My home build(s):

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ShepsCrook

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Dec 1, 2015
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So my "Server" or rather NASbox, has been undergoing some changes recently. I'm going to list the configurations in 3 different states as I'm taking my time to make sure that things are running smoothly with each upgrade.

Pre-upgrade state:
OS: OpenMediaVault
CPU: Q8200S
RAM: 4x2GB DDR3
MB: Supermicro C2SEA (775)
CARD: 2x LSI SAS 3081E-R 3Gbps 8 port PCI-E
HDD0: Kingston SSDNow V 40GB (with Intel firmware for TRIM) (OS Drive)
HDD1: 14x WD 2TB Green (RAID6)
HDD2: 6x WD 1TB Green (RAID6)
PSU: Seasonic M12II 620w
CHASSIS: Norco 4220U (20 Bay hot swap)

Current state:
OS: OpenMediaVault
CPU: E5-2620v2
RAM: 32GB DDR3 ECC
MB: Supermicro X9SRL-F (IPMI WOOHOO!)
CARD1: Intel 8 Port (Forgot model number)
CARD2: Intel 24 Port Expander
HDD0: Kingston SSDNow V 40GB (with Intel firmware for TRIM) (OS Drive)
HDD: 14x WD 2TB Green (Raid6)
PSU Seasonic M12II 620w
CHASSIS: Norco 4220U (20 Bay hot swap)

Future state:
OS: OpenMediaVault
CPU: E5-2620v2
RAM: 32GB DDR3 ECC
MB: Supermicro X9SRL-F (IPMI WOOHOO!)
CARD1: Intel 8 Port (Forgot model number)
CARD2: Intel 24 Port Expander
HDD0: Intel 535 240GB SSD (OS Drive)
HDD1: Crucial MX100 512GB (For VMs)
HDD2: 12x WD 4TB Red (2 arrays RAID6 and RAID1)
PSU Seasonic M12II 620w
CHASSIS: Norco 4220U (20 Bay hot swap)

I wanted to move to some drives that are rated for more of what I'm doing vs using budget drives for NAS use.
 
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rubylaser

Active Member
Jan 4, 2013
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Michigan, USA
Are you using mdadm on OMV or ZFS? Have you considered looking at the combo of SnapRAID and mergerfs for your bulk storage and a ZFS mirror for your VM's? This combo has worked great for me at home.
 

ShepsCrook

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Dec 1, 2015
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I'm using mdadm. I haven't looked into it. I was just going to backup my VM's to my primary array. My VM's are just for playing, they aren't running anything truly critical.

Reason for not using ZFS is that; ZFS was built on a BSD Operating System (Solaris). And because Solaris and FreeBSD share the same licensing concept, you can have it on both. FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD.

However, the problem is that Debian, is not using the same licensing so it can't be part of the operating system or it's kernel. OMV has a plugin in the works, but obviously I don't want to test it on my production setup.
 
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rubylaser

Active Member
Jan 4, 2013
846
236
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Michigan, USA
I'm using mdadm. I haven't looked into it. I was just going to backup my VM's to my primary array. My VM's are just for playing, they aren't running anything truly critical.

Reason for not using ZFS is that; ZFS was built on a BSD Operating System (Solaris). And because Solaris and FreeBSD share the same licensing concept, you can have it on both. FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD.

However, the problem is that Debian, is not using the same licensing so it can't be part of the operating system or it's kernel. OMV has a plugin in the works, but obviously I don't want to test it on my production setup.
Thanks for the reply. Your info on the state of ZFS on Linux is rather old and out of date. ZFS on Linux is stable and has been kernel based (not FUSE) for a long time (very good performance). It is is even included in Linux based hypervisors like Proxmox as well. I was a huge advocate and supporter of mdadm for years, but it's featureset and data protection is now sorely lacking compared to next generation filesystems. I would at least encourage you to do some research and testing before committing to your future storage platform (ZFS, btrfs, or snapshot RAID solutions like SnapRAID).
 

ShepsCrook

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Dec 1, 2015
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Sure, but how long has ZFS been available for it? Couple years? I've used ZFS before on FreeNAS, however I had problems with it.
 

rubylaser

Active Member
Jan 4, 2013
846
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Michigan, USA
I didn't want to start an argument. I was providing a couple options in case you hadn't used them or heard about them before. As I said, ZFS is stable on Linux and is being used in production on many sites (including this forum that you are replying to). If you are happy with mdadm, that's fine by me.
 

ShepsCrook

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Dec 1, 2015
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Oh, noone is arguing, this is a discussion. And I'm looking at changing while I'm in this transition, but mdadm is tried and true and I haven't had any bad luck with it at this point.