Hardware & Storage Requirements/Compatibility FAQ

[Racer X]

On 2/4/2025 at 6:57 PM, jdgurr said:

I see it says that you can setup for a minimum of 2 drives (though not expandable) so long as they are a "similar size".  I had a 12TB and a 16TB drive and it wouldn't allow me to create a pool.  I decided to grab another 12TB drive thinking this might help solve the issue and so I could start out with an expandable pool right off the bat.  When I installed the third drive however, it only set the pool with the 2-12TB drives.  Does having one drive +33% exceed the rule of "similar size"?  Is there an approximate percentage the drive needs to be within as opposed to examples in GBs?

I bought the 16TB while it was on sale thinking the 12TB was close enough and it was on sale at the time making it appealing for 1 of the drives with an eye towards eventual upgrades on the smaller drive(s).  I would be fine with the 16TB drive being used temporarily at 12TB which is what I though I understood would be the case.

Are you using a DIY or pre-built NAS? If prebuilt which mode l/ manufacture?

[Racer X]

On 2/4/2025 at 8:38 PM, Mobius said:

Hexos actually hasn't given me any issues with my mismatched drives

I have a pool of 2 16s and 3 14s

Which NAS do you have?

[Mobius]

6 hours ago, Racer X said:

Which NAS do you have?

Custom built nas.
intel core ultra 265k + asus prime matx motherboard (i would not recommend this motherboard)

[Hagdah]

Is there a recommended amount of RAM? I've tried looking, and the only numbers I see are minimum reqs.

[Mobius]

Just now, Hagdah said:

Is there a recommended amount of RAM? I've tried looking, and the only numbers I see are minimum reqs.

More RAM is always better but we tend to recommend 1gb RAM per Tb of storage.

[Hagdah]

New rule of thumb! I like rules of thumb!
Thanks!

[Zeldatrek]

On 2/24/2025 at 12:18 AM, Mobius said:

More RAM is always better but we tend to recommend 1gb RAM per Tb of storage.

Does hexos have support for dual channel memory?  Have 16g kit and only recognized 8g.

 

 

[Dylan]

Heya @Zeldatrek - Dual channel is supported; can you log into your BIOS and confirm all is reported? If so, what about booting to a live linux ISO and see what is reported there. Please report back and let us know!

[dumbgreek]

Has anyone tried to install this on an older intel Mac mini or trash can Mac Pro?  I have both that were set to be recycled and was thinking of turning one of them into a host and connect a Sabrent 4bay hard drive docking station for storage. 

[Mobius]

56 minutes ago, dumbgreek said:

Has anyone tried to install this on an older intel Mac mini or trash can Mac Pro?  I have both that were set to be recycled and was thinking of turning one of them into a host and connect a Sabrent 4bay hard drive docking station for storage. 

i dunno of anyone that has but hexos most likely will install just fine onto either or.
That said we do not recommend using external storage such as the sabrent 4 bay you mentioned.
Many of these external multi bay docks also can have issues with truenas/hexos where the operating system will only properly detect 1 drive.

[ubergeek]

On 3/23/2025 at 6:38 PM, dumbgreek said:

Has anyone tried to install this on an older intel Mac mini or trash can Mac Pro?  I have both that were set to be recycled and was thinking of turning one of them into a host and connect a Sabrent 4bay hard drive docking station for storage. 

i have one that i need to pick up and i thought about trying it on this hardware

[dumbgreek]

On 3/23/2025 at 8:37 PM, Mobius said:

i dunno of anyone that has but hexos most likely will install just fine onto either or.
That said we do not recommend using external storage such as the sabrent 4 bay you mentioned.
Many of these external multi bay docks also can have issues with truenas/hexos where the operating system will only properly detect 1 drive.

Thanks for the heads up on the dock, I'll look for an alternate solution.

[Mindless999]

I read a lot for a DIY HexOS, (mainly because of ZFS) ECC memory is highly recommended. Is this something that might need to be added in this list as well? Including maybe also the possible outcomes if you didn't do it, and most likely scenarios that it might have issues?

