I am in the beginning stage of converting multiple two-drive NAS devices to a
more proper single-device storage solution for my home network.
Because I have a pretty good understanding of hardware-based storage solutions,
originally I was going to go with a a traditional server-class motherboard that
allows for ecc memory, a depressingly expensive raid card that supports 8-12
drives and allowed for raid6, OCE (online capacity expansion), and spin down of
unused drives, and driven with FreeNAS.
A few months ago I happened upon ZFS and have been excitedly trying to learn
all I can about it. There is much to admire about ZFS, so I would like to
integrate it into my solution. The simple statement of requirements is: support
for total of 8-12 SATA2 hard drives, protection against data loss/corruption,
and protection against drive failure. Must have a mostly GUI interface
(regrettably, my command-line confidence is poor). Prefer to have a single
large storage pool. The ability to start with few drives and add storage as
needed is greatly desired.*
[ *if it is more future-proof, I could dig up some lower capacity drives and
start out with (for example) two 1.5tb drives and six 250gb drives with the
plan to replace a 250gb drive with a 1.5tb drive as needed]
When I feel I have a secure foothold of understanding I have little (if any)
trouble executing a plan. But I seem to be hung up on a multiple simple
questions that are of the "duh" variety for which I have been unable to google
myself to a solution. I normally take pride in finding my own solutions so it
is with some discomfort that I admit that I find myself in need of a avuncular
mentor to help me fit prior hardware raid knowledge with ZFS. If I had to
guess, I'd say that a ten minute verbal conversation combined with maybe a
dozen afterthought-induced questions that could be answered by yes/no would get
me to that secure foothold place.
A few examples of "duh" ?s
- How can I effect OCE with ZFS? The traditional 'back up all the data
somewhere, add a drive, re-establish the file system/pools/whatever, then copy
the data back' is not going to work because there will be nowhere to
temporarily 'put' the data.
- Concordantly, Is ZFS affected by a RAID card that supports OCE? Or is
this to no advantage?
- RAID5/6 with ZFS: As I understand it, ZFS with raidz will provide the
data/drive redundancy I seek [home network, with maybe two simultaneous users
on at least a p...@1ghz/1Gb RAM storage server] so obtaining a RAID controller
card is unnecessary/unhelpful. Yes?
--
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