Validation of my 1st config before buying the stuff to install the FreeNAS system

[Kantos]

Dears,

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me, it is the first time I'm trying to build a storage solution and I wouldn't want to make a mistake

My Goal is to get a 36 Slot Storage which will be used to create several RAID 5+Spare RAID, these RAID will store the VEEAM Backups or the VEEAM replications or the backup exec backups

Following the hardware information that I gathered, I think the following configuration should be ok but would like your input on it :
- Supermicro SI436A
- Up to 36 x SATA/SAS 3.5" hot-swap
- 2 x 8GB DDR4 (Max 256GB DDR4)
- redundant PSU
- 7 x PCI-e expansion
- 1 x Intel Xeon Haswell SP E5-26xxV4
- Supermicro MCP-220-82609-0N Rear 2 X 2.5" HDD kit for 216B/826B/417B/846X/847B series (I'd buy it and use it at a later time to install 2 SSD if The system request IOPS Increase)
- 2 x Supermicro SSD-DM016-PHI SATA DOM 16GB (to install the FREENAS/ZFS OS in RAID 1)
- LSI 9300-8I, SATA/SAS III JBOD controller, up to 256 hard drives via expander backplane, PCI-EE, ideal for ZFS Following the Supermicro reseller)
- 5 years warranty Easy RMA + advanced replacement
- (12+1 ) * Western Digital XE WD9001BKHG-02D22 for the 1st RAID5 + Spare which will be installed
- 23 empty slots for future expansions of future additionnal raids

Could you tell me if you think this hardware config should work ?

The goal is to create a target in the Veeam Windows 2012 R2 server on which the server will backup the data. I've already configured ISCSI Target before so I would go on this option by default but if you have better ideas, I'm open to them ;-)

Thanks forwards for your input on this.

Best regards

Kantos

 

[MatthewSteinhoff]

Off the top of my head...

The Western Digital XE WD9001BKHG-02D22 is a 2.5-inch drive, right? It looks like the Supermicro case supports 3.5-inch drives. You probably don't need 10k SAS drives. Using 900GB drives is so very retro, eats up a lot of slots compared to 4TB units and costs five times more for the same space.

When you say 'RAID 5+Spare RAID' I assume you mean 'RAIDZ1 plus spare'. If that's the case, you're better off going RAIDZ2, no spare. Might as well have that drive live.

You haven't offered up any performance requirements. I don't know how VEEAM works. Does it like IOPS? If so, you should look at your pool configuration. Running a 12/13-wide pool isn't optimal.

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Kantos]

Hi Matt,
Thanks for your answer
Regarding the hard drives, I already got 6 HDD WDC WD1003FBYX-0 currently used in another storage (Thecus N1200Pro) with a RAID 5 Configuration.
Due to space and finance considérations, I'd Extend the 6 WD9001BKHG-02D22 with 6 more in the Thecus to get a RAID 10 of 12 HDDs and I'd place the 6 WDC WD1003FBYX-0 with 7 more in the Supermicro/Freenas storage. This way, I would still be able to use the existing 12 HDD and would have to buy only 12 HDD in total and not 24
The HDDs are 3.5 so no worries there
Thanks for your input regarding the RAID, I'll use the RAIDZ2
Regarding the IOPS, The backup Veeam is currently stored on a RAID5 (RAIDZ1) of 6 HDD and the Veeam Replication is currently stored on a RAID10 (RAIDZ2 ? ) of 6HDD
I guess that putting the double of HDD should increase the number of available IOPS and not decrease them so I don't think there will be an issue there. Don't hesitate to correct me if I'm wrong.
Regarding the points below, do you have an idea about it ? do you thnink they are possible ? :
- Creating a SCSI Target on the FreenNAS/ZFS storage
Is there a better alternative than ISCSI target for this use ?
- Adding SSD Cache at a later time
- Creating additional RAIDZ pools at a later time

Thanks for your input
Best regards
Laurent

 

[Kantos]

Hi,
After checking the documentation, the ISCSI and NFS configuration should'nt give any issues
I also got my answers for the 2 last questions from the documentation.
Best regards,
Laurent