So I recently (a couple months ago) moved my fragmented docker-on-raspberry-pi architecture over to a Proxmox cluster. I’m running it on a pair of HP DL360 G6s, and I couldn’t be happier.

Except, well, I could be happier with just one more thing: high availability.

In particular, I want HA for my OPNsense firewall/router, but eventually for more of the workloads my family are depending on for life in general - Home Assistant, Plex, Overseerr, Immich, etc etc.

My current storage setup is a couple ratty old ARM-based NASes - an ancient Netgear ReadyNAS and an even more ancient Qnap TS-410. They’re both populated with 4 x 4TB (max raw size they can take) using RAID5, so I get about 22TB usable across the pair of them. They mostly store media for my Plex setup, but also support my 2N+C backup strategy for stuff like Immich, Paperless, and other important data.

My high-level plan is to grab another DL360, so I can have a quorum, then introduce a new storage system that:

  • provides an iSCSI target for my Proxmox cluster; and
  • can eventually grow to replace my old NASes.

The two solutions I’m pondering are:

  1. Build a TrueNAS setup from scratch - mini ITX case, board - the lot
  2. Pickup something tried, true and proven in the market, like a Synology

Up front cost is a consideration - I have a family to feed, so I can’t just run out and buy an 8-bay enclosure and fully populate it with 16TB disks.

Whatever I get, I’m likely to want to start with, say, 3 disks and grow it over time.

So, I guess this is a call out to the community to share any and all successes, war stories, and other advice. The more technical, the better. I want to make a sound, data-based decision here, and anecdotes from others who think like me are the best way to set my compass.

Cheers for anything you can offer!

  • tvcvt
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    1 year ago

    One more option to consider would be doing HA with shared ZFS storage. Basically, if you have a zpool on each system with the same name and add it as shared storage, you can set up replication and have HA run off that. It’s a pretty simple setup and you can get by with just a couple extra disks per node rather than a whole separate machine.

    • DeltaTangoLima@reddrefuge.comOP
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      1 year ago

      Ah, interesting. Each node has a couple HDD slots free. I could populate those without introducing them to the hardware RAID set, and use ZFS on them instead? That could definitely be a good place for me to start. Thanks!