Hi everyone. I'm new to the whole unRAID deal, and so far everything is fantastic as I'm only using it for a plex server. This all came about because having multiple TB of data spread over separate drives became a hassle and win10 won't allow me to create storage pools with 16tb drives.... 

 

So far I have my array setup with an empty 16tb drive as well as a win10 VM.... My question here is... Is there a way to have a drive physically show inside of that VM so that I can transfer data to the array inside of the same machine which would take less than a day as opposed to doing it from a different computer, over a network, which calculates to 6 days of transferring for a single drive... The end plan is to empty one drive onto the array, so I can then format that drive and add it to the array so I can then transfer the next drive, eventually having all of my drives added...

Where is this data, on another disk not assigned? 

 

Unassigned Devices plugin will let you work with Unassigned disks. 

 

You don't really even need to get the VM involved 

 

Google Midnight Commander 

Yes, the data are on disks that are unassigned. There are 2x 16tb (B & C) drives and an 8tb (D) drive... So the plan is to move data from B drive to the array locally somehow, then add B drive to the array. Then move data from C drive over, then format and add that to the array also which will then allow me to transfer the last drive over and finally add that one... 

 

When it comes to moving data around it's a game of back and forth... only way to do it, unfortunately. 

 

Some people like midnight commander.. I prefer an easier to use GUI like Krusader or Double Commander..

 

Move everything from B drive to empty drive on the array -- format B and add to array.

Move everything from C drive to either disk on array -- format C drive and add to array.

Move everything from D drive to any disks on array -- format D drive and add to array.

 

(Do you have a parity drive?  If not you may want to think about using one before moving data)

6 hours ago, Energen said:

When it comes to moving data around it's a game of back and forth... only way to do it, unfortunately. 

 

Some people like midnight commander.. I prefer an easier to use GUI like Krusader or Double Commander..

 

Move everything from B drive to empty drive on the array -- format B and add to array.

Move everything from C drive to either disk on array -- format C drive and add to array.

Move everything from D drive to any disks on array -- format D drive and add to array.

 

(Do you have a parity drive?  If not you may want to think about using one before moving data)

 

 

That's exactly the way I was wanting to do it, just wasn't sure if there were any addons for unRAID that would help, or pass through for an entire drive. 

And no, there is no parity drive as of yet. At $800/drive, it's not easy to just get 2

14 minutes ago, LJP_92 said:

That's exactly the way I was wanting to do it, just wasn't sure if there were any addons for unRAID that would help, or pass through for an entire drive. 

And no, there is no parity drive as of yet. At $800/drive, it's not easy to just get 2

When transferring lots of data to the array, many choose to do it without a Parity drive as the transfers will be much quicker.  When all the data is on the array, you can add parity drive(s) and let parity calculation run then.

 

How many data drives will be in your array?  Unless you really think you need dual parity from the outset, many do not add a second parity drive until there are 8 or more data drives.  Of course, that is totally up to you and your preferred protection level.

12 minutes ago, Hoopster said:

When transferring lots of data to the array, many choose to do it without a Parity drive as the transfers will be much quicker.  When all the data is on the array, you can add parity drive(s) and let parity calculation run then.

 

How many data drives will be in your array?  Unless you really think you need dual parity from the outset, many do not add a second parity drive until there are 8 or more data drives.  Of course, that is totally up to you and your preferred protection level.

When everything is moved and done, there will be 3x 16tb drives and an 8tb.... What's the general rule of thumb when it comes to how many parity drives you should have vs data drives

There is no hard and fast rule, but as I mentioned, many recommend a second Parity drive once you have 8 or more data drives. The chances for two drives failing at the same time at lower drive counts is low (but not zero).

Of course you should also have data backups and parity is not a backup.


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So little update... Using Unassigned Devices and Krusader, I now have one of my drives transferring over to the array... My next issue however is that one of my drives shows up, but won't allow me to mount it. I'm thinking that may be the one I attempted to use with storages pools on win10 before switching to unRAID