From 678ad7eb6d9140910df27b098a39ec2ce415886d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: David Stephens Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2019 16:07:55 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] Hardware docs, tweaks elsewhere --- docs/hardware.md | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++ docs/zfs/zfs_configuration.md | 2 ++ docs/zfs/zfs_overview.md | 2 ++ 3 files changed, 25 insertions(+) create mode 100644 docs/hardware.md diff --git a/docs/hardware.md b/docs/hardware.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..54066e11 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/hardware.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +# Hardware + +Ansible-NAS will run against any x64 Ubuntu box (i.e. not a Raspberry Pi or other ARM hardware), or even a VM if you're just testing things out. The hardware you pick for Ansible-NAS depends largely on what you intend to do with your server - and is very much a "how long is a piece of string" type question. + +The [homeserver Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeServer/) has lots of good information. [ServerBuilds.net](https://www.serverbuilds.net/) is also kept up to date with cheap and decent quality builds known as "NAS Killers". + +## Questions To Think About + +1. What will be taxing the CPU(s) on your Ansible-NAS box? Are you intending to transcode video? How many users will be hitting it? + +2. How many applications do you intend to run in parallel? How much memory do these applications require? + +3. Are you going to run the [ZFS](zfs/zfs_overview/) file system? (you should!) + +4. What are you intending to store on your Ansible-NAS? Is it data you can download again, or is it important to you that you don't lose it? Do you need mirrored disks? + +## HP Microserver + +Ansible-NAS development is tested against an HP Microserver N54L, with 16GB of memory, a 60gb SSD for the OS and 4x2TB WD Red NAS drives for storage. It works great :-) + +This is obviously not the only solution but a reasonable one if you just want a single box to buy, and many different models are available on eBay for varying costs. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/docs/zfs/zfs_configuration.md b/docs/zfs/zfs_configuration.md index 8260257f..7f36f2f3 100644 --- a/docs/zfs/zfs_configuration.md +++ b/docs/zfs/zfs_configuration.md @@ -1,3 +1,5 @@ +# ZFS Configuration + This text deals with specific ZFS configuration questions for Ansible-NAS. If you are new to ZFS and are looking for the big picture, please read the [ZFS overview](zfs_overview.md) introduction first. diff --git a/docs/zfs/zfs_overview.md b/docs/zfs/zfs_overview.md index 0bc65672..9bc9b012 100644 --- a/docs/zfs/zfs_overview.md +++ b/docs/zfs/zfs_overview.md @@ -1,3 +1,5 @@ +# ZFS Overview + This is a general overview of the ZFS file system for people who are new to it. If you have some experience and are actually looking for specific information about how to configure ZFS for Ansible-NAS, check out the [ZFS example