Need advice on Raid and FreeNas
Hi I am setting up a file server for a small office (10 computers). My first attempt at this I used FreeNas. It was easy to setup and I like that the system is dedicated. One downside of this method is that the write times are slower than I expected. I am using SATA2 drives w/ 8MB buffer on a 100MB network, but the write times I was getting was about 2.5GB per hour. I expected 5 GB in ten minutes. The mother board I am using has a built in raid controller, but I have never read about anyone having warm fuzzies using a built in raid card. I assume I could use a hardware raid with FreeNas and have it setup the CIFS and NFS systems. It is also nice to be able to boot from a USB drive. Another downside is that it is not easy to build and install scripts onto a FreeNas system. Can someone tell me if I am heading down the wrong path using FreeNas? Should I just use a hardware raid and install FBSD so I have access to the ports and and configure samba and nfs manually? I could probably work around the script issue if I could figure out how to get a fast raid with FreeNas, since I like the simplicity and the fact that I can upgrade the system very easily. Thanks for any input. -- Jim Freeze ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need advice on Raid and FreeNas
On 7/19/06, Jim Freeze [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi I am setting up a file server for a small office (10 computers). My first attempt at this I used FreeNas. It was easy to setup and I like that the system is dedicated. One downside of this method is that the write times are slower than I expected. I am using SATA2 drives w/ 8MB buffer on a 100MB network, but the write times I was getting was about 2.5GB per hour. I expected 5 GB in ten minutes. a better metric for us would be network throughput and disk I/O over a shorter period, like kilobit's per sec. The mother board I am using has a built in raid controller, but I have never read about anyone having warm fuzzies using a built in raid card. hmm...actually the oposite is generally true. what motherboard are you using, and what is the RAID controller chipset? I assume I could use a hardware raid with FreeNas and have it setup the CIFS and NFS systems. It is also nice to be able to boot from a USB drive. Another downside is that it is not easy to build and install scripts onto a FreeNas system. I'd hit the FreeNAS list regarding questions about scripting and configuration. Can someone tell me if I am heading down the wrong path using FreeNas? Should I just use a hardware raid and install FBSD so I have access to the ports and and configure samba and nfs manually? it really depends on how you would like to admin it. some folks prefer using a full FreeBSD RELEASE, others seem to prefer FreeNAS. -pete -- ~~o0OO0o~~ Pete Wright www.nycbug.org NYC's *BSD User Group ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need advice on Raid and FreeNas
On 7/19/06, pete wright [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 7/19/06, Jim Freeze [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi I am setting up a file server for a small office (10 computers). My first attempt at this I used FreeNas. It was easy to setup and I like that the system is dedicated. One downside of this method is that the write times are slower than I expected. I am using SATA2 drives w/ 8MB buffer on a 100MB network, but the write times I was getting was about 2.5GB per hour. I expected 5 GB in ten minutes. a better metric for us would be network throughput and disk I/O over a shorter period, like kilobit's per sec. Well, if I do the math, 5GB/3600 = 1356 KB/sec. A 100MB/s network has a maximum thruput of 12800KB/sec. So, I am getting 10% of the available BW. The mother board I am using has a built in raid controller, but I have never read about anyone having warm fuzzies using a built in raid card. hmm...actually the oposite is generally true. what motherboard are you using, and what is the RAID controller chipset? Opposite of what? I don't have the specs in front of me, but one is a 945? Intel and the other is a AMD. I'll have to get the specs. I assume I could use a hardware raid with FreeNas and have it setup the CIFS and NFS systems. It is also nice to be able to boot from a USB drive. Another downside is that it is not easy to build and install scripts onto a FreeNas system. I'd hit the FreeNAS list regarding questions about scripting and configuration. I've been down that road, but have not been able to dig up an active list. The bb system seems rather sparse. Do you have a link for me to an active mailing list? -- Jim Freeze ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need advice on Raid and FreeNas
In response to Jim Freeze [EMAIL PROTECTED]: On 7/19/06, pete wright [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 7/19/06, Jim Freeze [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi I am setting up a file server for a small office (10 computers). My first attempt at this I used FreeNas. It was easy to setup and I like that the system is dedicated. One downside of this method is that the write times are slower than I expected. I am using SATA2 drives w/ 8MB buffer on a 100MB network, but the write times I was getting was about 2.5GB per hour. I expected 5 GB in ten minutes. a better metric for us would be network throughput and disk I/O over a shorter period, like kilobit's per sec. Well, if I do the math, 5GB/3600 = 1356 KB/sec. A 100MB/s network has a maximum thruput of 12800KB/sec. So, I am getting 10% of the available BW. Have you checked to make sure the NIC is negotiating at the right speed? Sounds suspiciously like it's running at 10MB/sec. [snip] -- Bill Moran Collaborative Fusion Inc. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need advice on Raid and FreeNas
Have you checked to make sure the NIC is negotiating at the right speed? Sounds suspiciously like it's running at 10MB/sec. The 100MB light is lit up, but I did not turn off ICMP redirects. I think I'll try this tonight. -- Jim Freeze ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
