Unable to mount existing SSD into Array

[JasonH76]

Hi,

 

Just built a new home/media server and have installed unRAID. I am currently testing it out and after a solution to a problem I now have.

 

The specification of my Gaming PC/Server:

 

AMD Ryzen 3800XT 8c/16T CPU @ 3.9GHz 

Asus Strix X570-F Motherboard (BIOS 2802)

32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)

3 x 4TB WD Red Pro HDD's (Movies, Games, Music) -  Disk Array

1tb Samsung QVO-860 SSD - Added to Disk Array, one day after initial build of server.

256GB Intel 660P NVMe - Cache

4TB Seagate Barracuda HDD - Parity

MSI GTX 1050ti 4GB Gaming X 

 

I was playing around with VM's and managed to get unRAID to stop booting with a valid IP - I was trying to passthrough some USB devices for a Windows Server 2016 VM at the time.

 

After have a brief look on the forums, I decided that as I had a backup of the unRAID flash drive from 3 days earlier, I would simply format the flash drive and install unRAID back on the SAME flash drive.

 

HOWEVER, I forgot I had added a Samsung QVO 1TB SSD to the array successfully 2 days AFTER the last backup! I successfully booted into unRAID, BUT the Samsung SSD Drive is now unassigned and I am unable to add back to Array! I attach a screenshot the current array.

 

What are my options and what logs would be helpful to get this fixed! I have data on the drive and it is currently doing a parity sync. It is simply a matter of letting it finish the array rebuild? I happy to format Samsung SSD and understand I can do this from a Windows PC, but I don't have access to the physical server at the moment!

 

I am a Windows user and just starting to delve into the Linux world so bear with me! 

[trurl]

You shouldn't put SSDs in the parity array. They can't be trimmed and can't be written faster than parity. 

 

If there is important data on it mount it Unassigned and copy it.

 

You can create another pool for the SSD with 6.9

[JasonH76]

Hi,

 

I did wonder about the SSD in the array, but I got the impression that the current version of unRAID does incorporate TRIM in some way? Silly question, but can I assign a VM to an unassigned disk? 

[itimpi]

49 minutes ago, JasonH76 said:

Silly question, but can I assign a VM to an unassigned disk

Yes - in fact many people prefer to run their VMs this way.

[trurl]

4 hours ago, JasonH76 said:

current version of unRAID does incorporate TRIM

Trim is supported, but is not allowed in the parity array because it could invalidate parity.

[JasonH76]

22 minutes ago, trurl said:

Trim is supported, but is not allowed in the parity array because it could invalidate parity.

Do you mean not to have an SSD as the parity drive or as a disk in the actual array?

Edited January 17, 2021 by JasonH76

[JonathanM]

2 hours ago, JasonH76 said:

Do you mean not to have an SSD as the parity drive or as a disk in the actual array?

Either one. SSD's can be used either in a cache pool (single or multiple device) or as an unassigned device. Don't use them as a parity or data drive.

 

That said, if you have all high quality SSD's as parity and data with no HDD's at all, it will work with acceptable performance. Mixing SSD and HDD in the parity array is counterproductive as the write speed is limited by the HDD.

 

7 hours ago, JasonH76 said:

can I assign a VM to an unassigned disk? 

There are several ways to deal with this, varying in levels of complexity, performance, and resource sharing.

 

I recommend watching SpaceInvader One's youtube videos on Unraid, he covers many useful topics.