Guys, I'm rebuilding my server with a Dell C2100 server, moving from stuff that is 10 years old. I currently run 9.2.1.8 from an 8GB thumbdrive with no issues, and I run OwnCloud in a Jail. I'm planning to upgrade to 9.10 on the new equipment. I also plan to run a TeamSpeak server in another jail within FreeNAS. My question is, would it make things any faster if I replaced the thumbdrive I currently run with a small capacity SSD? Right now I have 7 2TB HDDs in a ZFS array. Also, this C2100 has 16GB memory installed, would it be best to expand that to 32GB or will 16 be sufficient? Thanks in advance :)
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SSD or Thumbdrive
- Thread starter atrdriver
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It'll boot faster, sure. But it will also be quite a bit more reliable. Ideally, run two small SSDs (whatever's cheap at the local parts store will work... or I bought a handful of Intel 320 40GB drives off eBay for $20) in a mirror.
If you're running multiple jails, I'd suggest bumping the RAM.
If you're running multiple jails, I'd suggest bumping the RAM.
I have a total of 7 boot images on my boot pool right now (really should clean that up... haven't cleaned it up since I built the box in late 2015). The boot pool is 37.2GiB with 3.00GiB in use.
In short, anything bigger than about 8GiB will be way more than sufficient.
In short, anything bigger than about 8GiB will be way more than sufficient.
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I would say 16GB would be a better minimum for the boot drive today.
There is always a possibility that FreeNAS 10, (or 11), will add enough
new features to increase the desired boot drive.
For example, FreeNAS 9.2 and before could live on MUCH smaller
media, (like 4GB to 8GB). That was before the advent of ZFS boot pools
and the ability to save prior boot images.
There is always a possibility that FreeNAS 10, (or 11), will add enough
new features to increase the desired boot drive.
For example, FreeNAS 9.2 and before could live on MUCH smaller
media, (like 4GB to 8GB). That was before the advent of ZFS boot pools
and the ability to save prior boot images.
MatthewSteinhoff
Guru
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I like USB for boot simply because it doesn't take up highly-valued SATA/SAS ports or drive bays. If that isn't a concern, sure, SSD or even an ultra-cheap - you probably have one laying around the office already - 2.5-inch conventional drive pulled from an old laptop.
Cheers,
Matt
Cheers,
Matt
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- May 28, 2011
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- 10,994
Not really. A SSD will make the system boot up slightly faster (I do mean slightly), more importantly updates are much quicker to install, but the real benefit of a SSD is the high reliability obtained over a USB Flash Drive.
My typical advice is for a person to replace the USB flash drive with a single SSD, the cheapest one you can buy, capacity is not a factor since SSDs typically are not smaller than 32GB. I do not recommend mirrored boot devices, never have, just keep a current copy of your configuration backup available and you will be able to rebuild and restore your system very quickly.
So that is my typical advice but since it sounds like you have had no problems with your current USB flash drive, you might just want to retain it. It depends on what you're comfortable with.
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