Problems with Timemachine and CIPF shares

[SHIFTER147]

Dear forum members,

I've been reading on the forum for awhile and last week I started to build my own Freenas machine.
I followed several tutorials and have read forums to configure the machine. But i'm running into some problems that I do not understand (yet) ...

I will first explain the specs and design of the machine.

Freenas 9:10
Asrock 970 Extreme motherboard
AMD 6300 CPU (6 cores)
16gb memory (no ECC)
2x 1TB in mirror -> Time Machine (AFP share)
2x1TB in mirror -> Windows Backups (CIPF share)
1x2TB stripe -> Data 1
1x2TB stripe -> Data 2

I connect to the Mac via AFP to make Time Machine backups. Despite Apple is moving more towards smb, Timemachine only uses AFP.

The rest of the discs are shared through CIPF because a media player doesn't understand the AFP protocol (Raspberry PI with openelec (KODI) ).
Separate data I copy via the Mac over the network (new series, movies, CD rips, etc.)


Most things runs fine, but i'm running into a few minor issues, namely:

• Time Machine backups run fine the first time (after reboot), but after copying files via the CIPF shares my Macbook cant find the disc for the Timemachine anymore (also for automated backups)...

I've read several forums but can find a solution. I've read a lot about the mdns responder, but I have not enough experience to understand this. works rebooting the machine, perhaps the AFP protocol will then reboot?​

• I often lose connection with my shares. I see the freenas on my network list, but when i try to connect it gives a "not found" error message. Now I can cmd-K again to connect and its works fine again. Yet it is not ideal.

I expect that there is something going wrong with use of AFP and CIPF at the same time. But my experience in these protocols and the exact impacts on each other are not so big. I have searched a lot on the internet and in various forums, but I do not come to a solution.

I often see passing by a message with mdns responder in it. Possible that there is something going on.

Can anyone help me with this or give me some more information? Thank you in advance!

 

[SweetAndLow]

I bet some of your problems come from your motherboard realtek nic that is terrible under freebsd. Fix that then test. A Intel nic is 30usd used.

It's also strange to create multiple pools like you have. Most people will create one big pool and use datasets to break up their data.

 

[SHIFTER147]

Thank you for your reply! After some more searching the Realtek 8111 seems to be the root cause of some of my problems. Wil get a Intel NIC today and start some testing.

On the pool side. Can you explain this to me a bit more? For what i understand at the moment you say its better to make 1 big pool with all the discs i have. But how can i than "break the data"?
Will it be 1 big hdd with folders named as i have the drives at the moment ?

 

[SweetAndLow]

Yes it will be one big pool with datasets for your data. Datasets look like folders but have different properties.


You would make one pool with 3 sets of mirrors. Mirror both sets of 1TB drives and mirror your 2TB drives. This will give you one big pool with 4TB of space to use for everything.

 

[Valdhor]

I had the same problem with FreeNAS 9.10 and my iMac with the first backup working and then subsequent Time Machine backups giving a "Not found" error message. I fixed mine by auto mounting the Time Machine share on iMac startup.