DIY NAS and raid 1E

The question
Has anyone worked with raid 1E on Linux? I’m thinking of going thru that path with three external hard drives, and despite starting to read material from the Internet, I would like to hear from a real use case, if it works, it there’s any drawback in doing it on Linux, things like that.

The context
I’m reviving a mini ATX MSI motherboard (Celeron), 4 GB RAM, 120 GB SSD and trying to make it into a NAS server, where external disks will be plugged into a 3.0 USB hub.
I know this setup is completely amateur, and with that amount of memory I even won’t be able to run FreeNAS on it, reason why I’m planning to do it on a Ubuntu Server setup.
So the idea is to start with what I already have and maybe optimize and secure a bit more the use I make of those hd’s.

Any information will be appreciated.

I think you’d be surprised with how little ram you can get away with for ZFS, which is what I assume you’re referencing with freeNAS. All the FreeNAS documentation is written for the enterprise. Unless you’re going to be absolutely hammering this NAS, you should still be able to run ZFS.

Or perhaps look at Unraid or SnapRaid.

Sorry no experience with 1E.

I’m assuming you’re saying this based on personal or witnessing experience. The fact is that since on FreeNAS web site (as well as on other web sites) they are so peremptory in saying that the bare minimum RAM acceptable is 8 GB that it made me look at other alternatives. But your point makes sense, so maybe I’ll give it a try, only depending on a viable disks setup and ease of expansion.

I’ll take a look a those ones.

When I’m finished, I’ll share my experience.


Thanks for the feedback.

This is the one huge drawback of ZFS. Expanding multiple disks is a PITA

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