# blackbox

# Physical Hardware

## Basic Components

### Compute

![](https://www.indybusinesssolutions.com/images/store/product/BX80684I78700K.png)#### Processor

[Intel Core i7-8700k](https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126684/intel-core-i7-8700k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-70-ghz.html) - This is the processor I had been using in this PC prior to converting it into a *"home server"* and there is nothing particularly special about it other than it was at the top of the charts for performance when I bought it. It is a great consumer CPU even to this day but it is starting to feel more limiting as a server CPU due to its lack of ECC support, lower cores/thread count, and limited PCI lanes that it provides.

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-cores-%2F-threads-6-%2F-"><table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Cores / Threads</td><td>6 / 12</td></tr><tr><td>Base Frequency</td><td>3.6 GHz</td></tr><tr><td>Burst Frequency</td><td>4.7 GHz</td></tr><tr><td>Cache</td><td>12MB L3 Cache</td></tr><tr><td>TDP</td><td>95W</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>#### GPU

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-intel-uhd-graphics-6">Intel UHD Graphics 630

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Base Frequency</td><td>350 MHz</td></tr><tr><td>Burst Frequency</td><td>1.2 GHz</td></tr><tr><td>Max Memory</td><td>64GB</td></tr><tr><td>QuickSync Video</td><td>Yes</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>![](https://images.pcel.com/1600/Hardware-Tarjetas-Madre-Gigabyte-GA-Z370-AORUS-GAMING-5-170604-lqcoXXWLBZZ70i3P.jpg)### Motherboard

Similarly this motherboard was bought with the intent of building a powerful PC instead of a more server oriented box. It mirrors a lot of the same constraints as the processor but since it was intended for higher end gamers it manages to provide just enough storage and expansion that it has ended up being as good of a motherboard as you'll get without upgrading to one with a more specific server focus.

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-manufacturer-gigabyt"><table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>**Manufacturer**</td><td>Gigabyte</td></tr><tr><td>**Model**</td><td>Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 (rev 1.0)</td></tr><tr><td>**CPU**</td><td>Support for 8th Generation Intel Core i7 / i5 / i3 processors in the LGA1151 package</td></tr><tr><td>**Chipset**</td><td>[Intel Z370](https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/125903/intel-z370-chipset.html)</td></tr><tr><td>**Memory**</td><td>- 4x DDR4 DIMM supporting up to 64GB
- Dual channel memory architecture

</td></tr><tr><td>**Display**</td><td>- 1x HDMI 1.4
- 1x DisplayPort 1.2

</td></tr><tr><td>**Networking**</td><td>- 1x Intel 1GbE
- 1x Rivet Networks Killer E2500

</td></tr><tr><td>**Expansion**</td><td>- 2x PCIe 3.0 x16 (running x16/x0 or x8/x8)
- 1x PCIe 3.0 x16 (running at x4)
- 3x PCIe 3.0 x1

</td></tr><tr><td>**Storage**</td><td>- 3x M.2 PCIe x4/x2
- 6x SATA3

</td></tr><tr><td>**USB**</td><td>- 2x USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-C)
- 1x USB 3.1 Gen2 (Type-A)
- 7x USB 3.1 Gen1 (Type-A)

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>### Memory

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-slot-1-corsair-venge"><table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Slot 1 ![](https://alfawazit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CMK16GX4M1A2400C16-Gallery-VENG-LPX-BLK-03.png)</td><td>Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 2666MHz (1x16GB)   
- 2Rx8 Dual Rank
- CAS Latency 16
- timing 16-18-18-35
- 1.2V

</td></tr><tr><td>Slot 2 ![](https://alfawazit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CMK16GX4M1A2400C16-Gallery-VENG-LPX-BLK-03.png)</td><td>Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 2666MHz (1x16GB)   
- 2Rx8 Dual Rank
- CAS Latency 16
- timing 16-18-18-35
- 1.2V

</td></tr><tr><td>Slot 3 ![](https://alfawazit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CMK16GX4M1A2400C16-Gallery-VENG-LPX-BLK-03.png)</td><td>Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 2666MHz (1x16GB)   
- 2Rx8 Dual Rank
- CAS Latency 16
- timing 16-18-18-35
- 1.2V

</td></tr><tr><td>Slot 4 ![](https://alfawazit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CMK16GX4M1A2400C16-Gallery-VENG-LPX-BLK-03.png)</td><td>Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 2666MHz (1x16GB)   
- 2Rx8 Dual Rank
- CAS Latency 16
- timing 16-18-18-35
- 1.2V

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>![](https://www.fractal-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Define-R6-BKO_1-1.jpg)### Case

[Fractal Design - Define R6 USB C (Blackout)](https://www.fractal-design.com/products/cases/define/define-r6-usb-c/blackout/) - A fantastic case with an attractive minimalistic design that holds a lot of hard drives and is exceptionally quiet due to sound dampening panels and excellent construction.

