0

Need advice on a relatively cheap and stable way to set up external drives with an Optiplex micro. I upgraded my old homelab server (i5 with ZFS RAID 1 over SATA) to an Optiplex 5060 micro. Optiplex specs:

  • i5 8500T
  • 16GB RAM
  • 2 x 2TB WD Red (not connected)

I am running Proxmox with an Ubuntu VM and Docker containers for Jellyfin, a VPN and qBittorrent. I've done some research on external harddrive enclosures and I've seen mixed opinions. My main concern is the stability of USB with a software RAID. An alternative could be using an eSATA expansion card, but it would be annoying to route it out of the Optiplex. My main questions/concerns:

  • Is USB 3 stable enough for ZFS software RAID1?
  • Is eSATA a better alternative?
  • Is there another alternative I should look into?
Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

I ended up going with a QNAP TR-002 DAS for external storage. The two disks are displayed individually in Proxmox. I did not use ZFS and instead have one drive as a backup in Proxmox and another passed through to the VM. General performance is acceptable with no differences compared to SATA. Only potential issue is that the disks run 24/7. The TR-002 will shutdown when the server is shutdown and will startup along with the server.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .