FreeNAS-NAS4Free-ZFSguru-Rockstor-ZoL-OVM-Openfiler-OpenAttic-StorageSpaces-XPenology

[rkd29980]

I am looking for a free ZFS storage solution for my servers. I prefer a simple and easy to use AIO solution rather than OS addon. Must work with or be available to Windows. At the moment, I am leaning towards ZFSguru but need more info from someone who uses it.

I know that Rockstor uses BTRFS and I know that Storage Spaces uses ReFS but I may decide to go with either of those if they can suit my needs better than a ZFS option.

I left out Napp-It because I am not a fan of it's web interface and limited free user feature set. I left out Amahi because it isn't free.

If there are others I left out that you think would be good, let me know. I made this thread to get as much info as possible.



My experience with all this is limited and I am still learning so forgive me if I sound stupid.

The only one I have used so far is Napp-It. I used SMB? to make it available to Window as a network drive.

I will have 4 storage servers. I want to have one server configured to mirror another server including any changes made to the files, mirror snapshots, everything. Besides the mirrored server, I just want to make the other 3 available to my PC's as a network drive.

I am looking for something that is feature rich and possibly allows plug-ins.

I also have 2 Compaq ProLiant DL360 that I could repurpose although I don't know how old or useful they will be and I don't know there specs. If they are too old I can always pickup another 1U server cheap. I was wondering if it would be better to install an OS on each server or just install on one of the 1U servers and have it manage all servers. Can ZFS Guru do that?

 

[T_Minus]

FreeNAS has an easy to use web interface, supports plugins, and is simple to use. The negative is their support/forum/info is spread all over, and you may have to read 5+ pages to find your answer as they argue about how to properly share information.

You didn't mention if you want to run it as a VM or on baremetal either, as FreeNAS is suggested not to run in a VM where Napp-IT is.

 

[ttabbal]

ZFSGuru looks to be inactive, and very much like FreeNAS. If you don't like the Napp-it UI, you might try FreeNAS, it has a different UI that you might find more appealing. It also seems to have more plug-ins available. Most any platform should be able to run Samba or otherwise share to Windows machines via SMB. Windows users can also install NFS clients.

My opinion on BTRFS is that it feels like it isn't really "there" yet for production use. I wouldn't put any data I care about on it. I haven't used ReFS so have no opinion on it.

For what you say you want to do, FreeNAS seems like a good fit. ZFS, plugins, very stable and mature. The only downside I see with it is possible hardware support. The older version of FreeBSD it uses right now will probably support your hardware fine though.

The first thing to do is inventory your hardware. What CPU(s), how much RAM, ECC support?, HBA/RAID card?, Drives? You can get much of this by booting a FreeNAS install and using the web UI. A live Linux distro is another option, though likely requires command line. And there's Windows Device Manager, but you asked for free...

As for multiple servers, every machine needs an OS. There are a lot of options for using many machines. Clusters, failover, etc.. What do you want them to do? "Manage all servers" is a little vague. This sort of thing can be pretty complex, so I usually go with "if you have to ask how, you don't need it". There's nothing wrong with learning, but start with the basics.

I suggest building up one good server and starting with FreeNAS and plugins on bare metal. Give the machine as much RAM as you can, 8GB minimum. ECC very highly recommended. If you have a few old servers, you can probably combine parts from them to get a pretty nice server to start with. Then use the others for experimentation as you go.

 

[rkd29980]

One of my servers, a Norco has 16GB of RAM. The other 3 are Supermicro 36-Bay CSE-847A servers with a 7 year old CPU and 3GB of RAM, low I know but I got them off ebay cheap.

All of my servers are file/media servers nothing more so I won't be running VM's or anything like that.

What I meant by have one server manage them all is that instead of installing ZFS Guru, for example, on all servers and configure them independently, I could just install on one of the 1U servers and have my other servers attached as JBOD but configured to show up on the network as independent drives all managed by one central server. That was just an idea.

Doesn't FreeNAS or NAS4Free have limitations on vdev/pool size?

 

[ttabbal]

You would need to set them up individually. There are probably some really expensive enterprise software packages that can do what you're talking about, but I don't know about them. You might be able to use external SAS cables and only use the other servers as a big drive cage. It's probably not worth the bother though.

I'm not aware of any size limits on FreeNAS. I haven't looked into NAS4Free.

One of these days, I need to look for a big case like those Supermicros. It would be nice to have empty bays again.

 

[T_Minus]

You likely only need 1 system for fileserver/media server, and then use your other chassis as JBOD to hold all your hard drives.

1 server runs the OS + FreeNAS(or whichever software) and the other chassis are empty other than disks.

You can then slice up the disks into pools to your specific needs / shares for your network.

There shouldn't be any reason you need 4 file server / media servers.
Using 1 of them as a backup would be a good idea if you need a backup of your media.

Example:
1 - Server with OS + NAS Software (main media+file server)
-- JBOD Chassis #1
-- JBOD Chassis #2

1 - Server with OS + Nas Software (backup file server)

That would utilize all your chassis, and you could sell the systems in the 2 unused.

 

[ttabbal]

I'm not as familiar with server power supplies, but normal PC units need some hardware hacking to power on without a motherboard. Is that a possible issue with those Supermicro units?

 

[T_Minus]

I'm not as familiar with server power supplies, but normal PC units need some hardware hacking to power on without a motherboard. Is that a possible issue with those Supermicro units?

Of course, you have to power the disks in a JBOD configuration.

CSE-PTJBOD-CB1 Supermicro JBOD Storage Power-up Control Board - Case Accessories - SuperBiiz.com

They have that one and higher-end ones with IPMI/Fan Contorl.

 

[rkd29980]

So between FreeNAS and NAS4Free and ZFSguru and Rockstor and ZoL and OVM and Openfiler and OpenAttic and StorageSpaces and XPenology which do I choose?

I am going to need something that works and can be trusted, it will be installed on all my servers. I am also not good with command line interfaces.

 

[T_Minus]

@rkd29980 did you read my reply above?

There's no need to install it on every server...

Maybe you should sell your 4 servers and go with an off the shelf unit with support plan? If you're not into DIY, researching, comparing, etc... it's likely the best option.

 

[rkd29980]

Ok so I install on one server and use the other 2 as JBOD's and have the last server be a mirror. I never said I wasn't into DIY, I already built a Norco server and bought the 3 Supermicro's and I am not selling anything. What do you mean by "off the shelf unit with support plan"? Are you talking about one of those dinky little 4-8 bay NAS boxes? Those wouldn't suit my needs, I am using 36 bay servers for a reason.

What software do you use and have experience with?

 

[T_Minus]

Ok so I install on one server and use the other 2 as JBOD's and have the last server be a mirror. I never said I wasn't into DIY, I already built a Norco server and bought the 3 Supermicro's and I am not selling anything. What do you mean by "off the shelf unit with support plan"? Are you talking about one of those dinky little 4-8 bay NAS boxes? Those wouldn't suit my needs, I am using 36 bay servers for a reason.

What software do you use and have experience with?

Are you serious?

I give up.

(PS: it's because I already shared with you software choice in this thread and you apparently aren't reading...)

 

[pricklypunter]

Given what you have available @T_Minus has put forward a reasonable, workable solution using FreeNAS on one box, using two other boxes as JBOD storage with remote power controllers and utilizing the last one as a back-up server, again using FreeNAS. As much as I love GUI trinkets, if you really want to learn about all this stuff, learn using the CLI first, there's no shortcut to understanding. That way you'll know exactly what the GUI is doing with your configuration and how to fix it again if things don't go as planned, and things often don't go smoothly early on when using GUI's blindly

 

[rkd29980]

I am sorry if there is an issue here. I know (more or less) what I am going to do with the actual servers. I am just looking for as much information as possible from as many users as possible about as many of the different software solutions out there so I can settle on the one that is right for me. I made this tread to get feedback on the many ZFS solutions, not just FreeNAS which is why there are so many listed in the title.

Sorry @pricklypunter, I have no interest in learning command line interfaces, I just don't have the patience for it nor am I intelligent enough to understand it.

Does anyone have any experience with ZFSguru, ZoL, OpenAttic, XPenology, etc.. and can help me figure out which one is right for me?

 

[T_Minus]

I'm not trying to be rude or say there is a problem, but I answered your question in my first reply (what I have used/suggest).

And, as I said before if you have no interest in learning / DIY which is using Command Line then you should really buy a off-the shelf unit with support, and an awesome web GUI. This would be something like a rack-mount Synology or QNAP. They are not cheap for the # of drives it sounds like you have but they would require the least amount of CLI and provide you support.