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-manufacturer-fractal"><table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>**Manufacturer**</td><td>Fractal Design</td></tr><tr><td>**Model**</td><td>Define R6 USB C (Blackout)</td></tr><tr><td>**Features**</td><td>- 10x HDD, 2x SSD
- Sound dampening
- Excellent build quality

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>### Storage

<table id="bkmrk-%23-capacity-interface"><thead><tr><th>**\#**</th><th>**Capacity**</th><th>**Interface**</th><th>**Type**</th><th>**Manufacturer &amp; Model**</th><th>**Speed**</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>6x ![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0011/8675/8756/products/10739406_5__01422_c094af77-44b7-44f1-a1e9-6cd10f8acd45_384x384.png?v=1573167106)</td><td>10TB</td><td>SATA</td><td>HDD</td><td>Western Digital WD1000WMAZ</td><td>SATA3 6.0Gb/s</td></tr><tr><td>4x ![](https://bookstack.swigg.net/uploads/images/gallery/2023-01/scaled-1680-/western-digital-ultrastar-red-pro-35-18000-gb-sata.png)</td><td>18TB</td><td>SATA</td><td>HDD</td><td>Western Digital WD181KFGX</td><td>SATA3 6.0Gb/s</td></tr><tr><td>2x ![](https://images.samsung.com/is/image/samsung/uk-860-evo-sata-3-2-5-ssd-mz-76e1t0b-eu-frontblack-89335738?%24720_576_PNG%24)</td><td>512GB</td><td>SATA</td><td>SDD</td><td>Samsung SSD 860 EVO</td><td>SATA3 6.0Gb/s</td></tr><tr><td>2x ![](https://bookstack.swigg.net/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/inland-nvme-1tb.png)</td><td>1TB</td><td>NVMe</td><td>SDD</td><td>Inland Professional</td><td>PCIe 3.0 x2</td></tr><tr><td>2x ![](https://bookstack.swigg.net/uploads/images/gallery/2023-01/scaled-1680-/image-removebg-preview-2022-08-27t140855-800.png)</td><td>1TB</td><td>NVMe</td><td>SDD</td><td>SK hynix MN8BN16291080BN2A</td><td>PCIe 3.0 x4</td></tr><tr><td>2x ![](https://bookstack.swigg.net/uploads/images/gallery/2023-01/scaled-1680-/optane-memory.png)</td><td>16GB</td><td>NVMe</td><td>SDD</td><td>Intel MEMPEK1W016GA</td><td>PCIe 3.0 x2</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Cooling

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-cpu-noctua-nh-d15-ca"><table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>CPU ![](https://www.avadirect.com/Pictures/500/8640212_10.png)</td><td>[Noctua NH-D15](https://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-d15)</td></tr><tr><td>Case (rear) ![](https://cdn-reichelt.de/bilder/web/xxl_ws/E201/NF-A14-PWM_04.png)</td><td>[Noctua NF-A14 PWM 140mm](https://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-a14-pwm)</td></tr><tr><td>3x Case (front) ![](https://img.gigatron.rs/img/products/large/image5a54b5d0d3252.png)</td><td>[Noctua NF-F12 PWM 120mm](https://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-f12-pwm)</td></tr><tr><td>Case (bottom) ![](https://img.gigatron.rs/img/products/large/image5a54b5d0d3252.png)</td><td>[Noctua NF-F12 PWM 120mm](https://noctua.at/en/products/fan/nf-f12-pwm)</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>![](https://www.evga.com/articles/00873/images/hero/850GS_prod_shot.png)### Power Supply

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-manufacturer-evga-mo"><table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Manufacturer</td><td>EVGA</td></tr><tr><td>Model</td><td>[SuperNOVA 850 G+](https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=120-GP-0850-X1)</td></tr><tr><td>Features</td><td>- 850W
- fully module

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>![](https://content.syndigo.com/asset/de39cdbe-e55f-42b5-b917-c47eaaedab69/960.png)### UPS

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-manufacturer-apc-mod"><table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Manufacturer</td><td>APC</td></tr><tr><td>Model</td><td>[Back UPS PRO BN-M2 1500VA](https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/Back-UPS-PRO-BN-1500VA-10-Outlets-2-USB-Charging-Ports-AVR-LCD-interface/P-BN1500M2)</td></tr><tr><td>Features</td><td>- 900Watts / 1.5kVA
- 6x Batter backed outlets
- 4x Surge outlets

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>## Add-On Cards

---

<span class="vertical-table" id="bkmrk-pcie-3.0-x1-10gtek-i"><table><thead><tr><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>PCIe 3.0 x1 ![](https://bookstack.swigg.net/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/10gtek-dual-rj45.png)</td><td>[10Gtek Intel 82576 Dual RJ45](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LXTF48X)- PCIe Gen3 x1
- 2x RJ45 1GbE ports

</td></tr><tr><td>PCIe 3.0 x8 (x16 physical) ![](https://www.qnap.com/uploads/images/product/model/330/sku/800_500/qm2-4p-284.png)</td><td>[QNAP QM2-4P-384A Quad M.2 PCIe SSD Expansion Card](https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/qm2-m.2ssd)- PCIe Gen3 x8
- 4x switched PCIe x4 NVMe

