I have completed the last episode HomeLab Stage XLI: Network Performance several weeks ago and now I got time to write about my next step:
Monster NAS
I have configured in the past my own custom NAS, replaced it years later with an original Synology Rackstation. This system was equipped with 4 x 1TB SATA SSDs and Dual 1GbE. I wanted / needed more performance and more Capacity inside my NAS. The NAS is backed-up using my Stage XXXIX: Cohesity Cluster solution. The new NAS system should have more Capacity and of course more power. Why not again creating a custom NAS?
IBM x3550M3 with Xpenology
I have an older IBM x3550M3 running as a standalone vSAN host with special FTT=0 policy, why not reuse that machine?
The server is equipped with 2 socket quad core and 48GB RAM. Why not replace the CPUs with with a low power version?
The Xpenology software image is based on a Diskstation DS3617. After checking the technical specs I found out, that it runs on a quad core CPU with maximum support of 48GB RAM. Perfect match!!!!
I replaced the 2 sockets quad core of the original system with one low power version of the Intel Xeon Quad Core.
I wanted more Capacity than in the old NAS system (4 x 1TB SATA SSD) so I took some of my existing SAS Enterprise SSDs….
I configured the system with an older SAS 6G controller which is “supported” with the Xpenology version. The SAS controller is running in JBOD mode, to map the SSDs directly within Xpenology. I choosed Raid 6 for the volume. File System Type is BTRFS. Usable capacity is 10TB.
The Synology DS3617 system has 12 available SSD/HDD slots, that is why I can see 4 empty slots:
From a storage view, I have a high performance system, but what the main resource bottleneck inside a NAS? The network!
I have placed a dual port 40 GbE NIC inside the system and configured a bond (LACP) to my Dell S6000 with Jumbo Frames. Should be enough performance…. 🙂
This Monster NAS is my backup target for:
VC / VCremote, NSX, OMIVV, ISO Images and normal daily doing stuff….
To reduce the noise from my datacenters, I replaced the 8 x default 40mm fans which rotates with 12.000rpm with 6 x low noise Noctua fans. The challenge was to remove any error message from the IPMI (IBM RSA/IMM). I soldered the rpm check cable of one fan to an Y cable and attached that to the other non existing fan. Voila, the IMM has no more erros…..
Copying a file from my MacPro Workstation which is connected via 10GbE to my new Monster NAS is fun. What would be possible if my workstation had 40GbE????? Hmm…. To be continued
Stay tuned for the next episode of my HomeLab journey……
And here it is: Stage XLIII: Operation SSL
#HomeLabKing