WD Reds - ZFS

[seojoseph]

Hello,

I just picked up the HP MicroServer Gen8 - I haven't bought a hard drive yet and still have the 2GB of ram installed. However; before this time tomorrow I'm going to my local computer store to pick up a few things:

x1 HP 8GB (1x8GB) Dual Rank x8 PC3-12800E (DDR3-1600) - 669324-B21

Thats easy but since I'm a n00b to freeNAS I need some real advise.

• For now can I install FreeNAS in a USB - is that suggested? I've seen on YouTube that FreeBSD takes up the whole disk for install.
  • If I pick up a SSD - SSDs fail like all hard drives but I've read that SSDs don't report errors like any other 'normal' hard drive.
• Are all four of the drive bays on the HP MicroServer Gen8 SATA 3?
• RAID or NO RAID?
• The WD RED 2TB hard drive - does it have Error Checking / Compatible with ZFS/SSD?
• What if a drive dies.. how can I restore it with ZFS?

I think thats good for now. Installing Updates:

 

[cyberjock]

Is a USB stick recommended for installation? Yes. It recommends it in the manual in the first few pages.

And to be honest, I stopped looking at the rest of your post. If you don't want to read the manual I'm not particularly interested in repeating what I wrote in it.

(Ok, I scrolled back up...) You know what, every one of your questions is answerable in the manual. Please utilize it.

 

[seojoseph]

Is a USB stick recommended for installation? Yes. It recommends it in the manual in the first few pages.

And to be honest, I stopped looking at the rest of your post. If you don't want to read the manual I'm not particularly interested in repeating what I wrote in it.

(Ok, I scrolled back up...) You know what, every one of your questions is answerable in the manual. Please utilize it.

Im reading your Google Docs manual now. However; my question was not if I should install FreeNAS using a USB but if I should install it ON a USB and just boot from the USB as a normal hdd. Again, please excuse my ignorance while I RTFM. :)

UPDATE. READING SLIDE 32. Thanks. :)

 

[cyberjock]

Im reading your Google Docs manual now. However; my question was not if I should install FreeNAS using a USB but if I should install it ON a USB and just boot from the USB as a normal hdd. Again, please excuse my ignorance while I RTFM. :)

And if you check out the manual you'll find that you install FreeNAS ON a USB stick. There are no instructions for installing FROM a USB stick. So again.. it's in the RTFM silly. :)

 

[seojoseph]

Thank YOU. :) Yes, I'm that far. Thanks for being awesome and XenForo is great. I, too, am a Xenforo admin. :)

 

[cyberjock]

I'm not a Xenforo admin. Did I miss something?

 

[seojoseph]

Oh, your custom user title: Forum Guard Dog/Admin -

 

[cyberjock]

Oh! Sorry. I was thinking xenserver in my head for some reason. It gets brought up from time to time. I'm not really that admin-y. I just ban people, delete spam, cuss people out, etc. I don't deal with the databases and such. Too scary for me and iXsystems doesn't want to be here much.

 

[seojoseph]

Oh! Sorry. I was thinking xenserver in my head for some reason. It gets brought up from time to time. I'm not really that admin-y. I just ban people, delete spam, cuss people out, etc. I don't deal with the databases and such. Too scary for me and iXsystems doesn't want to be here much.

sounds like you have a good gig going then. hehe :p Thanks for helping me get started and enforcing the manual. My questions have been answered so you can close the thread. :)

 

[cyberjock]

I don't know if I'd call it a "good gig". I don't get paid at all. Nobody here does.

 

[ser_rhaegar]

For the Microserver Gen8 specific questions:

First two bays are SATA3 (6Gb), second two are SATA2 (3Gb). This is a chipset limitation. Not an issue for HDD; just if you use SSD, put them in the first two slots.

Make sure you set the SATA controller to straight out AHCI in the BIOS. If you don't set this, you'll see BTX errors and it won't boot.

 

[seojoseph]

@cyberjock - I'm trying to sending you a PM re your sig: I offer consultation/support services. PM me if you have a problem that can't be solved in the forums - but when I visit your profile it says I don't have the permission to view your profile. I would like to jump on a Skype call with you and give you team viewer access. Of course I have PayPal.

 

[ewhac]

RAID or NO RAID?

Definitely NO RAID; ZFS has its own RAID-ish features. If you turn RAID on in the disk controller, they'll have a fight, to the detriment of your data.

The WD RED 2TB hard drive - does it have Error Checking / Compatible with ZFS/SSD?

Based on a post a WD customer rep made to a Newegg product forum, it would appear WD recommends Red drives for NAS applications. In case of read errors, the Red drive firmware "gives up" sooner and reports the failure to the OS, which can then take corrective action.

What if a drive dies.. how can I restore it with ZFS?

Your question is a little vague. Are you asking how to replace a dead drive in a RAIDZ config (covered in TFM)? Are you asking how to recover data from a corrupted ZFS volume (in general, you can't)? Are you asking how to restore data to a ZFS volume from a backup (several options)?

 

[no_connection]

If I pick up a SSD - SSDs fail like all hard drives but I've read that SSDs don't report errors like any other 'normal' hard drive.

While you get report data from both, don't count on it to tell you before it fails. According to Google over half of the failed drives show no reliable sign of SMART error before they fail.
ZFS checksum might give you another indication of a drive failing if the failure includes data errors.

With only three drives I guess you want to do RAIDZ. It will give you data integrity up to the point of one drive failing, where it no longer can correct for data errors should they occur on the remaining drives. This includes the re-silvering when you replace the defective drive.
So make sure you have a backup. That you also error check.