</td></tr><tr><td>PCIe 3.0 x8 (x16 physical) ![](https://bookstack.swigg.net/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/lsi-sas9211-8i.png)</td><td>[LSI SAS9211-8I 8PORT](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MSCX5QY)- PCIe Gen3 x8 (x16 physical)
- 2x Mini SAS SFF-8087 ports

</td></tr><tr><td>PCIe 3.0 x1 ![](https://bookstack.swigg.net/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/zotac-geforce-710.png)</td><td><s>[ZOTAC GeForce GT 710 1GB PCIe](https://www.zotac.com/us/product/graphics_card/geforce%C2%AE-gt-710-1gb-pcie-x-1)- PCIe Gen3 x1

</s> (removed)</td></tr><tr><td>PCIe 3.0 x4 (x16 physical) ![](https://bookstack.swigg.net/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/10gtek-dual-sfp.png)</td><td><s>[10Gtek Intel 82599ES Dual SFP+ PCIe x8](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZRSQM9)- PCIe Gen3 x8
- 2x SFP+ 10GbE ports
- SR-IOV

</s> (removed)</td></tr></tbody></table>

</span>

# Host Configuration



# Base Install

## Operating System
----------------------
[Proxmox Virtual Environment](https://www.proxmox.com/en/) 6.x

## Configuration

<p class="callout info">Proxmox configuration has been transitioned to being automated by an <a href="https://gitlab.swigg.net/dustins/ansible/-/blob/master/proxmox.yml">Ansible Role</a></p>

# Networking

### Bridges

| Master       | Bridge | IP Address  | Gateway | Description |
|--------------|--------|-------------|---------|-------------|
| man0         | -      | 10.0.3.2/32 | -       | Management Interface (slower Realtek NIC) |
| enp0s31f6    | vmbr1  | - | 10.0.1.1 | LAN/WAN (faster Intel GbE)
| -            | vmbr2  | - | - | Private network without direct Internet access
| enp0s31f6.8 | vmbr3  | - | - | DMZ (VLAN8 tagged)
| enp0s31f6.9 | vmbr4  | - | - | WARP (VLAN9 tagged)

# Storage & Backups (out-of-date)

### Create `zpool10` Storage Pool

The host's `rpool` (default ZFS pool used by Proxmox) can be used for templates and whatnot but I want a big pool for storing all my data. So I created a ZFS RAIDZ2 pool using 6x 10TB HDDs.

This is the command I used to build my ZFS pool.

```
# zpool create -o ashift=12 -o failmode=continue -O compression=lz4 -O xattr=sa -O atime=off \
-O encryption=aes-256-gcm -O keyformat=passphrase \
-m /storage/zpool10 zpool10 raidz2 \
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_JEKH3DVZ \
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_2YK148SD \
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_JEKH8RWZ \
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_JEK6ESAN \
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_JEK53ZHN \
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_2YK0HL0D
```

- `ashift=12` to use 4k blocks
- `failmode=continue` to let us keep reading if a drive goes bad
- `compression=lz4` save save space and increase speed
- `xattr=sa` be more efficient for linux attributes
- `atime=off` don't waste time tracking access times for files
- `encryption=aes-256-gcm` use fast/secure encryption algorithm
- `keyformat=passphrase` unlock with a passphrase

### Setup ZFS Scrub (Data Integrity)

Automate [ZFS scrubbing](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ZFS#Scrubbing) so the data integrity on disks is actively monitored, repaired if necessary, and I'm alerted if there is a problem with my disks.

#### Create systemd Service/Timer ([source](https://github.com/lnicola/systemd-zpool-scrub))

Create a simple systemd service template for scrubbing ZFS pools.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/zpool-scrub@.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Scrub ZFS Pool
+ Requires=zfs.target
+ After=zfs.target
+
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStartPre=-/usr/sbin/zpool scrub -s %I
+ ExecStart=/usr/sbin/zpool scrub %I
```

Then create a systemd timer template for periodically running that service. I am running the scrub weekly, but semi-monthly or monthly would almost certainly be ok too.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/zpool-scrub@.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Scrub ZFS pool weekly
+
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=weekly
+ Persistent=true
+
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

#### Enable ZFS Scrub

```bash
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now zpool-scrub@rpool.timer
systemctl enable --now zpool-scrub@zpool10.timer
```

### Setup Storage Layout

I wanted to logically device my storage pool up into datasets based on their intended usage. This allows me to tweak their paramters if needed and have different snapshot/backup policies.

- `zpool10/backups` place to store disk and time machine backups
- `zpool10/downloads` storage for downloads
- `zpool10/downloads/incomplete` landing zone for incomplete downloads (`recordsize=1M` for bittorrent)
- `zpool10/media` storage for audio/tv/movies
- `zpool10/proxmox` additional storage for proxmox
- `zpool10/proxmox/backups` backup for proxmox instances (in subdirectories by hostname)
- `zpool10/services` storage for services (possibly databases, so use `recordsize=16k`)

