System dataset on M2?

gary_1

Explorer
Joined
Sep 26, 2017
Messages
78
Originally I'd used 2xUSB boot sticks with an encrypted data pool which meant I had no real option but to keep System on the data pool and use a key without password so that System is available at boot time.

I've since migrated my boot drives over to a mirrored pair of Kingston SSD M2's (120GB) and upgraded to TreeNAS 12. Which now means password protected encryption without the need to manage a key is an option. However, the catch is, if you use a password (and thus derived key) for the pool, the System dataset restriction kicks in again. So...

Are there any concerns with moving System to the M2 boot drive? Just how much data gets written to System each day and what is it? I believe the drives are rated for 40TB minimum lifetime writes. Also any issues with regards to FreeNAS usage? What would happen if I lost both boot drives and reinstalled + restored config from backup (or made a new from scratch), just what would have been lost from within that System dataset?
 

mauritsl

Dabbler
Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
10
As long as you don’t encrypt your disks, You can put your system to a Ssd.
When reinstalling You can reimport your pool without any trouble.

i am running my systemset on one ssd for one year now. Reinstalling is peanuts with a config backup. 10 mins work.
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2019
Messages
3,582
To remove some of the "mystique" with the System Dataset (.system), you can gauge how much data it consumes, which in my opinion is fairly marginal:
nasserver.local% zfs list -r primary-pool/.system

An M.2 drive should be able to handle it, no problem.

Like @mauritsl suggests, the only thing you need to worry about to "get back up and running" is a recent copy of your TrueNAS config file. Sometimes it's good to make a habit of saving an updated version of this config on a regular basis, since you may have done some changes in the GUI since the last time you exported your config.

Your System Dataset is not needed for a restoration back into a working system. If you "lose it", it will be rebuilt automatically when you're back up and running.

The only caveat is if you want to encrypt your log files. In order to keep your log files encrypted, you can configure TrueNAS to save your logs to your .system dataset, which is encrypted on one of your data pools that has an encrypted top-level root dataset (without a passphrase.) This bypasses saving the logs to a non-encrypted boot-pool. If it's not worth the hassle, don't even worry about it. An M.2 should be able to handle constant writes from syslog-ng.

system-dataset_encrypted-logs.png


It's all about your personal preferences. :cool:
 
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