Hypknox

2nd Drive results: preclear_start__43NPAKPYS_2013-09-25.txt preclear_rpt__43NPAKPYS_2013-09-25.txt preclear_finish__43NPAKPYS_2013-09-25.txt

Hey guys, it's been quite a while since I've added any drives to my array. I just finished preclearing a couple Toshiba PH3300U-1I72 3TB drives, here are the results. Everything seems okay to me, but I'm interested in other opinions. Thanks for the feedback! (2nd Drive results in next post) preclear_start__43NPB2HXS_2013-09-25.txt preclear_rpt__43NPB2HXS_2013-09-25.txt preclear_finish__43NPB2HXS_2013-09-25.txt

I considered that, but I would need a bigger switch. Currently all ports are being used by other devices. I had also considered bridging the Ubee gateway with my D-Link router and actually even tried it. I couldn't get it to work but didn't put much effort into it because in time a purchased modem will pay for itself by dropping the rental fee.

Ahh ok, makes sense dgaschk, bottle necked by the modem. I'll replace this Ubee with a standalone modem and my router that I know will support gigabit then. Problem solved.

Interesting... Look at the claim of 1000 directly on Ubee's website - http://www.ubeeinteractive.com/products/cable/ddw2600 Regardless, I'm going to just go with a standalone modem and router. Never did care for the router part of an all-in-one gateway. If it truly doesn't support a gigabit connection that at least explains the unRAID server and two other PC's connected directly to it only pulling 100. My HTPC which first passes through a gigabit switch before hitting the Ubee DDW2600 modem however appears to be pulling a gigabit connection. If the DDW2600 cannot achieve that, is it safe to assume the HTPC is falsely reporting 1000 and only actually pulling up to 10/100? I'll likely go with this Motorola SB6141 - http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-SurfBoard-SB6141-DOCSIS-Cable/dp/B007IMPMW4 It's the only Docsis 3.0 device that isn't a gateway on Time Warner Cables approved devices list. The router I have isn't bad, it at least supports a gigabit connection - D-Link DIR-655 (http://www.dlink.com/us/en/home-solutions/connect/routers/dir-655-wireless-n-gigabit-router)

Looks like ethtool eth0 did the trick. Now, it's showing a non gigabit connection as I feared... only 100Mb/s unfortunately. I'm trying to determine what is causing this. The NIC and gateway supports a gigabit connection. What might I be able to do to utilize a gigabit connection? Other information that may be useful - I just relocated so I'm going through a bit of a re-setup phase. I noticed my HTPC is reporting a gigabit connection, my main pc is not. The HTPC does happen to be passing through a gigabit switch, and the main pc is plugged directly into the gateway (Ubee DDW2600). According to Ubee's website, this model all four ports support a gigabit connection. I'm wondering why no computer, my unRAID server included that is connected directly to the Ubee gateway will pick up a gigabit connection, only the HTPC passing through the gigabit switch... Any ideas?

Is there a command I can type to verify if unRAID is using a gigabit connection? I checked ifconfig eth0 but it doesn't seem to give me that information, that or it's in a format unfamiliar to me.

Given the fact that UnRAID has spin down, will the POH (Power-On Hours) 8760 Hours/Year really mean that much? There are definitely other great aspects to these drives such as the lower power consumption and cooler operational temperatures but in terms of reliability, are these WD Red drives really positioned to be the next big thing for unRAID users? Don't get me wrong, these drives appear stellar. I'm just wondering with the way that unRAID operates if we stand to gain much in terms of reliability / longevity of our drives.

Wordpad seems to format a little better as well heffneil. Quick question regarding one of my drives. This used to be my parity drive and I decided to go with a 3TB drive instead for parity so that I can use larger than 2TB drives for data in the future. I followed your instructions listed here Joe - http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=6126.msg58998#msg58998 I finished the preclear of my old parity drive successfully and out of curiosity decided to compare the results with the original ones some months ago since this is an existing drive from my array. Everything for the most part looked pretty similar except this time I noticed the following at the bottom of my start and end reports - SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error # 1 Short offline Aborted by host 90% 3104 - # 2 Extended offline Aborted by host 80% 3029 - Should I be alarmed by this? Is this drive ok or is it on it's way out already? I've attached the preclear reports for this drive in the even any additional information is needed. preclear_start__5YD77WNB_2012-07-21.txt preclear_rpt__5YD77WNB_2012-07-21.txt preclear_finish__5YD77WNB_2012-07-21.txt

