new server build - and noob doing it question

[Napalm]

I know this will probably go sideways quickly but I have to ask.

I'm new to server building and I am building a kit for the home. This is to replace a NAS box and do some more. Basically media service box is goal one, general NAS duty is goal 2 or well 1 b, and extra ability for things like camera base and I'm not sure what else yet. but there are a number of service I'm considering. Now I will stop here and say while I'm a noob where I work we program and I have a few friends in the IT/Server support world to call upon.

Which is actually how I ended up here in the first place.

Box - HP Z420 workstation, E5 2690 processor 32gb ECC ram (might put in more) 2 Sata SSD's planned for one OS and dockers and one planned for cache. then a ZFS array as RaidZ1 with 4 Hitachi ultrastor 3tb drives. I don't need gobs of space yet and the price for these bits is reasonable for a first go at thing. As space is needed I seem to understand ZFS scale out is not a possibility or other wise new array of drives.

TO that end I think I want to try TrueNAS scale for the OS. I understand it's in a beta state - but I also see it's based on some solid footing and most of the features being added are not things I plan to use right away. Reason I ask and why I think it would work for me is the ability to have docker. One of my services I want to use (Jellyfin) has a docker support image that is apparently an easy install.

again noob builder with some odd thoughts I suppose, feel free to flame away.

Thank you in advance for any help

 

[danb35]

As space is needed I seem to understand ZFS scale out is not a possibility or other wise new array of drives.

I'm not quite sure what you're saying here. To expand your pool, you have two options: (1) replace all disks in a vdev with larger ones, or (2) add another vdev to the pool. What isn't an option is converting an n-disk RAIDZ1 to an n+1-disk RAIDZ1.

 

[Etorix]

Box - HP Z420 workstation, E5 2690 processor 32gb ECC ram (might put in more) 2 Sata SSD's planned for one OS and dockers and one planned for cache.

You have not indicated anything which would justify L2ARC ("cache"), and 32 GB RAM is not enough to add a L2ARC. (L2ARC takes up RAM, so it is recommended to max out RAM before considering a L2ARC.)

The boot drive cannot be used to host data. You can use one drive for boot and one for docker—but then , no redundant or 'copies=2'. Or you'd have to do command-line wizardry to make a mirrored boot pool and a mirrored container pool out of partitioned drives.

HOWTO: setup a pair of larger SSDs for boot pool and data

Moderator Warning: This HOWTO will damage the ability of your TrueNAS appliance to properly maintain itself, will break the ability to replace failed drives, and may cause problems with upgrades and updates. TrueNAS is not designed to do this sort of partitioning, and the developers are not...

www.truenas.com

The above instructions are for TrueNAS Core. For SCALE, you'd have to work out the corresponding commands.