Flash Drives

[ratmice]

Well I've looked at every store I can think of around here and cannot find a Cruzer Micro to save my life. Does anyone have any experience running UnRAID on a Cruzer Blade? It's very small form factor is quite appealing for in case use.

[Rajahal]

If you already have one, then why not just try it?  Nothing to lose except a little time.  As long as it reports a valid GUID it should be compatible with unRAID.

 

My personal favorite flash drive at the moment is the 2 GB Verbatim Tuff n Tiny.

[ratmice]

If you already have one, then why not just try it?  Nothing to lose except a little time.  As long as it reports a valid GUID it should be compatible with unRAID.

 

My personal favorite flash drive at the moment is the 2 GB Verbatim Tuff n Tiny.

 

That reminds me, does anyone know if the serial number reported by system profiler in OS X is the same as the GUID? Or is there a way to see if a flash drive has a GUID using OS X? I'm still waiting on some parts for my build and would like to make sure that the aforementioned flash drive is usable.

 

p.s. I tried to Google this, but GUID is too close to 'guide' and all I get is pages and pages of useless crap.

[Joe L.]

If you already have one, then why not just try it?  Nothing to lose except a little time.  As long as it reports a valid GUID it should be compatible with unRAID.

 

My personal favorite flash drive at the moment is the 2 GB Verbatim Tuff n Tiny.

 

That reminds me, does anyone know if the serial number reported by system profiler in OS X is the same as the GUID? Or is there a way to see if a flash drive has a GUID using OS X? I'm still waiting on some parts for my build and would like to make sure that the aforementioned flash drive is usable.

 

p.s. I tried to Google this, but GUID is too close to 'guide' and all I get is pages and pages of useless crap.

Easiest is to load the prospective flash drive with unRAID and boot it in any PC.  Then navigate to its web-management page (by default it will appear as http://tower on your network), click on the "Devices" link, and you'll be able to see the GUID in the format unRAID needs.

 

As long as you do not assign any disks to the unRAID array it will not harm or affect your PC in any way.

 

If the PC you are using cannot reach the unRAID server via the name, you might have to access it via IP address.

If it has no LAN connectivity at all, you can log onto the system console as "root" (just press enter at the password prompt if you get one)

 

Then type  (on unRAID 4.7 and prior)

wget localhost/devices.htm -q -O -  | sed -n "/Flash /,/tr>/p" | grep -v "tr>" | sed "s/<[^<]*>//g"

 

Or if on 5.0beta4 type:

wget localhost/Main/Flash?name=flash -q -O -  | sed -n "/Flash /,/tr>/p" | grep -v "tr>" | sed "s/<[^<]*>//g"

[jakebake]

How big of  a flash drive do we need? Just incase I have an old one somewhere..

[Joe L.]

How big of  a flash drive do we need? Just incase I have an old one somewhere..

Just about anything. 

 

My current flash drives are 1Gig, my original flash drive was 128k and unRAID would still fit.

(can you even purchase a 128k drive? )

 

Most people use something between 1 and 4 Gig.  Unless you are loading lots and lots of extras (and as the unMENU developer, I have most, and it all fits fine), 1Gig is plenty, 4Gig is huge... above that, a waste of a good flash drive.

[ratmice]

Easiest is to load the prospective flash drive with unRAID and boot it in any PC.  Then navigate to its web-management page (by default it will appear as http://tower on your network), click on the "Devices" link, and you'll be able to see the GUID in the format unRAID needs.

 

As long as you do not assign any disks to the unRAID array it will not harm or affect your PC in any way.

 

If the PC you are using cannot reach the unRAID server via the name, you might have to access it via IP address.

If it has no LAN connectivity at all, you can log onto the system console as "root" (just press enter at the password prompt if you get one)

 

Then type  (on unRAID 4.7 and prior)

wget localhost/devices.htm -q -O -  | sed -n "/Flash /,/tr>/p" | grep -v "tr>" | sed "s/<[^<]*>//g"

 

Or if on 5.0beta4 type:

wget localhost/Main/Flash?name=flash -q -O -  | sed -n "/Flash /,/tr>/p" | grep -v "tr>" | sed "s/<[^<]*>//g"

 

Thanks Joe. Unfortunately the only PC I will have in the house will be the UnRAID server - al Mac here. I tried to get my Macs to boot off the flash drive (both with DOS and UnRAID), I had seen some reports of being able to do so on an Intel MacBookPro, but no go. I just want to be ready when I get the box built so I don't have to go scrounging for a compatible flash drive. CPU due tomorrow, which is the last piece of the puzzle!

[jakebake]

How big of  a flash drive do we need? Just incase I have an old one somewhere..

Just about anything. 

 

My current flash drives are 1Gig, my original flash drive was 128k and unRAID would still fit.

(can you even purchase a 128k drive? )

 

Most people use something between 1 and 4 Gig.  Unless you are loading lots and lots of extras (and as the unMENU developer, I have most, and it all fits fine), 1Gig is plenty, 4Gig is huge... above that, a waste of a good flash drive.

 

Oh ok so things like SAB, sickbeard, etc... go on the flash drive?

[prostuff1]

How big of  a flash drive do we need? Just incase I have an old one somewhere..

Just about anything. 

 

My current flash drives are 1Gig, my original flash drive was 128k and unRAID would still fit.

(can you even purchase a 128k drive? )

 

Most people use something between 1 and 4 Gig.  Unless you are loading lots and lots of extras (and as the unMENU developer, I have most, and it all fits fine), 1Gig is plenty, 4Gig is huge... above that, a waste of a good flash drive.

 

Oh ok so things like SAB, sickbeard, etc... go on the flash drive?

 

They can be, but more and more add-on's are being moved to a cache drive or into RAM.  RAM works but it gets wiped on a reboot, hence the reason for the use of the cache drive for some installs.

 

You also do not want to be installing a lot of things to the flash drive that write a lot as it will wear out the flash drive faster.

[jakebake]

How big of  a flash drive do we need? Just incase I have an old one somewhere..

Just about anything.  

 

My current flash drives are 1Gig, my original flash drive was 128k and unRAID would still fit.

(can you even purchase a 128k drive? )

 

Most people use something between 1 and 4 Gig.  Unless you are loading lots and lots of extras (and as the unMENU developer, I have most, and it all fits fine), 1Gig is plenty, 4Gig is huge... above that, a waste of a good flash drive.

 

Oh ok so things like SAB, sickbeard, etc... go on the flash drive?

 

They can be, but more and more add-on's are being moved to a cache drive or into RAM.  RAM works but it gets wiped on a reboot, hence the reason for the use of the cache drive for some installs.

 

You also do not want to be installing a lot of things to the flash drive that write a lot as it will wear out the flash drive faster.

 

So then I will most likely need a dedicated cache drive for my server? Can't part of a drive be the cache?

[Rajahal]

No, unRAID creates a single partition on each of it's data drives.  The parity drive has no partition.  The cache drive needs to be a physically separate drive (as far as I know).  In theory you could also use a second flash drive as a cache drive, but be prepared for it to wear out quickly (within a year or two).  SSDs have the same issue.

[jakebake]

No, unRAID creates a single partition on each of it's data drives.  The parity drive has no partition.  The cache drive needs to be a physically separate drive (as far as I know).  In theory you could also use a second flash drive as a cache drive, but be prepared for it to wear out quickly (within a year or two).  SSDs have the same issue.

 

I see.. and so this would be included in the free 3 drive unraid? A cache drive, data drive, parity drive? And if I wanted to have 2 data drives I would need to purchase the next version?

What is the smallest (cheapest) cache drive you guys would recommend?

[ratmice]

No, unRAID creates a single partition on each of it's data drives.  The parity drive has no partition.  The cache drive needs to be a physically separate drive (as far as I know).  In theory you could also use a second flash drive as a cache drive, but be prepared for it to wear out quickly (within a year or two).  SSDs have the same issue.

 

I see.. and so this would be included in the free 3 drive unraid? A cache drive, data drive, parity drive? And if I wanted to have 2 data drives I would need to purchase the next version?

What is the smallest (cheapest) cache drive you guys would recommend?

 

You need at least the Plus version for cache drive usage.

[Venares]

Or use S.N.A.P. 

Fantastic add-on.

Doesn't quite give you the same functionality as a cache drive, but still give you that extra bit of space for running other apps.

