Minimum number of drives in FreeNAS Mini

[Gurjeet Singh]

I am thinking of buying a FreeNAS Mini (diskless) and separate hard drives. My plan is to buy the minimum number of drives to start the FreeNAS, transfer my data from my existing 1TB external hard disk to the NAS, and then wipe that external drive and make it part of the NAS to increase capacity or reliability.

So how many drives should I buy with the Mini to just get started?

 

[Ericloewe]

You should probably read Cyberjock's guide (Link in my sig). It really depends on a lot of factors and it's something you'll have to decide for yourself.

 

[Gurjeet Singh]

"use an(sic) UPS" ... "Many people have corrupted their zpool because of an improper shutdown."

WAT?! I was under the assumption that corruption-due-to-power-loss was a thing of the past if you're using a journaling filesystem (and ZFS is a a journaling FS).

Thanks for pointing me to the slides, though. Although I am comfortable with Linux command-line and used ZFS command-line as well, getting to know some FreeBSD stuff wouldn't hurt.

BTW, when a new user asks a question, it's best to give a answer instead of pointing to docs. So I'll try a different question. Can I get away with using just one disk in the FreeNAS Mini, and then add more disks later?

 

[BigDave]

I was under the assumption that corruption-due-to-power-loss was a thing of the past

Incorrect! Data centers still use REDUNDANT power, even today!

BTW, when a new user asks a question, it's best to give a answer instead of pointing to docs. So I'll try a different question. Can I get away with using just one disk in the FreeNAS Mini, and then add more disks later?

Done properly yes!
BUT, know that your data will not be protected AT ALL with the use of only one disk. Why would you do this if you are smart enough to use the command line???

 

[Ericloewe]

BTW, when a new user asks a question, it's best to give a answer instead of pointing to docs.

I'm sorry, but what the hell are the docs for if not to teach people what they need to know?

It's fine to have specific questions, preferably supported by an argumentation of some sort. Asking for an explanation of all possibilities is unrealistic - unless you pay for it.

"use an(sic) UPS" ... "Many people have corrupted their zpool because of an improper shutdown."

WAT?! I was under the assumption that corruption-due-to-power-loss was a thing of the past if you're using a journaling filesystem (and ZFS is a a journaling FS).

Power loss is never good. ZFS is designed to handle such situations, but it's far better (for several reasons) to not let it come to that. The risk is similar-to-lower, compared to other filesystems.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

BTW, when a new user asks a question, it's best to give a answer instead of pointing to docs. So I'll try a different question. Can I get away with using just one disk in the FreeNAS Mini, and then add more disks later?

The very experienced people who pointed you towards documentation are doing so because the nature of your questions suggest such a limited understanding of ZFS that you'll be setting yourself up for disaster if you proceed without educating yourself better. This would be bad for you, and depending on how you respond, bad for others too.

My response and theirs might seem rude at first glance, but they are aimed at giving you the best chance of success in the long run. They could simply have given you a completely truthful answer of "one disk is the minimum" and walked away, but that would not have helped you or anyone else reading this thread.

 

[cyberjock]

Robert explained it well. We know, from the questions asked, how they are asked, and such that you are likely to be making many other grave errors if we don't force you to look at some particular document.

In this situation, ff we simply said "yep, you can do that" you'd no doubt use a single disk vdev, then add the other disks and think that you would be able to have full redundancy.

So what we did may sound rude, but its in *your* best interest that we not give you the answer and instead point you to where you can see the answer for yourself.

 

[Gurjeet Singh]

By trying to get a straight answer to my question, I wanted to make sure that I wasn't heading down the wrong way. The first response to my question did not offend me at all; it was helpful, but not direct. As a new user, I wouldn't want to invest time reading a product's manual if the answer is straight No or barrier to entry is unacceptable. It was a question about a possible path to start using the product. I've been burnt by flashy claims by products (open source and commercial), so I want to make sure I use the right and supported configuration only. I would give straight answer *and* point to the other material /end-of-this-subtopic

Yes, RTFM is an absolute necessity when it comes to trusting a system with your precious data. cyberjock's presentation gives a good head start, though.

Thank you all!

PS: Messages from this thread, except the first one by Ericlowe, were filtered away by GMail spam filter. Didn't even know I was being responded to here.

PPS: The presentation does not render well in OpenOffice; some text from the material flows off the screen.

PPPS: I still can't get over the fact that UPS is a necessity to protect against corruption; I'll RTFM and hopefully gain a better insight.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

PS: Messages from this thread, except the first one by Ericlowe, were filtered away by GMail spam filter. Didn't even know I was being responded to here.

Welcome back! Make sure you add the forum notifier From address to your contacts.

Hopefully you've recognized one of the key takeaway, which is that FreeNAS storage needs to be planned in advance for best results. You can grow it piecemeal, but you'll end up doing a lot of copying back and forth while you reconfigure your pool(s). Starting with the right number of disks will minimize the pain, even if you plan to replace them with larger disks later.