trurl

Do you mean you rebuilt parity without the problem disk assigned?

Is this still a problem? That is why I have asked twice thrice now for new diagnostics.

Seems you do need some tips about Unraid. The Unraid OS is in RAM. The archives of the OS are on the flash drive you booted from initially. The OS is unpacked fresh from these archives into RAM at each boot, and the OS runs completely in RAM. Think of it as firmware except easier to work with and no bricking. There must be at least one data disk in the array before you can start it and the services for VMs and dockers.

You did this wrong so they won't be notified about your post. You must type the @ and then continue typing the username and then you must actually select the correct username from the choices presented. Like this: @coblck

If they contain any data you want to keep in the array, move that data to other disks in the array. Then Tools - New Config. Assign disks however you want and then start to the array to rebuild parity with the remaining assigned disks. Be sure you don't assign any disk with data on it to any parity slot. How do you want to use the removed SSDs?

If another drive fails, that drive will be used with all the others to rebuild the failed drive. Any unreliable disk in the array puts others at increased risk. If possible before rebooting and preferably with the array started Go to Tools - Diagnostics and attach the complete Diagnostics ZIP file to your NEXT post in this thread.

Even RAID5 parity is the same concept, just an extra bit that allows a missing bit to be calculated from all the other bits. But RAID5 doesn't have a single disk dedicated to parity, it stripes data and parity across all disks. This makes things faster, but it also means none of the disks can be read or written by themselves, and different sized disks can't be used. Unraid IS NOT RAID, but just like RAID, Unraid parity allows you to calculate the data for a missing disk from all the other disks, so a failed disk can be rebuilt. Unlike RAID, an Unraid disk can also be replaced with a larger disk (up to size of parity) and be rebuilt to that larger disk. Format doesn't write over all data (which would take hours). It just writes an empty filesystem to the disk. This empty filesystem only changes the bits needed to represent a filesystem (of the chosen type) with an empty top level folder and whatever else the filesystem needs (metadata) to allow you to work with its folders and files. Most of the bits that represented the previous contents are unchanged until reused (delete works the same way), but they are no longer part of the filesystem so can't be accessed in the normal ways. Even tools that are designed to recover this sort of data often can't make complete sense of them, and you will wind up with files or partial files with no indication of what folders they were in or even what the filename was. appdata, domains, and system files on cache allows dockers and VMs to perform better since parity isn't involved, and it helps keep array disks spun down since these shares always have open files. Putting other things on cache for speed doesn't usually make much difference since each file is read from the single disk it resides on, parity isn't involved for simple reads (assuming the disk isn't disabled and being emulated), and single disk read speed is sufficient for most purposes, even 4K video. But more importantly, if you fill cache you can definitely break things.

His screenshot seems to indicate users named 'admin' and 'cam'. These users have AFP and SMB access to the share, but no NFS access to the share.

You need to figure out why you broke it though.

Do you allow access to your server from outside your LAN?

According to those diagnostics you posted earlier your dockers and VMs are on cache as they should be. I did notice, though, that cache was a bit full. Possibly some other things have happened since you posted those diagnostics that have broken other things. Post new diagnostics.

This is probably going to be the easiest and cheapest way to get those files. Can't imagine why you would have thought anything remotely like that. The rest of this post is going to be a little long, but I encourage you to study it. Everything you have said in this thread reveals profound misunderstandings about how parity in general works (on any system) and how Unraid uses parity. This is one reason I had trouble understanding anything you said, because it didn't really make any sense based on how you should use Unraid. As mentioned, parity contains no files and is in no way to be considered a backup. There is no magic that could possibly allow parity to have the capacity to contain the data for all your data disks. Parity is a common concept in computers and communications, and it is basically the same idea wherever it is used. Parity is just an extra bit that allows a missing bit to be calculated from all the other bits. Here is the Unraid wiki on parity: https://wiki.unraid.net/UnRAID_6/Overview#Parity-Protected_Array Understanding parity can help make more sense of how Unraid works to manage and protect your data, and can help make more sense of how you work with Unraid. And how certain ideas about how you might work with Unraid can't possibly make sense. There is also a misunderstanding, apparently common, about format. Format and pretty much everything else you do with a disk except a read is a write operation. Write and copy are obvious, but delete also writes to the disk the files are deleted from, and move between disks is just a copy followed by a delete (move within a disk updates the folders so it is also a write of course). Format is also a write operation. It writes an empty filesystem to the disk. That is what format has always done in every operating system you have ever used. Many people seem to have some vague idea that format just means "get a disk ready to use", whatever that might mean. Unraid parity is realtime. Any time a write operation takes place on a data disk in the array, parity is updated so that the array stays in sync. After formatting a disk in the parity array, parity is updated just like with any write operation, and the array agrees the disk has been formatted. Rebuilding a formatted disk can only result in a formatted disk. Why do you want to use encryption? It is just added complexity that can make recovery difficult even when you don't make serious mistakes. In the future, please ask on the forum before you attempt to make any changes to your disk formats or assignments, or if you have any other indication of a problem such as disabled or unmountable disks. Don't make a problem become multiple problems and data loss just because of user error. Be sure to setup Notifications to alert you by email or other agent as soon as a problem is detected. Don't let a single problem go until it becomes multiple problems and data loss. And remember, parity is not a backup. You absolutely must always keep another copy of everything important and irreplaceable, preferably on another system. You get to decide what qualifies as important and irreplaceable.

Go to Tools - Diagnostics and attach the complete Diagnostics ZIP file to your NEXT post in this thread.

After you apply New Config, you get the Main page with the array stopped and then you can make any changes before starting the array. Preserve all is the simplest because then it will remember the current assignments. Then you can go from there to change them as you want before starting the array.

Have you done memtest?

If possible before rebooting and preferably with the array started Go to Tools - Diagnostics and attach the complete Diagnostics ZIP file to your NEXT post in this thread.

Make sure you are not using any RAID mode. Unraid IS NOT RAID. Can you see the disks in the BIOS?

You can assign or not assign any disks in any order with New Config. If you assign any disk to any parity slot, that disk will be overwritten with parity. Nothing else about any of your settings are affected.

New Config will not affect the contents of any disk (except parity if assigned).

Have you done memtest?

I would say it's a bad idea, but you can probably do it if you know how to speak SMB. Settings - SMB - SMB Extras

exactly. And when you start the array, it optionally (by default) builds parity on any disk assigned to any parity slot.

Sounds like you just did a parity check, which doesn't do anything to the contents of any data disks. You formatted the disks and parity agrees they have been formatted.

Disk1 says 1% full, which is just going to be filesystem overhead. Disk3 says 5% full, 500G+ so it probably has some movies on it. Disk2 as mentioned is over half full.

Parity contains no files. It is just an extra disk that contains parity bits that allows the contents of a data disk to be calculated from all the other disks. And as noted