Minimum processor for ZFS RAID-Z?

[Trianian]

I'm starting to assemble the parts for my first FreeNAS. I've decided on ZFS RAID-Z1. I've searched the forums quite a bit, but am unsure what is the optimal motherboard / processor to handle ZFS RAID-Z.

I'll probably start with 3 2TB green drives and have no more than 2 or 3 users. On average, it will probably only see heavy use a few hours per day, so I'd like a system that has minimal power consumption at idle. I'm trying to build this on a budget, so I really don't want to waste money on an unnecessarily overpowered processor, but I also don't want to be processor limited.

So my question is, what is the minimum CPU that will not processor-limit this spec of RAID-Z1 ZFS?

 

[louisk]

To answer your question, you can get by with a 1.6 or 1.8GHz Core2Duo or Atom, as long as they are 64bit. Make sure you have at least 4G RAM.

On a related note, it sounds like you may be designing something for a couple users now and hoping to grow it later on. I expect that unless you have a very conservative view on what grow means, that you will in fact end up completely replacing your minimal system with something bigger/more robust down the road. I'm not saying that is good or bad, just what will likely happen. You should take this into account when you think about designing things. I typically try to figure out all the ways I can grow something and account for that potential up front, even if I don't fill that potential. That way, later on, I can expand the existing system instead of buying a replacement.

 

[Trianian]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm looking at the Celeron G530 with a Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D3V motherboard. The processor is very cheap, I've found them for as little as $35. Even when gauged at 25% higher price, it scores amazingly well on the value/performance scale.. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_value_available.html

The motherboard is a bit more expensive than my preference (about $70), but it has 6 SATA ports, four SATA 2 and 2 SATA 3 as well as USB 3.0. This board should save me from having to buy aftermarket SATA and USB 3.0 cards while permitting me to double the number of HD's without adding any cards. That and it's a modern 1155 socket, so I should easily be able to upgrade the processor if I find it lacking. Cost wise, I think it will probably be cheaper to buy this MB with the ports I need rather than try to find aftermarket cards and fill my PCI slots.

I have two concerns:. The first is the speed of the G530. I searched the forums for mention of this processor and they're few and far between. It's a dual core 2.4 Ghz, 64 bit processor, so I suppose it should do.

My other worry is the on board Marvell 88SE9172 chipset. It seems to be supported by FreeBSD, but there's conflicting info on whether it's supported by FreeNAS. Since the Marvell chipset only controls the two SATA 3 ports, it's not a major concern for me as the SATA 2 ports will serve my current needs.

The four SATA 2 ports are controlled by an Intel H61 chipset, I gather that they're supported just fine.

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

[survive]

Hi Trianian,

Personally I would put a little more money into your components, particularly the motherboard. The board you have selected is an Intel "H61" series which only has 4 SATA ports (this you know) and only 2 memory slots. It shouldn't be even $20 to step up to an H67\P67 or even a Z68 chipset that will give you 4 memory slats & 6 native Intel-chipset SATA ports (so you never have to worry about the Marvell being supported). The CPU should be fine, but Intel disables a lot of cache on the chips to produce a G530. I think it's worth spending ~$15 to get a G620. I don't know if I would make the jump to an i3 CPU for this project because it gets to temping to swap out your desktop instead! Be sure to get at least 8GB of RAM...I would buy 2 4GB sticks so you can still double your memory for another $30.00 later on.

-Will

 

[Trianian]

Thanks for the reply.

I'll keep an eye on the deal sites for the G620. Right now, it's about twice the price of the G530 while only giving a reported 5% gain in processing power.

The reason I settled on a board with only 2 memory slots and 4 SATA 2 ports is because I'm locked into a Micro ATX form factor. In hindsight I probably would have bought a full sized ATX case, but I've already purchased a mATX case (Antec Mini P180) and PSU.

There don't seem to be many (any) options in mATX that offer 6 SATA 2 ports. Even the Intel boards all seem to use Marvell chipsets for their SATA 3 ports. While there are a handful of mATX boards with 4 memory slots, most are twice as expensive as what I've spec'd out and have no other features that I'd ever use for this build.

I do plan to put 8GB of high quality RAM in this build. By the time I'll need more than that, I suspect (hope) the price of 8GB sticks will have declined significantly.

Thanks again.

 

[Trianian]

I've taken these recommendation into consideration and done a fair bit of new research before selecting the components for my build. I posted to a new thread as it has very little to do with this topic.

Thanks for all the input.

http://forums.freenas.org/showthread.php?6103-Hardware-Selection-RAIDZ-1-4-x-2-TB-Research-dump