Thinking to migrate from Solaris

[ttabbal]

I have an existing server running OpenSolaris that's been going for a while now. I had to dig in my Newegg order history from 2009 to find the parts I ordered... I would like to run the plan by the experts here to make sure I'm not missing anything obvious as I move over. The biggest reason to move is to get a working CrashPlan running again. I know that particular plugin is a bit touchy, and I'm OK with having to work at getting it going and keeping it going. It's better than the complete lack I have now. And I have to re-install to update software at this point, so why not try out FreeNAS?

Hardware:
ASUS M4N82 Deluxe
AMD Phenom II X3 720
8GB ECC RAM
2x Supermicro SAS controllers - LSI1068 based
2x 6-disk raidz2 arrays (striped together) split evenly between the controllers using SAS->SATA breakout cables
1 2-disk mirror pool for the root/boot drives
Intel 1gbit NIC
750W 80-plus PSU

The BIOS and some memory test utilities claim ECC is enabled and working. The Solaris kernel also detected it. Do the BSD kernel logs mention if ECC is active? I'd like the verify that as well.

I know the hardware is a bit older and such, but it's been very reliable.

The plan is pretty simple. After taking the system down and cleaning dust out, disconnect the drives and boot with the installer USB stick and another USB to install to. Both are 8GB. This is just to boot and make sure the controllers are detected properly and such. After some testing, I'll install to the mirrored pool. Install will be to bare metal, no VM.

Anything I should be watching for and/or checking before I install would be great to know. :)

 

[jgreco]

The two disk mirror pool is not a great idea for boot, mostly wasted.

There's some debate about whether or not various AMD CPU's truly support ECC (especially on a desktop board); detecting ECC is not a guarantee that it is actually doing what you hope.

The LSI1068 is a dated, rarely used controller. Limited to 2.2TB drives, most FreeNAS junkies moved on to LSI 6Gbps HBA's based on the 9240. I have no specific reason to expect that existing hardware would not work as long as you are mindful of the firmware revision matching the driver version.

 

[ttabbal]

Yeah, I've read some of the back and forth about AMD ECC. When I upgrade the hardware I'll be going with the hardware recommended around here. It's getting about time to consider a refresh anyway.

Thanks for the info about the LSI controller. I didn't realize it was limited to 2tb drives. That's the max I've tried. I'll grab new controllers when I want bigger drives.

Do you recommend I stick with USB flash for boot? I was also considering a small SSD.

 

[ttabbal]

Just in case it helps someone else looking to migrate... I installed FreeNAS and it came up fine. The hardware was all detected, everything seems to be working well. It's been running for about a month and has been very stable. My biggest problem was that a couple fans had begun to die of old age. Replaced them and all is well again.

I did drop the mirror pool and am currently using an 8GB USB stick as the root drive. I'll probably switch to a small SSD in one of the hotswap bays I had the root drives in or a DOM at some point, but it runs fine for now.

I was a little concerned about the 8GB RAM being on the low end, but it seems to be holding up fine and performance is about the same as the older Solaris setup. A bit faster for some things. My use pattern doesn't put a lot of stress on the RAM, so I suspect it will be fine for now. Sadly, I'd have to replace it all to upgrade and the board would max out at 16GB anyway. I think it's probably a better plan to wait and upgrade that with the motherboard and CPU later when I'm ready.