Hey guys!
I am relatively new to TrueNAS Scale and still ironing out some quirks a things. The main topic of this post is mainly for determining what configuration of my drives would give me the most optimal use.
I have:
2x 4TB Drives
1x 2TB Drive
1x 1TB Drive
1x 32GB Octane Nvme (cache)
256gb ssd for the OS
Right now, I currently have the 2 4TB Drives set to zfs mirror, the 2TB as a backup, the 32gb as cache, and the 1tb drive is just sitting in my case not plugged in or anything.
The server is just a plex server. Only 1.2TB have been used so far as i am still converting my dvdâs but want to get this ironed out before I get too far.
Side question: the total capacity of my drives decrease when I add data on windows. So the storage bar never âfillsâ just the free capacity and total capacity lower as i add data. A solution to this would also be epic.
I mean, unless youâre willing to buy more 4TB drives to get a raidz1/2/3 going (depending on your flavour of risk tolerance), you seem to be doing everything reasonably, without spending additional money.
If you do decide to go raidz1/2/3, youâd have to backup the data youâve saved (likely to the 2TB drive) & the remake the pool & then restore from backup. This might be worth doing sooner rather than later, but involves spending money.
You can make the 1TB drive a standalone pool to just play around with/less important files.
Make sure the drives are CMR, not SMR in case you want to avoid headaches in the future.
For the side question - I donât understand. Could you post a screenshot? If this is in windows explorer, then solution is âbest effortâ. Otherwise if this is in the TrueNAS Web GUI, then additional information on what version youâre running might be of use.
I am planning on adding a 3rd 4TB drive so maybe I should just do it and get it sorted now. That 8TB of usable storage will suit me for quite some time.
I guess I never thought about using the 1tb drive in that way, silly me. I will do that.
I do like avoiding headaches, so when I do the config change, I will double check CMR.
I will have to post the screenshot in a bit, but essentially in windows file explorer, the total capacity of the drive AND the free capacity of the drive decrease together when I add data. So right now it says 2.9TB free of 2.9TB instead of 2.9TB free of 3.81TB. I will need to check the web GUI, and maybe the config change once I add the 3rd drive will solve this anyway
Ah - well considering how many issues ZFS has reporting how much space it has available to itself (see multiple posts on forums, especially after expansion), Iâm not surprised Windows is having trouble. I donât know of a fix for file explorer, but generally anything that you want to know about the pool is best done from TrueNAS GUI (unless you want exact reporting, in which case CLI).
I think a RAIDZ1 for 4TB disks is optimal. Higher capacity drives you should start considering RAIDZ2 due to risks during long resilver times. If you post the drive models I can help you confirm if it is CMR or SMR⌠multiple posts on why SMR is to be avoided; short version is poor performance on ZFS, instability, and high risk + long resilver times during replacement.
I am currently running 2 Seagate IronWolf ST4000VN006 4TB 5400 RPM 256MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s, and was going to buy a 3rd for rz1. I believe these to be CMR though I could be wrong.
Donât know what kind of cache you are using, but if you donât need It (and in most case Is true), you can use the Optane for SO and repurpose the SSD for apps⌠If now Plex is running on rust disk, you will benefit a lot of this change. In case, consider an internal replication task to a fast backup.
Also, afaik your 4tb drives are CMR. I agree with the raidz1 solution
I will be fully honest on the cache drive. I was watching the LTT video on truenas and they used it as just a read cache drive, and was like $15 on ebay so I bought one.
I will definitely consider the internal replication task for the backup.
Confirmed CMR - I agree with the cache drive brought up by oxyde. Generally, unless you have a very specific use case, more ram will always be the best upgrade over L2ARC, ZIL, or SLOG.
If this is a special metadata vdev - then uhh⌠I mean octane is great, but get a second one and a ups - if it dies, so does your pool.
Yeah, they make it seem like cache is a magic solution & more hardware = more betterer. TrueNAS is a great step towards learning more than you expected to want to know & understanding that at times videos are more entertainment than âhow toâ. LTT is almost always a fun watch for me, but they ainât always on the mark.
To rub some salt on the wound; I wouldnât trust Linus on anything for proper deployment; like when he managed to lose their production pool because no one bothered to enable basic scheduled tasks like scrubs, or alerts, etc (if my memory serves for the root cause). It was fun to hear that he backed a paid TrueNAS easy mode after that. Still found his series on why he lost his data entertaining.
I see where you are coming from. My server was already built and running when that video came out, so I just added it for l2arc, but you bring out good points about more ram. LTT has been more entertainment than actual tips for years now. Nothing wrong with that, but definitely worth knowing.
Nonetheless, I am very pleased with all the new things I have learned reguarding the server, but it is always great talking to you guys, who know more than me, and help me get the best configuration.
2x 4TB Drives - Buy a 3rd identical drive and do RAIDZ1.
1x 2TB Drive - Backup drive for stuff already stored elsewhere where redundancy is less important i.e. apps-pool, PC backups etc.
1x 1TB Drive - Nothing
256gb SSD - Apps pool - store apps AND the active data e.g. Plex metadata on this. You will see the difference in speed in your Plex client. Back this up to the backup drive using replication.
For a boot drive I might use the 32GB Optane Nvme (which seems stupidly fast for a boot drive) or keep/sell it and buy a small std NVME drive - or maybe buy a small SATA SSD and save the NVMe slot for a large NVMe SSD at a later date.
