Looking for Storage Drives Recommendations / Advice on Configuration and File System to use

Quote from bryanc1968

I have been leaning toward the 1st option with mergerfs/snapraid since I am currently using that in my own setup and am already familiar with it... But I have a set of mixed size drives that i had laying around that I saved from old retired systems, with the largest being my 2TB Snapraid Parity Drive... So Mergerfs/snapraid was a good fit for that... I hope to one day soon be able to buy some larger, same size drives when funds become available...

But since I am building this system for someone else and using same size drives, except for the larger drive for a redundant backup, maybe I need to consider the Mirrored Array approach..

I have both setups:
- ZFS in mirrors (also I have one server in RAIDZ1 - but that's not relevant to this thread)
- mergerfs and SnapRAID with dissimilar sized drives.

While mergerfs/SnapRAID works well over USB connections (with SBC's and other hardware platforms), SnapRAID has some restoration limitations that some users may not be aware of.

Chiefly, they are:
- There is one (a single) level of restoration available. Files, folders or a drive may be restored as of their state after the last sync operation. Any file or drive state prior to the last sync is not restoreable.
- If there's a large delete, where files and folders are deleted across more than one data drive, restoration of all of the deleted files and folders may not be possible. The same applies to rebuilding a failed drive. While the drive will be restored, unrecoverable file level errors may result. This is because existing parity calculations require file data on member drives to be in place, to restore a specific missing file. To prevent issues with restoring a drive, a large delete should be followed immediately by a sync.

ZFS doesn't have those limitations. With snapshots, preexisting files states can be restored for up to a year later (or even longer if custom configured). Drive restorations are more straight forward. When a drive is lost, the mirrored drive allows access to data until the failed drive can be replaced. (Even BTRFS may have issues with data being available, in a failed RAID1 / mirror setup.) Information on setting up simple fully automated and self purging snapshots is available -> here.

On the other side of the coin, just as it was with mergerfs/SnapRAID, there are things to learn regarding ZFS. Sometimes going with what one is comfortable with may rule the day. This is especially true if you have already done restoration operations with mergerfs/SnapRAID. (If not restoration information is available here ->SnapRAID -> mergerfs.)

Quote from bryanc1968

I will be the one maintaining and supporting this system, and doing most of it remotely after getting it all up and running... So I wonder which option would be the easiest and safest to maintain and troubleshoot should something go wrong..?

Well, it depends on "what went wrong". Obviously, if you have to swap a data drive, you're going to have to visit. With both packages, file restorations can be done remotely, on the CLI, "but" that would take specific information (which files) from someone who is on site. Given the number of potential variables, the only clear answer here is, "it depends".

Personally, as already mentioned, my preference would be ZFS. It's very stable, well documented and relatively free of unexpected surprises.

In the bottom line, remote admin requires some thought and planning. It's easy to remote into a server and cause a problem that wouldn't, otherwise, exist.
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Lastly, if you're not going to set up dockers or other server add-on's, that would reside on the boot drive, I'd recommend booting from a thumbdrive. The reason is, cloning thumbdrives is dirt easy. With a cloned thumbdrive on top of the server, if the boot drive fails, all someone on site has to do is:

- Shutdown.
- Swap out thumbdrives.
- Boot Up.

And,, they're back in business.
That's as easy as it gets and it wouldn't require a site visit.

More info on that is -> here.

If you off load Docker containers to an SSD, (easy enough to do) you'd be able to boot from a thumbdrive. I've been using thumbdrives on all my servers, with the exception of one, for several years. I've found that a good quality drive will last 5 or more years.

For the shear simplicity of maintaining OS backup and especially for being able to do guide a remote user through a quick server restore, It's something to think about.

Quote from crashtest

I've found that a good quality drive will last 5 or more years.

Note: To get the good life from a thumbdrive (5 years'ish), you'd need the -> flashmemory plugin.

Quote from bryanc1968

He is setting up his farm to eventually become his primary residence and as a place to go if things ever take to crap in the world or country so he can raise his own live stock and crops for food and that sort of thing...

A lot of people buy a farm for a bug out location. While it's always a good idea to get out of high population density areas (they're death traps if "it" hits the fan), he'd better have about 2 to 3 years of shelf life food stores to get started. With sufficient food stores, he'd have enough time to figure out what he needs to do, to feed himself and his family without staving in the interim.

Farming ("subsistence gardening" is probably a better term for the scale I'm thinking of) and animal husbandry is nowhere near as easy as people think it is. I grew up in rural environs and I currently live at the edge of the grid, so I know a few things about this. There's a LOT to learn and it's, arguably, far more important than technology (solar panels, batteries, inverters, generators, etc.). Having power is a good thing but eating is far more important.

When it comes to animals, chickens are easy but they have to be fed which means growing corn and peas. A Dexter cow, in milk, (preferably with a calf) is a good investment. Like the Texas Long Horn, but far better suited to colder weather, the Dexter can get by on poor pastures. They do well on grass and hay alone. But, depending on how much land he has, rotational grazing might be required.

In any case growing vegetables, and varieties of dried beans, without pesticides and externally purchased soil inputs (things like chemical fertilizers, lime, pesticides etc.) takes some dedication.

Again, I applaud his efforts, there's a LOT involved in becoming more self sufficient. If he really wants to achieve something close to self sufficiency, he should move to the farm (100% of the time) and get to it.