Hi,
My new server is pretty much rolled out now, so I am looking to make use of the current server in a backup role.
The new server is a home build on a workstation platform (Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE WIFI with a Threadripper PRO 5975WX). It is running Proxmox with a TrueNAS VM for storage and a Windows Server VM for AD, Solidworks PDM, etc.
The TrueNAS storage has more important files on an SSD ZFS (with snapshots) and then replication of that onto a larger HDD ZFS which holds less important things (this also has snapshots) - the the repurpose for the Dell is more to have a backup on a secondary machine than anything else.
The current server is a Dell PowerEdge T130 with a Xeon E3-1230 and 16GB of RAM - not too powerful, but should be OK as a backup / archive machine(?)
Query 1:
Am I overestimating the capabilities of the Dell? I would be looking to put a few large HDDs in for the data storage, and if needs be, look at a RAM upgrade as well. (Suggestions on the HDDs would be apreciated as I’ve had some bad 6TB WD Red Pros - so I’m not as sure of WD for any new drives).
Query 2:
Do I look to build another Proxmox node with a TrueNAS VM and replicate Proxmox / backup TrueNAS onto the Dell?
Or have a TrueNAS drive for Proxmox to backup to and then just do a TrueNAS only build on the Dell for Rsync?
Or is there a better way to go?
Q1:
The Xeon E3-1230 is a Sandy Bridge era CPU that is plenty capable as storage server or small NAS, but consumes too much power for what it does. The good news is that DDR3 RAM should be quite cheap nowadays
Q2:
Due to the power consumption I would look into keeping this turned off for most of the time and just run it a couple of mins a day to perform the backup. Automate the start with a programmable power plug, ethernet magic packet, or simply a bios setting in the Dell.
Use the software you’re comfortable with.
I personally don’t get the Proxmox+TrueNas setup (Proxmox does ZFS perfectly well), but then I am more of a “put openzfs on my favorite Linux distro and call it a day” kinda guy.
Cheers @jode
That is a good point about the power aspect… I’ve just gotten used to it running with the current Windows Server 2016 build.
Can’t say I really know much about the remote turn on / off aspect for a server, but something to look into.
The new server build is a mix match of various different thoughts / advise - so it is more complex than it could have been with TrueNAS controlling all of the storage for the shared drives and iSCSI for the new Server VM bulk storage.
But, that’s what I’ve got and it is behaving, so yeah
From a back up point of view, all of the TrueNAS storage needs to be backed up, and really the Proxmox drives should be to maintain the configuration / VMs.
I could add the Dell as another Proxmox node and see about handling things that way, or I could just backup Proxmox to another TrueNAS controlled drive, and then just look at backing up TrueNAS. (I suspect one is more sensible than the other - but both may be dumb)
Any thoughts on that, or is it not really kinda thing?
