I am about to re-employ some antiquated hardware to add storage and have come to a Chicken vs. Egg roadblock.
It probably best if I lay out the hardware basics first.
- SuperMicro X8DTi-F, Dual x5670's, 96GB ECC REG.
- LSI 9261-8i (RAID Only, no IT-Mode/JBOD) running a SAS array of it's own.
- Sans Digital TR8M-B (8-bay SATA only, Twin 1-4 Port Multipliers, Twin eSATA external Input)
- HighPoint RocketRAID 642L (2x eSATA, 2x SATA, Host 'RAID', JBOD capable).
- Boot drive separate from the array(s).
The Basics
I want to run a Windows OS on the SuperMicro & LSI RAID setup (easy, familiarity)
I want to run the eSATA card/Enclosure JBOD and use FreeNAS rather than Windows Softraid for 8 drives.
The Conundrum (for ME anyway)
Should I run Windows on bare metal, then virtualize FreeNAS and pass the eSATA/TR8M & drives to it ?
or..
Should I run FreeNAS on metal with a Windows VM to support my HW RAID and pass the LSI card to Windows, leaving FreeNAS direct access to the eSATA card and external 8 drives of the TR8M box ?
I would really appreciate someone point me in the right direction, or an even better direction if possible.
I would simply like to get everything done on a single machine and the External eSATA box without having to sacrifice the stability of the external array or needing to employ a 2nd machine to accomplish it all.
My last resort is to gut the eSATA Box and turn it into an external SAS enclosure, but I figure if I can utilize the eSATA multipliers/Backplanes already inside of it, it may serve a purpose for the rest of it's short life.
thanks (and sorry) in advance...lol
Allan
It probably best if I lay out the hardware basics first.
- SuperMicro X8DTi-F, Dual x5670's, 96GB ECC REG.
- LSI 9261-8i (RAID Only, no IT-Mode/JBOD) running a SAS array of it's own.
- Sans Digital TR8M-B (8-bay SATA only, Twin 1-4 Port Multipliers, Twin eSATA external Input)
- HighPoint RocketRAID 642L (2x eSATA, 2x SATA, Host 'RAID', JBOD capable).
- Boot drive separate from the array(s).
The Basics
I want to run a Windows OS on the SuperMicro & LSI RAID setup (easy, familiarity)
I want to run the eSATA card/Enclosure JBOD and use FreeNAS rather than Windows Softraid for 8 drives.
The Conundrum (for ME anyway)
Should I run Windows on bare metal, then virtualize FreeNAS and pass the eSATA/TR8M & drives to it ?
or..
Should I run FreeNAS on metal with a Windows VM to support my HW RAID and pass the LSI card to Windows, leaving FreeNAS direct access to the eSATA card and external 8 drives of the TR8M box ?
I would really appreciate someone point me in the right direction, or an even better direction if possible.
I would simply like to get everything done on a single machine and the External eSATA box without having to sacrifice the stability of the external array or needing to employ a 2nd machine to accomplish it all.
My last resort is to gut the eSATA Box and turn it into an external SAS enclosure, but I figure if I can utilize the eSATA multipliers/Backplanes already inside of it, it may serve a purpose for the rest of it's short life.
thanks (and sorry) in advance...lol
Allan