New To FreeNAS need RaidZ advise

[bobkatt]

Hey folks, I'm new to FreeNAS, I discovered when I was looking to build a virtual environment to play with ESXI/file storage and media Plex server. and I'm at the point where I need to create my volumes and data sets, however before I start I want to make sure I choose the best raid array for space and ultra 4K streaming over the wire.

Here's what I have:
Supermicro: X11SSV-Q Mini ITX with 2.2 bios version
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7500 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Dual 1GB ethernet ports
LSI 9211 SAS HBA gen 2 x8i PCI-E
32GB of SDRAM 2400
6 4TB WD green drives
2 128GB USB 3.0 thumb drives mirrored with FreeNAS 11.1 u4

Before I configure Raid I want to make sure I choose the correct format for what I'm using the system for. first and foremost,

1. I want to be able to create a VMWhare, CCNA virtual lab which is why I maxed the memory on the board "yeah I know 32GB" isn't that much. I'm not planning on building more than 10 vm containers of windows and or linux
2. I want to install and configure Plex media center for all my blue rays, dvds music and 4K video streaming
3. Lastly this will be my the backup system for my other laptops, servers and phones.

So with that said I'd like to have a good balance of performance and redundancy up for video streaming and data integrity while keeping my volume overhead low.

Which volume raid should I choose ? is striping an option ?

 

[Zredwire]

Are you talking about using VMWare ESXI or are you talking about creating VM's under Freenas itself?

 

[Chris Moore]

Why not a Xeon CPU?

Also, your terminology is wrong for ZFS.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

 

[bobkatt]

Chris, Zredwire thanks for your response, I'm a newbe however used to be an OS/2 guru back in the day and made the mistake of jumping out of the technical realm and into the project management train. In some ways a big mistake. To answer your question I selected the I5 because of a thread i read somewhere, for handling the video compression processing for the Plex media. that being said, I don't have a problem with your input its very much appreciated.

so to your statement the terminology for ZFS is wrong, I'm not sure I understand, help me understand that one
As for Zeon CPU I'm open to recommendations

again thanks for your input

 

[Inxsible]

https://jsfiddle.net/Biduleohm/paq5u7z5/1/embedded/result/

This should give you a decent idea as to what amount of space each of the different RAIDZ configurations will give you based on the number of drives you have. Performance and data integrity are different animals and vary from use case to use case.

 

[Chris Moore]

so to your statement the terminology for ZFS is wrong, I'm not sure I understand, help me understand that one

Here are some links to resources to get you started. Just a little light reading.

Slideshow explaining VDev, zpool, ZIL and L2ARC
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...ning-vdev-zpool-zil-and-l2arc-for-noobs.7775/

Terminology and Abbreviations Primer
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/terminology-and-abbreviations-primer.28174/

FreeNAS® Quick Hardware Guide
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/

Hardware Recommendations Guide Rev 1e) 2017-05-06
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

Don't be afraid to be SAS-sy
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/don't-be-afraid-to-be-sas-sy.48/

ZFS RAID size and reliability calculator 2017-05-17
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/zfs-raid-size-and-reliability-calculator.49/

Building, Burn-In, and Testing your FreeNAS system
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/building-burn-in-and-testing-your-freenas-system.38/

 

[Chris Moore]

Here's what I have:

Does this mean that you have already purchased this hardware?
It may be too late to offer any advice...

128GB USB 3.0 thumb drives mirrored

No need for such a large boot drive. FreeNAS only needs around 16GB. Many people use USB thumb drives to save a SATA port for a data drive, but the most reliable solution is a small capacity SSD or some people have had good results with a quality DOM (Disk on Module) that plugs directly into a SATA port.

I was looking to build a virtual environment to play with ESXI

Are you putting ESXi on this box or on another system?
Before you get in it too far, you might also want to read about this AIO (all in one) system that @Stux built

Build Report: Node 304 + X10SDV-TLN4F [ESXi/FreeNAS AIO]
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...node-304-x10sdv-tln4f-esxi-freenas-aio.57116/

Testing the benefits of SLOG
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/testing-the-benefits-of-slog-using-a-ram-disk.56561

You will probably need to have a SLOG device if you are using this for iSCSI. Some of the hardware you have selected is not ideal and it may be that you might choose different hardware if that option is available.

Which volume raid should I choose ? is striping an option ?