```bash
zfs create zpool10/backups
zfs create zpool10/downloads
zfs create -o recordsize=1M zpool10/downloads/incomplete
zfs create zpool10/media
zfs create zpool10/proxmox
zfs create zpool10/proxmox/backups
zfs create -o recordsize=16K zpool10/services
```

### Setup Sanoid/Syncoid (Data Backup)

Run [Sanoid](https://github.com/jimsalterjrs/sanoid) for automating snapshots and Syncoid for remote backups. Unfortunately this isn't available in repositories so you have to build it yourself. However the author makes it fairly simple.

#### Install ([source](https://github.com/jimsalterjrs/sanoid))

```bash
apt-get install debhelper libcapture-tiny-perl libconfig-inifiles-perl pv lzop mbuffer
sudo git clone https://github.com/jimsalterjrs/sanoid.git
cd sanoid
ln -s packages/debian .
dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us
apt install ../sanoid_*_all.deb
```

#### Configure Sanoid

I want to take hourly snapshots of both of my ZFS pools because sometimes I am not as careful or thoughtful as I should be about what I am doing at any given moment. But I don't want to snapshot `zpool/backups` because it is a backup destination that will likely already have snapshots (`rpool` snapshots are stored there for example) and I also don't want to snapshot `zpool/downloads` because there is nothing important under there and it is likely to change frquently.

```diff
# /etc/sanoid/sanoid.conf
+ [template_proxmox]
+         frequently = 0
+         hourly = 24
+         daily = 7
+         weekly = 4
+         monthly = 1
+         yearly = 0
+         autosnap = yes
+         autoprune = yes
+ 
+ [rpool]
+         use_template = template_proxmox
+         process_children_only = yes
+         recursive = yes
+         
+ [rpool/ROOT]
+         use_template = rpool
+         process_children_only = yes
+         recursive = yes
+ 
+ [rpool/data]
+         use_template = template_proxmox
+         weekly = 1
+         monthly = 1
+         process_children_only = yes
+         recursive = yes
```

Maybe this is a sin, but I'd like my snapshots to be in local time so I don't have to do the (admittedly simple) conversion in my head.

```diff
# /usr/lib/systemd/system/sanoid.service
  [Service]
- Environment=TZ=UTC
+ Environment=TZ=EST
```

#### Eanble Sanoid

```bash
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now sanoid.service
```

#### Configure Syncoid

##### Backup `rpool` to `zpool10/proxmox/backups/blackbox`

Right now `rpool` is just running on a single non-redundant 512GB SSD disk. Even though it is only used for Proxmox (config, templates, ISOs) this isn't great practice and I'll work on this in the future. But in the meantime I am backing up everything on a daily timer to my main ZFS pool so I could recover very quickly if the SSD dies.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/rpool-backup.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Backup rpool daily
+
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=daily
+ Persistent=true
+
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/rpool-backup.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Use syncoid to backup rpool to zpool10/proxmox/backups/blackbox
+ Requires=zfs.target
+ After=zfs.target
+
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStart=/usr/sbin/syncoid --force-delete --recursive rpool zpool10/proxmox/backups/blackbox/rpool
```

##### Backup `zpool10/services` offsite

All my docker containers store their configuration and data under the `zpool10/services` dataset. It is imperative this is backed up offsite so if anything catastrophic ever happens I don't lose anything important and can get back up and running as quickly as I can download my backup.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/zpool10-services-backup.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Backup zpool10/services daily
+
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=daily
+ Persistent=true
+
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/zpool10-services-backup.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Use syncoid to backup zpool10/services to backedup.swigg.net:bpool/zpool10/services
+ Requires=zfs.target
+ After=zfs.target
+
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStart=/usr/sbin/syncoid --force-delete --recursive zpool10/services root@backedup.swigg.net:bpool/zpool10/services
```

#### Enable Syncoid

```bash
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now rpool-backup.timer
```

### Setup Restic to Backblaze B2 (Data Backup)

Read more about setting up Restic at [https://fedoramagazine.org/automate-backups-with-restic-and-systemd/](https://fedoramagazine.org/automate-backups-with-restic-and-systemd/)

#### Setup Restic Backup

Create the `.service` and `.timer` for the backup service so that it runs everyday.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Restic backup service
+ 
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStart=restic backup --verbose --tag systemd.timer $BACKUP_EXCLUDES $BACKUP_INCLUDES $BACKUP_PATHS
+ ExecStartPost=restic forget --verbose --tag systemd.timer --group-by "paths,tags" --keep-daily $RETENTION_DAYS --keep-weekly $RETENTION_WEEKS --keep-monthly $RETENTION_MONTHS --keep-yearly $RETENTION_YEARS
+ EnvironmentFile=/etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-backup.conf
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Backup with restic daily
+ 
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=daily
+ Persistent=true
+ 
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-backup.conf
+ BACKUP_PATHS="/storage/zpool10"
+ BACKUP_EXCLUDES="--exclude-file /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-excludes.txt --exclude-if-present .exclude_from_backup"
+ BACKUP_INCLUDES="--files-from /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-includes.txt"
+ RETENTION_DAYS=7
+ RETENTION_WEEKS=4
+ RETENTION_MONTHS=6
+ RETENTION_YEARS=3
+ B2_ACCOUNT_ID=xxx
+ B2_ACCOUNT_KEY=xxx
+ RESTIC_REPOSITORY=b2:swigg-backup-blackbox:storage/zpool10
+ RESTIC_PASSWORD=xxx
```

