ECC RAM for NAS

[Skydiver]

So I need some cheap 8GB ECC RAM for my NAS build, any suggestions?

 

[IsaacDaGrazin]

Don't get cheap, get reliable

[Skydiver]

Just now, IsaacDaGrazin said:

Don't get cheap, get reliable

 I have just noticed my mobo does not support ecc ram and the nas will just be a home nas. Will non ecc ram do the job?

[IsaacDaGrazin]

Just now, Skydiver said:

 I have just noticed my mobo does not support ecc ram and the nas will just be a home nas. Will non ecc ram do the job?

Probably

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Skydiver said:

 I have just noticed my mobo does not support ecc ram and the nas will just be a home nas. Will non ecc ram do the job?

What OS are you running? If you're running ZFS (On FreeNAS or Linux), while not mandatory, it's highly recommended to use ECC RAM.

 

If you're using Linux MDADM or Windows or actual Hardware RAID (any OS) then you don't need ECC RAM.

[79wjd]

3 hours ago, Skydiver said:

 I have just noticed my mobo does not support ecc ram and the nas will just be a home nas. Will non ecc ram do the job?

How important is the data and what kind of data will be stored? Also as @dalekphalm said, the OS you use will make a big difference.

[Skydiver]

9 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

What OS are you running? If you're running ZFS (On FreeNAS or Linux), while not mandatory, it's highly recommended to use ECC RAM.

 

If you're using Linux MDADM or Windows or actual Hardware RAID (any OS) then you don't need ECC RAM.

 I will certainly run freenas. 

[TapfererToaster]

If you are using as a home nas, i would say its fine. ZFS doesn't need ECC more than any other filesystem, and there has to go alot wrong for non-ecc ram to cause an error to your Data.

 

Here someone describes what has to go wrong for unrecoverable errors to occur:

http://jrs-s.net/2015/02/03/will-zfs-and-non-ecc-ram-kill-your-data/

[79wjd]

7 hours ago, Skydiver said:

 I will certainly run freenas. 

Then it depends on how important your data is and what type of data it is. 

44 minutes ago, TapfererToaster said:

If you are using as a home nas, i would say its fine. ZFS doesn't need ECC more than any other filesystem, and there has to go alot wrong for non-ecc ram to cause an error to your Data.

 

Here someone describes what has to go wrong for unrecoverable errors to occur:

http://jrs-s.net/2015/02/03/will-zfs-and-non-ecc-ram-kill-your-data/

No, that's not true at all. ZFS actually benefits a lot from ECC in terms of data integrity whereas most other file systems do not. Windows Server 2012 and UFS benefit from ECC less in terms of data integrity but more from a system stability standpoint (which ultimatley affects data integrity, but is far less important). 

 

In ZFS, ECC memory is used to ensure that the data being read/written from/to the drives and that the data stored on the drives is correct by checksumming against the parity drive. Without ECC memory in ZFS you will suffer from bitrot -- whether or not that matters is highly dependent on what kind of data you're storing (and/or if you're using parity). If you're not using some kind of redundant RAID then ECC won't prevent data already written from being corrupted, but it will prevent new data that's about to get written from being corrupted. With ECC memory you can (and should) be running frequent scrubs of the drives that will compare all the data written to parity information (in a RAID-Zx array) and make sure the data matches the parity. If they don't, then the data will be recalculated from the parity information.

[conspiravision]

No.  For what you're doing you don't need it.

[79wjd]

7 minutes ago, yarn said:

No.  For what you're doing you don't need it.

How can you possibly say that....You don't even know what he's planning on using it for. 

[conspiravision]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

How can you possibly say that....You don't even know what he's planning on using it for. 

If he isn't running a NAS server for an enterprise supporting thousands of people why would he need ECC?  If he was he would be using more than 8G of memory.   Its a NAS server you don't need to over complicate it by adding something that would be more pricey and useless.  If anything he should be focused on the amount of storage that he is putting into it and the IOPS of those disks and redundancy.   

[79wjd]

7 minutes ago, yarn said:

If he isn't running a NAS server for an enterprise supporting thousands of people why would he need ECC?  If he was he would be using more than 8G of memory.   Its a NAS server you don't need to over complicate it by adding something that would be more pricey and useless.  If anything he should be focused on the amount of storage that he is putting into it and the IOPS of those disks and redundancy.   

If he's going to be using ZFS (which he is), and he cares at all about the integrity of his data and doesn't want any data corruption or bitrot, then ECC is an absolute requirement. And what does him only using 8gb have to do with anything? If he only has 2tb of storage, then 8gb is more than sufficient. Having very little storage doesn't mean it's not important data that's being stored.

[conspiravision]

1 minute ago, djdwosk97 said:

If he's going to be using ZFS (which he is), and he cares at all about the integrity of his data and doesn't want any data corruption or bitrot, then ECC is an absolute requirement. And what does him only using 8gb have to do with anything? If he only has 2tb of storage, then 8gb is more than sufficient. Having very little storage doesn't mean it's not important data. 

