New Storage Build. Btrfs/Xpenology?

L

LatexRat

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 29, 2006
Messages
181
I've been waiting to build out a new system to replace my Synology 1812+.
Here's what I have planned.

Case: Lian-Li PC-Q26B
MB; X10SDV-4C+-TLN4F
PS: Seasonic SSR-450RM
MEM: Kingston 16GB ECC
STOR: LSI SAS 9210-8i
Boot: 32GB USB Flash

OS: ESXi + Passthrough contrller to Xpenology or just straight Xpenology.. Otherwise RockNAS or Ubuntu?!

I don't consider ZFS as an option since you can't grow your array in a nice way, but I really want the benefits that ZFS provides.. Also, I've grown fond of the amazing Synology interface. So, the plan would be as follows:

Use Synology Hybrid RAID and Btrfs to have a very dynamic and easily expansible Array...
8 drives dedicated to the Raid 6 Hybrid array... Different size drives (like drobo)
2 drives mirrored for the OS, downloads and so the other drives can sleep more often to save power.

Performance isn't a huge concern.. mainly need a safe place to store things, with the ability to flexibly grow and swap out drives one at a time as they get cheaper or I need more space.

Any thoughts? This is a bit of a sanity check.. it all seems like it should work, but I'm not aware of anyone else going this route as of yet. Thanks
 
Unless you're dead set on that Supermicro board.
Grab a barebone Dell T20 (new), rip out the motherboard (mATX) and place it in your case of choice. I need an power adapter for the mobo which is ~10$ off eBay or Aliexpress. That would be cutting the cost down ~70% (179$ and 35% discount over @ dell.com right now), no 10G eth but Intel Gbit at least.
Drop ESXi and I would be very hesitant to use an USB flash as boot drive, just grab a Plextor M7V drive if you want something cheap that works...

I think you also should consider the Fractal XL and a hotswap 2.5" bay which will end up about about the same price as the case also being less noisy.

Google
ICY DOCK MB994SP-4SB-1 HDD Accessory - Newegg.com
 
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Sorry for not clarifying this. I've already bought the supermicro board and I already have the Lian Li Case. I wanted a small build and the lian li holds 10 3.5" hard drives.. pretty spectacular for a mini-itx case. 10G Ethernet is important to me since I'll be keeping this around for a good 6+ years.. A 10G nic would be all I need to upgrade my desktop.. and 10G switches keep getting cheaper..

Going with a different boot drive might be the way I go.. However, if I'm running ESXi and or Xpenology it's not a big deal since if you lose the flash drive, as you can rebuild very easily and your data should be fine. I intend to spend a week or two playing with different configs before I decide on the ideal one.

Also, the ICY Dock you posted has 2 40mm fans. I personally wouldn't go below 80mm if you're looking for something quiet as the smaller fans have to spin faster. What's really nice about the Lian Li is it came with 3 120mm fans. Which could be replaced with some really quiet ones if need be.

Really, the only thing I'm not sure of is the exact os configuration.. With btrfs and the ability to grow volumes being the main requirement
 
I'm not sure about your measurements but a 5.25" bay isn't 80mm (or more) in height which means what you'll never be able to use such fans unless someone drunk made the design. You sure are aiming high if you're going to except hardware to last 6+ years, I wish you the best of luck in that regard. You do realize that ESXi and Xpenology are completely different software and what they accomplish? I'm not sure what you have against ZFS which is proven however. Mixing drives is a bad idea and power saving will make your array unstable/corrupt at some point most likely (which is why LSI doesn't support it).
 
As an example.. Here is an ICY Dock with a 92mm fan:
ICY DOCK MB155SP-B FatCage MB155SP-B 5x3.5" in 3x5.25" Hot Swap SATA HDD Cage - Newegg.com
I considered a 9 x 5.25" case before settling on the Lian Li. I feel like the drive get a bit better airflow in the open Lian Li vs tightly packed in a Hot Swap Cage.

I have had many machines last 6+ years.. consumer grade stuff too, since the Supermicro is Server Grade, I don't see why it wouldn't.. It also won't be on all the time. The drives lasting 6 years is another story.. I think 3 to 4 years would be more likely.
Yes, I know what ESXi and Xpenology are. They are very easily used in conjunction with each other.
ZFS is awesome, and if I wanted to buy 8x 8TB hard drives today, ZFS would be great. I would much rather buy drives and add them to a Raid 6 Array as needed...
Yes, mixing drives sucks, but for a Hybrid Raid it isn't the end of the world. This NAS is going to be more of a Deep Cold Storage Unit.

LSI doesn't support power savings on drives? If a controller is flashed into IT mode, doesn't the OS control the drive?
 
diizzy said:
I'm not sure about your measurements but a 5.25" bay isn't 80mm (or more) in height which means what you'll never be able to use such fans unless someone drunk made the design. You sure are aiming high if you're going to except hardware to last 6+ years, I wish you the best of luck in that regard. You do realize that ESXi and Xpenology are completely different software and what they accomplish? I'm not sure what you have against ZFS which is proven however. Mixing drives is a bad idea and power saving will make your array unstable/corrupt at some point most likely (which is why LSI doesn't support it).
Click to expand...

I could be mistaken but Supermicro has a 7 year hardware warranty on that series. Same with the C2758's as they're marketed for telco appliance deployment. But I totally agree with you on all other points.
 
The Lian-Li hot swap back panes just arrived. Really liking this case.. Pricey as hell, but it should last forever. I still have a 12+ year old Lian Li case.. Looks as good as the day I bought it.

IMG_20160513_141145.jpg
 
Phantum
Product life != Warranty

"Supermicro provides a three-year warranty for labor and one-year warranty for parts. This limited warranty includes advance part replacement service covering a period of 30 days from Supermicro invoice date.
Upon expiration of the one-year parts warranty, the remaining 2-year labor warranty covers general technical support including, but not limited to, general RMA requests, phone support, one-way shipping and handling, but does not include labor specifically associated with the repair or replacement of out-of-warranty parts for which additional service charges will apply."

Miele for instance claims that their white goods are made to last for 20 years, they still only give you 1y warranty (and they rarely last 20y fyi).

LatexRat
Uhm... I'm aware that there are larger enclosure's but getting 3.5" for 2.5" drives (as I suggested SSDs very resonably priced ones) doesn't make any sense. It doesn't matter whether the OS supports power saving or not if the controller doesn't support it and I doubt you'll find any controller doing that running an array or even spinning down for that matter. I would be worried if metal cases would start to degenerate in normal indoor environments. ;-)
 
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Sorry, I didn't realize you were suggesting the 2.5" dock for the boot drives. My focus was on the mass storage portion of the build. When you install Xpenology, you bootstrap from a usb drive but it actually puts the OS on your storage drives..
Regarding power saving on the LSI controllers.. does the LSI SAS2008 not let the OS spin down the drives? The card would be running in IT mode, so I wouldn't think this would be an issue.
Steel cases tend to rust out eventually thanks to high humidity and living next to the ocean (salty air).
 
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