TimTheSettler

I see what you're saying. I generally copy the data so that my two folders are identical and then I point syncthing to those folders and from that point on let it manage the synchronization. You might want to give it a try again because it's constantly updated and maybe there was a flaw when you first used it. One last note is that I've come across a couple odd-ball cases where the folder/device gets confused. It's usually because I tried to do something I shouldn't have (as Rysz points out) like pausing the folder for too long. If something looks weird then you can recreate the folder (delete it and create it again) or reset the folder using the following curl api call. https://docs.syncthing.net/rest/system-reset-post.html

Define "huge amount of data". Large number of files/folders or the size of the files? I use syncthing to sync data across four of my servers at different locations. No problems in general but I have noticed that large files (8GB+) tend to take a while to sync. For example, 1 8GB file will take much longer than 100 files totalling 8GB.

I'm imagining this and this

Please don't surrender. I've used Firefox for about 16 years now. Back then it was far superior and now it seems that the major browsers seem to be roughly equal, although some have features that others don't have. My favourite feature (that all browsers have now) is the password saver. But if you use this you should be using a master password. It's open source (always has been) and not linked to those big tech companies. I also had some problems and switched to Edge for about 3 months (only for unRAID) but I haven't noticed anything lately so I switched back.

I originally tried TrueNAS too. I found it confusing and I had lots of trouble with the permissions/ACL. I felt that it was an advanced product requiring advanced knowledge. I needed something simple but powerful and I think unRAID is it. Don't get me wrong, unRAID is advanced too but it simplifies that complexity. I wish TrueNAS the best because you need competitive products in the marketplace to keep things interesting. You mentioned 3x4TB HDDs and then mention a single 8TB SSD. One of those 4TB HDDs failed and so you decided to scrap the other two and use a single 8TB? I assume you have a backup strategy in place in case that 8TB bites the dust?

Yup!

Yes, I can see how this part seems confusing. What you need to do is back up the docker config somewhere else. The appdata directory (where the docker config is stored) is on my cache. I then use the Appdata Backup plugin (from Robin Kluth) to back up the config to the array. That config is then synchronized to another server using syncthing. If I lose the cache I have the backup on the array. If I lose the array then I have the docker still on the cache. If you lose both the cache and array (the server is fried, burnt, or stolen) then you have the backup somewhere else. You don't need to use syncthing (or the plugin), you can back up the cache to a flash drive. Did I miss anything?

Are you running duplicati as a docker app? You should have all your docker apps backed up regularly. The server is gone so what do you do? The following list is a very basic process. Maybe someone else here has a better list. Buy new hardware including new hard drives. Restore the flash backup to a new USB (re-assign the license key to the new USB). Boot to unRAID using the restored flash backup. Assign the new hard drives to the array. Install the docker apps you used to have but then replace the config folders with your backups. Using the restored duplicati docker app retrieve your data.

I'm not sure you need these unless you're running a lot of servers like Newtious does. I run a Minecraft server and a couple other game servers for friends and family. I don't need to manage them in any special way. This is what I do. I run DuckDNS so that my friends can find my server easily and port forwarding to the port for the game. Here's some additional info about security (beyond the link that trurl has): If you expose a port on your router pointing to your unRAID server then keep in mind that someone will find out that the port is open and "listening". This will happen regardless of you having a host name or not (since people port scan IP addresses all the time). If someone finds an open port then the first assumption is that the port is being used for whatever app typically uses that port so a way to hide the purpose of a port is to use an unconventional port number for that app (or game). The drawback is that services or games might expect a specific port number. Trust the app or game to have decent security to block bad requests to the port (this is debatable). The docker app is self-contained. If someone gains control of the app then they can only see the data that the docker app has access to. Be aware of this and limit what the docker has access to (this is one reason why using the "privileged" flag is a bad idea). This is why I like dockers. They are like a VM but for a very specific purpose with a small footprint.

That's cool but you need the tower defence and puzzle games first. Too bad there wasn't a Wordle docker.

Oh man. You are incredibly close to my long-serving HDD with 110885. See the post below. Mine is still in use but not as much as it used to be (it still sits in an old Windows Server 2008 machine that I use as a backup machine. https://hardforum.com/threads/post-your-hard-drive-power-on-hours.1915865/post-1045205453

Your signature is out of date now. 😀 I always find it cool to add more drives to my system. I guess your friends just don't appreciate it. Might have to get new friends. 😄 Careful though. When you add more space it's tempting to fill it up and then realize that you need more...

Docker is the way to go. If you find a game then you'll need to get the DuckDNS docker. There are YouTube videos that talk about "Reverse Lookups". Basically you register an internet host name like RichB.duckdns.org and the DuckDNS app will synchronize your host name with your IP address. The next step is to do "port forward" on your home router to point to your unRAID server and the port that your game is using. If the game is using port 1234 then your friends would type in RichB.duckdns.org:1234 and then they could play your game. Let me know what games you find. I like tower defence and puzzle games too but I haven't really found any good ones. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough.

If a drive on your backup server dies then you need to restore the contents of that drive. If it's a single drive then that's easy to do but if you have multiple drives in an array and the data is spread across the drives and then one drive fails then will you know what you've lost? In this case you will need to back up all that data. In my case that's a lot of data so I'd rather not waste time backing up 30TB of data. Instead, I buy a new drive and let unRAID restore one 10TB drive in less than a day. One last point is that my backup server uses snapshots so losing that server would suck. I could restore the data from the source but I would lose the history. I guess it just depends on how the backup server is set up. My post above and here is simply meant as another perspective.

