Hy there
I use for backups, a plex media Server and filesharing within the intranet a Windows Server 16 VM on my ESXi host. Therefore, my ESXi Host has around 50TB - a Raid6 over 8 5TB HDDs, a raid 5 over 4 2TB Sata SSDs, a 1.92TB FusionIO drive and a 480GB Optane 900p. There is a little bit of a design flaw, since I backup the other VMs on a VM.
Therefore, I wanted to build a dedicated, powerful NAS. But all the Supermicro 12 bay cases are, at least here in Switzerland, when looking for a 6Gb SAS or better backplane, around 450 CHF. An additional major investment for HDDs is also required. Hence those circumstances I still run the setup explained above.
Luckily, I came across an auction of a HP StorageWorks X1600 (/G2), which I got then for 16 CHF, as far as I can tell, it is the same machine as a DL180 G6 (/7). The pre-owner has "modificated" it a lot. Either way the Raid controller is missing. Another luckily occasion is that will get 16 used HGST 4 TB HDDs for free, even though they have around 38'000 hours runtime, they seem to be a good base for a NAS system. - Replacing the filesharing and Plex component, and for backups of the VMs.
Looking around for a good solution, I came across FreeNAS. - I "read" the documentation. - Is there a smaller, "get started"-like article?
It does look, like LSI HBA cards are the best choice, isn't it? - Unfortunately, I don't have such a card. Indeed, they seem to be a bit pricy, even the used ones (in CH, used are around 150 CHF). So, I thought about using a Fujitsu D2616-A22 I have laying around. It is based on the LSI SAS 2108, which I read is a good base for FreeNAS, but needs to be flashed with another firmware. - Questions I have now; will this (card and flashing) work and is there a step by step guide for the flashing (with linking to the needed files)?
Might that backplane of those 12 bays cause any problems, or is there anything I should keep in mind?
I'm not sure how powerful the CPU should be. Technically I could install two X5680. Have them laying around. And even though they are powerful, they also suck a lot of energy out the wall. Considering that the NAS should be running 24/7, I would much more prefer to use one L5640. Would this CPU be enough for the NextCloud Plugin and running Plex in a Jail?
Also, with 48TB I should at least have 48GiB Ram, isn't it? - I'm planning to use 6* 16GiB registered ECC dimms, is that enough for a satisfactory performance? - I mean, if not so, there would be option 1, to install a second CPU and use 12*16GiB dimms, or option 2 to buy 6*32GiB dimms, since that would cost me around 700 CHF, or with other words, even when option 1 results in 150W more consumption, ROI would take 3.5 years. Including the opportunity cost of not having the same amount of power (CPU) and bandwidth (12 vs 6 dimms), and the fact, that initial cost of option 2 is nearly 30 times the initial cost of option 1, I prefer option 1.
Then the next question I have, could I use 2 860 evo 512 GB as the system partition and still use them for L2ARC? - And should I do so? Because I read that you should only use SLC SSDs. But I don't have any more of those. And as I understand it, as larger your ARC/RAM is, the less writing operations happen on the SSD, so it shouldn't be much of a problem for them? The other option I'm thinking of, is to install the FusionIO drive instead of the two Sata SSD. I expecting it to be much more performant, but as it looks like, it does only work with trueNAS is that still so?
Since my Router as also my ESXi Host have HPE 544 QSFP 40 Gbps NICs (because 5 of them were cheaper then 2 10Gbps SFP+ NICs), it would make sense, to use one of them in the NAS, will this work?
It's obvious that this is my first FreeNAS build - so should I have asked something horribly wrong, I'm sorry for that, I'd looked up by myself as much as possible, and those are the remaining questions. Thx for any help.
Kind regards
AN602
I use for backups, a plex media Server and filesharing within the intranet a Windows Server 16 VM on my ESXi host. Therefore, my ESXi Host has around 50TB - a Raid6 over 8 5TB HDDs, a raid 5 over 4 2TB Sata SSDs, a 1.92TB FusionIO drive and a 480GB Optane 900p. There is a little bit of a design flaw, since I backup the other VMs on a VM.
Therefore, I wanted to build a dedicated, powerful NAS. But all the Supermicro 12 bay cases are, at least here in Switzerland, when looking for a 6Gb SAS or better backplane, around 450 CHF. An additional major investment for HDDs is also required. Hence those circumstances I still run the setup explained above.
Luckily, I came across an auction of a HP StorageWorks X1600 (/G2), which I got then for 16 CHF, as far as I can tell, it is the same machine as a DL180 G6 (/7). The pre-owner has "modificated" it a lot. Either way the Raid controller is missing. Another luckily occasion is that will get 16 used HGST 4 TB HDDs for free, even though they have around 38'000 hours runtime, they seem to be a good base for a NAS system. - Replacing the filesharing and Plex component, and for backups of the VMs.
Looking around for a good solution, I came across FreeNAS. - I "read" the documentation. - Is there a smaller, "get started"-like article?
It does look, like LSI HBA cards are the best choice, isn't it? - Unfortunately, I don't have such a card. Indeed, they seem to be a bit pricy, even the used ones (in CH, used are around 150 CHF). So, I thought about using a Fujitsu D2616-A22 I have laying around. It is based on the LSI SAS 2108, which I read is a good base for FreeNAS, but needs to be flashed with another firmware. - Questions I have now; will this (card and flashing) work and is there a step by step guide for the flashing (with linking to the needed files)?
Might that backplane of those 12 bays cause any problems, or is there anything I should keep in mind?
I'm not sure how powerful the CPU should be. Technically I could install two X5680. Have them laying around. And even though they are powerful, they also suck a lot of energy out the wall. Considering that the NAS should be running 24/7, I would much more prefer to use one L5640. Would this CPU be enough for the NextCloud Plugin and running Plex in a Jail?
Also, with 48TB I should at least have 48GiB Ram, isn't it? - I'm planning to use 6* 16GiB registered ECC dimms, is that enough for a satisfactory performance? - I mean, if not so, there would be option 1, to install a second CPU and use 12*16GiB dimms, or option 2 to buy 6*32GiB dimms, since that would cost me around 700 CHF, or with other words, even when option 1 results in 150W more consumption, ROI would take 3.5 years. Including the opportunity cost of not having the same amount of power (CPU) and bandwidth (12 vs 6 dimms), and the fact, that initial cost of option 2 is nearly 30 times the initial cost of option 1, I prefer option 1.
Then the next question I have, could I use 2 860 evo 512 GB as the system partition and still use them for L2ARC? - And should I do so? Because I read that you should only use SLC SSDs. But I don't have any more of those. And as I understand it, as larger your ARC/RAM is, the less writing operations happen on the SSD, so it shouldn't be much of a problem for them? The other option I'm thinking of, is to install the FusionIO drive instead of the two Sata SSD. I expecting it to be much more performant, but as it looks like, it does only work with trueNAS is that still so?
Since my Router as also my ESXi Host have HPE 544 QSFP 40 Gbps NICs (because 5 of them were cheaper then 2 10Gbps SFP+ NICs), it would make sense, to use one of them in the NAS, will this work?
It's obvious that this is my first FreeNAS build - so should I have asked something horribly wrong, I'm sorry for that, I'd looked up by myself as much as possible, and those are the remaining questions. Thx for any help.
Kind regards
AN602
