Some suggestions for first time user

[alex_89]

Hi, id like to ask for any suggestions or corrections with my planned build. The system will be used for media streaming to multiple devices, routine backups of windows machines, automatic torrent downloading and a ftp server. From what I've read i think i want RAID-Z with ZFS.

Own:
Intel i5 Processor with 4gb RAM and 6 SATA connections on the motherboard
It also has a Nvidia 330M Graphics Card
2x 1tb HDD's
2x 2tb HDD's
and a 30gb SSD for installing FreeNAS onto

Purchasing:
another 4gb RAM
1x 3tb HDD
Possibly a PCI-E SATA3 RAID Interface (if someone can tell me what it does or why i need it)

The problems i am contemplating:

• My 4 hard drives are already full of data (music, movies etc..), are they able to be added straight into the system without erasing the data? If not, what would be the fastest way to transfer some of the data onto the new 3tb when it arrives? That way i can free another hard drive, add it to the system, and so on..

• Is ZFS with RAID-Z the best option for me? i understand i need a fast read-time for streaming, but i would also like to backup the data in case of a hard drive failure.

• All my hard drives are different brands and most likely different speeds (ie. SATAII or SATAIII) is this a major problem?

• If in the future i decide to add another hard drive to the ZFS system, is that possible?

 

[hervon]

Hi alex_89,

You really need to read more about ZFS to plan your migration. I know of no way to add those drives to the pool directly. They have to be formatted to either UFS (single drive) or ZFS (the main purpose of FreeNAS).

ZFS works better with drives of the same size. I suggest you sell the 1TB drives and buy a few 2tb drives instead of 3tb to build a RAIDZ1 or RAIDZ2 (better pool. Again read about ZFS! ;-)

The SSD is of no real use since FreeNAS is built to boot from a USB Flash drive.

 

[gpsguy]

As @hervon said, please spend some time reading the manual and Cyberjock's slideshow.

You don't need (or want) a RAID controller, the SATA ports on your motherboard are adequate. Do get that additional 4Gb of RAM.

How do you backup your data now? If you don't, consider this to be an opportune time to buy new hard disks. Put the new one's in your array, copy the old data to it, and keep the old disks as a backup. RAIDz is not a substitute for working backups.

While you're reading about ZFS, pay close attention to vdev's. Cyberjock's slideshow gives you some good (and bad) examples.

 

[alex_89]

Ok so from the slideshow I've gathered that I can always add another vdev to a zpool, to set up a zfs system I need all the Same drives, so I could have a raidz with 2x 1tb and another SEPERATE raidz with 2x 2tb drives. This would mean that I can lose one drive from BOTH vdevs but I would not have even close to 6tb usable space.. More like 3tb right?

Say if I didn't use a zfs system, what other options are there? And do all the other options also require me to use the exact same hard drives?

Thanks!

 

[gpsguy]

Probably closer to 2.7Tb

More like 3tb right?

I'm not sure how to answer the "if I didn't use a zfs system" question. Your real choices with FreeNAS are either UFS or ZFS. If you don't want the protection of RAIDz, mirriroring, etc.; the only other option, would be to stripe the drives. If a drive in a striped array fails, all of your data in the pool is lost.

FreeNAS might not be the solution for you. I don't know anything about unRAID, but it purports to have some of the featues you are looking for, ie.
"Increased flexibility: not all hard drives need to be the same size or speed. The only requirement is that the parity drive must be as large as or larger than any of the data drives"

Say if I didn't use a zfs system, what other options are there? And do all the other options also require me to use the exact same hard drives?

 

[alex_89]

ok so I have come to these conclusions:

• I may as well be using the processing power of the i5 for more than just a home NAS, therefore i will look into using a home server OS like ubuntu server with ZFS.
  
  
• I do not need 100% backups of everything (mirror), therefore a RAID-Z1 will be fine depending on how many HDD's i use.

Therefore if i purchase two additional 2tb hard drives, how do i get the data off the two i already own so i can set them all up into one vdev? i dont think i want to setup one vdev with 2 drives then transfer all my stuff over, then setup the other two into another seperate vdev in the same pool... is this correct?

thanks for all the help guys!!

 

[gpsguy]

Correct! This gives you the most bang for your buck.

i dont think i want to setup one vdev with 2 drives then transfer all my stuff over, then setup the other two into another seperate vdev in the same pool... is this correct?

As far as transferring your data, do you have any friends with spare hard disk or temporary server storage space. If so, copy the data to their drives, setup your system, and copy the data back, once your system is ready to go.