Building a ZFS based SAN/NAS

Cerberus2k7 · 05-08-12, 06:27 PM

Curious to see who here has built one based on ZFS. I have a spare Core2Duo(E8500) and a miniATX board with 4GB of DDR2 but from what I've been reading it does better with more RAM and I only have 2 slots. Would it be worth building the system up with a better motherboard and a bit more RAM, or would a single Xeon be more of a solid build(Thinking a rackmount version of a ML115)? Storage wise I'm probably looking at a 10 drive setup but still unsure what type of RAID I want to run. Mainly to be used for media/streaming but I do a bit of everything from render farms to terminal server storage.

I.M.O.G. · 05-10-12, 02:34 PM

I know some people around here have ZFS NAS experience. This must have slipped by...

cw823 · 05-12-12, 06:36 PM

ZFS loves memory. If you can, go with a server level board and utilize ECC memory, just another "check and balance" if you will. I just picked up a x58board & 24Gb of RAM, and a Xeon E5504 ES off ebay.

Only reason I went x58 was that I already had the ram, and since it has tri-channel......

What OS are you planning on using? FreeNAS is probably the easiest but performance can be shoddy

Cerberus2k7 · 05-12-12, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cw823

ZFS loves memory. If you can, go with a server level board and utilize ECC memory, just another "check and balance" if you will. I just picked up a x58board & 24Gb of RAM, and a Xeon E5504 ES off ebay.

Only reason I went x58 was that I already had the ram, and since it has tri-channel......

What OS are you planning on using? FreeNAS is probably the easiest but performance can be shoddy

CentOS would be ideal OS wise. Not sure how well it would be performance wise when using zfs fuse. Is there a TB/RAM ratio I should look out for? There shouldn't be too much utilization right now, but within the next year or so there will be a lot more in terms of data transfer.

cw823 · 05-12-12, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cerberus2k7

CentOS would be ideal OS wise. Not sure how well it would be performance wise when using zfs fuse. Is there a TB/RAM ratio I should look out for? There shouldn't be too much utilization right now, but within the next year or so there will be a lot more in terms of data transfer.

thideras will be along shortly, he's a CentOS guy. Yes and no, for your TB/RAM. There are numbers out there, but many/most of them are based on a corporate NAS. For what most of us do, overkill.

I added SSDs for ZIL logs, no difference for what I do. For enterprise NAS, I'm sure it would make a difference.

05-08-12, 06:27 PM	Thread Starter #1
Cerberus2k7 Drifto Mexicano Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Denver, CO	Building a ZFS based SAN/NAS Curious to see who here has built one based on ZFS. I have a spare Core2Duo(E8500) and a miniATX board with 4GB of DDR2 but from what I've been reading it does better with more RAM and I only have 2 slots. Would it be worth building the system up with a better motherboard and a bit more RAM, or would a single Xeon be more of a solid build(Thinking a rackmount version of a ML115)? Storage wise I'm probably looking at a 10 drive setup but still unsure what type of RAID I want to run. Mainly to be used for media/streaming but I do a bit of everything from render farms to terminal server storage. __________________ Member of OCdriftingNinjas \| You gotta' Fold if you wanna turn up the Heat Overclocking: My Anti-Drug. \| Overclocking my body...one day at a time... \| Black Belt Ubercloxx0r \| You are the most ripped yo-yo'er I have ever seen. - Seven HTPC \| i5 2500k@3.8 \| Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3 \| 16GB HyperX \| GTX 460 1gb@845/1100 \| 1.5TB \| Silverstone LC10S-M \| Corsair 500w
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05-10-12, 02:34 PM	#2
I.M.O.G. Glorious Leader Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Rootstown, OH	I know some people around here have ZFS NAS experience. This must have slipped by... __________________ The OC Forums Way We are a team. We are a community. We are a fellowship made strong by mutual respect and shared dedication to the task of enriching all who come here. The OC Forums Thank You Thread Put your computer to work for our OC Forum Teams! Try out our POST TEMPLATES, they save you time answering common questions! I spend half my money on CPUs, GPUs, and Liquid Nitrogen. The other half I waste.
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05-12-12, 06:36 PM	#3
cw823 Honeybadger Moderator Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Earth	ZFS loves memory. If you can, go with a server level board and utilize ECC memory, just another "check and balance" if you will. I just picked up a x58board & 24Gb of RAM, and a Xeon E5504 ES off ebay. Only reason I went x58 was that I already had the ram, and since it has tri-channel...... What OS are you planning on using? FreeNAS is probably the easiest but performance can be shoddy __________________ As of 9/2012 I am semi-inactive honeybadger moderator smacks the **** out of people that cause issues in the classified section Heatware: cw823 Paypal: paypal @ cw823 dot com Adak - My spreader bar was shaped using a pair of vise grips, a hammer, and the tow receiver on my pick up Support your forum: http://www.newegg.com/
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