Hello,

 

I will list specs first of all :

 

Asus x99 mobo

i5-somethig-something-k proc

~40 gb ddr4 2100 mhz

9300-16i HBA

2x 1gbe nic ports

1x 10gbe nic port (old mellanox connext-2 card)

Quadro P2000 - transcoding gimmick

 

Main array

2x 4TB IronWolf Pros (for parity)

4x 4TB IronWolf Pros (for capacity)

1x 128gb nvme (appsdata)

2x 512gb m2 sata SSDs (like general purpose cache)

 

Like so many others the main purpose of the box is to store my vast collection of midget corn (aka it runs PLEX cause i`m a couch potato and i enjoy watching TV shows everynight before i zzzZZzzZZzz).

2nd Purpose would be to run light docker apps, like a torrent to download the corn, an app here and there basically.

 

Recently i got myself hands on 2x 5.25" 6slot -2,5" SSD cages (intention would be to have slots populated by 1tb sata SSDs) for way cheap and i was hmm why don't i incorporate these into box and also have a SATA SSD pool of sorts to serve as a datastore for some ESXI hosts in have in my homelab.

 

Doing some reseach i obviously found out i can't incorporate in main array so my only option would be to have a BTRFS pool.

 

This led to some questions in ma head as im not all that familiar with FSs in general :

 

1) Has BTRFS gotten any better at some form of raid 5 or 6 ? By all accounts from what info i found while its capable of doing it ... its rather unstable ?

*** I will not be keeping any sort of mission critical data on these drives however i'd still want raid 5 or 6 for peace of mind as if something fails i would want a way to recover my handfull of VMs that i run on the esxi hosts.

 

2) By having fs as bTRFS are there any known issues creating and sharing a NFS share ?

*** Plan is to create a NFS share (or 2) and present them to the esxi hosts as LAN datastores?

 

3) The HDDs on the array are on the HBA thus ocupying 6 links leaving me with exactly 10 to feed into these SSD cages. Would there be problems having them all on the HBA ? Bonus que : what if i do 6ssds on the HBA and 6 SSDs on the onboard sata ports ? Should i perhaps stick to using 1 cage ?

 

And last que : Should i just build another box ? I already have some older parts that should work fine ... like a old i7-4790, a mobo to match, 32gb DDR3, a PSU another mellanox 10g card ? Perhaps build it and use the other popular NAS OS that shalt not be named to experience literally best of both worlds ?

 

*** Before deciding to go with Unraid for initial build i did try out the OS that shalt not be named first, i simply liked unraid better but for reasons i can't explain right now i am feeling a bit cheap & stingy at buying that 2nd Unraid license.

 

Can any OG Unraid peeps share their 2cents on the above ?

 

PS - I trully don't wanna sound like a d1ck but if you gonna reply to this thread to please form a reply that is longer than 1 sentence ? I trully opened this thread to have an inteligent convo with people smarted than me in Unraid and i am fully open to constructive criticism in regards to my choices in hardware and how i tied them in to each other

review:

 

 

Overall Setup Suggestions:

SSD Pool for Datastore:

Use the 2x 5.25" SSD cages for a dedicated SSD pool with BTRFS. Use RAID 5 or 6 for redundancy, but test performance and monitor reliability.

Create separate pools or sub-volumes for different NFS shares (e.g., one for VM storage, one for backups).

Network Setup:

Use the 10GbE NIC for ESXi datastore traffic to maximize performance.

Dedicate the 1GbE NICs for Unraid management and other services to avoid contention.

Backup Strategy:

Back up VMs regularly, especially if relying on BTRFS RAID 5/6.

Leverage Unraid's plugin ecosystem (e.g., CA Backup/Restore) for automated backups.

 

Should You Buy Another Unraid License?

Pro Unraid License: Stick to Unraid if you enjoy its simplicity and features.

Alternate NAS OS: Try the other OS if you want a more robust virtualization environment. However, if Unraid meets your needs, the cost of a second license may be justifiable compared to the time and effort of managing a new environment.
 

Final Thoughts:

Your hardware setup is solid, and your plans for expanding with SSD cages are logical.

If redundancy and stability are critical for your ESXi datastore, consider RAID 10 over RAID 5/6.

Stick with Unraid for simplicity unless specific workloads demand a secondary system.

Other info:

 

1. BTRFS and RAID 5/6 Stability

Current Status: BTRFS RAID 5/6 is functional but still considered experimental for mission-critical setups. Improvements have been made, but issues like write hole problems (data inconsistencies during power loss) remain unresolved in some cases.

