Storage config suggestions

[FlangeMonkey]

Hi Guys,

I currently have WB Red 4TBs, 6 disk RAIDZ2 config and I want to add an additional 2 disks and will be reconfiguring the array. It a home server with lab so space is a requirement. I'm thinking of either building:

Option 1 - 1 vdev of 8 disk RAIDZ2
Option 2 - 2 vdevs of 4 disk RAIDZ1
Option 3 - 3 vdevs of 3 disk RAIDZ1

Expansion would be nice, therefore option 3 is appealing (but my HBA is a 9211-i8) and I would need an additional HBA. Rebuild time is a concern for option 1, but I like the simple 2 disk parity.

Suggestions are welcome.

 

[joeschmuck]

Do you not have any motherboard SATA ports you could use for option #3?

As for rebuild time, there are a few sysctls you could add to the tunables to speed that aspect up quite a bit but there is a cost of responsiveness if you needed to use the system. And you could enable those tunables only if you need to resilver.

Of your three options I like option #1 myself but if you need faster IOPS then the other two options give you an advantage there I believe.

 

[nojohnny101]

I agree largely with what @joeschmuck said. I would go for option 1. You're correct that it makes it a little more expensive to increase space in the future but it also gives you a good amount of space:parity ratio.

And as joe said, I'm sure you won't need another HBA, you can use the current HBA in combination with your motherboard's SATA ports.

 

[FlangeMonkey]

@joeschmuck, I'm running a setup similar to yours, I virtualise my FreeNAS. I wouldn't have though people would like option 1. It's coming down to pro's and con's and I'd therefore be interested in seeing the tunables you mention.

@nojohnny101, I said the same when I last upgraded from 4x 3tb drives to 6x 4tb (although in dual parity). I think I will be fine, but then again knowing how I work my data, having the option is something that give me "warm and fuzzes".

 

[joeschmuck]

Since you are using virtualization I would expect you not being able to use the motherboard SATA ports in passthrough.

Here is the link to the tunables which someone posted recently and I added my two cents.

 

[snaptec]

Go with option 1.
if you need more performance go with 4 mirrored vdevs.
But that costs space...


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[Mr_N]

Yeah agree with snaptec, option 1 but if you need IOPS, or just want an easier path to add space in the future, use mirrored vdevs :)

 

[Christian_128]

Hi, I found a web site where some one make different test of performance with different amount of hard drive.
go down a bit in the website and you will find a lot of information about a number of drive and performance.

https://calomel.org/zfs_raid_speed_capacity.html

Chris

 

[Scharbag]

Option #1 is the way I would lean.

You really cannot passthrough the SATA ports on ESXi without some consequences, like no longer having local storage for ESXi. This may be overcome if you have more than one physical SATA controller. Little details.

RaidZ1 is dead to me!! Unless you are doing some really freaky shiza, a home server will run just ducky with RaidZ2.

:)

 

[sewerman1]

I'm in a similar situation. I can't decide which configuration of v-dev's to chose for my new nas of 6 hdd's.
Should i make 1 v-dev's of 6?
Should i make 2 v-dev's of 3?
Should i make 3 v-dev's of 2 (mirrored)
I built my nas so I could upgrade in the future and adding 6 at a time would be too expensive.

 

[Mr_N]

well if you can only add 2 at a time, then you dont have a choice really :)

I'd go with 1 vdev of 6 if you need space over performance though...

You could always just upgrade 1 drive at a time to eventually expand volume when all 6 are bigger...

 

[Scharbag]

1 v-dev of Z2. :)

 

[sewerman1]

1 v-dev of Z2. :)

You are locked in to that size, so I don't know if one pool of two v-dev's would be better. Thanks for the help.

 

[Mr_N]

locked in how?

 

[Scharbag]

You are locked in to that size, so I don't know if one pool of two v-dev's would be better. Thanks for the help.

There is really no other option. 2 Z1 vDevs is a bad idea with large drives. Mirrors are space expensive and NOT needed for home use.

ZFS, unfortunately, is UNFORGIVING and sometimes, you have to pay to play. As stated, do a 6 disk Z2 pool and then buy larger disks 1 at a time to upgrade. Once all replaced, you will have a larger pool AND 6 more disks to either make another pool or add as an additional vDev.

Cheers,