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    Using NVME on pfSense Server that Does Not Support Booting from NVME

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • P
      ProfessorManhattan
      last edited by

      Hey, I have an old dl360p that does not support booting from NVME. However, pfSense is able to recognize the drive since it has the appropriate drivers. In the past, I have been able to get Ubuntu to load using MAAS by putting the /boot folder on the regular HDD array.

      My question is: How can I put as much stuff on the NVME drive while still being able to boot pfSense off the regular old HDDs? Which folders can I keep on the NVME? I was thinking of installing pfSense on the regular HDD and then copying over whichever folders you guys recommend moving to the NVME and then symlinking the folders on the regular drive to the NVME.

      DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • DaddyGoD
        DaddyGo @ProfessorManhattan
        last edited by DaddyGo

        @ProfessorManhattan

        pfSense storage requirements are so minimal that no need to use a secondary drive (NVME)

        if you can't boot from the NVME, you lose speed benefits, NVME is not relevant from a storage point of view (in this case)

        Under FreeBSD / pfSense, SATA devices appear as "ada0, ada1, etc.
        NVME mass storage devices are "nvme0", nvme0ns1 "etc.

        +++edit:
        BTW, moving the partitions just makes things too complicated

        by choosing a custom installation, you determine which system partition to place where...

        Cats bury it so they can't see it!
        (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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        • P
          ProfessorManhattan
          last edited by

          @DaddyGo Thanks for the tip. Do you mean to say that pfSense loads nearly the entire OS into memory so disk IO does not matter? I have noticed significant speed improvements by replacing HDDs with NVME drives. Maybe I can at least /tmp on the NVME? Does anyone else know what other directories I can offload onto the NVME?

          DaddyGoD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • DaddyGoD
            DaddyGo @ProfessorManhattan
            last edited by DaddyGo

            @ProfessorManhattan said in Using NVME on pfSense Server that Does Not Support Booting from NVME:

            Maybe I can at least /tmp on the NVME?

            it makes no sense to speed up "temp" in particular

            Even with hundreds of users, the storage needs of pfSense / FreeBSD OP system are very little (only logs)

            it is one of the "unicums" of FresBSD, it has little storage space and works

            many colleague run from SD card

            speed at boot is significant if NVME, but if you can't "boot from NVME" it is not an advantage

            +++edit (like):

            07b524da-3a6b-4ace-958a-66ba698bea94-image.png

            Cats bury it so they can't see it!
            (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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