Pool Suggestions

[NASbox]

I am planning on upgrading my freenas box. Just upgraded the RAM/ CPU and will also be moving to v11U2 as well. My current specs are below.

FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE-x64 (r13452)
ASUS P8Z68 - i7-3770, 32GB DDR3
RAIDZ2: WD60EFRX x 4 (WD Red)
RAIDZ HDS724040ALE640 x 2 (Archive-Normally spun down)

I'm planning on expanding my main RAIDZ2 pool by going to WD60EFRX x 8. Is this an OK configuration?
I think I remember reading that RAIDZ2 was optimized for 4,6,10 drives, but I didn't understand exactly why,
or the implications of having a different number of drives.

Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Stux]

I am planning on upgrading my freenas box. Just upgraded the RAM/ CPU and will also be moving to v11U2 as well. My current specs are below.

FreeNAS-8.3.1-RELEASE-x64 (r13452)
ASUS P8Z68 - i7-3770, 32GB DDR3
RAIDZ2: WD60EFRX x 4 (WD Red)
RAIDZ HDS724040ALE640 x 2 (Archive-Normally spun down)

I'm planning on expanding my main RAIDZ2 pool by going to WD60EFRX x 8. Is this an OK configuration?

Make you don't get the WD60EFRX-68L0BN1 model.

I think I remember reading that RAIDZ2 was optimized for 4,6,10 drives, but I didn't understand exactly why,
or the implications of having a different number of drives.

Old info. No longer true (if it ever was) due to ZFS compression

Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated.

As you probably know, your CPU doesn't support ECC RAM, which is recommended.

What's your boot drive? If its a USB, you should consider adding another one as a mirror.

 

[NASbox]

Make you don't get the WD60EFRX-68L0BN1 model.

Thanks for the heads up... will keep in mind when I get more - mine are WDC WD60EFRX-68MYMN1

Old info. No longer true (if it ever was) due to ZFS compression

Good to know, thanks! I'm thinking that 8 is a good balance between efficiency and the problems with having too many spindles (vibration, chance of having multiple simultaneous failures).

As you probably know, your CPU doesn't support ECC RAM, which is recommended.

Yes, I know... so far, I've been lucky-based on these two videos, I believe the risk is acceptable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52x4PSxbjUg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxFNBZIAClc

At some point when I upgrade the motherboard I will likely try to get something that supports ECC.

What's your boot drive? If its a USB, you should consider adding another one as a mirror.

Just bought an SSD. Will be using that when I upgrade to v11U2.

 

[Ericloewe]

At some point when I upgrade the motherboard I will likely try to get something that supports ECC.

Good idea, the added cost is minimal and provides a lot more protection for your data.