SOLVED USB Boot DEGRADED -- box unusable

[HippoBaro]

Hello everyone,

My freenas is currently completely unusable.

Today I saw that the --usually-- green light at the top-right corner of the dashboard had gone red. The message was that my boot device was ONLINE. So I backed up my configuration and launched a SCRUB on the USB stick (a 16GB Corsair Voyager). Less than a minute later the drive switched from ONLINE to DEGRADED.

At that point I knew there was a serious problem with my boot drive but I needed to go.
Now I am comming back and my box is completely unusable (no WebGUI, no services, nor jails).

I did get some freenas mails, but no extra information in them :

07:25 : The boot volume state is DEGRADED: One or more devices has experienced an error resulting in data corruption. Applications may be affected.

07:24 : The boot volume state is ONLINE: One or more devices has experienced an error resulting in data corruption. Applications may be affected.

KVM shows this :

My questions are :

• Do I need to change my boot drive or can I somehow recover it ?
• Can I trust the configuration backup that I made earlier ? Is it safe to import it when my box will be fixed ?
• Considering that the USB drive was about 2 months old, do you think it was a faulty drive or that I did something wrong (I've been doing some freenas update recently) ?

Thank you :)

 

[anodos]

Do I need to change my boot drive or can I somehow recover it ?

Use a new boot drive

Can I trust the configuration backup that I made earlier ? Is it safe to import it when my box will be fixed ?

Almost certainly.

Considering that the USB drive was about 2 months old, do you think it was a faulty drive or that I did something wrong (I've been doing some freenas update recently) ?

USB drives are almost universally crap so I'd lean that direction.

 

[dlavigne]

The scrub probably was too rough on the stick.

Install the same version to a new stick and restore your config. And yes, your config is fine, which is the reason why you back it up.

 

[HippoBaro]

Thanks for the ultra-fast answers !
If I do get some new sticks (maybe going for a mirror this time), is there a model/brand that the community trust ?
When I used the Corsair one I thought i was using some very good stick that would last me forever !

 

[AVB]

One cheap 30GB SSD is better than any two USB sticks. Then you shouldn't have to worry about the boot drive for years to come.

 

[cyberjock]

One cheap 30GB SSD is better than any two USB sticks. Then you shouldn't have to worry about the boot drive for years to come.

QFT. This has been my recommendation since 9.3.0 came out. It's really easier, faster, and less of a hassle to just buy some cheap SSD and use that versus USB stick(s).

 

[HippoBaro]

Following your advices, i bought a small ssd,reinstalled freenas and imported my backup config. Everything is running smoothly :)

QFT. This has been my recommendation since 9.3.0 came out. It's really easier, faster, and less of a hassle to just buy some cheap SSD and use that versus USB stick(s).

I read your post when choosing parts for my box but i didn't get that USB was that much unreliable. Why iXSystem still says that USB is recommended ?
I think it would be better to warn new comers that there'll be better served with an ssd in the long run.

 

[cyberjock]

I guess because nobody really asked to have the manual updated.