I thought I’d run some simple tests, based on a tuning thread I found:

# dd if=/dev/urandom of=./file1 bs=1m count=1024
1024+0 records in
1024+0 records out
1073741824 bytes transferred in 14.283206 secs (75175127 bytes/sec)

And while the above was running:

# zpool iostat 5
capacity […]

Tonight’s goals:

Install a second HDD
get gmirror running
install the remaining 5×2TB HDD
add the two RAID cards

After adding in the second HDD for the OS, dmesg shows this:

ad4: 76319MB <seagate ST380815AS 4.AAB> at ata2-master UDMA100 SATA 3Gb/s
acd0: DVDR <tsstcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C/SB01> at ata3-master UDMA100 SATA 1.5Gb/s
ad8: 152587MB <wdc WD1600AAJS-75M0A0 02.03E02> at ata4-master UDMA100 SATA 3Gb/s

The following shows […]

Tonight I managed to:

install a DVD-RW drive
install 1x 80GB SATA drive
connect all the chassis cables to the motherboard
install the network card
install FreeBSD 8.0-RELEASE
start the upgrade process to FreeBSD 8.0-STABLE
install a few ports: bash, joe, sudo

The photos from tonight.
Here is the output from /var/run/dmesg.boot

Copyright (c) 1992-2009 The FreeBSD Project.
Copyright (c) 1979, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, […]

Tonight I put together some of the system. The motherboard, CPU, RAM, and PSU have been installed. The system POSTs, but nothing else. Next step: add a couple of HDD and then install FreeBSD 8.
Photos here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/album.php?aid=13150&id=100000289239443

UPS just delivered the box with the 2xSATA drives for the OS, the RAM, and the upgraded PSU.
I have everything to start assembly. The next question is: when?

These are the shipments I’m expecting this week:

Tuesday - RAM and two HDD to be returned
Wednesday - the case
Thursday - two SATA drives for the, RAM, and new PSU

This is what will be ordered on Monday:

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA HDD $40
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST380815AS 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb $36
Patriot Signature 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) $130
ENERMAX INFINITI EIN720AWT 720W PSU $150

I changed one to a different Seagate […]

It seems I cannot use registered ECC RAM in ASUS M4A79T Deluxe m/b.
So I’m going with Patriot Signature 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) for $130 instead.

The parts I ordered last week arrived on Friday. Unfortunately I forgot to order the RAM. It turns out the RAM I had selected was the wrong RAM; it was DDR2. The m/b takes DDR3. But I didn’t find that out until after I ordered it on Saturday, along with two […]

Tonight I purchased the following items:

ENERMAX ECO80+ EES620AWT 620W for $120
Samsung SATA CD/DVD Burner $20 (+ $8 shipping)
ASUS M4A79T Deluxe m/b for $180
AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU $150
2x SYBA SY-PEX40008 PCI Express SATA II 4 port at $60 each for $120
Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ECC $97
Intel EXPI9301CTBLK 10/ […]