Please rate my NAS setup before i buy it

[ANNIHILATOR284]

Hello!

 

Although i haven't built it yet and i'm on my way to go buy few parts i would like the community to rate and comment on my freeNAS build before i finish it. if there is anything that you feel is wiered or out of place or just plain won't work do let me know.

 

I am planning to run freenas on it and another issue i have is my hardware does not support ECC memory and zfs at raidz does not handle non ECC memory well. if i hit a problem how long will it take to hit and how bad will it be? (running out of a 32gb pendrive)

 

FYI this is my first ever NAS box that i'm building from old used and new parts. upgrades are imminent. Comments below and please let me know if any. ty

 

Mobo: Asus P7H55-mlx (used)

CPU: intel core i5-650 (used)

RAM: 8gb kingston hyperx fury (new)

PSU: corsait gs700 (used)

HDD: 1x 2tb wd green (used) 1x 2tb wd green/red (new)

NIC: intel proo/1000 MT dual port gigabit nic (new)

COOLER: intel stock cooler (used)

[Curufinwe_wins]

People are always going to scream at you with using non-ecc ram, and I understand why, but I don't know how often it actually causes issues. The rebuild process should only take a few hours with two drives, and should be relatively foolproof in a mirror arrangement.

 

I can't say I particularly recommend use of that old of hardware, but it will probably be fine.

[ANNIHILATOR284]

Just now, Curufinwe_wins said:

People are always going to scream at you with using non-ecc ram, and I understand why, but I don't know how often it actually causes issues. The rebuild process should only take a few hours with two drives, and should be relatively foolproof in a mirror arrangement.

 

I can't say I particularly recommend use of that old of hardware, but it will probably be fine.

i understand your concern but this is my first nas of many to come. the only reason i'm sticking to old parts for now is due to financial restrictions.

 

another question: how to i move all my data from my existing 2tb green to my storage pool in my nas without moving data around. keep in mind i have to use that drive in my nas aswell.

[Curufinwe_wins]

5 minutes ago, ANNIHILATOR284 said:

i understand your concern but this is my first nas of many to come. the only reason i'm sticking to old parts for now is due to financial restrictions.

 

another question: how to i move all my data from my existing 2tb green to my storage pool in my nas without moving data around. keep in mind i have to use that drive in my nas aswell.

I used a scratch drive to temp house the data. With ZFS you don't want to operate at anything more than say 70% capacity (ideally more like sub-40%), so you should hopefully have plenty of other drives available to house the data for the hour or two they are needed to format zfs.

 

You can't do it online though, as bringing the drives into the ZFS partition (just like it does on every file system with a reformatting), wipes the drive.

[ANNIHILATOR284]

Just now, Curufinwe_wins said:

I used a scratch drive to temp house the data. With ZFS you don't want to operate at anything more than say 70% capacity (ideally more like sub-40%), so you should hopefully have plenty of other drives available to house the data for the hour or two they are needed to format zfs.

 

You can't do it online though, as bringing the drives into the ZFS partition (just like it does on every file system with a reformatting), wipes the drive.

what if i find a way to house the data and once the pool has been made and i've transfered the data into the pool will i be able to add a 3rd drive without wiping the other 2 (expanding storage i mean) (you get the idea right?)

[Curufinwe_wins]

Just now, ANNIHILATOR284 said:

what if i find a way to house the data and once the pool has been made and i've transfered the data into the pool will i be able to add a 3rd drive without wiping the other 2 (expanding storage i mean) (you get the idea right?)

Yes, you can. Although it's a bit odd sometimes. I would go to freenas.org forums and talk to the people there about it to confirm (don't mention your hardware btw, they will get fixated on it and never answer the actual question of the data migration.)

 

I'm not sure how extending a mirror would work...

 

[ANNIHILATOR284]

Just now, Curufinwe_wins said:

Yes, you can. Although it's a bit odd sometimes. I would go to freenas.org forums and talk to the people there about it to confirm (don't mention your hardware btw, they will get fixated on it and never answer the actual question of the data migration.)

 

I'm not sure how extending a mirror would work...

 

alright that is all i wanted to know. the problem will zfs and ecc is left unsolved though, i can't find an exact answer to it anywhere. see if you can. ty

[Curufinwe_wins]

1 minute ago, ANNIHILATOR284 said:

alright that is all i wanted to know. the problem will zfs and ecc is left unsolved though, i can't find an exact answer to it anywhere. see if you can. ty

People have used zfs and non-ecc for years. It works, but it significantly less safe. Unfortunately you are not going to find quantitative answers anywhere with respect to how much less safe. If you have a remote backup solution I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[ANNIHILATOR284]

1 minute ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

People have used zfs and non-ecc for years. It works, but it significantly less safe. Unfortunately you are not going to find quantitative answers anywhere with respect to how much less safe. If you have a remote backup solution I wouldn't worry too much about it.

this is going to be my primary backup location for time being (99% media but still in terabytes)

[Curufinwe_wins]

Just now, ANNIHILATOR284 said:

this is going to be my primary backup location for time being (99% media but still in terabytes)

Well time to roll the dice.

[ANNIHILATOR284]

Just now, ANNIHILATOR284 said:

this is going to be my primary backup location for time being (99% media but still in terabytes)

main purpose is also  to act as a plex media server.