XigmaNAS

Hello,

My Nas4Free Build is:

Motherboard: GigaByte GA-G41MT-S2PT (1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16, 1 x PCI Express x1 slot, 2 x PCI slots, 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors)
Processor: Intel Pentium D CPU 2.80GHz
Ram: 2GB Kingston DDR3 @ 1333Mhz
Storage: 2X1TB WD and 1X2TB WD
Power Supply: CoolerMaster 430W
Casing: Open front, open side, old casing ripped apart.
Network: Giga ethernet throughout.
Services I am using is:
Samba, NFS, SSH,Dynamic DNS and have also install deluge torrent server.

File System: for all drives is, UFS.

Nas4Free Version: FreeBSD 9.1-RELEASE-p5 (kern.osreldate: 901000)


Now I thinking of expanding its storage capabilities, now when I started off with my build I did the stupidity of buying green drives, and they are running on Sata1, now I plan on buying WD 2TB SATA3 one at a time, but seeing that my motherboard only supports maximum SATA2, I was thinking of buying a storage controller, with SATA3 Support, with >=4 SATA3 Ports. and I can use any of these slots (1 x PCI Express x16 slot, 1 x PCI Express x1 slot, 2 x PCI slots). now I need your help, to find me good storage controller, I do not need RAID support and all. Just a simple Storage Controller with SATA3 Support and >= 4 Ports.

and I thinking of Making the shift to ZFS that would require More Ram and Better Processor right ? or Should I just give up on this rig and by AMD Apu and motherboard with 8 ports of SATA3 board ?

Thanks
Kazi Murtaza

Hmmm, as for me for home users not differences between SATA2 and SATA3.
Speed ?? Haha, 6Gb/s or 3Gb/s is speed from host to disk buffer. Speed from host to disk considerably less, ~50-120 MB/s

I use and recommend : http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

But I say same as Alexey123 you do not notice any speed improvemens.

kazimurtaza wrote:and I thinking of Making the shift to ZFS that would require More Ram and Better Processor right ? or Should I just give up on this rig and by AMD Apu and motherboard with 8 ports of SATA3 board ?

Your spec are right to have a decent Home NAS, ZFS works fine whit only 2GB if you do not use advanced features like dedupe, (Works a slighty better if you have 4GB), but the recommendation of have 1GB of RAM per 1TB of data is only necessary if you use dedupe.

So my suggest is: Try ZFS your data are more secure, and test speed, having disk in ZFS mirror and create a pool of mirros is a good way to have a grow system and a speedy system.

alexey123 wrote:Hmmm, as for me for home users not differences between SATA2 and SATA3.
Speed ?? Haha, 6Gb/s or 3Gb/s is speed from host to disk buffer. Speed from host to disk considerably less, ~50-120 MB/s

I have multiple 2 HTPC's for Full HD movies, and various system using that system for storage purposes, I don't want to bottleneck anything .. and I would like to invest only once.

raulfg3 wrote:I use and recommend : http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

LSI SAS 9211-8i 8-Port 6Gb/s SAS/SATA PCI-e RAID Controller, seems like a perfect option, but isn't there something else, equal in performance but cheaper in price ?

raulfg3 wrote: But I say same as Alexey123 you do not notice any speed improvemens.

kazimurtaza wrote:and I thinking of Making the shift to ZFS that would require More Ram and Better Processor right ? or Should I just give up on this rig and by AMD Apu and motherboard with 8 ports of SATA3 board ?

Your spec are right to have a decent Home NAS, ZFS works fine whit only 2GB if you do not use advanced features like dedupe, (Works a slighty better if you have 4GB), but the recommendation of have 1GB of RAM per 1TB of data is only necessary if you use dedupe.

So my suggest is: Try ZFS your data are more secure, and test speed, having disk in ZFS mirror and create a pool of mirros is a good way to have a grow system and a speedy system.

no I am not using anything like dedupe, so Ill switch to ZFS with new WD RED drives and add one another ram just to be sure.

Old post but totally true: http://constantin.glez.de/blog/2010/01/ ... still-best

Mirrors improve your read speed.

kazimurtaza wrote:I have multiple 2 HTPC's for Full HD movies, and various system using that system for storage purposes, I don't want to bottleneck anything .. and I would like to invest only once.

You must do as you want. But read it first http://www.buildcomputers.net/hard-disk-speed.html "SATA 3 Hard Disk Drives = Faster than SATA 2 Drives - False"
Your network (usually 1GB/s, really less, I tested maximum speed 102MB/s, it give to see 3 films per time, 2 per TV and 1 per PC ) will slower then SATA2.

kazimurtaza wrote:

raulfg3 wrote:I use and recommend : http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

LSI SAS 9211-8i 8-Port 6Gb/s SAS/SATA PCI-e RAID Controller, seems like a perfect option, but isn't there something else, equal in performance but cheaper in price ?

raulfg3 wrote:

I recently purchased this: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=ls ... r&_sacat=0
Sata2 (does not matter, trust me) but limited to 2tb disks (for me no problem)

Unless you purchase fast SSD drives, the spinning platters are your limitation, not SATA2. Spend that money elsewhere.