TrueNas Core not working properly on Alder Lake CPU (i5-12600k)

[jgreco]

You're understanding something here… Welcome to the club.

We have a club? Why has no one sent me a membership card!

But yeah, if you're someone who's maybe only ever built a desktop or gamer system, and you want to level up, this is a great place to be here on the TrueNAS Forums.

 

[Samuel Tai]

We have a club? Why has no one sent me a membership card!

But yeah, if you're someone who's maybe only ever built a desktop or gamer system, and you want to level up, this is a great place to be here on the TrueNAS Forums.

Membership is automatically earned by releasing the magic smoke from a system under diagnosis or build, or by zapping an irreplaceable drive or backup with critical data you needed yesterday.

I feel like no matter how much I learn about server building and administration, I still know nothing.

We've all been there, and the best attitude to take is to respect your ignorance, and adopt practices that minimize risk whenever possible. Also have plans B and C in mind, in case plan A doesn't succeed. And always backup, backup, backup. You can never have too many backups.

 

[jgreco]

We've all been there, and the best attitude to take is to respect your ignorance, and adopt practices that minimize risk whenever possible. Also have plans B and C in mind, in case plan A doesn't succeed. And always backup, backup, backup. You can never have too many backups.

It is also helpful to remember that it is much better (and cheaper) to learn from the mistakes of others rather than to gain that experience firsthand. Watching videos, reading stuff, anything that educates you on a topic you need to know is valuable. Asking questions is valuable. The only stupid question is the one you didn't ask, especially if such failure leads to a serious mistake.

 

[CookieMonster]

It is also helpful to remember that it is much better (and cheaper) to learn from the mistakes of others rather than to gain that experience firsthand. Watching videos, reading stuff, anything that educates you on a topic you need to know is valuable. Asking questions is valuable. The only stupid question is the one you didn't ask, especially if such failure leads to a serious mistake.

Is it possible to start TrueNAS on bare metal and then migrate it on top of hypervisor (if I find out that TrueNAS' own VM capabilities do not satisfy my needs) smoothly, or is it one of those things that have to be decided once and cannot be changed due to some inherent limitations? Thank you!

 

[jgreco]

Is it possible to start TrueNAS on bare metal and then migrate it on top of hypervisor (if I find out that TrueNAS' own VM capabilities do not satisfy my needs) smoothly, or is it one of those things that have to be decided once and cannot be changed due to some inherent limitations? Thank you!

Please refer to the article

"Absolutely must virtualize FreeNAS!" ... a guide to not completely losing your data.

[---- 2018/02/27: This is still as relevant as ever. As PCIe-Passthru has matured, fewer problems are reported. I've updated some specific things known to be problematic ----] [---- 2014/12/24: Note, there is another post discussing how to deploy a small FreeNAS VM instance for basic file...

www.truenas.com

One of the best qualities to shoot for is to be able to switch back and forth between VM and bare metal. It makes for easier recovery when things go wrong.

This used to be somewhat easier because Intel 82574 parts used to be the default ethernet part on serverboards, and these use the "em" (em0, etc) driver, which happens to be the same chipset that ESXi emulates. You have the right idea, I think, but you are going the backwards direction from what I've usually described to users (migrating a VM to bare metal). If you can understand the steps in one direction, you can probably figure it out in the reverse direction. I say go for it.

 

[CookieMonster]

Please refer to the article

"Absolutely must virtualize FreeNAS!" ... a guide to not completely losing your data.

[---- 2018/02/27: This is still as relevant as ever. As PCIe-Passthru has matured, fewer problems are reported. I've updated some specific things known to be problematic ----] [---- 2014/12/24: Note, there is another post discussing how to deploy a small FreeNAS VM instance for basic file...

www.truenas.com

One of the best qualities to shoot for is to be able to switch back and forth between VM and bare metal. It makes for easier recovery when things go wrong.

This used to be somewhat easier because Intel 82574 parts used to be the default ethernet part on serverboards, and these use the "em" (em0, etc) driver, which happens to be the same chipset that ESXi emulates. You have the right idea, I think, but you are going the backwards direction from what I've usually described to users (migrating a VM to bare metal). If you can understand the steps in one direction, you can probably figure it out in the reverse direction. I say go for it.

Thank you! Funnily, I saw that guide of yours ~6 months ago, but didn't remember about it because I didn't understand much in it at the time, so it didn't stick lol.

 

[jgreco]

Thank you! Funnily, I saw that guide of yours ~6 months ago, but didn't remember about it because I didn't understand much in it at the time, so it didn't stick lol.