[Rajahal]

Here's just about the cheapest decent quality drive you can buy:

 

80 GB WD Blue

 

But for just a few bucks more you could get a 1 TB instead:

 

1 TB Hitachi

 

Personally I wouldn't buy any drive smaller than 2 TB anymore.  Anything smaller isn't going to be a good value.  While 2 TB may be far larger than you need for a cache drive, it will double as a warm spare (if another drive dies, you can sub it in and minimize the time you have to operate without parity protection).

[jakebake]

Here's just about the cheapest decent quality drive you can buy:

 

80 GB WD Blue

 

But for just a few bucks more you could get a 1 TB instead:

 

1 TB Hitachi

 

Personally I wouldn't buy any drive smaller than 2 TB anymore.  Anything smaller isn't going to be a good value.  While 2 TB may be far larger than you need for a cache drive, it will double as a warm spare (if another drive dies, you can sub it in and minimize the time you have to operate without parity protection).

 

so say you have 2 2tb drives and one 2tb parity drive if one of the data drives dies you wouldn't have  a parity until you replace that drive (referring to the part abotu parity protection)?

 

If you have a 1tb cache, 2tb data, 2tb parity can you use the 1tb cache as a warm spare if your 2tb date drive dies but does not have 2tb worth of data on it?

[Rajahal]

Correct, any time a drive dies you are without parity protection until you replace that drive.  All your data is still available in the interim as the remaining drives + parity will simulate the failed drive's contents (of if the parity drive is the one that died, then all your data drives are accessible as per usual).

 

A warm spare must be at least as big as the parity AND be precleared to be a true warm spare.  See this thread for more info about the cache as a warm spare and alternate uses of the cache drive in general.

 

As you'll see in that thread, a 1 TB drive in an array of all 2 TB drives can function as a tepid spare, but not a warm spare.

 

In your scenario of a 2 TB data drive that is less than half full dying, you could use the 1 TB cache drive to make a manual copy of the failed drive's contents.  So you would navigate to disk2 (or whatever the failed drive's disk number is), and then manually copy all of the contents onto the cache drive.  You still wouldn't have parity protection, but at least the data would be backed up somewhere.  All the data on every other drive in your array would still be at risk of a second drive failure, however, so it would still be recommended to replace the failed drive as soon as possible.

[jakebake]

Correct, any time a drive dies you are without parity protection until you replace that drive.  All your data is still available in the interim as the remaining drives + parity will simulate the failed drive's contents (of if the parity drive is the one that died, then all your data drives are accessible as per usual).

 

A warm spare must be at least as big as the parity AND be precleared to be a true warm spare.  See this thread for more info about the cache as a warm spare and alternate uses of the cache drive in general.

 

As you'll see in that thread, a 1 TB drive in an array of all 2 TB drives can function as a tepid spare, but not a warm spare.

 

In your scenario of a 2 TB data drive that is less than half full dying, you could use the 1 TB cache drive to make a manual copy of the failed drive's contents.  So you would navigate to disk2 (or whatever the failed drive's disk number is), and then manually copy all of the contents onto the cache drive.  You still wouldn't have parity protection, but at least the data would be backed up somewhere.  All the data on every other drive in your array would still be at risk of a second drive failure, however, so it would still be recommended to replace the failed drive as soon as possible.

 

Thanks for the info. I think I might just use a flash drive as a cache for now just to get everything running and try out unraid and then purchase a 2tb cache drive. No?

Also on the actual topic of this thread haha... my dad had a spare flash drive. 1 gb sandisk cruzer mini would this be fine?

[Joe L.]

[ my dad had a spare flash drive. 1 gb sandisk cruzer mini would this be fine?

That is similar to the flash drives I currently use.  (Although I don't think mine are "mini")

It would probably work fine.

[Rajahal]

Thanks for the info. I think I might just use a flash drive as a cache for now just to get everything running and try out unraid and then purchase a 2tb cache drive. No?

 

You'll need to use the add-on SNAP to mount the flash drive as a new share.  It won't work as a full-fledged unRAID cache drive (meaning the mover script won't automatically move things from it to the array overnight), but it will work as temporary storage space outside the array.  I'm not sure if it will be actually faster than just writing directly to the array, though.  Some flash drives are pretty slow (5 MB/s or so) whereas the array should be reasonably fast (25 - 35 MB/s).

[Heretic]

i'm using a sandisk cruzer blade. (as bootdisk)

it seems alright sofar, tho it isn't a very fast drive  5mb write 18-21mb read