Will this server fit the requirements of Freenas?

[Member]

Hello: 

 

I just wanted someone to double check if this server meets the requirements of Freenas. (I will be using ZFS)

 

This is the server I found on Ebay:  Dell sever

 

Hardware requirements: 

• Multicore 64-bit processor
• 16GB Boot Drive (USB Flash Drive suffices)
• 16GB (ECC Recommended)
• At least 2 direct attached disks (Hardware RAID strongly discouraged)
• Drives designed for NAS (such as WD Red drives) are recommended.
• At least one physical network port (Intel Recommended)

The RAM is DDR2 but I don't know if the RAM is ECC memory. 

 

If you guys have any other suggestions, please feel free to comment!

 

Thank you!

[Godlygamer23]

While it's advised you use ECC memory, it's not required. Ask the seller if the RAM is ECC compatible.

[alpenwasser]

RAM: As the poster Godlygamer23 mentioned, I would recommend asking the seller whether

it's ECC or not. If you are purpose-buying somehting specific for FreeNAS, I would say

it makes sense to get ECC RAM. It probably is, since this is a server, but better make

sure.

Something else to consider: The RAID Card. ZFS likes to handle disks directly, without

a RAID controller trying to do any things between ZFS and the drive itself (and no,

making a RAID0 array out of each individual HDD and then passing those to ZFS is not

a good idea). I'm not absolutely sure if this can be done, but maybe have a look at these

threads as a starting point:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/anyone-use-the-dell-sas-6-ir-controller.589/

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1036388001

This thread might also be of general interest in this area: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12767.0

According to this page: http://web.mit.edu/cron/documentation/dell-server-admin/en/Perc6i_6e/chapterb.htm#wp1053529

The PERC6 has an LSI1078 chip on it. This could well mean that you can flash it to IT

mode (which is what you want for ZFS, see also this tutorial about it I made for another

LSI controller: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/104425-flashing-a-lsi-9211-8i-raid-card-to-it-mode-for-zfssoftware-raid/).

Also, some official documentation from LSI on the controller chip: http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/manuals/0000/860-0489-001/pdf/860-0489-001.pdf

Now, another issue is that the controller might not support HDDs larger than 2.2 TB (2 TiB).

The very popular LSI 1068E chipset has this issue for example, since 3 TB HDDs only came out

after the introduction of the controller. I haven't been able to find any definitive info

about the 1078 on this, but considering it is from 2007 and the first 3 TB HDDs didn't come

onto the market until 2010 or so, I think there is a very good chance that you might not be

able to use drives larger than 2.2 TB with that card. Whether or not this is an issue for

you is if of course for you to know, but I would say it's important info to have before

making a purchasing decision.

You could maybe try to run a different card in the machine, not sure what the compatibility

of Dell's hardware with different cards is.

But yeah, the ECC RAM is easy to resolve, just ask about it. The controller card might need

some more research to do. Otherwise the machine looks suitable from what I can tell.

[Member]

While it's advised you use ECC memory, it's not required. Ask the seller if the RAM is ECC compatible.

Ok, thanks. 

[unijab]

Make sure the CPU supports ECC memory.

[Member]

-snip

Thanks for the thorough explanation.

Yes, i agree that ZFS likes to manage the drives without a hardware card. 

Btw, I found a better server (definitely has ECC memory): HP PROLIANT DL380 G6 . 

Please give me your opinion on the server. Thanks

[alpenwasser]

Thanks for the thorough explanation.

Yes, i agree that ZFS likes to manage the drives without a hardware card. 

Btw, I found a better server (definitely has ECC memory): HP PROLIANT DL380 G6 . 

Please give me your opinion on the server. Thanks

I think it should be fine. Maybe google around a bit about possible caveats and

issues before you pull the trigger though, just to be on the safe side, especially

with regards to storage controllers. It does have PCIe slots, so I'd think you

should be able to buy another storage controller if need be though. The LSI 9211-8i

is what I use for ZFS in my server, see the link to the flashing tutorial I gave

above).

Here's the owner's manual of the server series, maybe have a look at that:

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c04285934

But yeah, caveats notwithstanding it looks to be a suitable choice.

[Eniqmatic]

We just decommissioned a few of these at work, they seemed to be pretty reliable for the most part, although you don't know what that one has been through.

[Member]

I think it should be fine. Maybe google around a bit about possible caveats and

issues before you pull the trigger though, just to be on the safe side, especially

with regards to storage controllers. It does have PCIe slots, so I'd think you

should be able to buy another storage controller if need be though. The LSI 9211-8i

is what I use for ZFS in my server, see the link to the flashing tutorial I gave

above).

Here's the owner's manual of the server series, maybe have a look at that:

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c04285934

But yeah, caveats notwithstanding it looks to be a suitable choice.

