Pool Missing

[anodos]

Hi Robert, do you mean upgrade to a newer version of FreeNAS?

He means that you shouldn't use FreeNAS on your existing hardware. Your existing hardware pretty much sums up the 'not recommended for FreeNAS' list.

 

[Bytor02]

He means that you shouldn't use FreeNAS on your existing hardware. Your existing hardware pretty much sums up the 'not recommended for FreeNAS' list.

Okay.....I know what you recommend. Unfortunately, I inherited this system that has worked for the past few years (I will admit it had some performance issues and now I know why), so I will have to convince management to pony up some coin.

I hate inheriting someone else's mess! Again, thanks for all the assistance.

 

[anodos]

Okay.....I know what you recommend. Unfortunately, I inherited this system that has worked for the past few years (I will admit it had some performance issues and now I know why), so I will have to convince management to pony up some coin.

I hate inheriting someone else's mess! Again, thanks for all the assistance.

You can keep using the hardware. You just shouldn't use it with FreeNAS. You can perform the same role with any one of the various *nix versions out there. Just be sure to replace that BBU in your RAID controller. You absolutely need that functional.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

He means that you shouldn't use FreeNAS on your existing hardware.

And even more important, don't put any kind of hardware RAID underneath ZFS.

 

[Bytor02]

I would rather get the right hardware and stick with FreeNAS. I have invested too much time learning this OS (and I still have a lot to learn).

Robert, I saw that the Dell 6E is not recommended. Looks like I need a new RAID controller.

 

[anodos]

I would rather get the right hardware and stick with FreeNAS. I have invested too much time learning this OS (and I still have a lot to learn).

Robert, I saw that the Dell 6E is not recommended. Looks like I need a new RAID controller.

You need an HBA. The most commonly recommended is something based on the LSI SAS2008 chipset, such as the LSI 9211-8i. This needs to be flashed to the P20 IT firmware.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

You need an HBA.

Or a motherboard with enough ports to make an HBA unnecessary. In your case, you can deliver the 8TB of storage you've been using with as few as four 4TB disks, which just about any off-the-shelf server will support. For best performance for block storage, you'd combine them into striped mirror vdevs (using ZFS) and utilize no more than 50% of the total capacity (so you might need more or larger disks). For better resilience, you'd use RAIDZ2. Then add plenty of RAM and you'll be all set. Depending on other factors, you might need a dedicated SLOG device too.

 

[anodos]

Or a motherboard with enough ports to make an HBA unnecessary. In your case, you can deliver the 8TB of storage you've been using with as few as four 4TB disks, which just about any off-the-shelf server will support. For best performance for block storage, you'd combine them into striped mirror vdevs (using ZFS) and utilize no more than 50% of the total capacity (so you might need more or larger disks). For better resilience, you'd use RAIDZ2. Then add plenty of RAM and you'll be all set. Depending on other factors, you might need a dedicated SLOG device too.

Since we're on the topic of purchasing hardware, you're going to need to do some thinking about what your actual needs are. From experience, it's best to get everything when the wallet is open (rather than making lots of small requests over a period of time). Some things to think about are:

1) How much RAM do you need? (this depends on workload. ZFS is a RAM-hungry monster).
2) Are you better off using file-based or block storage for your needs?
3) Do you need a dedicated SLOG device?
4) How fast does your pool need to be? (it's probably not a good idea to use a single RAIDZ vdev if your FreeNAS server is providing VM storage)
5) How much storage do you need? (ZFS likes it when your pool has lots of free space).
6) How are you backing up your data?

There are lots of other factors to consider, but that will get you started. Probably the cheapest server-grade system you can get is a Dell T20, but it may not be adequate for your needs.

 

[joeschmuck]

When you ask for money from your management, ask them how much money do you think they lost with all the data that is now unrecoverable. For under $1000 you can build a new system minus the hard drives and it will be good and have redundancy. All you need to know is how much storage you need and how fast the data needs to be available and you should be able to get it done.

 

[maglin]

I hope just adding the ram allows the pool to be seen. If so build a new NAS and transfer your data to it. Then rebuild that box to be at least in proper specs and configuration and use it as a backup server for your new box. You can have it rsync every night so if the box goes down in the future you can quickly migrate to the backup and fix your production machine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[joeschmuck]

I hope just adding the ram allows the pool to be seen.

I doubt it will resolve anything. The system worked fine before so there was likely a hardware failure, not lack of resources causing the issues.