Thanks for helping
Question: My first TrueNAS will be on a Intel S1200BTL , 6 sata ports (4 3gb/s 2 6gb/s), a built in hardware raid with a AHCI mode.
If I use the onboard sata can I move the drives to new hardware and retain function down the road? Should I use PCIE HBA’s instead?
I have four 1tb SSD’s and two 4tb HDD. My plan is one pool, two mirrored vdevs’s with the four 1tb ssd’s and another pool with one 4tb HDD for backup. I will backup the backup with an external HDD and back blaze.
I also have a Dell R710 but I was going to use that for a XCP server. Maybe I should just use that for the TrueNAS?
I truly appreciate guidance. I’ve been putting this off for 5 years but my family pictures and videos are a mess and scattered over various old hardware and it’s freaking me out.
Thank you
Billy
If I use the onboard sata can I move the drives to new hardware and retain function down the road?
Yes, but it will be a lot easier if you don’t use the built in hardware raid on that motherboard.
I have four 1tb SSD’s and two 4tb HDD. My plan is one pool, two mirrored vdevs’s with the four 1tb ssd’s and another pool with one 4tb HDD for backup
I am not sure that counts as a real backup. In my opinion a backup means another data copy on a different physical machine. I back up my TrueNAS to my Synology, also to an instance of Openmedia vault running on a mini PC and a copy to AWS Glacier. So if my TrueNAS box blows up I don’t need to rebuild it before being able to access my data on a different platform.
I also have a Dell R710 but I was going to use that for a XCP server. Maybe I should just use that for the TrueNAS
I am not sure it makes a difference. For just plain storage purposes, TrueNAS doesn’t really need a lot of CPU horsepower in my experience. But it does benefit from plentiful RAM. You didn’t really say what you would have for RAM in either machine.
The S1200BTL is kind of older hardware though, and I am guessing that maybe the R710 is as well? Older hardware, especially server grade stuff, eats up lots of electricity. You might want to consider going with something newer and smaller for your NAS, just to get a lower electric bill.
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Thank you for the detailed response. The R710 has 24gb of ram using 2gb sticks the S1200 has 8gb and my test run of TrueNAS on it showed it was not happy with 8gb. They are both old. I will find an HBA and roll with the S1200. I will come up with a better backup strategy.
Thank you Louie
Billy
Technically there is no need for an HBA if there are enough ports on the motherboard for you, just don’t enable the hardware raid feature. But I just noticed that 4 of them are the old 3gb/s standard, so yeah, an inexpensive HBA is probably worthwhile. Or even an ASMedia 1166 based PCI card, which can be super inexpensive. Be sure to get more memory for the S1200 as well.
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I’ve been researching HBA’s, what a rabbit hole that is. I don’t mind spending more on that since I can use it in the future machine. Should I go with LSI and maybe 8 port?
There’s nothing wrong with LSI, but I have no idea which model to point you towards. In my mind you want a newer generation chipset but you also don’t want to spend an arm and a leg, nor do you want one that generates a ton of heat. Maybe a LSI 9300-8i. See if you can one that has already been flashed for IT mode. If it comes with cables, even better. I think this guy is probably pretty good. I follow his Youtube channel. the Art of Server | eBay Stores
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The Art of Server guy is no joke. He quickly answer my questions on ebay and when I told him my build he mentioned I better get a fan installed. My case front is all 5.25 bays. I bought a LSI 9302 8i with cables. I feel much better about my build going forward and this card can move to a new home when I have funds.
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Yeah, his content is great. Seems like a decent guy