Stress Testing new FreeNAS 9.3

[jgreco]

Well, three passes is better than the more common zero passes.

 

[wreedps]

I am building a Node 804 also with Ultrastars.

 

[jgreco]

I am building a Node 804 also with Ultrastars.

Name it "toaster" or "toasty" or "spaceheater".

 

[wreedps]

Do they get hot? It has like 4 really nice big fans in it. I only have 6 drives to put in it, that is all i am going to do.

 

[joeschmuck]

I thought my eyes were going, I need new glasses. The room is defying gravity, looks like maybe some Mars mission experiment.

70 hours and only 3 passes, that is some slow testing or a lot of RAM (I'm sure it's the latter).

 

[wreedps]

I thought my eyes were going, I need new glasses. The room is defying gravity, looks like maybe some Mars mission experiment.

70 hours and only 3 passes, that is some slow testing or a lot of RAM (I'm sure it's the latter).

The box has 128GB

 

[joeschmuck]

The box has 128GB

I'd drool but my home server doesn't need that kind of RAM, but if Santa placed it under my Christmas tree, I would have it installed and testing started within a few hours.

 

[jgreco]

I'd drool but my home server doesn't need that kind of RAM, but if Santa placed it under my Christmas tree, I would have it installed and testing started within a few hours.

You just *think* it doesn't need that kind of RAM.

 

[gpsguy]

Ahh, the "Old Man with an identity crisis" knows he can't fit 128GB of RAM onto his Asus motherboard. :(

 

[joeschmuck]

Ahh, the "Old Man with an identity crisis" knows he can't fit 128GB of RAM onto his Asus motherboard. :(

True but I'd be more than happy to purchase the correct MB to support a nice ESXi server and all that RAM.

 

[jgreco]

True but I'd be more than happy to purchase the correct MB to support a nice ESXi server and all that RAM.

Let me tell you, I'm really liking the E5-1650v3's on an X10SRW with 128GB for hypervisor nodes. Just deployed two out east.

 

[wreedps]

Is there a overheating problem with the Node 804 chassis?

 

[jgreco]

Is there a overheating problem with the Node 804 chassis?

I'd say that there are usually cooling issues with most chassis that try to cram a lot of watts into a small space. I see nothing particularly commendable about the 804. 8 drives, mounted standing on end, in front of a single partially-obstructed 120mm fan. Looks like an option to add a second 120mm fan in front of the drives. Not seeing the airflow go over and around each drive, that's "bad".

 

[wreedps]

I am only going to use 6 Ultrastars because thats all the mobo will support.

I have had the Node 804 running for 3 days now and the drives are cool to the touch. Hopefully it doesnt have any issues as I ordered another Node 804 chassis last week.

 

[jgreco]

I have no doubt that it can be made to work, just be careful to pay attention to airflow and make sure air is flowing over all the right things. The usual problem we run into in the forums is that people don't understand that drives generate significant drive-kill-y heat. I'm guessing that a "Large Data Center Engineer" may understand these things a little more than the average n00b

 

[wreedps]

Yeah I am watching them and I only buy Ultrastars. These seem to run cool

 

[gpsguy]

It looks like you can easily add some more fans.

Code:

    Front: 4 – 120mm fans (included is one hydraulic bearing 120mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
    Rear: 1 - 120/140mm fan (included is a hydraulic bearing 120mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
    Rear: 1 - 120mm fan slots (included is 1 hydraulic bearing 120mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
    Top: 4 - 120x140mm fans (not included)

 

[jgreco]

It looks like you can easily add some more fans.

Code:

    Front: 4 – 120mm fans (included is one hydraulic bearing 120mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
    Rear: 1 - 120/140mm fan (included is a hydraulic bearing 120mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
    Rear: 1 - 120mm fan slots (included is 1 hydraulic bearing 120mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
    Top: 4 - 120x140mm fans (not included)

Yeah, it doesn't look like it's a lost cause, but the part that worries me is that it looks like the default configuration may be ... poor. If there's lots of air movement in there, it's not likely to be an issue. But one of the reasons I hate the small cases is that you have a design that's a compromise between many different potential use models, and in particular that half-blocked rear fan looks like an ugly botch. Combined with a front fan and maybe some fans on top, not likely to be an issue.

 

[wreedps]

Mine has 3 fans from the factory, 1 in front, and 2 in the rear. So far so good. I will keep a eye out.

 

[anodos]

One way of keeping an eye on drive temps is to configure SMART to do it for you. See here: http://doc.freenas.org/9.3/freenas_services.html#s-m-a-r-t

Periodically run smartctl -x to pull a more complete temp history for each drive. It will help you identify drives that aren't getting enough airflow.