With the limited number of drives you have, and their small capacity, if you were only storing media, I would say RAIDz2. The trouble is, you want to have a pool that is more performant to store virtual machines and that would be a pool of mirror vdevs. We don't use hardware RAID terminology because ZFS is different and we need to emphasize that point.

 

[bobkatt]

Reading your presentation now Chris very interesting and helpful

 

[bobkatt]

Does this mean that you have already purchased this hardware?
It may be too late to offer any advice...

No need for such a large boot drive. FreeNAS only needs around 16GB. Many people use USB thumb drives to save a SATA port for a data drive, but the most reliable solution is a small capacity SSD or some people have had good results with a quality DOM (Disk on Module) that plugs directly into a SATA port.

Are you putting ESXi on this box or on another system?
Before you get in it too far, you might also want to read about this AIO (all in one) system that @Stux

Build Report: Node 304 + X10SDV-TLN4F [ESXi/FreeNAS AIO]
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...node-304-x10sdv-tln4f-esxi-freenas-aio.57116/

Testing the benefits of SLOG
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/testing-the-benefits-of-slog-using-a-ram-disk.56561

You will probably need to have a SLOG device if you are using this for iSCSI. Some of the hardware you have selected is not ideal and it may be that you might choose different hardware if that option is available.

With the limited number of drives you have, and their small capacity, if you were only storing media, I would say RAIDz2. The trouble is, you want to have a pool that is more performant to store virtual machines and that would be a pool of mirror vdevs. We don't use hardware RAID terminology because ZFS is different and we need to emphasize that point.

You know, I thought of using the SSD I had from another system, quite large, unfortunately it threw a critical error codes in FNas, no matter what SATA port I used. I thought of picking up another small SSD but I had the two 128GB 4K thumb drives on hand so I performed a mirrored install using both on alternate USB 3.0 headers to attempt primary OS redundancy.

yep I have already purchased the hardware - it seems to work ok so far, but to be honest I haven't setup any zpools as of yet, the info on the VDEVs are very interesting and maybe I can add additional drives to create VDEVs and a separate zpool just for ESXI "hope I said that correctly"- I wouldn't be too concerned about data here as this is for setting up VM's for study and personal educational purposes

As for the ZEON processor the motherboard will handle it, so I'll look into that option - my primary concern is the memory is not ECC, but I saw a couple youtube reviews and thought I was making an "OK" step considering the primary use is educational and for ripping DVDs ugh! but after reading through some of the docs, I'm a bit more concerned and may try to return or exchange my purchases for the correct hardware. I've already gone through two SAS HBA's and settled with the SLI 9211 because it didn't care about the 3gen PCIe.

I'll continue to read through the documentation. and BTW thanks for your help

 

[Chris Moore]

I'll continue to read through the documentation. and BTW thanks for your help

My concern about the system board you have is that there is only one expansion slot. It doesn't leave you a lot of room to add more hardware. For example, a PCIe card is needed for the SAS controller, but if you want to add a PCIe NVMe drive to be your SLOG device, you are fresh out of luck.
When I built my system, I used an E5-Xeon CPU to give me the PCIe lanes to add more peripherals and I went with a full size ATX system board with plenty of slots to put them in. This is the hardware I bought:

!NEW! Unopened Super Micro Motherboard LGA 2011 MBD-X9SRL-F-O
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Unopened-Super-Micro-Motherboard-LGA-2011-MBD-X9SRL-F-O/253300204890

Intel Xeon E5-2680V2 2.8GHz Ten Core (CM8063501374901) Processor
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SR1A6-Inte...-Core-CM8063501374901-Processor-/192451846800

DDR3 1866MHz PC3 RDIMM > Upgrade Ram
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202280394199

Chelsio 10GB Dual Port PCI-E Fiber Channel OPT Adapter Card 110-1088-30
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chelsio-10...nel-OPT-Adapter-Card-110-1088-30/122978803792

It isn't the latest generation, but it works very well and I have enough PCIe slots to put in my SAS HBA, a 10Gb NIC, and I will put the SLOG in another when it arrives; and I still have slots to add more if I need it.

I also setup a 12 drive pool for mass storage, a 4 drive pool for backups, and a 16 drive pool of mirrors for iSCSI all in a chassis like this:

Server-Chenbro 48 Bay Top Loader 4U Chassis NEW in Box!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Server-Chenbro-48-Bay-Top-Loader-4U-Chassis-NEW-in-Box/253503074088