#### Setup Restic Prune

The backup command above forgets about files when they expire, but to actually delete them once they aren't referenced anymore you need to prune them. The following creates a `.service` and `.timer` for a prune job to be run every month.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-prune.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Restic backup service (data pruning)
+ 
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStart=restic prune
+ EnvironmentFile=/etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-backup.conf
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-prune.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Prune data from the restic repository monthly
+ 
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=monthly
+ Persistent=true
+ 
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

# Storage & Backups

## Create Storage Pools

Although my current setup has changed over time I currently settled on the setup below.


| Name | Disks | Type | Description |
|------|-------|------|-------------|
| rpool | 2x 500GB SSD | zpool mirror | Host OS, LXC Templates, ISOs |
| nocow | 2x 1TB NVMe | LVM > LUKS > Linux Raid | LVM PVE Storage for LXCs/VMs, Non-COW disks/volumes |
| <nobr>blackmirror</nobr> | 6x 10TB HDD + 4x 18TB HDD + 2x 1TB NVMe  + 1x 16GB Optane | zpool + special + log | Primary PVE Storage for all LXCs/VMs |

### Creation Commands

#### blackmirror

```
zpool create -o ashift=12 -o failmode=continue -O atime=off -O relatime=on \
-O checksum=on -O compression=zstd -O encryption=aes-256-gcm -O keyformat=passphrase \
-O keylocation=prompt -O special_small_blocks=16K -O snapdir=hidden -O xattr=sa \
-m /storage/blackmirror blackmirror \
mirror \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD181KFGX-68AFPN0_4BK0RVSZ \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD181KFGX-68AFPN0_4YGUS20H \
mirror \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD181KFGX-68AFPN0_4YGUS4AH \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD181KFGX-68AFPN0_5DJ20PAV \
mirror \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_2YK0HL0D \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_JEK53ZHN \
mirror \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_2YK148SD \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_JEK6ESAN \
mirror \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_JEKH3DVZ \
  /dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD100EMAZ-00WJTA0_JEKH8RWZ \
special mirror \
  /dev/disk/by-id/nvme-PC401_NVMe_SK_hynix_1TB_MN8BN16291080BN2A \
  /dev/disk/by-id/nvme-PC401_NVMe_SK_hynix_1TB_MN8BN16291080BN46 \
log \
  /dev/disk/by-id/nvme-INTEL_MEMPEK1W016GA_PHBT72350AVD016D
```

- `-o ashift=12` zpool property: use 4k blocks
- `-o failmode=continue` zpool property: keep reading if a drive goes bad in pool
- `-O atime=off` root filesystem: disable updatnig access time for files when they are read
- `-O relatime=on` root filesystem: enable relatime (relative access time)
- `-O checksum=on` root filesystem: enable checksum used to verify data integrity
- `-O compression=zstd` root filesystem: use zstd compression
- `-O encryption=aes-256-gcm` root filesystem: use fast/secure encryption algorithm
- `-O keyformat=passphrase` root filesystem: unlock with a passphrase
- `-O keylocation=prompt` root filesystem: prompt for key
- `-O special_small_blocks=16K` root filesystem: 16k threshold block size for including small file blocks into the special allocation class
- `-O snapdir=hidden` root filesystem: hide .zfs snapshots directory
- `-O xattr=sa` root filesystem: Enable system attributes for extended attributes
- `-m /storage/blackmirror` root filesystem: mount point for the root dataset


#### nocow

```
tbd
```

- `attr` description

### Setup ZFS Scrub (Data Integrity)

Automate [ZFS scrubbing](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ZFS#Scrubbing) so the data integrity on disks is actively monitored, repaired if necessary, and I'm alerted if there is a problem with my disks.

