Couple questions before I install my first Proxmox

[ruffpl]

I have couple questions before I install my first Proxmox and configure my home family server because I have no experience in this.

I bought 3 small ssd sata mlc drives ( half lenghth ssd/ something like sata dom but with normal sata+power interface). Probably Proxmox will be installed on them.
A) Is it ok to use it and is 16gb space will be enough or buy something else?
B) If it were ok, should I create raid from 2 drives (zfs raid1) and have one spare or from 3 drives ( some raid 3, 4 or 5)?

Virtual drives will be on separated 2x120gb ssd drives in zfs raid1 configuration (so i think it should be ok).
I want to use freenas or xpenology as virtual system also with win 10. Data will be stored on 3x 6tb seagate nas drives.
C) Is better option is to buy an extra hdd and use them as 4 drives in zfs raid? ( I need as much space as possible and from I know I can not extend it)
D) Should I create a zfs pool by proxmox ( to store my data) or I should do it by freeenas?
E) Can I add another pool after time if I will not have more space on first one and use both of them ( like adding new hdd/partition in pc)
E) How much ecc ram I need for it for daily use/ I have one 16gb ddr4 ecc for now
F) Do I need to create some ssd cache disk for it or it is not needed if it will be just server with movies, music for home use?

 

[Dominic]

A) It is possible to install and start Proxmox VE on a 16 GB drive.
B) Either option is ok. Depending on which SSDs and drives you have exactly it might be interesting to use one as cache.
C) More drives is always better.
D) ZFS is well integrated into Proxmox VE.
E) Creating a new ZFS pool from one or multiple drives takes only a few clicks in the GUI of Proxmox VE.
E) With ZFS: the more the better. In this case we recommend at least 8 GB of RAM or 1 GB for every TB of used storage.
F) It is not necessary to work. How much faster things will be depends a lot on which drives you use exactly.

 

[ruffpl]

Thanks for reply. I want to create ZFS pool with maximum space available so I am thinking about ZFS RAID1. Some time ago I bought new disks and had them hidden in packs waiting unused . They are different models but with same capacity.

Today I had checked them and I have:
- 6tb seagate barracuda green
- 6 tb seagate iron wolf pro
- 6tb seagate skyhawk
- 4tb seagate iron wolf
- couple of smaller wd red and purple

Dont know can I mix those seagate disks because they are different types. I have an option of buying almost unused (worked less than 100hr) barracuda green but I dont know how will they work in a NAS/server 24h per day. Maybe I will just buy 1 or 2 of 6tb barracuda green ( so my wife will not kill me) and after time I will just exchange them to some better models. Then I will have 3x barracuda green with f.ex one ironwolf or skyhawk in one pool. The rest of disks will be just for downloads and home monitoring recordings, etc.

Ps. From what I read there should not be problem mixing disks with different speed and same capacity ( on seagate website is a info that they are ok for home servers and DAS)

 

[Dominic]

Some people even recommend using drives of different type to avoid that they fail at the same moment.