If I am planning to just have 4x1TB drives, will I need the controller card? So I can only have 8 drives if I don't get a new controller card?

I also heard that the M1015 card works well with Freenas. 

Thanks

[Member]

We just decommissioned a few of these at work, they seemed to be pretty reliable for the most part, although you don't know what that one has been through.

Are these noisy and do they draw a ton of power? 

What was your workplace using them for? 

[Eniqmatic]

Are these noisy and do they draw a ton of power? 

What was your workplace using them for? 

All proper servers are noisy, anyone who says they don't need to be hasn't worked in the enterprise. 

 

We had 12 of them (12 offices), but we only generally used them for DC's.

[Jarsky]

DL380's are extremely popular - normally as webservers, database servers, domain controllers. The G6 are a solid choice.

I had one for a time for a dedicated Minecraft server lol.

[alpenwasser]

If I am planning to just have 4x1TB drives, will I need the controller card? So I can only have 8 drives if I don't get a new controller card?

I also heard that the M1015 card works well with Freenas. 

Thanks

Sorry for not being clear: I meant in the case that the controller which is in the

server at the moment doesn't work with FreeNAS you could buy and use another one,

but I'd certainly try it out first.

M1015 is a very popular choice as well, and can be flashed to IT mode too afaik.

I think it's an LSI9210-8i (that's a controller they made for OEMs), and it has

the same controller chip as the 9211-8i. In some sources people talk about it being

a 9220-8i, but as far as I can tell that is incorrect as LSI do not list that

OEM controller anywhere on their site (or at least not that I've been able to find),

whereas the 9210-8i looks suspiciously similar to the M1015.

Some people even seem to flash it to the 9211-8i's firmware (which should work

since the two cards have the same controller):

http://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-m1015-part-4/

Personally I'd probably try the 9210-8i firmware first, which you can find on LSI's

product page:

http://www.lsi.com/products/host-bus-adapters/pages/lsi-sas-9210-8i.aspx

Again though, if the controller which is in the machine now works in passthrough mode

for ZFS, no reason to replace it imho.

[Member]

-snip-

Wow! Thanks, that makes a ton more sense. I am not that experience with servers, just started learning. How would I set the existing controller to pass through mode? (thought any card worked with Freenas)

 And how many drives does the existing card support?

Also, will this server be able to run Freenas (freebsd)? Supported OS's 

Thank you for your ongoing assistance! 

[alpenwasser]

Wow! Thanks, that makes a ton more sense. I am not that experience with servers, just started learning. How would I set the existing controller to pass through mode? (thought any card worked with Freenas)

 And how many drives does the existing card support?

Also, will this server be able to run Freenas (freebsd)? Supported OS's 

Thank you for your ongoing assistance! 

I haven't ben able to find any examples of the G6, but there's a thread with a guy who

runs FreeNAS on the DL380G5 here: https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/determining-if-i-need-to-upgrade-hardware.26691/

I would estimate that it should work, but obviously there are no guarantees until you

try it out.

As for the disk controller: According to the owner's manual for the server, the controller

card which is in those servers is from the HP Smart Array P410 series. You can find the

some info on it here: http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c04111713

According to this thread on serverfault, some people are running Smart Array controllers

wich FreeNAS: http://serverfault.com/questions/29349/disabling-raid-feature-on-hp-smart-array-p400

However, going by the less popular answers I strongly suspect that they are precisely doing

what I mentioned shouldn't be done earlier in this thread: passing individual disks as

RAID0 arrays to ZFS. Not 100% certain of course, but it looks that way to me. If that's

the case, it would seem you can't actually set it to passthrough mode. That's also what

one poster in this thread says: http://homeservershow.com/forums/index.php?/topic/5658-running-os-from-p410-raid-array/

And here: http://serverfault.com/questions/538657/hp-p410-raid-card-issue-unassigned-drives-not-detected-by-the-os

I'd maybe ask the seller if the server comes with the controller card. If not, no sweat

get one of the LSI ones which can be flashed to IT mode, or an IBM M1015. If yes, you'll

need to decide whether to still buy it and use it for something other than ZFS or whether

you'd want to look for another solution.

[linuxfan66]

I own a dl380 G5. And I'm afraid to turn it on because of the noise, but the smart array controller is nice once you work out how to use it. Also zfs doesn't like he raid?

[alpenwasser]

I own a dl380 G5. And I'm afraid to turn it on because of the noise, but the smart array controller is nice once you work out how to use it. Also zfs doesn't like he raid?

Yeah, ZFS wants to have direct access to the disks, a RAID controller trying to do something

smart between ZFS and the disk is asking for trouble. It can be done, and ZFS won't complain

(at least not until something goes wrong).

But ZFS will try to do its fancy magic, and the RAID controller will try to do different kinds

of fancy magic, and they'll get in each others' way, to sum it up very broadly.