Recommendation:

Since the data isn't mission-critical, you could proceed with BTRFS RAID 5/6 for the SSD pool, especially as a datastore for your ESXi VMs. However, ensure regular backups of your VMs and configurations.

If you want stability over flexibility, consider using RAID 10 with BTRFS, which offers better performance and redundancy.

 

2. NFS Sharing with BTRFS

Compatibility: NFS works seamlessly with BTRFS pools in Unraid. You can create and share NFS mounts without significant issues.

Recommendation:

Configure the pool, create shares through the Unraid UI, and ensure proper permissions for ESXi hosts.

Test the performance of the NFS shares before fully deploying them to identify potential bottlenecks.

 

3. Using HBA and Onboard SATA Ports

Mixing Drives: It's perfectly fine to mix HBA and onboard SATA ports for your SSD cages. Both Unraid and BTRFS handle mixed controller setups without issues.

Performance Consideration:

HBAs generally handle multiple drives better than onboard controllers due to optimized bandwidth and caching mechanisms.

Ensure the onboard SATA ports support AHCI mode and modern features like TRIM for SSDs.

Recommendation:

Populate the SSD cages evenly across the HBA and onboard SATA ports to balance load and avoid overloading the HBA.

 

4. Should You Build Another Box?

Advantages of a Second Box:

Dedicated environments for specific workloads (e.g., Unraid for media and storage, other NAS OS for datastores).

Potentially better performance for your VMs, as the secondary box wouldn't share resources with Plex or Unraid Docker containers.

Considerations:

A secondary box increases power usage, hardware management, and complexity.

If cost is a concern, stick with a single Unraid setup and expand its capabilities with plugins or containers like Proxmox for virtualization.

Hardware Choices Feedback:

HBA (9300-16i):

Great choice for connecting multiple drives. Ensure it’s flashed to IT mode for optimal compatibility with Unraid.

Mellanox ConnectX-2 Card:

While older, it works well for 10GbE. Test network settings (e.g., MTU size) to ensure smooth NFS performance.

Quadro P2000:

Ideal for Plex transcoding. Ensure you’ve set up the Nvidia driver plugin in Unraid to unlock its full potential.

Hello,

 

Apologies, i was away on holiday and forgot to check up on this

Thank you so very much for this comprehensive explanation ❤️ its exactly what i was looking for

 

For the moment i inserted just 1x of the 5.25 SSD cage in and populated it with 6x960gb sata Seagate Baraccuda drives.

Cage was hooked up to HBA and all drives were detected fine :).

 

For the moment i might just stick with this, see how it acts out.

 

But question for you or anyone else ...

 

I have an old Unraid Plus license. I know they switched up the licensing a bit ... as far as i remember this covers 6 drives in the array ? but does not cover the rest ?

What would be the next tier to go to Unleashed ? with the sale that is going on i see the upgrade would be roughly 15$ i think ? id be willing to pay that.

 

30 minutes ago, Animosity said:

I have an old Unraid Plus license. I know they switched up the licensing a bit ... as far as i remember this covers 6 drives in the array ? but does not cover the rest ?

What would be the next tier to go to Unleashed ? with the sale that is going on i see the upgrade would be roughly 15$ i think ? id be willing to pay that.

I think the Plus allowed for 12 drives rather than 6 in the the system so maybe you are OK with the current licence?  Since you have a legacy licence if you need more than that you also have the option to upgrade to Pro (which comes with a Lifetime licence).  Costs a bit more upfront but then no annual fee for future upgrades.

yeah its 12, did a bit more digging, but with the fact that i have 1x small nvme to store the apps, and 2x small SSDs to serve as a cache for the array i`m up to 15 drives in the box.

 

Imma be going for the unleashed upgrade (correct me if im wrong but that is unlimited drives no ?)

25 minutes ago, Animosity said:

Imma be going for the unleashed upgrade (correct me if im wrong but that is unlimited drives no ?)

 

Yes, but then charges after a year to get Unraid upgrades (whereas Pro has no re-occurring charges for upgrades).  Unleashed could still be the way you prefer to go but I thought it was worth mentioning the other option. 

 

I think from a Limetech perspective they prefer regular small annual charges rather than a lump sum up front as it becomes a more dependable revenue stream which is why the new licence scheme was introduced.

i will prolly go for the pro at one point or another, but for now imma get the cheaper upgrade .We have a sayin` in my country which roughly translates to "Too many days left of month and not enough salary"

1 hour ago, Animosity said:

i will prolly go for the pro at one point or another, but for now imma get the cheaper upgrade .We have a sayin` in my country which roughly translates to "Too many days left of month and not enough salary"

Once you switch to Unleashed I am not sure that you can then later go to Pro.