Need advice on Dell R710 config, raid H700 card

[adrianTNT]

Hello.
I have this server that I plan to make it a storage server for 2-3 other servers and mount shares from it with CIFS/SAMBA.
I didn't yet decided if I will run FreeNas or is better to install Centos/Ubuntu and manually configure shares...

Model: Dell R710 2 U
CPU: 2x Xeon E5640 2.66Ghz
Ram: 16 GB
Raid card: H700 with 512MB cache and battery backup
Bays: 6x 3.5 inch
Drives: 4x4TB WD red

Would this next scenario work ? Should I expect any problems or need to change something ? ...
A hardware raid level created by H700 card bios interface, creating a single large drive 8TB (raid 10) or 12TB (raid 5), and use this volume as storage medium for a FreeNas installation that can run from stick or from SSD on the 2 remaining bays.

Or in my case is it a more reliable solution to just install CentOS / Ubuntu on the hardware raid ? (I can handle the manual config of shares).

I am not very familiar with FreeNas and zfs, I am used to create ext4, not sure if CentOS with an ext4 partition on this hardware raid would be more or less reliable than FreeNas + zfs.

And I guess I am confused on how FreeNas raid works... without the hardware raid card, FreeNas uses a software raid and this is preferred method ?!

OK, I read the FreeNAS: A Worst Practices Guide that says hardware raid cards are usually NOT recommended.
New question: the LSI cards I see in most FreeNas setups are just to provide more ports but don't actually do any hardware raid ?

What should I pick/install for the purpose I mentioned and current parts ?

 

[HoneyBadger]

Oh good, you already discovered that the H700 is a bad idea.

The equivalent Dell card you want will be the H200 or H310; both of them will need to be cross-flashed to the LSI firmware for the best results.

 

[adrianTNT]

Do you know if the H310 would indicate HDD failure to the caddy leds ? With the H700 and hardware raid it does.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Do you know if the H310 would indicate HDD failure to the caddy leds ? With the H700 and hardware raid it does.

I don't have experience with that exact hardware, but a reflashed H200 in an R510 chassis indicated a failed drive correctly for me.

 

[TrueMan]

If someone has no other option than use the H700 is it preferable to use hardware RAID 5 or individual RAID 0 disks and then pool them individually in TrueNAS?

 

[sretalla]

If someone has no other option than use the H700 is it preferable to use hardware RAID 5 or individual RAID 0 disks and then pool them individually in TrueNAS?

Neither. Use another filesystem instead and benefit from the hardware RAID. (also implies using a different OS/appliance).