New To NAS

[ulua]

Hi All,

I New here, and new to NAS or any type of serve, So I'm very lost LOL
I plan on using the NAS to store and share my music across my home network.

I have a few questions about NAS

1) If I start off with say 3 drives, can I at anytime add more drives to my existing NAS or will I have to
redo the NAS from scratch to add in more HDD's

2) Also the the drive that will be used as a parity drive does that one have to be bigger then the rest
of the drives? if so how much bigger? I planed on getting 4 2TB WD Red drives and using the 4th as
my parity drive.

3) Does FreeNas take up half the storage or is it the parity that takes up half the storage, also can I run Nas on
one drive and then use the rest as slave drives?

4) Is ZFS part of NAS or a separate software that I need to download?

5) What is the best option to back up my NAS incase FreeNAS crashes?

6) Here is a list of the parts that I plan to use to build my NAS, are these OK to use?

Case: Supermicro CSE - 733TQ-5006 Black Pedestal Server CAse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811152234
MB: Supermicro MBD-X10SLH-F-O uATX Server MB, LGA 1150 Intel C226 DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182822
CPU: Intel E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz 8MB L3 Cashe 80W Server Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117316
Mem:Crucial 16GB (2X8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1600
(PC3 12800) Server Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148770
USB: Corsair Flash Voyager GO 16GB USB 3.0 OTG
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233648
HDD:WD Red NAS HDD 2TB IntelliPower 64MB Cashe SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5 (4 of them)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236343





Thanks,
ulua

 

[cyberjock]

Slow down hotshot. Before you buy any of those parts give my noobie presentation a read. Also read the manual. You're probably going to hate me saying that, but we've condensed down lots of info and if you ignore these two sources of info you are basically going to fail.

 

[ulua]

Slow down hotshot. Before you buy any of those parts give my noobie presentation a read. Also read the manual. You're probably going to hate me saying that, but we've condensed down lots of info and if you ignore these two sources of info you are basically going to fail.

Thanks, I will look at your presentation and manual, glad I joined this forum before plunging in and purchasing all the parts LOL.

 

[cyberjock]

If you look at our stickies in the forum many of them are written because of other people's blood, sweat, and tears. Take heed of the warnings and don't do those things or the next one might be written with your blood, sweat, and tears. :(

 

[ulua]

If you look at our stickies in the forum many of them are written because of other people's blood, sweat, and tears. Take heed of the warnings and don't do those things or the next one might be written with your blood, sweat, and tears. :(

Thanks, I was watching some youtube vids on FreeNAS and they make it sound so easy.

 

[anodos]

Thanks, I was watching some youtube vids on FreeNAS and they make it sound so easy.

The software setup is fairly easy. Especially compared with setting up FreeBSD. That being said - the things people look for in a server are stability and reliability. You need proper hardware to achieve that goal (this is true regardless of whether you use Windows server, Linux, Solaris, freenas, etc)

 

[ulua]

The software setup is fairly easy. Especially compared with setting up FreeBSD. That being said - the things people look for in a server are stability and reliability. You need proper hardware to achieve that goal (this is true regardless of whether you use Windows server, Linux, Solaris, freenas, etc)

I'm glad to hear that the software side is easy to setup. Thanks to Cyberjock for his tutorial and the rest of the forum for their sticky's and threads,
I now have a little more understanding of FreeNAS, but I still have a lot to learn, and a lot of questions still. I will continue to do more research.
It's a good thing for this forum cause, the above parts I listed, I now know is not the best stuff to use. LOL

I'm saving up some money so I can build my NAS, but I figured why not start to research on parts and start to list them, so I can get some feedback on what will work and what will not. I will lest them soon

thanks

 

[ulua]

The scary part is the talk about failure and loss of data, if cheap hardware is used or if the software is not set up properly.
So I'm worried about how the back up works? Can a file back up be done? As I stated above I want to use the NAS to store my music, files and even my windows back up. I'm most worried about losing my music, so besides making a snap shot back up, I also want to back up my songs so I don't loose it. If this is possible what is the best way to go about it. I read there is something call RSYNC? and also what type of storage device should I use?

Thanks

 

[Whattteva]

Depending on the type of hardware used, you could actually corrupt your backups, too and not even know it... until you try to access the corrupted files anyway.
Rsync is a protocol developed for well... you guessed it, file syncing across multiple data stores. The advantage of rsync protocol is the fact that any file transfers after the initial transfer is differential, meaning only the difference (not the whole file) is transferred, thereby significantly reducing the time required for incremental backups.

 

[anodos]

The scary part is the talk about failure and loss of data, if cheap hardware is used or if the software is not set up properly.
So I'm worried about how the back up works? Can a file back up be done? As I stated above I want to use the NAS to store my music, files and even my windows back up. I'm most worried about losing my music, so besides making a snap shot back up, I also want to back up my songs so I don't loose it. If this is possible what is the best way to go about it. I read there is something call RSYNC? and also what type of storage device should I use?

