Do I need ECC memory for home NAS system?

[WooZ_Lv]

Do I really need ECC memory for home NAS? 

I heard that ECC memory is highly recommended for ZFS pool. And with non-ECC memory its possible to lost data.

 

I don't know anything about servers etc.

If ECC memory is obligatory with ZFS then what motherboard and memory to get.

With server hardware I feel same when I was first looking for desktop PC.

 

System specs:

amd phenon x4 9850 2,5GHz

DELL AM2 motherboard

some kind of 8GB DDR2

WD blue 640gb  (now I am looking for at least 2x WD Red 2TB)

[ChillyPepperGuy]

2 minutes ago, WooZ_Lv said:

Do I really need ECC memory for home NAS? 

I heard that ECC memory is highly recommended for ZFS pool. And with non-ECC memory its possible to lost data.

 

I don't know anything about servers etc.

If ECC memory is obligatory with ZFS then what motherboard and memory to get.

With server hardware I feel same when I was first looking for desktop PC.

 

System specs:

amd phenon x4 9850 2,5GHz

DELL AM2 motherboard

some kind of 8GB DDR2

WD blue 640gb  (now I am looking for at least 2x WD Red 2TB)

you don't really need ECC for a home NAS although i would recommend it. 

[ProjectBox153]

It is recommended, but not necessary at all. 

[samcool55]

Recommended? Yes.

Required? No

 

If losing data on the nas isn't a big disaster you can stick with normal ram.

[DioOmicida]

If you're worried about data loss you can just run two drives in Raid1 for redundancy.

[manikyath]

if you're worried about data loss, get a big external drive for doing backups with.

[manikyath]

18 minutes ago, DioOmicida said:

you can just run two drives in Raid1 for redundancy.

thats what ZFS is for

[DioOmicida]

5 minutes ago, manikyath said:

thats what ZFS is for

The more you know!

[WooZ_Lv]

Thanks. So for now wont put any important files on to server. 

 

[brandishwar]

Let's get into a little more detail. Obviously using ECC is recommended for the simple fact that it at least can prevent some types of memory corruption. However will having non-ECC RAM lead to data loss? It's highly unlikely in a home setup.

 

ECC RAM exists and is used in server environments due to the kind of environmental constraints. We're talking a lot of power flowing into a confined space, meaning a far, far greater chance of electromagnetic interference since shielding all of the power cables is not possible. It is against this interference that ECC RAM is designed to protect. If your home environment can expose your systems to that kind of interference, you either need a serious upgrade to your home wiring, or you need to move, or the system needs to live in a different part of the home.

 

Plus there are so many checks in everything to ensure data integrity that you're extremely unlikely to encounter data corruption by not using ECC RAM. Even ZFS has so many checks built into it to mitigate any potential data loss or corruption resulting from bad memory. ECC RAM merely means these checks are unlikely to kick in.

 

In the build log for my NAS system, "Nasira", I wrote out a long spiel about ECC vs non-ECC RAM, including links for information. I suggest you give it a read. While I use ECC RAM in my NAS, I did so merely because of where my NAS lived at the time.

 

Plus ECC RAM and RAID are not substitutes for a good backup and disaster recovery plan. ECC is a good idea if your system can support it. But you're not setting yourself up for catastrophe by not using it.

[Electronics Wizardy]

20 hours ago, DioOmicida said:

If you're worried about data loss you can just run two drives in Raid1 for redundancy.

Ecc and raif/zfs fix data recovery in different places and can't compensate for each other. 

 

I'd you have a memory errors the data will be bad before it every touch esthetic drive and raid or checksums can do nothing about this. This is a problem on all systems but using ecc vastly reduces the chance of it happening.