DELL T160 server configuration advice

[vinku00]

Hey guys,
i have the opportunity to configure and receive a DELL T160 Towerserver for almost free. Now I would like to know, if the configuration I imagined is a possible way.

What I plan to do with the server:
- Of course running Proxmox VE on it
- Nextcloud
- NAS (probably OMV)
- Wireguard
- Vaultwarden
- Reverse Proxy (probably NGINX)
- LDAP
- paperlessngx
- some other LXCs / VMs

Now the config:
- Intel® Xeon E-2478
- 64 GB DDR5-RAM
- probably a 10 Gbit NIC
about these three things I am almost completely sure, but with the storage config I´m not sure.
- BOSS-N1-Controller with 2x 960 GB SSDs combined in a ZFS-RAID1 for Proxmox itself and storage for LXCs an VMs
- 2x SAS 4 TB HDD on PERC H355-Adapter or HBA355i-Adapter, in ZFS-RAID1 for Nextcloud data and NAS data (-> network shares mounted in the VMs and LXCs)

However, I've read some information suggesting that mixing certain storage controllers, especially using a RAID controller in combination with ZFS, might lead to problems or reduced performance due to potential conflicts or the controller abstracting the drives from ZFS.

Given my storage requirements and the budget limitations, this configuration seems ideal to me, but I'm uncertain whether it will function smoothly in practice. Specifically, I'm worried about:
- Compatibility between the BOSS-N1 controller and ZFS for the SSDs.
- Whether using the PERC H355 RAID adapter or HBA355i adapter with SAS drives in ZFS RAID-1 configuration is recommended or might cause issues.

Could you guys give me some advice or share experiences regarding this storage setup? Maybe there is a better alternative configuration that fits within the budget and still meets my storage and performance needs?

Thanks a lot in advance for any insights!

 

[weehooey-bh]

Compatibility between the BOSS-N1 controller and ZFS for the SSDs

The best place to look is in the documentation for the controller. If this is your controller:

Technical specifications of BOSS-N1 Monolithic, BOSS-N1 Modular ET, and BOSS-N1 Modular controllers

Then, it only supports RAID when two drives are used. ZFS should not be used with RAID controllers. So, it would be best to use ext4 for this storage.

Whether using the PERC H355 RAID adapter or HBA355i adapter with SAS drives in ZFS RAID-1 configuration is recommended or might cause issues.

The same thing. Check the docs for the adapters. However, given that one has "HBA" in its name, it is likely a host bus adapter that would be compatible with ZFS. You mention "ZFS RAID-1," which can be confused with ZFS ZRAID1. Most people would call it ZFS Mirror (which is like RAID1).

So, looking at this, use ext4 on the BOSS controller and ZFS Mirror on the spinning drives.