Thanks

You have several options on how to do your backups the following is an incomplete list:

• ZFS Replication to another FreeNAS box. http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Replication_Tasks
• Rsync to another server or to a locally mounted drive. http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Rsync
• Schedule a robocopy task on a windows client for CIFS shares.
• Set up online backups with the CrashPlan app
• Connect USB drive to client computer and copy everything over.

Automating backups is preferable. Note that while the software is easy to use, you can still shoot yourself in the foot. Read the documentation carefully.

 

[ulua]

Depending on the type of hardware used, you could actually corrupt your backups, too and not even know it... until you try to access the corrupted files anyway.
Rsync is a protocol developed for well... you guessed it, file syncing across multiple data stores. The advantage of rsync protocol is the fact that any file transfers after the initial transfer is differential, meaning only the difference (not the whole file) is transferred, thereby significantly reducing the time required for incremental backups.

You have several options on how to do your backups the following is an incomplete list:

• ZFS Replication to another FreeNAS box. http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Replication_Tasks
• Rsync to another server or to a locally mounted drive. http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Rsync
• Schedule a robocopy task on a windows client for CIFS shares.
• Set up online backups with the CrashPlan app
• Connect USB drive to client computer and copy everything over.

Automating backups is preferable. Note that while the software is easy to use, you can still shoot yourself in the foot. Read the documentation carefully.

Thanks, this is all good stuff

 

[ulua]

I Just updated my first post with updated parts to build my NAS, I was wondering if I could get some feedback if those parts are ok, if not what you would recommend? Also for a case, is it better to get a case with lots of 5 1/4 bays and install removable hot swap bay's for expandability, are those reliable?
Also I'll be using on board video, is that ok? Also am I missing any parts from my list?

Thanks,
ulua

 

[anodos]

The parts seem good. Onboard video is fine. The case looks good.

If you think you will be adding more drives in the future, then getting one with more hot-swap bays may be a better option than trying to add hot-swap cages in 5.25" bays. For reference see this supermicro case that is similar to the one you chose: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811152135

Note that adding more drives to your pool requires careful planning (and reading).

 

[jgreco]

I personally prefer larger cases that do not require you to tightly pack everything. Heat is the enemy.

I like hot swap trays but typically the ones you find being sold to consumers are not of great quality, and add a lot of cost to the case. Also you have to consider how frequently you'll need to swap drives - hopefully not often. Focus instead on a great case with great airflow and easy access to the drives. There are some of those available but I'm not recalling names right now.

 

[ulua]

Thanks guys,
Yah I was hoping to find a bigger case with more drives or room for expansion, that's about all I could find on New Egg, can I use a regular pc case? say like a corsair obsidian 900D? that has 3 HDD cages 3 hdds per cage which is 9 hdd's plus I could buy a
4th cage which would give me a total of 12 hdd bays for expansion

Thanks,
ulua

 

[willnx]

Heck yes you can use a standard ATX PC case.

Instead of buying that 900D, I would buy one of these (depending on preference):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146104
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147220

These have 8-10 HDD slots for ya, and getting them in/out is fairly easy because of their rotated mounting position ( the SATA and power cables don't point to the back of the case ).

Because you expect to outgrow your initial vol size, I'd take the extra $$ and put it towards some 3TB HDDs per the general rule of HDDs; Drives get bigger and less expensive all the time.

 

[ulua]

Heck yes you can use a standard ATX PC case.

Instead of buying that 900D, I would buy one of these (depending on preference):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146104
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147220

These have 8-10 HDD slots for ya, and getting them in/out is fairly easy because of their rotated mounting position ( the SATA and power cables don't point to the back of the case ).

Because you expect to outgrow your initial vol size, I'd take the extra $$ and put it towards some 3TB HDDs per the general rule of HDDs; Drives get bigger and less expensive all the time.

Aloha Willnx,

Thanks for the links those cases look good, and thanks for the tips.

 

[ulua]

Heck yes you can use a standard ATX PC case.

Instead of buying that 900D, I would buy one of these (depending on preference):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146104
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147220

These have 8-10 HDD slots for ya, and getting them in/out is fairly easy because of their rotated mounting position ( the SATA and power cables don't point to the back of the case ).

Because you expect to outgrow your initial vol size, I'd take the extra $$ and put it towards some 3TB HDDs per the general rule of HDDs; Drives get bigger and less expensive all the time.

I got a chance to look these cases and really like the NZXT case.
Also as you suggested I will upgrade to 3TB WD Red Drives
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236344
Question about the WD Red Drives, as I was researching the drives the one I listed above said it is made form 1-5 bay's and the other one was made for 1-8
drive bay's, what does this mean?

Thanks

 

[willnx]

Not sure why WD and other manufacturers say "made for 1-5 NAS systems"; I (and many of us) have more than 5 HDDs in the same box.
Before WD started shipping their Red HDDs, we would stuff a pile of "regular" desktop drives together.

My gut says the note of "for use with only 1-5 bay systems" is; A) pointed at more conventional RAID arrays, and B) marketing...

 

[cyberjock]

I'd lean heavily to option B.