RAIDZ2 Configuration

[DreadStarX]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how I should do my drives for my RaidZ2.

I have 10x 6TB HGST Drives

8 are plugged into the LSI 9223-8i, and 2 are plugged in via onboard.

LSI 9223-8i (IT Mode)
4GB Non-ECC Memory
Intel Celeron G1820 (Dual Core)
ASRock Z97 Extreme6
Intel SSD 710 200GB (OS Drive)

I understand these specs aren't ideal for a storage array, I ran into that problem with running radarr/sonarr + deluge. I have plans to build a bigger storage system. I just need to get this one operational so I can start focusing on the new server, here are those specs;

Dual Intel Xeon E5-2670s
Maxed Memory (8GB Sticks)
2x OS SSD Drives
2x SSD Caches
16x 10TB Seagate NAS Drives

 

[nojohnny101]

So what is the question? Are you asking how you should arrange vdevs/pools for you 10 drives?

 

[DreadStarX]

So what is the question? Are you asking how you should arrange vdevs/pools for you 10 drives?

Yeah, sorry. I was rush to get to work this morning. My original plan was to do 3 drives per vdev, but 2 of the drives were dead, and the ebay seller won't replace them. So I'm out $100-ish for those two drives.

I was hoping I could do 2 drives per vdev and still have redundancy, though a friend from #DataHoarders suggested I not do that. I'm trying to maximize the amount of space I can get without crippling redundancy. Getting new drives isn't a problem, just takes a little bit of time to put the $$ on paypal.

 

[Vito Reiter]

If you do 2x 5 Disk RaidZ2's, you should have approx. 18TB per vDev and approx. 36TB total. That'll give you a total fault tolerance of 4 Drives (2 Per vDev) and a good amount of storage space. Now, a 10 disk RaidZ3 will give you more space (42TB), and a total fault tolerance of 3 disks. That setup is supreme redundancy. It's also not unrecommended to do a 10 disk RaidZ2, you can lose 2 Disks, and have 48TB of storage.

• 2x RaidZ2 will have the best performance, rebuild times, and redundancy, but also the lowest usable space.
• 1x RaidZ3 will have great redundancy and storage space
• 1x RaidZ2 will have good redundancy and the most storage space.

All of these options would make me feel comfortable with my setup, but remember redundancy IS NOT a backup. Always make sure you have offsite backups if your data is important.

Addition:

Yeah, sorry. I was rush to get to work this morning. My original plan was to do 3 drives per vdev, but 2 of the drives were dead, and the ebay seller won't replace them. So I'm out $100-ish for those two drives.

I was hoping I could do 2 drives per vdev and still have redundancy, though a friend from #DataHoarders suggested I not do that. I'm trying to maximize the amount of space I can get without crippling redundancy. Getting new drives isn't a problem, just takes a little bit of time to put the $$ on paypal.

Use cheap drives that are laying around as placeholders if you need to, so your storage array can run while you wait on the new drives. After they arrive just replace them.

 

[DreadStarX]

If you do 2x 5 Disk RaidZ2's, you should have approx. 18TB per vDev and approx. 36TB total. That'll give you a total fault tolerance of 4 Drives (2 Per vDev) and a good amount of storage space. Now, a 10 disk RaidZ3 will give you more space (42TB), and a total fault tolerance of 3 disks. That setup is supreme redundancy. It's also not unrecommended to do a 10 disk RaidZ2, you can lose 2 Disks, and have 48TB of storage.

• 2x RaidZ2 will have the best performance, rebuild times, and redundancy, but also the lowest usable space.
• 1x RaidZ3 will have great redundancy and storage space
• 1x RaidZ2 will have good redundancy and the most storage space.

All of these options would make me feel comfortable with my setup, but remember redundancy IS NOT a backup. Always make sure you have offsite backups if your data is important.

Addition:


Use cheap drives that are laying around as placeholders if you need to, so your storage array can run while you wait on the new drives. After they arrive just replace them.

Most of my drives laying around are 2TB drives, the ones in the array are 6TB. I ended up going with a single vdev of 10 drives, and raidz2. I have 40TB of usable space, 4TB is taken up by raidz2's stuff, which is fine with me.

Not sure where I can stick 20TB of data, and it stay there forever, however I do have an ACD and Google Unlimited account. Guess I'll put stuff up there. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Vito Reiter]

Absolutely, man, I meant use the smaller drives temporarily until new one's come in. Once they're replaced the whole zpool will increase in size. Anyway, best of luck to you buddy.

Regards,
Vito