#### Create systemd Service/Timer ([source](https://github.com/lnicola/systemd-zpool-scrub))

Create a simple systemd service template for scrubbing ZFS pools.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/zpool-scrub@.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Scrub ZFS Pool
+ Requires=zfs.target
+ After=zfs.target
+
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStartPre=-/usr/sbin/zpool scrub -s %I
+ ExecStart=/usr/sbin/zpool scrub %I
```

Then create a systemd timer template for periodically running that service. I am running the scrub weekly, but semi-monthly or monthly would almost certainly be ok too.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/zpool-scrub@.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Scrub ZFS pool weekly
+
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=weekly
+ Persistent=true
+
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

#### Enable ZFS Scrub

```bash
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now zpool-scrub@rpool.timer
systemctl enable --now zpool-scrub@blackmirror.timer
```

### Setup Storage Layout

I wanted to logically device my storage pool up into datasets based on their intended usage. This allows me to tweak their paramters if needed and have different snapshot/backup policies.

- `zpool10/backups` place to store disk and time machine backups
- `zpool10/downloads` storage for downloads
- `zpool10/downloads/incomplete` landing zone for incomplete downloads (`recordsize=1M` for bittorrent)
- `zpool10/media` storage for audio/tv/movies
- `zpool10/proxmox` additional storage for proxmox
- `zpool10/proxmox/backups` backup for proxmox instances (in subdirectories by hostname)
- `zpool10/services` storage for services (possibly databases, so use `recordsize=16k`)

```bash
zfs create zpool10/backups
zfs create zpool10/downloads
zfs create -o recordsize=16K zpool10/downloads/incomplete
zfs create zpool10/media
zfs create zpool10/proxmox
zfs create zpool10/proxmox/backups
zfs create -o recordsize=16K zpool10/services
```

### Setup Sanoid/Syncoid (Data Backup)

Run [Sanoid](https://github.com/jimsalterjrs/sanoid) for automating snapshots and Syncoid for remote backups. Unfortunately this isn't available in repositories so you have to build it yourself. However the author makes it fairly simple.

#### Install ([source](https://github.com/jimsalterjrs/sanoid))

```bash
apt-get install debhelper libcapture-tiny-perl libconfig-inifiles-perl pv lzop mbuffer
sudo git clone https://github.com/jimsalterjrs/sanoid.git
cd sanoid
ln -s packages/debian .
dpkg-buildpackage -uc -us
apt install ../sanoid_*_all.deb
```

#### Configure Sanoid

I want to take hourly snapshots of both of my ZFS pools because sometimes I am not as careful or thoughtful as I should be about what I am doing at any given moment. But I don't want to snapshot `zpool/backups` because it is a backup destination that will likely already have snapshots (`rpool` snapshots are stored there for example) and I also don't want to snapshot `zpool/downloads` because there is nothing important under there and it is likely to change frquently.

```diff
# /etc/sanoid/sanoid.conf
+ [template_proxmox]
+         frequently = 0
+         hourly = 24
+         daily = 7
+         weekly = 4
+         monthly = 1
+         yearly = 0
+         autosnap = yes
+         autoprune = yes
+ 
+ [rpool]
+         use_template = template_proxmox
+         process_children_only = yes
+         recursive = yes
+         
+ [rpool/ROOT]
+         use_template = rpool
+         process_children_only = yes
+         recursive = yes
+ 
+ [rpool/data]
+         use_template = template_proxmox
+         weekly = 1
+         monthly = 1
+         process_children_only = yes
+         recursive = yes
```

Maybe this is a sin, but I'd like my snapshots to be in local time so I don't have to do the (admittedly simple) conversion in my head.

```diff
# /usr/lib/systemd/system/sanoid.service
  [Service]
- Environment=TZ=UTC
+ Environment=TZ=EST
```

#### Eanble Sanoid

```bash
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now sanoid.service
```

#### Configure Syncoid

##### Backup `rpool` to `zpool10/proxmox/backups/blackbox`

Right now `rpool` is just running on a single non-redundant 512GB SSD disk. Even though it is only used for Proxmox (config, templates, ISOs) this isn't great practice and I'll work on this in the future. But in the meantime I am backing up everything on a daily timer to my main ZFS pool so I could recover very quickly if the SSD dies.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/rpool-backup.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Backup rpool daily
+
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=daily
+ Persistent=true
+
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/rpool-backup.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Use syncoid to backup rpool to zpool10/proxmox/backups/blackbox
+ Requires=zfs.target
+ After=zfs.target
+
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStart=/usr/sbin/syncoid --force-delete --recursive rpool zpool10/proxmox/backups/blackbox/rpool
```

##### Backup `zpool10/services` offsite

All my docker containers store their configuration and data under the `zpool10/services` dataset. It is imperative this is backed up offsite so if anything catastrophic ever happens I don't lose anything important and can get back up and running as quickly as I can download my backup.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/zpool10-services-backup.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Backup zpool10/services daily
+
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=daily
+ Persistent=true
+
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/zpool10-services-backup.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Use syncoid to backup zpool10/services to backedup.swigg.net:bpool/zpool10/services
+ Requires=zfs.target
+ After=zfs.target
+
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStart=/usr/sbin/syncoid --force-delete --recursive zpool10/services root@backedup.swigg.net:bpool/zpool10/services
```

#### Enable Syncoid

