Hardware/software configuration help needed

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hakkva
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Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 3:52 am

Hardware/software configuration help needed

Post by hakkva »

I am building a new NAS which will replace my old TS-853A. I just purchased a TVS-H1288X with the following hardware:

80 GB RAM
8 x Seagate Exos 18TB
2 x Samsung 970 Pro NVMI M2.2 1TB SSD
2 x Samsung 870 EVO 2TB SSD (I could potentially buy 2 more if needed)
Sonnet (DUAL) 2 x 10GBE Thunderbolt 3 to Ethernet adapter

What I am trying to achieve is the best performance in read and write. The GBE network can potentially deliver 2000 MB/s read and write, but I am not sure how I can achieve the best possible write performance using the QuTS Hero ZFS system. There seems to be limited capabilities to implement a write cache. If I instead use QTier with two of the SSDs, will I be able to max out the write performance if I allocate the NWME SSD's as the first tier? Then perhaps skip the SATA SSDs and go directly to the SATA EXOS drives? Or should I allocate a 3-tier model, where I have the NVME as a Tier-1, the SATA SSDs as Tier-2 and then the SATA EXOS as Tier-3?

I was thinking of using the NVME SSDs as a Cache, but since ZFS has no write cache, this seems like a slower solution than using them as a Tiered pool? Or am I misunderstanding something? In the OLD QTS, there was a true write cache, but not in ZFS it seems.

My main application where I need speed is video and photo editing. I work with photographs and photoshop files in the gigabyte range. I also do focus stacking of hundreds of images where write performance is important as it created several hundreds of intermediate files during stacking. Today, I cannot use the NAS directly as it is too slow, but I am hoping to get near SSD performance over dual 10GBE through the thunderbolt 3 Sonnet adapter.

I know that once I build my pools and tiers and starts migrate data, I am more or less stuck with my decisions unless a do a backup and complete rebuild. Therefore I want ot hear good advise BEFORE I start configuring the system.
Bob Zelin
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Re: Hardware/software configuration help needed

Post by Bob Zelin »

you are not going to get 2000 MB/sec on a SATA based NAS system - not without all SSD or U.2 NVME or regular NVMe (lots of them) and a 25G or 40G interface.
10G will peak out at 1000 MB/sec (which is fine for even 8K video - RED Raw 8K is 162 MB/sec).

you put your ZFS operating system as storage pool 1 on your SSD's or M.2 drives - up to you.
You make storage pool 2 a thin provisioned 8 drive RAID (raid 5 or RAID 6). You connect with a Sonnet Solo 10G T3, and you will get 800 - 1000 MB/sec.
More than enough to do exactly what you want.
I do this for video editors every day. The TVS-h1288X is great.

there is no Qtier in QuTS.
Bob Zelin
Bob Zelin / Rescue 1, Inc.
http://www.bobzelin.com
hakkva
New here
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2011 3:52 am

Re: Hardware/software configuration help needed

Post by hakkva »

Thanks Bob, very much appreciated! I did not know that QTier was not available on QuTS. That changes my strategy for sure. I plan to go for Raid-6 for the extra redundancy.

Bob Zelin wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 11:25 pm you are not going to get 2000 MB/sec on a SATA based NAS system - not without all SSD or U.2 NVME or regular NVMe (lots of them) and a 25G or 40G interface.
10G will peak out at 1000 MB/sec (which is fine for even 8K video - RED Raw 8K is 162 MB/sec).

you put your ZFS operating system as storage pool 1 on your SSD's or M.2 drives - up to you.
You make storage pool 2 a thin provisioned 8 drive RAID (raid 5 or RAID 6). You connect with a Sonnet Solo 10G T3, and you will get 800 - 1000 MB/sec.
More than enough to do exactly what you want.
I do this for video editors every day. The TVS-h1288X is great.

there is no Qtier in QuTS.
Bob Zelin
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