Device deployment....

[Dylan]

Two devices, same manufacturer with slight different specs.

1. Aoostar, N100 chip, 32GB RAM, 4x8TB raidz1 (currently deployed as primary media/NAS server)
2. Aoostar, AMD Ryzen 7 5825U, 64GB RAM, 4x18TB raidz2 (likely raidz2, disks inbound)

Would it make better sense to keep the lower N100 model as primary (which is doing just fine) or reverse and deploy the AMD version as primary and use the N100 as just a backup device?

Tagging @Sonic as I know he has the AMD version in use.

Thanks!

 

[ubergeek]

I would let the n100 be a backup for major data and use that powerhouse of a 8525 do the rest

[PsychoWards]

I agree with @ubergeek

Since your AMD version has more storage and more power anyway, it should be your primary NAS and your n100 your backup, else you just have wasted storage on your backup which will never be used and you possibly faster run out of cpu power depending on how crazy you want to go with apps.

Edited Monday at 06:09 AM by PsychoWards

[Sonic]

Hi @Dylan, I would go for the Ryzen 7. Much more CPU power, more memory and 2 M2 SSD slots. I also have a Shuttle DL30N with a N100. I can run a good performing Windows 11 VM on my Aoostar. On my N100 server it works, but performs very slow.

 

The only con I can think of is the transcoding in Plex or Jellyfin. I think the N100 wil perform better.
See 11:26 of this review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct4yewC7mKA

 

[Mobius]

25 minutes ago, Sonic said:

The only con I can think of is the transcoding in Plex or Jellyfin. I think the N100 wil perform better.

since the n100 does have quick sync you are probably right about that.

[Dylan]

9 hours ago, Sonic said:

Hi @Dylan, I would go for the Ryzen 7. Much more CPU power, more memory and 2 M2 SSD slots. I also have a Shuttle DL30N with a N100. I can run a good performing Windows 11 VM on my Aoostar. On my N100 server it works, but performs very slow.

 

The only con I can think of is the transcoding in Plex or Jellyfin. I think the N100 wil perform better.
See 11:26 of this review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct4yewC7mKA

 

That right there is my biggest concern. If I deploy the AMD device and it struggles with transcoding, I'd have to revert back. If I keep the N100 for Plex (and like I mentioned, it is doing that very well) I'd then use the AMD device as a backup to the N100 and for all other NAS stuff.

Maybe I'll do some searching to see if any others have reported transcoding struggles with that specific AMD chipset.

Thanks everyone!!

[Sonic]

Good luck with your search!

Use the AMD device as a backup to the N100 and for all other NAS stuff sounds like a good approach. Your N100 is your Plex media server and the AMD version is your backup / other NAS stuff powerhouse.

[Dylan]

4 hours ago, Sonic said:

Good luck with your search!

Use the AMD device as a backup to the N100 and for all other NAS stuff sounds like a good approach. Your N100 is your Plex media server and the AMD version is your backup / other NAS stuff powerhouse.

Thanks @Sonic, good feedback. I think I'll keep the AMD for all other non-media streaming activities. Now I just need to decide on raidz1 or 2...

[PsychoWards]

RaidZ2, or do you really need those 54TB? If the 36TB are enough then go Z2 🙂 

[Dylan]

1 hour ago, PsychoWards said:

RaidZ2, or do you really need those 54TB? If the 36TB are enough then go Z2 🙂 

Raidz2 is DEF the front runner but 36TB is not what I'll yield in usable space. After formatting call it 35TB minus 20% to keep ZFS write-caching happy and healthy and I'm left with ~28TB of usable storage. Which when measured against my 4x8TB N100 NAS (raidz1) gives me ~17TB of usable capacity using the same -20%.

4x8TB @ $150 per drive (not including a spare) = $600/17TB = ~$35 per TB (raidz1)

4x18TB @ $300 per drive (again, not including a spare) = $1200/28TB = $42 per TB (if in a raidz2)

While I DO love me some redundancy the price per TB rise using raidz2 is what is making me flinch a little.

Don't mind me....I'm just complaining about costs 🙃

[PsychoWards]

I 100% perfectly understand your concerns about price and it is 100% a valid point.

Let's just explain my thought process:

Over 14 years ago (damn time moves fast =/) I was told multiple times that you should never buy the same drive from the same source, because if you do, you are likely getting drives from the same batch and if this batch is faulty or has a higher failure rate, all your drives are concerned or if nothing is wrong with the batch at least they tend to die at a similar time.

If you now have a drive dying on you, you have to rebuild a RaidZ with 18TB drives, which takes a long time and is quite stress intensive for the remaining drives. If another drive is on the edge, the rebuild might kick it over and it might die on you during the rebuild, losing all your data with Z1. With Z2, it would be annoying as hell, but you would not lose your RaidZ2.

Now a couple of things to consider:

If you suspect a drive to go bad before it dies, you can replace it beforehand and spare all the drama.

Also since you have your second NAS, you could just say f*ck it, you have everything important on your BuddyBackup/ZFS Replication on your other NAS, you don't mind if you lose your pool,

If you now say that my scenario is unlikely and only has a rate of 0,005% to happen, that's 1:20000, meaning one poor fellow in this forum will have this happen to them. So yes it is unlikely that it's you, but possible to hit at least 1 person here.

 

So, with your setup both ZRaid types are vaild, if you have price concerns go with Z1 🙂 

[Sonic]

Hi @Dylan, this is always an interesting dilemma. It mainly comes down to how much regret you'll feel if you lose your data, in other words, the cost of losing it. RAID-Z is not a backup; it ensures continuity. @PsychoWards makes some great suggestions. I agree that having two NAS devices in RAIDZ1 with buddy backup/replication gets you a long way, especially when combined with an offline backup.

I also find it challenging to determine the right balance between extra resilience and extra costs for my own setup. I've solved this by categorizing my data. My most important data, such as photos and critical documents, are stored on my Synology NAS (RAID 6), with a daily "offline" backup to the cloud. For the rest, I'm fine with RAIDZ1 and use Proxmox Backup Server for copies. This approach is more focused on getting back up and running quickly if a device fails.

The tricky part is that you only truly know if you’ve set things up properly when disaster strikes.