```bash
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now rpool-backup.timer
```

### Setup Restic to Backblaze B2 (Data Backup)

Read more about setting up Restic at [https://fedoramagazine.org/automate-backups-with-restic-and-systemd/](https://fedoramagazine.org/automate-backups-with-restic-and-systemd/)

#### Setup Restic Backup

Create the `.service` and `.timer` for the backup service so that it runs everyday.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Restic backup service
+ 
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStart=restic backup --verbose --tag systemd.timer $BACKUP_EXCLUDES $BACKUP_INCLUDES $BACKUP_PATHS
+ ExecStartPost=restic forget --verbose --tag systemd.timer --group-by "paths,tags" --keep-daily $RETENTION_DAYS --keep-weekly $RETENTION_WEEKS --keep-monthly $RETENTION_MONTHS --keep-yearly $RETENTION_YEARS
+ EnvironmentFile=/etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-backup.conf
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Backup with restic daily
+ 
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=daily
+ Persistent=true
+ 
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-backup.conf
+ BACKUP_PATHS="/storage/zpool10"
+ BACKUP_EXCLUDES="--exclude-file /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-excludes.txt --exclude-if-present .exclude_from_backup"
+ BACKUP_INCLUDES="--files-from /etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-includes.txt"
+ RETENTION_DAYS=7
+ RETENTION_WEEKS=4
+ RETENTION_MONTHS=6
+ RETENTION_YEARS=3
+ B2_ACCOUNT_ID=xxx
+ B2_ACCOUNT_KEY=xxx
+ RESTIC_REPOSITORY=b2:swigg-backup-blackbox:storage/zpool10
+ RESTIC_PASSWORD=xxx
```

#### Setup Restic Prune

The backup command above forgets about files when they expire, but to actually delete them once they aren't referenced anymore you need to prune them. The following creates a `.service` and `.timer` for a prune job to be run every month.

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-prune.service
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Restic backup service (data pruning)
+ 
+ [Service]
+ Type=oneshot
+ ExecStart=restic prune
+ EnvironmentFile=/etc/systemd/system/restic-backup.service.d/restic-backup.conf
```

```diff
# /etc/systemd/system/restic-prune.timer
+ [Unit]
+ Description=Prune data from the restic repository monthly
+ 
+ [Timer]
+ OnCalendar=monthly
+ Persistent=true
+ 
+ [Install]
+ WantedBy=timers.target
```

# LXC / backup

![](https://whattheserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/proxmox-logo.png)## Description

A LXC container running [Proxmox Backup Server](https://www.proxmox.com/en/proxmox-backup-server) (PBS) to back up [Proxmox Virtual Environment](https://www.proxmox.com/en/proxmox-backup-server) (PVE) instances.

Because I prefer running LXC intances instead of virtual machines I used the LXC template for [Debian Linux](https://www.debian.org/) (version 10 - Buster) and then installed PBS [Debian Package Repositories](https://pbs.proxmox.com/docs/package-repositories.html) to get a working instance.

## Configuration

### Resources

<table id="bkmrk-hostname-cpu-memory-"><thead><tr><th>Hostname</th><th>CPU</th><th>Memory</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>backup</td><td>2 vCPU</td><td>2GB</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Storage

<table id="bkmrk-mount-point-source-m"><thead><tr><th>Mount Point</th><th>Source</th><th>Mount Path</th><th>Size</th><th>Options</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>rootfs</td><td>zpool10\_storage-zfs:subvol-102-disk-0</td><td>/</td><td>2GB</td><td>noatime</td></tr><tr><td>mp0</td><td>/storage/zpool10/proxmox-backup-server</td><td>/storage</td><td>-</td><td>noatime;nodev;noexec;nosuid</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Networking

### Interfaces

<table id="bkmrk-id-name-bridge-ip-ad"><thead><tr><th>ID</th><th>Name</th><th>Bridge</th><th>IP Address</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>net0</td><td>eth0</td><td>vmbr1</td><td>10.0.1.4/21</td><td>LAN</td></tr></tbody></table>

# LXC / contained

![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Debian_logo.png)## Description

A LXC container using nested virtualization responsible for running the majority of my services that run as docker containers.

## Configuration

### Resources

<table id="bkmrk-hostname-cpu-memory-"><thead><tr><th>Hostname</th><th>CPU</th><th>Memory</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>contained</td><td>6 vCPU</td><td>24GB</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Storage

<table id="bkmrk-mount-point-source-m"><thead><tr><th>Mount Point</th><th>Source</th><th>Mount Path</th><th>Size</th><th>Options</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>rootfs</td><td>local-zfs:subvol-100-disk-0</td><td>/</td><td>8GB</td><td>noatime</td></tr><tr><td>mp0</td><td>/storage/zpool10/downloads</td><td>/storage/downloads</td><td>-</td><td>noatime;nodev;noexec;nosuid</td></tr><tr><td>mp1</td><td>/storage/zpool10/downloads/incomplete</td><td>/storage/downloads/incomplete</td><td>-</td><td>noatime;nodev;noexec;nosuid</td></tr><tr><td>mp2</td><td>/storage/zpool10/media</td><td>/storage/media</td><td>-</td><td>noatime;nodev;noexec;nosuid</td></tr><tr><td>mp3</td><td>/storage/zpool10/services</td><td>/storage/services</td><td>-</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>mp4</td><td>vpool-zfs:subvol-100-disk-1</td><td>/var/lib/docker</td><td>384GB</td><td>noatime</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Networking

### Interfaces

<table id="bkmrk-id-type-name-link-ip"><thead><tr><th>ID</th><th>Type</th><th>Name</th><th>Link</th><th>IPv4 Address</th><th>IPv6 Address</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>net0</td><td>bridge</td><td>eth0</td><td>vmbr3</td><td>10.0.8.2/21</td><td>DHCPv6</td><td>DMZ</td></tr><tr><td>net1</td><td>bridge</td><td>eth2</td><td>vmbr4</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>WARP</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Docker Networks

A brief overview of how I have my networking setup for Docker.

#### blackbox\_containers

<table id="bkmrk-type-gateway-ip%2Fsubn"><thead><tr><th>Type</th><th>Gateway</th><th>IP/Subnet</th><th>IP Range</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>bridge</td><td>-</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Traefik](https://bookstack.swigg.net/books/blackboxhermz/page/traefik) binds to the host ports on [LXC / Contained](https://bookstack.swigg.net/books/blackboxhermz/page/lxc-contained) for HTTP(S) traffic that has been forwarded from [firewall](https://bookstack.swigg.net/books/firewall) and proxies it to the appropriate container using this bridge network.

- Containers that are part of this network can directly access other containers in this network using their hostnames and/or container names.
- Using hostnames to network containers provides an IP agnostic way to communicate while reducing overhead of SSL.
- Containers in this network are not publically accessible, access is controlled with Traefik acting as a gatekeeper.

**\*\*NOTE\*\*** All publically accessible containers should be part of the `blackbox_containers` network.

##### Creation Command

