Mr. Bungle
Dabbler
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2011
- Messages
- 16
I'm new to FreeNAS, ZFS and RAID-Z, but I've been doing some research on a first build and would greatly appreciate some feedback.
My ideal system would be a combined HTPC and NAS box with up to 30 TB raw disk space, running Windows 7 and virtualized FreeNAS. I'm not sure if this is all possible - just an ideal that I'm shooting for. My budget is flexible - trying to stay on the cheaper end, but I don't want to skimp.
Here is the list of essential hardware that I've put together:
- Asus E25M1-M PRO motherboard (AMD Zacate E-350 APU, 1.6GHz dual-core) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131697
- (8x) Hitachi Deskstar 0S03230 3TB 5400 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145493 (will probably add 2 more drives within a few months to end up with 30 TB raw, ~24 TB in RAID-Z2)
- G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333 (Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231402
- HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL SATA/SAS controller card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115100
Some notes about intended usage and concerns:
- I'm confident that this hardware is more than capable of handling my HTPC needs (up to 1080p smooth Blu-ray playback). As I understand it, the GPU has hardware decoding that will keep the CPU mostly free (worst-case, ~25% load). However, I already own a sufficient HTPC, so using this build for double-duty (HTPC & NAS) is just gravy, and would serve to simplify my home setup. I want this to be a capable NAS first-and-foremost, so I can scrap the HTPC plans if needed.
- I'm overwhelmingly concerned about data integrity above all else. Performance, compression, and other features aren't very important to me aside from that. I'll be more than happy if I can just get half-decent file transfer speeds over the network. Downtime is completely unimportant. I just don't want to lose any data, so I hope to run RAID-Z2.
- I plan to use this mainly for music, movies, and photos, but also Time Machine backup for 2 Macbooks and a Mac Pro. From the HTPC front - Netflix streaming and watching DVDs and Blu-rays. It doesn't need to interface with Windows except for the HTPC's OS within the same box.
Questions:
- Am I trying to do too much with too little hardware? Do I need to move up to more RAM and a more powerful processor?
- Will 8 GB RAM and the E-350 APU be enough horsepower to run ZFS/Z-RAID2? If so, is it close enough that I might want to avoid dual-tasking as an HTPC?
- I chose this motherboard/CPU combo mainly due to its low power consumption and supposed ability to handle 1080p video on the cheap. The form factor is unimportant, though. This thread (http://forums.freenas.org/showthread.php?27-AMD-E-350-Thread-(now-in-new-forum-)&) suggests that the CPU might be a bottleneck with this motherboard. If that's true, should I consider a motherboard and a more powerful discrete CPU? This may be a dumb question, but since the system will usually just be idling (I plan to leave it on 24/7), am I going to save much power anyway - or would a more powerful CPU still use little power at idle?
- I'm assuming that I can use any low-cost HBA/RAID Controller since I won't actually need it for its RAID capability (since I'll be using RAID-Z2). Is that correct? If so, is there a cheaper option even than the HighPoint 2720?
- The drives I'm using (I've already bought them) are SATA 6.0 Gbps, so I originally intended to buy other hardware with support for that. Will that even matter, though, assuming that all traffic in & out of the system will be via gigabit ethernet (i.e., will the latter be my bottleneck anyway even with SATA 3.0 Gbps)?
- Following up on the previous question, would even a couple of PCI 4-port SATA HBA cards (e.g., http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124028) or even a port multiplier card (e.g., http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124043) be sufficient to not cause a bottleneck with network transfers? Do I need to worry about FreeBSD compatibility if I'm just using them for extra SATA ports (no RAID other advanced features)?
- Will I have any issues creating a RAID-Z2 setup with 8 drives, then adding 2 more identical drives in a few months? Or am I better off just buying 2 more now to start with a 10-drive setup from the get-go?
- If I ultimately go with the HighPoint 2720SGL and need/want the 6.0 Gbps capability, do I need special cables? Will some cheap cables from MonoPrice do the trick (e.g., http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10254&cs_id=1025406&p_id=8186&seq=1&format=2) or do I need to get ones built to a certain standard? Unlike with SATA cables, I don't see any SFF-8087 breakout cables specified as SATA II/3.0 or SATA III/6.0.
- Any recommendations on USB thumb drives for the boot volume (brand/size/model/USB 2.0 or 3.0), or does it matter that much?
- Anything else I missed, or gotchas to be aware of? Would anyone recommend different hardware or a different approach?
Sorry for the barrage of questions... Hopefully based on all this info, you can get a feel for what I'm looking for and what I'm still unsure about, and help to narrow the scope of my research a little further. Any help would be very much appreciated!