Thanks Rajahal, are you basing the statement on the Back-UPS Pro 1000 being sufficient on 15 7200rpm drives or a mix with green drives? I'm wanting to go full 3TB 7200's, eventually, and am sizing the UPS accordingly. I hate to keep what should be a closed issue open but I'm getting conflicting information. beckp seems to think that even the Back-UPS Pro 1300 would be marginal where you say the 1000 would be fine. The price difference between the two is significant, I want to make sure I'm buying the right one. Also, thank you for the attempt and breaking down the math behind it beckp. I did appreciate the effort unfortunately I fear I am not following what you're explaining. I had no idea power was this complex.

I've had good experiences with the Norco SS-500 5-in-3 Drive Cage. Here is a link to an excellent and thorough review on them over at Greenleaf - http://www.greenleaf-technology.com/blogs/softwareandhardware/index.php?id=2230660860939828125 I currently run three of them in my server and am satisfied. If you've looked through the thread on enclosures you've may have stumbled upon the bit about the stock fans for these. It isn't that they don't properly cool, they're just significantly louder than what most would care for. Unless you're keeping your server in a closet somewhere. The fan replacement was very simple and took maybe a total of 10 min to swap out all three, if not less. I can't comment on the quality of the other enclosures as I have not personally tested them. I would definitely give my stamp of approval on the Norco though.

Thanks a lot Frank and beck, I understood everything from both of you aside from one piece - Specifically the last part of that, I don't understand where this 812.5W comes from. I see that the efficiency at full load for the 1300 UPS is 87% per APC's website. Wouldn't that be 88% of the UPS itself? Meaning that it would be more like 780W * 0.87 meaning the UPS would handle up to 678.6W at full load? I was actually thinking the 1300 back-UPS pro would be a bit overkill but didn't see a model in between the 1000 and the 1300.

Thanks Frank, so I was looking at the wrong spec. Will my current PSU handle 15 3TB 7200rpm drives? I'm assuming so since its 650W and "it is actually the watts that count". Would someone mind breaking down a quick formula so I can know exactly what I'm looking for in the future? In terms of Watts Seagates site claims an average operating power of 8.0W for the ST3000DM001. That's all the information I can find on the drive. According to The Power Supply Thread a non green drive should be "3 amps (36 watts)". Is that still true? So we're looking at 540W for 15 3TB 7200rpm drives all spun up at the same time, correct? So the 1000VA should be sufficient since its 600W. But then you have the Mobo that supposedly draws 5 amps (60 watts) so now we're at exactly 600W. Given that UPSs will degrade over time shouldn't I be looking to over compensate just a little to ensure it can handle the full load down the road? Should I be looking into something more along the lines of this -APC Power-Saving Back-UPS Pro 1300 780 Watts / 1300 VA (http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1300G&total_watts=700 ) I didn't see an in between, I would think 650W would be a good point to hit. It isn't the concept of how many times can X fit into Y that's getting me. I guess it's the lack of information on HDDs when I look at the technical specifications and knowing what's actually relevant (VA, A, W, etc.)

I've been researching power and it's still a bit fuzzy to me. Would someone mind telling me if I can run 15 3TB 7200rpm drives with my current PSU and will my UPS handle it during a power outage? I'm wanting to begin buying 3TB drives due to the short life span of the green drives that I keep reading about plus the extra storage and speed will be nice. I also feel like green drives will be phased out eventually anyway. I'm currently running the following - - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020) - APC Back-Ups Pro 700 (http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR700G) Would I be able to safely/efficiently run 15x Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148681) with no problem? If I'm understanding what I've been looking at correctly then I should be able to since my PSU is 53A and each of the previously mentioned HDD should be 3A so we're at 45A from the 15 drives, plus 5A for the mobo we should be ok at 50A correct? I'm not sure how to tell if my UPS can handle it, I would think it's more than enough but I'm really not sure... My UPS is 700VA. Any input is greatly appreciated.

