Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:51:05 -0500 From: Mike Tancsa <mike@sentex.net> To: Andy Wodfer <wodfer@gmail.com> Cc: freebsd-questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: FreeBSD and large harddrives Message-ID: <4CE52F49.4010602@sentex.net> In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimh50XGrXraNzBCeY9mZj3wsWPG=RRkRiF_fRf=@mail.gmail.com> References: <AANLkTimh50XGrXraNzBCeY9mZj3wsWPG=RRkRiF_fRf=@mail.gmail.com>
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On 11/18/2010 7:16 AM, Andy Wodfer wrote: > Hi, > I'm going to build a server that's intended to store uncompressed videofiles > (where 1 hour film equals about 500GB). I plan on using Western Digital 2TB > or 3TB SATA harddrives. Total storage in version 1 of this server will > probably be 8-12 TB. Harddrive speed is not so important so a 5400rpm drive > would be OK. Seems like the green line of WD harddrives use both 5400rpm and > 7200rpm. I will use RAID 5. I would stay away from the green series hard drives for this application. There have been a number of reports of issues with the drive's power saving design causing problems when used in raid arrays. Search the list for more details. Use their black series instead. > > The processor will be a 64bit capable Intel processor and I plan on using a > Highpoint Rocketraid or 3ware Raid controller. I would use FreeBSD 8.2 ( a contemporary RELENG_8 snapshot in other words) that is AMD64. eg ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/snapshots/201011/FreeBSD-8.1-STABLE-201011-amd64-dvd1.iso Use ZFS for the file system. Snapshots for backup and data integrity. 3Wares are great controllers, but a decent MB with 6 SATA ports and then an additional eSata controller with external drive cage like this one. http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/adsa3gpx8-4e.asp see the man page for ahci on what is supported. Booting off zfs is a bit tricky. If you already have the 3ware card, a pair of smaller / cheaper drives for the base OS and then all your zfs drives for data storage is the least painful way to go right now. I do this for my backup server. 10TB of storage, but the box boots off a 3ware raid card in raid1 mirror for the base OS. ZFS is a bit of a different beast at first, but its very worth while to get to know and understand. ---Mike
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