So what you're really saying is that you're just now getting to the point where you can get into some serious trouble...?

 

[CookieMonster]

Buy your used parts from someplace in the US that is clearly selling used datacenter gear.

Could you please recommend some reputable vendors?

I don't have any experience with buying used server parts on eBay. Is buying from someone with 99+% feedback a sufficient guarantee, or can you still get gamed?

Thank you

 

[Davvo]

I don't have any experience with buying used server parts on eBay. Is buying from someone with 99+% feedback a sufficient guarantee, or can you still get gamed?

Thank you

Generally you want to avoid chinese vendors. Also, being able to send back the item usually means you won't have troubles.

 

[jgreco]

Could you please recommend some reputable vendors?

No, not really. While I could name a few, like Garland Computer, the problem is that there are literally hundreds of businesses involved in this industry, and not all of them I would classify as "reputable". I had one, for example, in California, from which I bought a disk controller, had a problem, and could not get an answer or reply from them. Unfortunately (for them), they were less than a mile from a data center we have our west coast stuff in, and they had an unpleasant surprise when I stopped in a week later and had a nice up close and personal chat about it, product to be returned in hand.

I recommend using my overall strategy here. My companies buy stuff on the secondary market in order to refurbish old gear, so I guess I do this professionally, heh. It is not 100%, but it works well most of the time.

Hardware Buying Guide - some tips for not getting ripped off

I've been giving this information out piecemeal for years, and should maybe have it summarized in one place. There's been a lot of people who are wary of secondary market sources for hardware, such as eBay, due to bad experiences with other...

www.truenas.com

Is buying from someone with 99+% feedback a sufficient guarantee, or can you still get gamed?

This is not sufficient, in my opinion. You can get a 99% from selling cheap crap. Read especially point 4 in the article I just linked, but do also read the rest.

 

[NugentS]

@CookieMonster at least you are USA based. Thats gives you lots of cheaper options

 

[CookieMonster]

Most people here are looking for affordable hardware. This is typically gear that is being cycled out of data centers after a three or five year lease, which can sometimes be found for as little as 20% of the original price. Most "new" gear is not 5x faster or 5x better than this older gear, so, why not buy used?

What's the good way to balance cost-savings with support?
E.g., I just came across a mention that, for example, Sandy Bridge (which I think was mentioned above as an example of reliable and affordable old platform) is nearing end of support with ESXi. It's just one example. This could be the case with other software as well. And then there are also security patches.

Have you ever run into any support limitations due to the age of the hardware, or is it a non-issue?
Thanks!

 

[CookieMonster]

@CookieMonster at least you are USA based. Thats gives you lots of cheaper options

I don't know how Europeans survive: lower salaries, 50-70+% income tax, 20% VAT tax on purchases, higher prices...

 

[NugentS]

Tell me about it

I have run into issues with ESXi - spent a long time trying to install on some older hardware. It was so old it didn't even come up with a warning or error - so I was scratching my head till someone else made a suggestion to use an older ESXi which did come up with a warning about going EOL soon.

My existing ESXi server at home is warning me that the ESXi version is approaching EOL

 

[jgreco]

E.g., I just came across a mention that, for example, Sandy Bridge (which I think was mentioned above as an example of reliable and affordable old platform) is nearing end of support with ESXi.

VMware deprecations are not really in scope for inexpensive hardware discussions. You typically need a more substantial host to run ESXi plus TrueNAS, and with prices being what they are, it would probably be fine to just cram a Sandy Bridge system full of RAM and run TrueNAS right on the bare metal, rather than trying to figure out how to wedge a hypervisor into the mix. An E3-1230 system is only going to be maybe a hundred dollars, I did the math earlier in this thread, and it isn't likely to be deprecated anytime soon by upstream FreeBSD. There's only so much it is practical to do on a hypervisor with only 32GB.

What's the good way to balance cost-savings with support?

Well, step back a moment and consider a related problem, shucking drives. My theory is that if I can get a bunch of Black Friday drives for $200 instead of $400, then accepting the risk of not being able to RMA them still results in a net savings. If you buy an E3-1230 system, it is probably NOT going to last 10 more years, but it might last five, and if it only costs you $100, and then in another 5 years you have to replace it for another $100, that feels like it might be economically sustainable. But you are on the hook in the event it doesn't work out. That's my calculus for going with the cost-savings. I view it as only a slight gamble; I only really stand to lose the $100 if the thing starts on fire in the first year. At worst, a replacement with brand new hardware is still an option at that point, if I become disenchanted with used hardware.