

I think part of the problem is that FreeNAS isn't really noob friendly, specially some of it;s more advanced features. So no matter how hard you guys try, we noobs will constantly ask about these things. If it really pisses you guys off, like it looks like to cyberjock (maybe it just comes off that way with him) a simple "no" to my post would have answered the question and been much quicker.

And though I recognize that there are other resources like the wiki and the power point, it is always reassuring to hear it from another person. Isn't that part of what forums are for?

 

[gpsguy]

Sure you can.

But, like driving with bald tires on an icy road, it's not recommended for your configuration. You'll soon be back complaining of performance issues.

View the top link on this page, for more information on when to use L2ARC.

The first question is, can I add a dedicated cache device to the existing volume?

If you've found that 16Gb is too little for your needs, then your best bet is to replace the mobo, etc. If you went with the mini-ITX that you were considering, chalk that up to a bad decision and move up to larger box that will accommodate your anticipated needs.

What type or any suggestions?

 

[DanPrs]

Thank you :D

 

[jgreco]

I'll note that ASRock has an Avoton board in mini-ITX that'll go to 64GB (well, 32, the 64's aren't for sale yet).

 

[DanPrs]

I saw that board, very cool stuff.

To clarify I'm not having any issues as far as I can tell, just wanted to know if I'd benefit since my mobo is already capped.

I wonder what the performance with transcoding is on that Asrock Atom system.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I'll go back to your initial questions:

The first question is, can I add a dedicated cache device to the existing volume?
Sure, but as others have said, it's a bad idea.

What is the real world performance difference from what I have now?
For streaming video, virtually none. Even a direct BD ISO won't saturate 100Mbps, never mind 1GbE.
If you have a set of frequently-accessed files that is bigger than 16GB total, but less than 64GB, you might see some improvement as they would end up getting cached in the SSD. But unless you're running VMs on that server, probably not enough to matter.

If this is something worth considering, from the wiki and someone's powerpoint(...) would a 64GB SSD be advised? What type or any suggestions?It's not, so don't even worry about it.

Would you benefit? Very unlikely.

So make like ING, and Save Your Money (or spend it on more disk)

 

[Nindustries]

Regarding the transcoding, there was someone on the Plex forums who could do 2 1080p streams at the same time I think.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[Edvard Filistovic]

Hello, Maybe I cover old topic, but I use Asroc 4xCore Motherboard with 6x4TB NAS HDDs and 32 GB RAM.
Today I have several 4K movies, and this specification is not enough to see those movies in my 4K TV.
HDD total speed of pool up to 40 GBs (400 Gbps), and can't utilized 2 Gbps NICs (now utilize up to 20% of NICs, and can't have more). NIC is not a problem for 4K performance, but 4 Cores is not enough to run Plex on my 4K TV and transcode.

Ed