[Build Log] 65TB Backup Server Build + Network re-config (lots of pics)


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The main priority of this project is to downsize the number of nodes I'm running on my network from 4 (2 storage, 2 compute) to 3 (1 storage, 2 compute) and basically move my current local backup server to the other side of the site-to-site VPN (more on this later) I have between my house and my parents'.  I will have to upgrade both the pfSense box in my home (Site A) and the pfSense box in my parents' home (Site B).

 

For a quick rundown of my nodes see below:


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The above nodes are acting as follows (bottom to top)

1.  Bulk Storage Array #1 - media storage, VM snapshots, surveillance storage, software/personal data
2.  ESXi02 - Multitude of VM's including Bulk Storage Array #2 (backups up Array #1)
3.  ESXi01 - Main compute host.  Runs media servers and other related services.
4.  FreeNAS - VM shared storage server.

 


The build plan going forward is as follows:

  1. Eliminate FreeNAS server and move flash storage back into ESXi boxes for local datastores
  2. Migrate ESXi02 into the chassis running FreeNAS in order to completely eliminate the current physical chassis running ESXi02.
  3. Move all bulk drives running in ESXi02 and migrate them into a new offsite storage server.
  4. Build new offsite storage server in U-NAS NSC-810a with aforementioned drives from Bulk Array #2
  5. Upgrade pfSense Site A (thinking i3-6100 build) to handle Gigabit VPN
  6. Move hardware in pfSense Site A (c2758) to pfSense Site B.
  7. Upgrade drives in Bulk Array #1 from Seagate 8TB SMR's to WD Gold 10TB drives.


There will be lots of new hardware coming in (some is here, some is on the way) and lots of existing hardware coming out.  Stay tuned for more specifics and pics of each build coming soon :cool:.

Edited by IamSpartacus
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Few items arrived that this weekend.

 

ASRock Rack E3C236D2I

 

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Supermicro | Products | Motherboards | Xeon® Boards | X10SDV-4C-TLN2F

 

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Western Digitial Gold 10TB drives.

 

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Also just got in this Akasa A-ITX17-M1B Fanless chassis.  I have to say it's pretty badass and really well built.  Also got in a Cooljag 1U HSF for my Xeon D-1521 board.

 

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Edited by IamSpartacus
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Added some of these 2.5" SSD Hotswap bays to my 4U iStarUSA Trayless chassis.  This allows me to put my 2 cache drives in theses hot swap bays and free up 2 of the 3.5" trays for data disks.  Not an immediate need but figured while I'm re-configuring things I might as well get these in since I don't like downtime :D.

 

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Right now I'm in the process of copying all my data back to a fresh array of the WD Gold 10TB drives.  Once that is complete, I can start moving the drives in my current backup server into the newly built off-site backup server which I'm going to start building over the next 1-2 days.

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  • 2 weeks later...
So I wound up deciding on using the i3 in my backup NAS and the Xeon D-1521 in pfSense.  The project was delayed by those small missing parts you never think about (I/O shields, power supply extension cable, etc.). 
 
Firewall is now up and running on the Xeon D-1521, the C2758 board is now installed in the Akasa case ready to be deployed at my parent's house, as is the backup NAS which isinstalled with drives and data has been fully replicated.
 
Forgot to take pics of the firewall swap but not much to see there really.  Even though the NSC-810a case is designed for mATX cases, I'm glad I went with Mini-ITX.  It accomplished exactly what I wanted which was give me more room to work with compared to the NSC-800 I used a few years back.  As you can see I'm pretty terrible at cable management so it paid off.
 
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  • 2 weeks later...
4 minutes ago, HellDiverUK said:

Nice stuff, I had one of the U-NAS cases a while back (the 8-bay miniITX version) and it was an exercise in frustration.  In 30 years of building PCs, I've never seen such an annoying case.

 

Yup I had one of the original U-NAS cases and they were way too cramped.  That's why I went with the 810a which fits mATX cases on the top instead of mini-ITX on the side.  I also purposely used a mini-ITX board instead of mATX to give me the room to cable manage.

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Nice builds :D

 

I looked at the s Akasa A-ITX17-M1B Fanless  for a media pc setup but never got round to using it.

 

How to you keep track of disk placement if there was a failure, i have a much much smaller setup and was unplugging drives last week to find a disk with errors. I have now decided to label each drive physically, with the serial and disk position within the array on the back of each disk.

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On 12/15/2017 at 3:22 PM, Greygoose said:

Nice builds :D

 

I looked at the s Akasa A-ITX17-M1B Fanless  for a media pc setup but never got round to using it.

 

How to you keep track of disk placement if there was a failure, i have a much much smaller setup and was unplugging drives last week to find a disk with errors. I have now decided to label each drive physically, with the serial and disk position within the array on the back of each disk.

 

I have very good documentation on all things related to my network.  As a  network administrator you learn the value of documentation the hard way over the years.  But even if I didn't have the disk slots documented it wouldn't take long to simply view the serial number in unRAID and then check each slot.  My main server is trayless so the disks just slide in and out. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

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