I am looking at building out a freeNAS box mostly for back ups, maybe plex, unlikely. Aim is to have somewhere to back up my proxmox server images, laptops and computers etc.

The server location is in the basement so no concerns for noise, power efficiency is important, and computer depth a limitation - 24 inches max for my rack.

Is a 4 bay unit sufficient for running in ZFS? I expect in the order of ~10 TB would be sufficient total storage. Or is 8 bay required?

What options are worth considering? Dell r530 are too deep, r510 can fit at 24 inches deep, assuming I can find one with a H330/310 controller?

TLDR:is a 4 Bay chassis provide sufficient protection for freenas ZFS with total ~ 10TB usable storage? or do I need 8 Bay?

Is a dell R320 or R510 sensible in terms of power efficiency for freenas?

  • flaming_m0e@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    TLDR:is a 4 Bay chassis provide sufficient protection for freenas ZFS with total ~ 10TB usable storage? or do I need 8 Bay?

    There is no requirement of a particular number of disks for ZFS. You can run ZFS on a single disk.

    But for TRUENAS (FreeNAS name has been dead for years now), you will dedicate one entire disk to the OS, so keep it small (just shove a small SSD in the case somewhere), and then decide how many disks you need to buy to accommodate the amount of storage you need. Then decide if you ever want to expand that capacity. THAT should determine what kind of case you buy.

    Is a dell R320 or R510 sensible in terms of power efficiency for freenas?

    Dear God, no.

      • flaming_m0e@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Any desktop computer that has enough SATA ports and space in the case for your desired configuration, that is from this last decade, should work fine.

        Dell rackmount servers are power hungry and loud.