This goes back to the point of what he is using it for I don't see it necessary to have ECC.  It is not an "absolute requirement".  Its all with what you're willing to spend and for home I don't think it would be needed.  Not going to sit here and argue with you that ECC is inferior because it isn't by any means; you just have to look at the best solution for OP. 

 

And by him saying he was only using 8G is how I gathered my assumption he was not going to be using this to support a business or 1,000+ people.  I don't see where you think I'm saying add more memory.

[79wjd]

25 minutes ago, yarn said:

This goes back to the point of what he is using it for I don't see it necessary to have ECC.  It is not an "absolute requirement".  Its all with what you're willing to spend and for home I don't think it would be needed.  Not going to sit here and argue with you that ECC is inferior because it isn't by any means; you just have to look at the best solution for OP. 

 

And by him saying he was only using 8G is how I gathered my assumption he was not going to be using this to support a business or 1,000+ people.  I don't see where you think I'm saying add more memory.

You don't know what he's using it for. He could be storing pictures, videos, tax returns, medical records, etc... The fact of the matter is you simply don't know what he's using it for, and without knowing that you can't say whether or not he actually needs it. 

 

I never said you suggested adding memory, just that the amount of memory being used/required has nothing to do with the important of the data and thus the importance of ECC memory. The reason to use ECC memory in an enterprise environment where the server is more than likely running SQL or Windows Server is that ECC memory will prevent server downtime/sudden system halts (which could lead to data corruption) and less about data integrity. In ZFS, ECC memory is used to insure that the data stored on drives and the data being written to drives is accurate and not being corrupted. Something as simple as solar rays can cause bitrot (random bits to change from a 0 to a 1) let alone actual hardware/RAM issues causing similar/worse problems, and ECC helps to prevent that from becoming an issue by correcting those errors. If you're storing video, then having one pixel of an image changed doesn't really matter, but if you're storing critical documents, then that's no longer the case. Without knowing what he's actually using the NAS for you can't make a claim one way or the other.

 

 

Then there's the secondary fact that FreeNAS RUNS from within your RAM, so having any corruptions there could easily lead to a degraded pool....not good regardless of the data being stored. You really should use ECC memory for all but the most budget FreeNAS builds for the same reason that Hardware RAID cards use ECC. 

 

 

ECC is very important in ZFS, more so than with alternative file systems. I would highly recommend reading through this before claiming that OP doesn't need ECC memory (without at least knowing his specific use case). https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/ecc-vs-non-ecc-ram-and-zfs.15449/

 

The added expense to go with ECC also isn't that much, which is why it's the better alternative in all but the most budget builds. Add $100 for an ECC compatible board (less if you didn't start out with the cheapest H81 board), and then about $20 for every 8gb of RAM. 

[dalekphalm]

9 hours ago, djdwosk97 said:

You don't know what he's using it for. He could be storing pictures, videos, tax returns, medical records, etc... The fact of the matter is you simply don't know what he's using it for, and without knowing that you can't say whether or not he actually needs it. 

 

I never said you suggested adding memory, just that the amount of memory being used/required has nothing to do with the important of the data and thus the importance of ECC memory. The reason to use ECC memory in an enterprise environment where the server is more than likely running SQL or Windows Server is that ECC memory will prevent server downtime/sudden system halts (which could lead to data corruption) and less about data integrity. In ZFS, ECC memory is used to insure that the data stored on drives and the data being written to drives is accurate and not being corrupted. Something as simple as solar rays can cause bitrot (random bits to change from a 0 to a 1) let alone actual hardware/RAM issues causing similar/worse problems, and ECC helps to prevent that from becoming an issue by correcting those errors. If you're storing video, then having one pixel of an image changed doesn't really matter, but if you're storing critical documents, then that's no longer the case. Without knowing what he's actually using the NAS for you can't make a claim one way or the other.

 

 

Then there's the secondary fact that FreeNAS RUNS from within your RAM, so having any corruptions there could easily lead to a degraded pool....not good regardless of the data being stored. You really should use ECC memory for all but the most budget FreeNAS builds for the same reason that Hardware RAID cards use ECC. 

 

 

ECC is very important in ZFS, more so than with alternative file systems. I would highly recommend reading through this before claiming that OP doesn't need ECC memory (without at least knowing his specific use case). https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/ecc-vs-non-ecc-ram-and-zfs.15449/

 

The added expense to go with ECC also isn't that much, which is why it's the better alternative in all but the most budget builds. Add $100 for an ECC compatible board (less if you didn't start out with the cheapest H81 board), and then about $20 for every 8gb of RAM. 

I agree. ECC makes sure that the date written in the first place isn't corrupt from a flipped bit while data was still in RAM. It doesn't matter if ZFS scrubs the data if the checksum was calculated using corrupted data to begin with.

 

While I won't say ECC is mandatory, it is highly recommended if the OP can squeeze it into the budget. Especially if dealing with irreplaceable data, such as family photos, financial documents, receipts, tax returns, etc.

 

If I ever do a ZFS build. I would personally squeeze in ECC RAM.

 

Ultimately, it's up to the OP though to decide how important the data is, and rusty precautions are deemed necessary.

[alex75871]

Using ZFS? ECC or GTFO.

 

Otherwise just store your data in a potato.