My ideal system would be a combined HTPC and NAS box with up to 30 TB raw disk space, running Windows 7 and virtualized FreeNAS. I'm not sure if this is all possible - just an ideal that I'm shooting for. My budget is flexible - trying to stay on the cheaper end, but I don't want to skimp.
Here is the list of essential hardware that I've put together:
- Asus E25M1-M PRO motherboard (AMD Zacate E-350 APU, 1.6GHz dual-core) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131697
- (8x) Hitachi Deskstar 0S03230 3TB 5400 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145493 (will probably add 2 more drives within a few months to end up with 30 TB raw, ~24 TB in RAID-Z2)
- G.Skill Ripjaws 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333 (Model F3-10666CL7D-8GBRH) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231402
- HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL SATA/SAS controller card - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115100
Some notes about intended usage and concerns:
- I'm confident that this hardware is more than capable of handling my HTPC needs (up to 1080p smooth Blu-ray playback). As I understand it, the GPU has hardware decoding that will keep the CPU mostly free (worst-case, ~25% load). However, I already own a sufficient HTPC, so using this build for double-duty (HTPC & NAS) is just gravy, and would serve to simplify my home setup. I want this to be a capable NAS first-and-foremost, so I can scrap the HTPC plans if needed.
- I'm overwhelmingly concerned about data integrity above all else. Performance, compression, and other features aren't very important to me aside from that. I'll be more than happy if I can just get half-decent file transfer speeds over the network. Downtime is completely unimportant. I just don't want to lose any data, so I hope to run RAID-Z2.
- I plan to use this mainly for music, movies, and photos, but also Time Machine backup for 2 Macbooks and a Mac Pro. From the HTPC front - Netflix streaming and watching DVDs and Blu-rays. It doesn't need to interface with Windows except for the HTPC's OS within the same box.
Questions:
- Am I trying to do too much with too little hardware? Do I need to move up to more RAM and a more powerful processor?
- Will 8 GB RAM and the E-350 APU be enough horsepower to run ZFS/Z-RAID2? If so, is it close enough that I might want to avoid dual-tasking as an HTPC?
- I chose this motherboard/CPU combo mainly due to its low power consumption and supposed ability to handle 1080p video on the cheap. The form factor is unimportant, though. This thread (http://forums.freenas.org/showthread.php?27-AMD-E-350-Thread-(now-in-new-forum-)&) suggests that the CPU might be a bottleneck with this motherboard. If that's true, should I consider a motherboard and a more powerful discrete CPU? This may be a dumb question, but since the system will usually just be idling (I plan to leave it on 24/7), am I going to save much power anyway - or would a more powerful CPU still use little power at idle?
- I'm assuming that I can use any low-cost HBA/RAID Controller since I won't actually need it for its RAID capability (since I'll be using RAID-Z2). Is that correct? If so, is there a cheaper option even than the HighPoint 2720?
- The drives I'm using (I've already bought them) are SATA 6.0 Gbps, so I originally intended to buy other hardware with support for that. Will that even matter, though, assuming that all traffic in & out of the system will be via gigabit ethernet (i.e., will the latter be my bottleneck anyway even with SATA 3.0 Gbps)?
- Following up on the previous question, would even a couple of PCI 4-port SATA HBA cards (e.g., http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124028) or even a port multiplier card (e.g., http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124043) be sufficient to not cause a bottleneck with network transfers? Do I need to worry about FreeBSD compatibility if I'm just using them for extra SATA ports (no RAID other advanced features)?
- Will I have any issues creating a RAID-Z2 setup with 8 drives, then adding 2 more identical drives in a few months? Or am I better off just buying 2 more now to start with a 10-drive setup from the get-go?
- If I ultimately go with the HighPoint 2720SGL and need/want the 6.0 Gbps capability, do I need special cables? Will some cheap cables from MonoPrice do the trick (e.g., http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10254&cs_id=1025406&p_id=8186&seq=1&format=2) or do I need to get ones built to a certain standard? Unlike with SATA cables, I don't see any SFF-8087 breakout cables specified as SATA II/3.0 or SATA III/6.0.
- Any recommendations on USB thumb drives for the boot volume (brand/size/model/USB 2.0 or 3.0), or does it matter that much?
- Anything else I missed, or gotchas to be aware of? Would anyone recommend different hardware or a different approach?
Sorry for the barrage of questions... Hopefully based on all this info, you can get a feel for what I'm looking for and what I'm still unsure about, and help to narrow the scope of my research a little further. Any help would be very much appreciated!