```bash
docker network create --driver bridge blackbox_containers

```

#### a\_warp

<table id="bkmrk-type-gateway-ip%2Fsubn-0"><thead><tr><th>Type</th><th>Gateway</th><th>IP/Subnet</th><th>IP Range</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>macvlan</td><td>10.0.9.1</td><td>10.0.9.2/24</td><td>10.0.9.128/25</td></tr></tbody></table>

All containers which need anonimity should be connected to this network so their traffic is automatically routed through a VPN. It is prefixed with `a_` because networks are added to containers alphabetically and this must be added first to be assigned as the default gateway.

<p class="callout info">**\*\*NOTE\*\*** All containers that want to mask the location of their traffic should be part of the `a_warp` network.</p>

##### Creation Command

```bash
docker network create --driver macvlan --subnet 10.0.9.2/24 --gateway 10.0.9.1 --ip-range 10.0.9.128/25 --opt parent=eth2 a_warp

```

### Installed Software

- [Docker](https://docker.com)
- [Netdata](https://www.netdata.cloud)

# LXC / refuge

![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Alpine_Linux.svg/1280px-Alpine_Linux.svg.png)## Description

LXC container for running Samba to make network shares available to the LAN.

## Configuration

### Resources

<table id="bkmrk-hostname-cpu-memory-"><thead><tr><th>Hostname</th><th>CPU</th><th>Memory</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>refuge</td><td>2 vCPU</td><td>256MB</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Storage

<table id="bkmrk-mount-point-source-m"><thead><tr><th>Mount Point</th><th>Source</th><th>Mount Path</th><th>Size</th><th>Options</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>rootfs</td><td>zpool10\_storage-zfs:subvol-110-disk-0</td><td>/</td><td>2GB</td><td>noatime</td></tr><tr><td>mp1</td><td>/storage/zpool10/backups/storage</td><td>/storage/backups</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>mp2</td><td>/storage/fpool/services/mayanedms/watch-moveoncomplete</td><td>/storage/mayan/watch</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>mp3</td><td>/storage/fpool/services/mayanedms/stage-moveoncomplete</td><td>/storage/mayan/stage</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>mp4</td><td>/storage/zpool10/public</td><td>/storage/scanned</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>mp5</td><td>/storage/zpool10/media</td><td>/storage/media</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>mp6</td><td>/storage/zpool10/downloads</td><td>/storage/downloads</td><td>-</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>lxc.mount.entry</td><td>/storage/zpool10/backups/timemachine</td><td>/storage/timemachine</td><td>-</td><td>rbind,create=dir</td></tr></tbody></table>

<p class="callout info">`lxc.mount.entry` is used in place of a `mpX` entry because it allows recursive mounting of datasets through the `rbind` mount option.</p>

### Networking

### Interfaces

<table id="bkmrk-id-name-bridge-ip-ad"><thead><tr><th>ID</th><th>Name</th><th>Bridge</th><th>IP Address</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>net0</td><td>eth0</td><td>vmbr1</td><td>dhcp</td><td>LAN</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Installed Software

- [Samba](https://www.samba.org)