Spyderturbo007

I'm setting up a new server for a friend and was assigning a cache drive as the 4 data drives were going through preclear. I accidentally assigned the cache drive to the Disk5 slot. How do I unassign the drive and move it to the cache drive slot?

So just start each preclear using those block numbers and I'm alright to keep working on the cache drive while the preclears are running? Are those still the recommended parameters? Thanks!

I'm setting up a unRAID box for my buddy tomorrow and have a quick question about the preclear process. I'll be preclearing 4 x 3TB WD Red drives and saw this line in the Wiki: "If you are pre-clearing multiple drives it is recommended you also use the optional "-r" "-w" and "-b" options. These set the size and number of blocks of data read and written to the disks during processing. Although not needed when clearing a single drive, If you do not use these options the preclear script may run out of memory when concurrently processing multiple large drives. Suggested values are preclear_disk.sh -r 65536 -w 65536 -b 2000 -A /dev/sdX" Is this a concern for 4 drives? It's an i3 Box with 16GB of RAM if that matters. We are also installing a SSD Cache drive. Can I install my apps while the HDDs are preclearing? I was going to assign the cache drive and then install NZBDrone and SABnzbd, but didn't know if that could be done without any shares being configured. I'll be running the apps off the cache drive exclusively, but wasn't sure how that worked without having an array.

Under the share settings set to be Cache only. You also need to check that you do not already have folders on the main data disks corresponding to the share as in such a case mover will try and move the files even though the share is set to be cache only. Perfect. Thanks! The mover ran last night and didn't touch the apps folder. Looks like I'm good to go. I have SABnzbd and NzbDrone running and so far, so good.

Thanks for your help. I'll move a few shows around and change the allocation method to Moist Free. Do either of you know how to exclude folders from the Mover application? I just got NzbDrone and SABnzbd running on my cache drive (I think), but I can't figure out how to exclude them from being moved at night.

I'm struggling with how to keep my drives from reaching 100%. The Wiki advises that you don't completely fill the drive as it causes pauses in the data transfer. Here is how my system is set up: -TV Shows ----Bar Rescue ------Season 1 --------S01E01 ------Season 2 --------S02E01 ----Person of Interest ------Season 1 TV Show Share settings: Allocation Method: High-water Min Free Space 80000000 Split Level 2 -Movies ----Last Vegas --------Last Vegas.bluray.m2ts ----Total Recall --------Total Recall.bluray.m2ts Movies Share settings: Allocation Method: High-water Min Free Space 80000000 Split Level 1 Here is my problem. As seasons are added to shows that were created years ago, it won't split them to the new disks. So if the initial show was added to Disk 3 it just keeps adding new seasons to that disk until it fills up. What can I do to fix the issue?

Actually there was a parity drive installed. Unless it wasn't being used for some reason? It shows up in the GUI as a parity drive and I was able to rebuild a failed drive a few weeks ago, so I think it's working. I almost want to put the old server back together just so I can get a screenshot.

If that's the case, then I'm not sure any of my drives are spinning down. This is the first time I've seen the flashing green ball. My Disk Settings page says, Default spin down delay - 15 minutes, but the only drive that's flashing is the SSD.

Actually no. This is the first time I've had a cache drive. My last server didn't.

itimpi was correct. Now that I set the shares to use the cache drive it is working correct. Why would my transfer for a direct to the array copy speed drop so much? It was almost double before.

I moved from my old build to my new build using the same disks and my transfer speeds have dropped from about 80-90MB/s to a max of 42MB/s when writing to the array. Old Build: -2.8GHz AMD Sempron (Single core) -4GB Crucial RAM New Build: -3.6GHz Intel i3 Dual Core Haswell -16GB G.Skill Ripjaw RAM -Crucial 256GB SSD -GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H Also, the server doesn't seem to be using the cache drive. When I copy files to the array and watch the GUI, the writes are showing up on the HDD as opposed to the SSD. The SATA ports are set to ACHI in the BIOS. syslog.txt

v5.0.5 Plus I just transferred all my drives to a new build and added a cache drive (Crucial 256GB SSD). The case is a Fractal Design and I have installed one additional fan on the side panel. All drives are reporting reasonable temperatures, but the cache drive is showing a * for the temperature. The green ball to the left of the drive is flashing. Thinking it was overheating in the new case (I had the front door shut on the case), I stopped the array for a power down. As soon as the array stopped, the drive reported a temperature of 29 degrees. When I started the array again, it shows a temperature again of 28 degrees and the ball has stopped flashing. Any idea what the problem is with the temperature? syslog.txt

Bump again.

NewEgg as the 3TB Toshiba drives on sale for $89.99 with free shipping using promo code EMCWPHW47. I don't have any experience with these drives, so I can't vouch for their performance or reliability.

Thanks Gary. I just need to check when I get home and see if I need any SATA cables before placing my order. I was able to swap out the 3.5GHz i3 for a 3.6GHz i3 and actually save a few dollars after finding a promo code for the 3.6GHz. Looks like with UPS and all, the build will run $719. I don't even think my wife can complain about that price.

