BUILD New to FreeNas - First Setup

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Hello,

I'm just starting to do my research on FreeNas and I'm looking to build a setup that will likely be overkill for now as a home storage system. I'm much more experienced on the software and development side of things, but I don't know much about the hardware. So, I was hoping I could get some validation, feedback on the parts I have currently selected below and to ensure I'm not missing anything that might give me headaches later on.

The RAID configuration I'm looking at is Z3 for a reliable storage unit I can utilize over the next 5 to 10 years. Overall usage will be VM Lab environment, media host, website host and backup data from other machines. Of smaller importance, I may also use it to host multiple Minecraft servers in parallel. For the size, I've gained about 3 TB (6 total) of data this year and expect it to grow to 12 to 16 TB over the next 5 years.

Thanks!

New Egg Wish List
 
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DrKK

FreeNAS Generalissimo
Joined
Oct 15, 2013
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3,630
Hello,

I'm just starting to do my research on FreeNas and I'm looking to build a setup that will likely be overkill for now as a home storage system. I'm much more experienced on the software and development side of things, but I don't know much about the hardware. So, I was hoping I could get some validation, feedback on the parts I have currently selected below and to ensure I'm not missing anything that might give me headaches later on.

The RAID configuration I'm looking at is Z3 for a reliable storage unit I can utilize over the next 5 to 10 years. Overall usage will be VM Lab environment, media host, website host and backup data from other machines. Of smaller importance, I may also use it to host multiple Minecraft servers in parallel. For the size, I've gained about 3 TB (6 total) of data this year and expect it to grow to 12 to 16 TB over the next 5 years.

Thanks!

New Egg Wish List
I assume you'd put those 11 drives into service in a single RAID-Z3? That means you'd have like 45TB of pool. If that's the case, the odds are pretty good that you will be just fine with 32GB of RAM, rather than 64, especially if it's mostly for static file storage with only modest jails. Since that is an expensive part of your build, it's something to consider. If the system underperforms or seems RAM-starved, you could always buy more memory later, no harm done.

I don't recommend that flash drive. I recommend a *PAIR* of flash drives, which will be automatically mirrored by FreeNAS. For our money, most of us are finding that Sandisk are the most reliable, and the Sandisk Cruzer Fit 2.0 is a particularly good match, and is flush with the USB port, and has performed well for almost every one of our users.

Everything else looks reasonable to me.
 
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DrKK,

Yes, I would be putting the 11 drives into a single RAID-Z3. The calculations I was getting is 43.7 TB of usable storage, 66TB of raw storage. I certainly wouldn't complain about having an additional 1.3 TB of space. It'll help meet the reserved % for optimal performance. I don't remember specifically what that was, but I think it is 20% of the usable storage? If so, Ideally I should aim to use less than 35 TB of data.

Oh, awesome! I didn't know FreeNAS would automatically mirror the flash drives too. I'll make that swap on this build.

Thanks!
 

DrKK

FreeNAS Generalissimo
Joined
Oct 15, 2013
Messages
3,630
DrKK,

Yes, I would be putting the 11 drives into a single RAID-Z3. The calculations I was getting is 43.7 TB of usable storage, 66TB of raw storage. I certainly wouldn't complain about having an additional 1.3 TB of space. It'll help meet the reserved % for optimal performance. I don't remember specifically what that was, but I think it is 20% of the usable storage? If so, Ideally I should aim to use less than 35 TB of data.

Oh, awesome! I didn't know FreeNAS would automatically mirror the flash drives too. I'll make that swap on this build.

Thanks!
I believe you. 43.7TB is plausible. I was just doing a napkin calculation with round figures. In my world, 43.7TB is 'around 45 TB'. A good rule of the thumb is to target leaving around 15-20% of the pool free, and to never infringe a 10% margin if you help it.

Yes, the mirrored boot devices are actually one of the main selling points in the 9.3 update.
 
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