Specs for a dedicated FreeBSD Server

A

atwinix

Hello All,

I am embarking on a new academic adventure and I want to setup FreeBSD to act as my Backup server for the next 4+ years. But since I have space for only one server in my room, I decided to set it up as a general server which should do the following.

Primary Function
- backup server (academic)
- svn repository
- vpn server for remote access (remote backups)
- FTP

Secondary Functions
- backups for non-academic stuff
- samba/web/email
- media streaming
- VoIP Server (Australia has started embracing IP telephony, which could result in more savings if I switch from conventional phone services).

I am thinking of using ZFS for its snapshot capabilities.

To this purpose, I am planning to invest in new hardware which meets my budget.

Hence, the following specs:

- 2TB Drive (for Academic uses, to be upgraded or expanded later -- using ZFS)
- 2TB Drive (for other stuff, different array -- possible expansion as well)

- 4GB CF Card to hold FreeBSD system (isolated from main drives)
- MSI 785GM-P45 Mainboard
- AMD Athlon II X2 255
- 2GB DDR3 RAM

- 450W PSU (Possibly Antec/Corsair)
- Antec 300 Case (but not sure)

I would be very grateful if I could have some recommendations. Feel free to recommend other hardware parts. The ones listed here are for my planned budget, but I could make changes - I need the server for the next 4 years after-all! :)

Thanks,

atwinix
 
I would seriously consider a Raidz2 pool consisting of 4 or 5 disks for my data. Nothing else in that pool. A mirror can hold the OS and provide room for your other services.
Also, consider 4GB of RAM as a starting point. Buy 2X2GBs modules and make sure that the board can go up to 8.
A word of friendly advice. When you buy disks for your Data pool, consider buying a spare as well. It might sound an overkill but it isn't.
 
I'd recommend having a look at the HP ProLiant MicroServer.

It's a low-cost server system with a low-power Athlon II Neo dual-core CPU (AMD's equivalent of the Intel Atom) and four swappable hard disk bays.

I recently bought one of these for £180 and added 8GB RAM and four 2TB disks. I'm running FreeBSD from a USB flash drive plugged directly into an internal USB port on the motherboard and have the four disks configured as a raidz1.

In the UK they're currently on promotion, costing £240 with a £100 cash-back deal. I don't know about other territories though.

Here's the dmesg and other info.
 
gkontos said:
I would seriously consider a Raidz2 pool consisting of 4 or 5 disks for my data. Nothing else in that pool. A mirror can hold the OS and provide room for your other services.
Also, consider 4GB of RAM as a starting point. Buy 2X2GBs modules and make sure that the board can go up to 8.
A word of friendly advice. When you buy disks for your Data pool, consider buying a spare as well. It might sound an overkill but it isn't.
Click to expand...

Yes, I am planning to use RAIDZ2 in the long run but with my current budget, I am only able to invest in 2 x 2TB drives. I believe you need more than 3 drives to setup a RAIDZ2 pool. So, eventually I would upgrade as I go.

jem said:
I'd recommend having a look at the HP ProLiant MicroServer.

It's a low-cost server system with a low-power Athlon II Neo dual-core CPU (AMD's equivalent of the Intel Atom) and four swappable hard disk bays.

I recently bought one of these for £180 and added 8GB RAM and four 2TB disks. I'm running FreeBSD from a USB flash drive plugged directly into an internal USB port on the motherboard and have the four disks configured as a raidz1.

In the UK they're currently on promotion, costing £240 with a £100 cash-back deal. I don't know about other territories though.

Here's the dmesg and other info.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up about this product. I am quite interested in it. Will see if it meets my demands, especially regarding future upgrades.
 
It might be better to buy more drives, e.g. 4x 1 TB and use raidz. Downside is that this will cost more. Creating a pool from a single HDD is a bit risky (I've lost all my data in such a setup).
 
@atwinix,

If you intend to use this as backup server then you should seriously consider at least to mirror your data. For a RaidZ2 you need at least 3 disks same as with Raidz1. For a mirror 2 disks are enough. Don't forget about the spare.
 
Right, noted. So, I believe the best thing to do then is to change to specs to 4 x 1TB drives for RAIDZ2 (instead of 2 x 2TB). Thanks dennylin93 and gkontos.
 
If you're thinking of using raidz2 over four disks, thus losing 50% of your disk space, you could also set up a 2x mirrored-vdev pool. The disk space loss would be the same, but you'd have better i/o performance:

Code: 
  pool: pool0
 state: ONLINE
 scrub: none requested
config:

        NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
        pool0       ONLINE       0     0     0
          mirror    ONLINE       0     0     0
            ada0    ONLINE       0     0     0
            ada1    ONLINE       0     0     0
          mirror    ONLINE       0     0     0
            ada2    ONLINE       0     0     0
            ada3    ONLINE       0     0     0

errors: No known data errors

This would give you slightly less flexibility in terms of which disks can fail. With raidz2, any two disks can fail and your data is intact. With the double-mirror vdev config, two disk failures will result in data loss if they're in the same vdev.
 
I wouldn't even bother with less than 8 GB of RAM. If you're running ZFS, it will be used I assure you. On my little home server with 8 GB of RAM I have only 433 MB free, and it does a lot less than what your server will be doing. Price jump from 4 to 8 GB of RAM is negligible IMHO.

If you use raidz1, use an odd number of drives (3, 5, 7). If you use raidz2, use an even number (4, 6, 8). This is optimal for 4k drives, which is probably what you'll end up with.


gkontos said:
For a RaidZ2 you need at least 3 disks
Click to expand...
Don't you mean 4 disks?
 
Thank you all for your most valued inputs. I now have a better idea of how to plan my server. I shall be budgeting for the new changes and hopefully have everything up and running in the weeks to come.

Cheers,
atwinix
 
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