I currently have 4 drives, 1 parity and 3 data. I prefer to have .nfo and image files for TV shows and movies locally on the hard drives along with each TV show or Movie. I'm currently using Shares (High-Water). As it stands my files are starting to feel... fragmented. As an example, I may have the actual TV show episode on disk 1 along with the images for it but the nfo for that episode resides on disk2 or disk3. My question is this (regarding performance) - Will it be in my best interest to keep all of the files corresponding to a particular movie or TV show episode on the same disk? I realize that shows in particular tend to continue, thus grow in size making it difficult to keep an entire show all on one disk. But would it be optimal to at least keep the image files, nfo and corresponding episode all on the same disk? Or will it really matter? My fear is that when my server reaches maximum capacity (15 drives) it would be less efficient both performance and energy wise if files for a larger TV show with several seasons were to end up scattered across several disks. Should I start manually moving files from each disk to the other to restore some sort of "order", change up my share in some way, or leave everything as is? Perhaps I went about setting up shares incorrectly? Or is everything fine as is and I need not worry? Here is an example of my setup if anyone cares to critique it - //unRAID [TV Shows] - [Adventure Time] -- [season 01] --- S1E01 - Slumber Party Panic - Trouble In Lumpy Space.mkv The above is set up as High-water allocation with a split level of 2 and min free space of 0. My Movie shares are also High-water allocation but they are a split level of 1 and min free space of 0.

Ok good deal, that's what I was thinking. Thanks jonathanm.

Ok, so here's what happened... A friend of mine is currently ordering the necessary hardware to build his server. Since mine is up and running, I decided to go ahead and run a preclear on his three HDDs since he received those first. What I noticed is that with his drives now removed from my tower (they were never added to the array, only precleared then removed) is that my parity drive has changed from (sdd) to (sde). My data disks still match up to what they were before, both (sdx) and S/N. The actual S/N of the parity drive is exactly the same, so I'm pretty sure its the same drive based on that alone. I feel like this is a non issue but am hesitant to start my array with this discrepancy. Is this an o.k. thing that can happen? The actual position of the parity drive in the tower did not change, still feeding off of the same SATA cable as it was before. Can't quite figure out why the (sdx) would change... Another thing to add, I have now added a 4th drive which will be my 3rd data and it's S/N matches the actual drive but the (sdx) is (sdd), which is what my Parity USED to be... Which makes me hesitant to preclear it until I have confirmation that this is a non issue. I realize its just a parity disk, so it's not like I would overwrite data files if unRAID precleared the incorrect disk, but still...

I'm replacing the 500w psu with a 650w, the math makes me nervous that at full capacity (15 drives) I could potentially be short on power. I'm now debating on whether or not I should go ahead and grab a 7200rpm drive and swap my current parity with it and turn the current parity into another data drive. Since all of my drives are 5900rpm green drives and the price point on this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL042412&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL042412-_-EMC-042412-Index-_-InternalHardDrives-_-22148834-L01B) is actually less than the 5900 drives I figured why not. The fact that the ST2000DM001 drives have a 1 year warranty where as the slower ST2000DL003 drives have a 2 year, plus the average rating on the slower 5900 drives are higher has caused some concern though... I'm not too interested in increasing write speed at the cost of increased failure rate. Especially since my serer is exclusively used for media storage for my HTPC. What are some of you guys thoughts on this? Should I stick with 5900 green drives, or would it be best to start grabbing some 7200 drives since they're actually cheaper at the moment and when my new psu gets here it will be enough juice to handle them. Keep in mind what my server is being used for and that reliability is most important to me. I only really care about being able to stream (hard wired) to my HTPC with no latency, writing to these disks is not a huge concern of mine as I can simply walk away and allow the data to transfer over.

Hmm, that's interesting info regarding components requiring more power as they age. I was unaware of this. Yea I have read that thread, that's actually where I got the idea for my current PSU. You'll notice it was the suggested PSU for a 10-15 drive server - "CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 (CMPSU-500CX) 500W - 34A, supports up to 15 green drives or 9 7200 rpm drives - recommended for medium servers, 10 - 15 drives" Now you've got me questioning whether or not I should try and return this and go with a 650w.... I really wish the green drives would drop in price as the 7200rpm drives have, it would take away my desire to even consider it as I really don't think I would stand to gain much (if anything) by running 7200rpm drives over the slower greens considering what my server is being used for. Now I'm seeing a 2TB 7200rpm even cheaper at $109...

