FreeNAS setup help please

Hardware Hub Networking
1

Hey everyone,

Built a FreeNAS system quick specs, i7 920, 12gb ram, 8gb usb with FreeNAS on it, intel dual gigabit nic, 4 x 3tb WD reds, I attempted to run a RAIDZ array with the 4 WD red drives, but when copying files to it, the speeds start off at around 100MB/s than after 2mins has decaded to 20MB/s than eventually I get an error saying lost connection to the NAS but I haven't lost the connection so is this a cause of lack or RAM? Would upgrading it to 18gb ram fix this issue and provide better speeds?

Thanks for any help

2

Well RAM is traditionally run in 2^Nth power, if I remember correctly. I.E: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc....
but I do not think adding more ram will fix it. You may want to take a look at your log files, there might be some info on the error there.

Also, keep in mind Raid Z drive setups are usually odd numbers.

.....

For better performance, a mirror is strongly favored over any RAIDZ, particularly for large, uncacheable, random read loads.

When determining how many disks to use in a RAIDZ, the following configurations provide optimal performance. Array sizes beyond 12 disks are not recommended.

  • Start a RAIDZ1 at at 3, 5, or 9, disks.
  • Start a RAIDZ2 at 4, 6, or 10 disks.
  • Start a RAIDZ3 at 5, 7, or 11 disks.

.....

http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Hardware_Recommendations