Thunderbolt with FreeNas?

Hardware
1

I am building almost identical FileServers both will be using the Norco 4224 case. At least one of them need a Thunderbolt port. We get thunderbolt enclosures all the time and I would love to offload the data at full speed. and since the main system is Ryzen I can’t have it there.

  • What a server grade motherboard that has Thunderbolt port or add-in card support? (I plan to make this a higher end system so I would like to be able to upgrade to a decent CPU later if needed)

  • Does FreeNAS support mounting a Thunderbolt Array?

I’m sure ill have a few more questions but let’s keep it simple for now.

Thanks in advance! any help is appreciated

2

Im not set on any system x99/x299 all i know is ryzen has no support (yet…) for TB3 my general budget for to get the mobo cpu is $1000 give or take

3

What if you use a platform that supports thunderbolt for the new array and connect the new and old arrays with sfp? then you may be able to if Freenas supports thunderbolt.

Also i have a question:
What about between h97 and x79 with these if h97 is freenas ?

4

Thanks for the replay. My initial post wasn’t that informative.

We get sent these TB3 raid enclosure there is no brains to them other then there internal raid card. And on average they have about 10tb of data. The first thing i need to do with them is back them up to the file server. i am upgrading the network so all needed pcs will have 10gb so my ryzen 1920x editing system can access the file server at full 10g speeds.

Because i haven ordered anything and im already building a new file server i was it to support TB3 so (if possible) i can mount the TB3 array back it up the the file server directly and even put it up on the network as a network drive.

5

highpoint_rocketstor_678_678x452

6

Would one of the cards i linked before work?

Wendell posted about getting thunderbolt working on thredripper maybe it will help :slight_smile:

7

I believe so. so with that, I’m looking for a server grade Asus quality motherboard. this is a 24/7 server and downtime is not really an option

My first question is I still need to know is:

  1. Does FreeNAS work with TB3

And then

  1. What is a good server grade motherboard that can handle a high-end CPU, m.2 maybe has 10gb on board etc
8

I don’t think you want “randomish” storage to be attached/detached to/from your fileserver all the time.

Build a low power ingest station and connect it to the server over network. If you end up having spare PCIe lanes on the server e.g. if you’re using x399, you could stick a 40G nic into it and the x16 slot on the ingest station and connect your z170/z270+i5 integrated graphics ingest station to it using a piece of twinax.

9

What downside is there to hot swapping TB3 storage arrays? there not part of the main array in any way. they would only be connected for the transfer to the main array and maybe to be mounted as a network drive.

I only expect to need this every 2/3 months as we get the enclosures from the fild. (If i could stop them from using them i would but there is allot of them in operation and to costly to outright replace)

10

Multiple TB3 Cards to mount ot ingest station for 24/7?

11

Why would I need multiple? only one device at a time

12

Sorry thought that way you could connect all to network as network drives, thought thats what you were planning on doing with them my mistake

1 Like
13

Gotcha, Yea i dont know how many times i would honistly need to make them a network drive likly just for a editor to grab 1 or 2 files if i didint want to dump all to the File server.

Do you use freenas? whats your setup?

14

TB3 hdd enclosures are basically hot swappable PCIe HDD controllers that you end up hot swapping into the system every time you connect/disconnect them. There’s no downside per-se other than you need to plan for tb3+enclosure drivers+filesystem drivers+raid drivers. It also limits your server motherboard choices as you noted. It might save you time and/or money to copy the files over the network instead…

15

I agree, is there any motherboard that you know of that still has the support if i wanted the option?

16

The only 2066 board with built-in tb3 I know of / can find is the gigabyte designaire… you could go with other server grade 2066 with add-on cards if you stick with Windows (probably no go)… Linux support is not far beyond proof of concept, let alone FreeBSD/FreeNAS support.

network.

1 Like
17

I have to decide on the build today. parts need to be ordered so we can start assembling next week. i was thinking of a old build from LTT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHKRcSYPwPE&t=197s

Using this x99 mobo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjhfWJ5Wdrg

And This xeon: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon-E5-2618L-v4-2-2GHz-25MB-8GT-s-SR2PE-LGA2011-v3-CPU-10-Core-Grade-B/292695104680?epid=2090144329&hash=item4425fcdca8:g:3xoAAOSwPSRbf2un:sc:USPSFirstClass!33511!US!-1

Should I make a new thread for a parts list? and skip over all the TB3 stuff? any Intel system can do TB3 with a add in card correct?

18

Is 2066 the way to go here? is that the more server frendly line?

19

Socket 2066 aka. x299

I’d go with x399 and threadripper over Xeon due to simpler PCIe layout.

Any Intel system on Windows can do tb3, hence my recommendation on going down the network/ingest station route.

1 Like
20

I really appreciate all your help i had a felling I was going to have to go down the network route, What server boards does ryzen have? i cant seem to find any. and everything points to there new server chips witch a pricy!