I've noticed the 7200rpm drives have started to dip and have actually reached the same price point as the slower drives. My server supports up 15 drives. The Seagate ST2000DL003 5900rpm at $119 (http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000DL003/dp/B004CCS266/ref=sr_1_120?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1335078879&sr=1-120) While the Seagate ST2000DM001 7200rpm is also $119 (http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-ST2000DM001-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal/dp/B005T3GRN2/ref=sr_1_121?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1335078923&sr=1-121) First question - Will my Corsair 500w psu support 15 7200 rpm drives or should I stick with the green drives? My psu - CMPSU-500CXV2 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W2T2U6/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i01) Technically it would only be 12 7200 drives as I already have 3 of the 5900 green drives and have no intention of replacing them unless they were to fail. Second question - If my psu can support the beefier drives I'm assuming it would be in my best interest to swap out my current parity for a faster 7200 rpm drive? My server is strictly used for storing content for my HTPC media center. So I wouldn't even consider going for the 7200 drives over the slower green drives but since they're exactly the same price it seems like the way to go. Unless of course my psu can't support them or if those drives have a higher failure rate then I wouldn't be interested. Thoughts? Any input is greatly appreciated.

"It's 72C inside my house." Haha, I meant F... I came back to view this thread and got a good laugh at the comments following my typo.

I have received my Coolink SWiF2-800's and I must say, they are SIGNIFICANTLY more quiet than the stock fans. I'm not seeing the same issues multiple people are referring to regarding the removal of the stock fan and installation of a replacement. I had zero issues with all three units. In all fairness, I was extremely careful due to the multiple "yep, I broke em too" posts. As long as you take your time and be careful you shouldn't run into issues replacing the fans. I also suggest using your screw driver and gently pushing on the fan from the outside through the vents to help the fan slowly come off of each post. Don't get impatient and try to simply pull the fan out. Keep in mind that if you simply pull the fan out on a single post it's going to be increasingly more difficult to remove it from the others. So try to remove them all 4 sides in unison, just a little at a time. This same concept also applies when installing the replacement fan. I do enjoy the major decrease in noise, although I have noticed my drives run a bit hotter than they did with the stock fans. I'm running around 33C - 37C. It's 72C inside my house. I don't recall the exact temp of the drives with the stock fan but I'm pretty sure they ran cooler. They are pushing a noticeable less amount of air than the stock fans did when you put your hand next to them. I consider this a non issue really though as those temperatures aren't dangerous by any means. If I recall you're not shaking hands with danger until around 55+. I'll continue to monitor the HDD temperatures and update this thread if they continue to climb. So, overall impression of these fans thus far - A+.

Ahh, ok now that makes sense. I did a restart to check and sure enough monthly parity check appeared in the list as if I had never installed it. I assumed the addons were installed on the USB drive which made the reinstall on reboot confusing to me.

Thanks Joe. I'm not familiar with Linux so all of this is new to me. I'm stuck in the mindset of "if something is already installed then it's not necessary to reinstall it." I searched around and couldn't find a reason as to why the packages need to be reinstalled following a re-boot. I just assumed that if it was crucial for the functionality of the addon that it would specify in the description (as some of them do) that it needs to be set to re-install on re-boot. So is there a reason you would want to set an addon to NOT re-install after a re-boot? From what you're saying it sounds to me like any addon would always have that option enabled, if you want to have that functionality following a re-boot. Then again there has to be a reason as to why it's an option to begin with so I know that can't be the case. Thanks again Joe

Just to clarify, this setting should NOT be enabled unless specifically listed in the unmenu pkg manager description or in another area such as the configuration wiki? Examples of addons that I have set up - screen - Currently Installed. Will be automatically Re-Installed upon Re-Boot. apcupsd - Currently Installed. Will be automatically Re-Installed upon Re-Boot. Clean Powerdown - Currently Installed. Will be automatically Re-Installed upon Re-Boot. Monthly Parity Check - Currently Installed. Will NOT be automatically Re-Installed upon Re-Boot. pci utils (pci utilities) - Currently Installed. Will NOT be automatically Re-Installed upon Re-Boot.