I'm guessing that most of you have had the good fortune to never need to restore because it's a pain in the royal butt. I've since learned to buy good reliable drives and all my servers have dual parity. If money is a problem then I can understand but keep in mind that time is money.

Thanks @JonathanM. I figured that it was something like that.

Can anyone explain this? Why is the unRAID Processor dashboard showing different CPU usages?

Use Vorta (Borg) or Duplicati. I like GUI apps better than CLI but with Vorta (Borg) you get both because Vorta is the GUI and Borg is the backend CLI that Vorta uses. To me a GUI is more intuitive about what's going on. MrGrey alludes to the fact that your backup should be somewhere else, preferably in another location and at the very least outside of the server holding all your data. It could be another server or just a bunch of hard drives that you update from time to time. In my setup I have two servers. One (actually three) that are file servers and one backup server. The data on the file servers is backed up to the backup server with daily snapshots. Vorta (Borg) and Duplicati use deduplication which is much easier (less strain) on the computer than the deduplication that ZFS uses since ZFS is realtime deduplication and backup apps only need to dedupe the files when they are backed up.

It sounds good but you can add the 5TB to the array so that it's protected by the parity drive. You then create a "torrent share" that uses only the 5TB drive and you configure all the other shares to not use the 5TB drive. So the 5TB drive becomes a member within the array but it has a specific purpose. You can also set the spin up / spin down settings.

I agree with ConnorVT that you should really have a new machine with the new drives. Start up the new machine, get used to it, slowly set it up the way that you want, and then copy your files over. Once you have two systems with the same data then turn off the old machine and use just the new one for a while. Once you're happy that it's working the way that you want it to then decide what to do with the old server. Move the drives over to the new server so that you have lots of space or re-use the old server as a backup server (archive). Do you only have one machine and this is your only option?

This is a great price for an 18TB Exos drive. I have 10 running in my servers and I bought a couple more as backups. https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/seagate-exos-x18-18tb-enterprise-hdd-cmr-3-5-inch-hyperscale-sata-6gb-s-7200-rpm-512e-and-4kn-fastformat-low-latency-with-enhanced-caching-st18000nm000j/15143598?cmp=seo-15143598&cmp=knc-s-71700000081849114&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7NPmwYvqgAMV0gqtBh1_9wVNEAQYAiABEgJrIPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm not aware of any special app that will do what you want but here's what I would do if I were you. Option 1 Build a new, cheap machine for about $500 and buy two 4TB drives. Each machine will have 1x4TB parity and 3x4TB data. One machine will be your main server and the other will be a backup server. The main server will use Vorta to back up all the files from that main server to the backup server. When the backup is complete store the whole computer in the basement. Possibly encrypt the drives in case the stored computer might be stolen. Possibly get a small case so that the backup server has a small footprint. Put the smaller drives in there. Easier to store. Use the SSD drives as backup drives or split them up and put two in each machine as cache drives. Option 2 Buy an 18TB drive. These are currently at a nice price. Connect it to the server as an unassigned device and copy all the data to there or use it as an archive for Vorta. One big array -> to one big HDD. Option 3 Use the SSDs as your backup. Copy everything from your server (the SSDs) to your current backup drives (the 2.5" HDDs) so that you have a copy there. Put the old 3.5" drives back into the array and use them like you did before. Leave the 3TB drive out (the one that is dying). This means you will have 1x4TB parity and 2x4TB data. Copy all data from one of the backup drives (2.5") to the server. Add that 2.5" drive (that you just copied) to the server. You would now have 1x4TB parity and 3x4TB data. Stop here or do the same with another 4TB drive. Add it as a data drive or parity. You would now have 1x4TB parity and 4x4TB data or 2x4TB parity and 3x4TB data. Stop here or do the same with another 4TB drive. Add it as a data drive or parity. You would now have 1x4TB parity and 5x4TB data or 2x4TB parity and 4x4TB data. Copy the data onto the SSD drives in logical chunks (movies, pictures, etc.) so that they each grouping fits onto a drive. This is what I used to do.

Syncthing uses encryption when syncing files. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/möbius-sync/id1539203216

I took a different approach. This is pretty easy to do. All phones are synchronized to unRAID using Syncthing. When you take a picture on your phone then syncthing copies that to unRAID. I then use Vorta (Borg) to back up those folders. Vorta runs each day and uses incremental backups so if nothing changes then nothing happens. If something changes then only the changes are backed up. If files move around then the new locations are noted as changes but the contents don't change (it uses deduplication). What to do: Install one of the Syncthing dockers in unRAID. Create one (or more) folder(s) in unRAID that Syncthing can see. This is where your pictures will be synchronized to. Install Syncthing on the phones. Link Syncthing in the phone to the unRAID Syncthing (as a device). Using Syncthing on the phone and on unRAID, link the camera folder on the phone with the folder you created in unRAID. Install the Vorta docker in unRAID. Set up an archive (another folder in unRAID). Tell Vorta when to run, where the source files are (the picture folder in unRAID) and where the archive will be (your new archive folder). Benefits: If the picture folder gets too big you can move files out of the folder to a backup or other folder. This will delete the files on the phone. You can also tell Vorta to use the picture folder as a source AND the other backup folder as a source. When you move files from one folder to the other one then Vorta simply notes the change but the archive remains the same size. If you accidentally delete a picture then you can recover it from the archive.

Hi Jagger. I'm not sure how Windows is related to unRAID or how having unRAID and Windows is a problem. I have some Windows machines and Android phones/tablets. All work with unRAID through shares or syncthing. And of course my TV and Roku using Plex in unRAID. Everything is compatible. Of course I don't have Windows 11 yet (trying to avoid for now). Is there something in Windows 11 that won't work with unRAID?