Editing Introduction to a Self Managed Life: a 13 hour & 28 minute presentation by FUTO software (section)

=== Select the Correct Installation Drive ===

Raidz1 is a good option in that it allows one of the drives in your machine to die, and the router to keep going. This requires you have not one, but two drives inside your router machine. This is not a bad idea. You should be making a backup file of your router anyway so that you can restore regardless of what happens to any and all of the hardware on this one: but, this will allow the router to keep working even if a single drive dies. I am using stripe, no redundancy, which is the option you will be picking if you have only one drive in the router.

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==== 3.1 Select Internal SSD or Hard Drive ====

* The next step is to select the disk where '''pfSense''' will be installed. This is a very important step, so pay close attention.
* You will see a list of drives. The USB drive will usually appear as a small capacity device (e.g., 4GB or 8GB).
* Choose the larger drive that represents your Intel NUC’s internal SSD or hard drive (e.g., 256GB, 512GB).
* '''Important:''' “generic-mass-storage-class” is usually your external USB flash drive. '''If you’re using a PC with an internal drive, there’s a 99% chance that “generic-mass-storage-class” is NOT what you want to select unless you’re intentionally installing to a USB mass storage device (which is not recommended for a permanent installation).'''
* In my case, the Micron SSD was my internal SSD. Your drive name may be different, but look for a larger capacity drive that matches what you know is inside your NUC or PC.
* Use the arrow keys to highlight the correct drive, then press Enter to confirm your selection.

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==== 3.2 Confirm Erase and Installation ====

* Once the correct internal drive is selected, the installer will ask if you want to erase the drive and proceed with the installation.
* This will erase all data on the selected drive. Make sure you’ve backed up any important data before proceeding.
* Confirm by selecting '''Yes'''. The installer will now copy files and set up '''pfSense''' on the internal drive. This may take a few minutes.

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