Excellent. I'll put that extra $40 towards the UPS that I really need to buy and have been putting off. You don't have a specific model of UPS you like while I'm harassing you with questions, do you? I always use the CyberPower line when I install Poweredge servers for clients, but the ones I buy would be overkill. I checked the hardware compatibility list, but it seems to be infrequently updated.

I guess I was thinking that since this is just a cache / apps drive that the increased access speed wouldn't be worth the additional $40 price tag. I've never used a M.2 SSD interface, so I really don't know. You obviously know what you're talking about and have been a tremendous help, so I'll take your advice if you think it is worth the additional cost?

I can get a 256GB traditional SSD for about $40 cheaper which is why I was considering that route. I see that the Fractal Design case allows for mounting a SSD on the back side of the motherboard tray. Neat idea. So if I installed a RAID controller in the x16 slot and maxed it out with drives, the PCI bus wouldn't be a bottleneck for the controller?

It looks like the choice is either to live with the M.2 limitation and lose two ports, or use a traditional SSD and lose one bay in the case. How does the PCI Express bandwidth sharing effect me moving forward as I add drives? I Have some smaller drives in my array that could be upgraded to larger drives if needed so that's an option as well.

It looks like things might not be a smooth as I thought they were going to be. According to the manual for the Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H, when you use the M.2 port, you lose SATA ports 3 & 4. Chipset: - 1 x M.2 PCIe connector - 1 x SATA Express connector - 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0~5) (M.2, SATA Express, and SATA3 4/5 connectors can only be used one at a time. The SATA3 4/5 connectors will become unavailable when an M.2 SSD is installed.) - Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 Marvell ® 88SE9172 chip: - 2x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3 6~7) - Support for RAID 0 and RAID 1 The board has a total of 8 SATA connectors, minus 2 when I install the M.2 SSD as the cache drive, leaves me with 6 available ports. I currently have 5 data drives and one parity drive, so the motherboard will be full. That would mean that I need to add a controller card when I want to upgrade. So this isn't an issue today, but will be when I want to add the next drive, which led me to look at the PCIx slots. The motherboard shows 3 x PCI Express x16 slots, but it looks like they share bandwidth. 1 x PCI Express x16 slow, running at x16 (PCIEX16) *For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16 slot. 1 x PCI Express x16 slow, running at x16 (PCIEX8) *The PCIEX8 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16 slot. When the PCIEX8 is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode. 1 x PCI Express x16 slow, running at x4 (PCIEX4) *The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX8 and PCIEX16 slots. When the PCIEX4 is populated, the PCIEX16 slot will operate at up to x8 mode and the PCIEX8 will operate at up to x4 mode. 2 x PCI Express x1 slots I remember reading somewhere that you need "x" lanes per drive attached to the PCI bus, but I can't seem to find the correlation right now. Also, do I need to be concerned that there are two different SATA controller chipsets? Will that lead to issues? Thoughts before I place an order?

I think I might skip them for right now, just to save the $180. It's something I can always add down the road as I add more drives.

Take it for what it's worth, I guess. I just had an HGST blow up last week that was about 2 months outside of the 2-year warranty. They also indicate, that most of the Seagate and WD drives had been farmed from External USB drives they purchased a few years back when HDDs became scarce from the flooding in Thailand.

I'm struggling with the cascade upgrade because I don't game on my desktop. It's basically used for ripping BluRays and other mundane tasks. Nothing crazy.

I think I'm on to something with your help Gary. It looks like I can do the upgrade for about $630. Fractal Design Define R4 CORSAIR HX series HX650 650W G.SKILL Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Crucial M550 M.2 SSD Intel Core i3-4150 Haswell Dual-Core 3.5GHz The other thing I've been kicking around, is to upgrade my desktop computer with a X99 Motherboard I have laying around (not the Gigabyte we've been discussing) and transfer the i5 chip and motherboard in my desktop currently to the unRAID server. But DDR4 RAM and the LGA2011-v3 chips are freakin' expensive. It would cost me about $1,400 to do that cascade upgrade.

Any idea what the maximum number of drives the 650w power supply would support? All my drives (6 of them) are 7200rpm drives. If I add a cache / apps drive, that will be 7. I want to make sure that if I decide to add 4 or 5 more that I'll have the ability without needing to upgrade the power supply. That's a great idea of using the M.2 slot on the motherboard! It would be the cache / apps drive. What do you think would be appropriate for size in that case? I know it has to do with how much you normally write to the array in a 24h time period, but mine is sporadic. Most of the time it's just a few TV shows, but other times, I'll buy a few movies at the store and rip them 1:1. If I get 3 or 4, it could easily be 100GB depending on the movie. Would 128GB be sufficient? From what I see, if there isn't space on the cache drive, then unRAID is smart enough to just write the data to the array. Is that correct? If so, then 128GB should give me plenty of space for both cache and apps? Or am I missing the overhead of the temp storage for SabNzbd while it downloads and unpacks everything? Is there a good reason to use 5 in 3 cages other than being able to jam more drives in a case and still have it looking "sexy"? Dropping the two cages would save me $160 on the build which I could use to start throwing HDDs at my old build and use that for a backup. I really need a backup. I could totally download the Internet......the entire thing!