I am looking into a DIY myself, and still am not sure what CPU/Motherboard/RAM combination to take, because most ECC combinations are really hard to find.

[Mobius]

39 minutes ago, Mindless999 said:

I read a lot for a DIY HexOS, (mainly because of ZFS) ECC memory is highly recommended. Is this something that might need to be added in this list as well? Including maybe also the possible outcomes if you didn't do it, and most likely scenarios that it might have issues?

I am looking into a DIY myself, and still am not sure what CPU/Motherboard/RAM combination to take, because most ECC combinations are really hard to find.

I personally think ecc isn't the biggest deal for homelabs.

Easiest way to get ecc support is with modern ryzen. (I forget if older ryzen supports it)

 

[Mindless999]

8 hours ago, Mobius said:

I personally think ecc isn't the biggest deal for homelabs.

Easiest way to get ecc support is with modern ryzen. (I forget if older ryzen supports it)

 

Thanks for mentioning it, but what I read is that you need to have specifically a Ryzen Pro, and not the normal Ryzen processor. Intel does have the feature on most of their 12th gen and newer, but finding a capable motherboard is hard for that.

It might also just be me unable to find the correct stuff, but also for a home lab, I will have data stored on there which I don't want to lose, but paying for 100TB+ on online / offsite backup is kinda expensive. So my main concern for this is: do I really need ECC, can I go without, and what would be the possible issues for non ecc memory, and how can I reduce the issues with it. Just having in the FAQ a small topic about ECC: why would you want it, and what are the risks if you don't I think is an added value for the people doing a DIY setup.

[Mobius]

2 hours ago, Mindless999 said:

Thanks for mentioning it, but what I read is that you need to have specifically a Ryzen Pro

I'm pretty sure this is incorrect please refer to this thread on reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeServer/comments/18znvaa/ryzen_cpus_support_ecc_memory/

2 hours ago, Mindless999 said:

finding a capable motherboard is hard

yup it is, you can refer to pcpartpicker and use it's ecc toggle to narrow down ecc compatible gear but you will more than likely have to find the motherboard 2nd hand

2 hours ago, Mindless999 said:

do I really need ECC, can I go without, and what would be the possible issues for non ecc memory, and how can I reduce the issues with i

as with everything its a cost vs safety preference on your end. Its kinda like asking do i need raid 6 or is raid 5 good enough. I might think raid 5 is good enough but you might think raid 6 is a must for safety.
However for more in depth info to help you decide if you need ecc feel free to refer to this following post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/truenas/comments/10sr1zv/comment/j7394el/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

 

[Mindless999]

4 hours ago, Mobius said:

as with everything its a cost vs safety preference on your end. Its kinda like asking do i need raid 6 or is raid 5 good enough. I might think raid 5 is good enough but you might think raid 6 is a must for safety.
However for more in depth info to help you decide if you need ecc feel free to refer to this following post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/truenas/comments/10sr1zv/comment/j7394el/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

 

Thanks for this article, it has been an eye opener for the ECC memory, Especially reading a follow up which is on that thread: https://jrs-s.net/2015/02/03/will-zfs-and-non-ecc-ram-kill-your-data/.

So what I understand here is: ECC will *help* keep your data safe, and ZFS is already keeping your data safer then any other filesystem, by default. If you had an error in RAM due to broken RAM it would have broken any data on a disk, no matter what FS you're using.

In summary: 
Using non ECC RAM is not bad
Using ECC RAM is better, but it's better overall, it's not ZFS that makes it a requirement.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. 

Thanks again for the explanation/pointers to the correct information.

[Dylan]

@Mindless999

Quote

So what I understand here is: ECC will *help* keep your data safe, and ZFS is already keeping your data safer then any other filesystem, by default. If you had an error in RAM due to broken RAM it would have broken any data on a disk, no matter what FS you're using.

In summary: 
Using non ECC RAM is not bad
Using ECC RAM is better, but it's better overall, it's not ZFS that makes it a requirement.
Please correct me if I'm wrong. 

Correct.