![]() The key thing to remember here is the ZIL always exists in memory. Some workflows generate very little traffic that would benefit from a dedicated ZIL, others use synchronous writes exclusively and, for all practical purposes, require a dedicated ZIL device. This is essentially the cache for synchronous writes. ZIL Devices: ZFS can use dedicated devices for its ZIL (ZFS intent log). Joshua Paetzel, iXsystems Senior Engineer, explains the two cache system best. SSD cache increases I/O throughput to match host processing capabilities.įreeNAS gives users the ability to accelerate two specific areas with SSDs: ZIL and L2ARC. In fact, performance is so good now that multiple high-I/O applications can run on the same system. ![]() Processing performance is up significantly while prices are down. Over the last year, SSD cache has gained popularity in low-cost NAS systems used for virtual machine storage and databases. The operating system resides on a dedicated SATA DOM. Two internal 2.5″ drive bays hold ZIL and L2ARC cache drives, but these are add-on options. iXsystems uses Western Digital Red products for the FreeNAS Mini family. iXsystems also offers the system with dual-port 10GbE as an upgrade option.įour external, hot swap HDD drive sleds hold your storage disks. The system also has an out-of-bandwidth dedicated management port (IPMI) for console access and motherboard configuration changes. If your network is compatible, 802.11ad is supported, as well as other configurations like round-robin. Two Intel gigabit Ethernet ports on the back of the system let you run the storage server on two independent networks or together in a teamed configuration. Since the FreeNAS operating system utilizes the DRAM as a cache for in-flight data, you’ll want to stick with ECC memory to protect that information from corruption. The efficient processor works in conjunction with a minimum of 16GB of ECC DDR3 DRAM. The FreeNAS Mini uses components chosen for stability, performance and reliability, including eight-core Intel Avoton processor that only consumes 17 watts. With so many using the software on home-built machines, iXsystems saw the opportunity to leverage its experience in a low-cost volume server. iXsystems took over development several years ago and continues to develop it today. Since the software is free and works with a wide range of PC hardware, a great many storage enthusiasts have opened it up, modded it and contributed to the project. ![]() Anyone can download the software, burn it to a disc and install it on a system. ![]() ![]() The FreeNAS operating system is open source that’s where the free portion comes from. It also sells a number of preconfigured systems, the type you see in datacenter pictures with lots of drive bays that light up like a runway. The company specializes in custom builds with a large number of options available, from 1U single-core configurations to 4U eight-node systems. Most of iXsystems’ products are traditional rackmount storage servers. iXsystems, a seasoned server and open source storage builder, continues to develop the software, making improvements to performance, reliability and ease of use. FreeNAS, a storage-specific operating system derived from FreeBSD, is a timeless classic that gets better with age. There is a good chance the data on your computer was downloaded from a FreeNAS-based server at some point. IXsystems' FreeNAS Mini incorporates enterprise features, an advanced file system and a flash cache to deliver superior performance in its price range. ![]()
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