Need some direction- ESXi and FreeNAS

[Outlaw85]

I'm definitely a noob when it comes to this which is also why I'm doing it. Current job and my own curiosity make this venture more worth while.

Current setup was nothing more than a single "host" and some vms to play with setup.

ESXi 6.0
dual E5504
12GB RAM (now 28GB)
800GB disk total

Installed Win2008r2, Win8.1 and PFsense. Not used for anything other than messing around with installation

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On SAT, I picked up 2x DL380 G6 and spec'd them each to
ESXi 6.0
dual E5520
64GB RAM
No HDDs
8GB SD for ESXi

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What I think my most economical choice for simulating a real-world config is FreeNAS with iSCSI. I was thinking of turning the E5504 into the FreeNAS box but don't think it's the best choice, power wise. It is the only thing I have capable of more than 8GB. Other than an IBM x3550 screaming 1u. Most of my systems are still of the DDR2 variety.

While I want to use the FreeNAS to supply the hosts storage, can I also use the same FreeNAS to supply standard 'file server' duties or should I break these up? I could turn the E5504 into a 3rd host for just 2 FreeNAS or 1FreeNAS and 1WHS or something to that effect.

I know SSD is the preferred way to go these days, but doesn't really fit the budget for overall capacity. I was thinking of using some 10K Raptors. I know there are hybrid setups using small SSD for some caching and overall improved performance but not sure if this is still feasible or what would be the best approach. I think I could squeeze a couple <120GB SSDs into budget.


My end goal-
PFSense
VPN?
Other?

P2V current game server into 2-3 smaller VMs
--Specs, C2Q9450, 8GB, 2x500GB raid0
--Games, 4xCSGO, 1xTF2, 1xL4D2, 2xCS1.6, Minecraft
--Voice, Vent, TS3


To answer any concerns, All games are typically not active or at least not active at the same time.

For serving up VMs through FreeNAS, if the 10Ks aren't available. Would using 2TB greens in raid be OK? Or is this going to trash performance? I know they aren't ideal but I already a few of them. Otherwise I can look at some 2TB in blacks or reds or equivalent.

I'm hoping to have FreeNAS up tonight. Either dedicated on the E5504s or as a VM on the 5504s.


I'll also need to get a switch with more ports. Currently only have 4port gbit router and 4port gbit switch. For temp use, I do have a 48port 10/100


Thanks in advance,
Outlaw

 

[Keljian]

FreeNAS 9.10 on VMware ESXi 6.0 Guide | b3n.org

 

[Outlaw85]

Thanks. I did see that and found a youtube vid. I did eventually get it running. Just didn't know if anybody had tips for doing this or recommend a different route.

 

[Keljian]

I suppose the other config that would work would be proxmox with ZFS, then running VMs from the array, rather than using freenas. I think that would be the route I would take if I wanted to do it. Have storage on dom0 and VMs in dom1

 

[Outlaw85]

Thanks for the recommendation. I will have to take a look and maybe get it installed to compare.

 

[Schro]

For a few years, I was running a ZFS storage box that had a few iSCSI volumes that were used to boot an ESXi box and provide the datastore space on it. It mostly worked just fine and it was nice to only have spinning disks in one of the servers. However, towards the end, it was not the most stable setup and would occasionally drop the iSCSI connection and caused all sorts of weirdness. So, when those 2TB drives were on sale for $30 each, I ordered a bunch and loaded up the ESXi box with drives for its own datastore and I've been pretty happy with those results....