 

[ttabbal]

ZFSguru looks to be dead, so I wouldn't use it. ZoL is nothing more than a ZFS driver for Linux. Nice enough for what it is, but I suspect that you wouldn't like it as Linux based setups generally require CLI use. You could try Proxmox. That's Debian linux with ZFS baked in and some virtualization technology as well. It has a decent webUI.

I have used Linux, Solaris, and BSD versions direct with command line and with UI helpers like napp-it and freenas. For what you say you want, freeNAS sounds like the best option as it has good support, an easy to use GUI, and various sharing and virtualization options.

You are getting told to try freeNAS because it's the best supported option for the requirements you listed. Most other options are more niche setups, require more CLI, or don't seem as well supported.

Or just install a few different ones and try them out...

 

[Quasduco]

First of all, welcome.

Second, the picture you have painted is incomplete - what controllers are you running for your backplanes, and are the backplanes 1:1 or expander? If you are using HW raid controllers, that will change your options.

Third, what levels of redundancy are you shooting for, other than the aforementioned mirrored server? Raid5/6, 10, etc. Given the amount of possible drives (~120), you really should break your Disk Groups/vdevs into manageable chunks, else come resilver/rebuild time, you might lose data.

You can't just come in and say "what software", and expect us to know every bit of your setup without seeing it, and without you telling us...

What size drives are you running that you are using ~120 drives?

That HAS to be a BIG power bill...

 

[pricklypunter]

Even GUI tools and utils require some learning if they are new to you. The problem with these things, generally speaking, is that unless you know and understand what they are supposed to be doing for you, you have no way back to a working configuration when they fail you, or in most cases, just scramble something that would look to be impossible to fix at first glance. It may be a real easy fix, but unless you have that understanding, your recourse is a reinstall. So even having a GUI environment is no guarantee to a successful deployment. This can only lead to disappointment for you. If your installation and deployment all goes to plan first time using a GUI and point 'n click tools and utils, great, but invariably the only way to fix something after the fact, is to drop into a shell and use the command line tools and utils to investigate and fix it. This goes for most OS's, windows included.

If you are worried about not being able to understand it all, (it can seem overwhelming at first, it's not really, but certainly can look that way) a hybrid type learning experience that will go easier on you might be a Debian or Ubuntu install with Webmin, so you have something of a management GUI to fall back on if you get really stuck with something. Then install ZoL and roll your own storage solution. In all, there really is only a handful of commands to learn the syntax of and the internet is bountiful when it comes to guides, tips and hints for just about anything you'll want to do. For example, have a good read through Aaron Toponce's ZFS guide (giggle is your friend), pretty much everything you'll need to know to get you running is in there. He also has a guide on the 'tube, that he done back in 2013 for one of the Linux user groups. That's worth watching too.

Actually learning about this stuff brings you a few immediate benefits thusly:

You learn much more in less time (because you are not only motivated to do so, but you have a need to fulfill)
You are in full control over exactly how you want things configured (few if any compromises are required)
You build confidence in both your ability as an Admin and your hardware deployment
You have a much smaller set of things that can potentially go wrong with your installation (makes it much easier for folks here and elsewhere to help you untangle things)

This is by no means a limited list, I'm just mentioning a couple of things off the top of my head

 

[rkd29980]

My Norco has Napp-it on it and has 4TB Seagate ST4000-something desktop drives split into 3 vdevs of 8 drives using Raid-Z2. For one of the Supermicro servers, I will install 12 5TB Toshiba drives in one raid-Z2 vdev and will add two more 12 drive pools when needed. My other Supermicro's, the one that will store the important stuff and the mirror will be full of Toshiba X300 6TB drives in 3 vedvs of 12 using raid-Z2 or Z3. All of which will be connected to an APC Symmetra LX 16kVA but my servers won't be running 24/7 just when I need them.

 

[gea]

You do not need to like or use a special GUI but it is not helpful if you select a vehicle based on colour when you even do not know if you need a bicycle, a car, a boat or an airplane.

You should first think of
- do I need or want a ZFS solution

if yes,
- do I want a Solaris based solution because of its best of all integration of OS, ZFS and services
- do I want a BSD based solution because of the add-ons for a homeserver
- do I want a Linux based solution because of knowledge, extra apps or hardware support

then you can think of the GUI options like
- Nexenta, napp-it
-FreeNAS, Nas4Free, ZFSGuru
- Webmin, OMV