Simple backup NAS?


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I just build a very simple backup box, running unraid

 

Had some things laying around, just enough to build a server out of.

So it ended up with 5 drives, with a total usable storage of 8TB + 250 cache + 4tb parity

8GB RAM

 

Got a 400watt passive power supply in there for low noise too, and a lot of Noctua fans, so all in all im pretty happy.

 

The thing is, the CPU running all this, is a N3050

I was honestly very curious if this would ever work, and it does, it actually works as I expected.

 

 

I just cant help but think, if I would get a faster response by using a more capable CPU of a newer date?

 

I'm thinking something like a Ryzen 2xxx or 3xxx, I do have a pair of 8GB DDR4 unused and a 212Evo cooler, so all I would need is a MB and a CPU - but would it be worth it?

 

I seriously only use it to transfer files to, as a backup, once a month

 

 

(the N3050 is used in some cheap NAS drives too, so cant be all that bad)

 

What is your opinion?

This is btw my first real serious encounter with unraid, learning as i go

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the reason im asking, is when i access the files, it stalls a little and takes some time to update the folder im looking in, like my image library

 

im not sure if the cpu is the limit, or its simply just because its mixed drives its spread across and take a little to get it working (its not long, we talk a few seconds, i just noticed it stalls every time i go a folder back or deeper)

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4 minutes ago, AT0MAC said:

i just found this, is that what your talking about?

That is a very old thread which was originally for a script developed for much older versions of Unraid, but there might be some useful information in it about how the plugin works.

 

You should probably start with the official support thread for the current plugin instead though.

 

Do you have Community Applications installed? If so, just go to the Apps page and search for Cache Dirs. You can also go to the support thread for any plugin by clicking its Support link (?) in the listing for the plugin on the Apps page, or from the Support link for the plugin on the Plugins page after installing it.

 

Unfortunately, that official support thread is also the thread for a lot of other plugins by that same author so there is a bit to wade through there.

 

After you install the plugin see if you can figure it out from its description and settings.

 

 

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On 3/25/2021 at 3:32 PM, trurl said:

That is a very old thread which was originally for a script developed for much older versions of Unraid, but there might be some useful information in it about how the plugin works.

 

You should probably start with the official support thread for the current plugin instead though.

 

Do you have Community Applications installed? If so, just go to the Apps page and search for Cache Dirs. You can also go to the support thread for any plugin by clicking its Support link (?) in the listing for the plugin on the Apps page, or from the Support link for the plugin on the Plugins page after installing it.

 

Unfortunately, that official support thread is also the thread for a lot of other plugins by that same author so there is a bit to wade through there.

 

After you install the plugin see if you can figure it out from its description and settings.

 

 

 

Lol, wait a second, I had actually not installed the CA... But I have now!

 

Thanks.

 

So installed the plugin and whatever it did, this was exactly what I needed. There is a little CPU usage all the time, but whatever, thats fine, at least everything is surprisingly snappy - i mean, this is one of the absolute slowest CPUs you can find in modern time, and it still works pretty damn well

 

Problem solved

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So...

 

I have been running this server for a month or so now, it's actually running pretty well.

I just use it to stash copies of data in, like dumping it for long term storage in case something goes wrong.

It's basically a glorified external drive.

 

I'm still thinking it would maybe benefit from more CPU power, like when I parity check it takes quite a while, and so do mover script - I'm very unsure if that's just the drive speed, or if it's part of the CPU also?

 

I can see in parity check the CPU use between 85-100%

In general moving data it use between 10-60% CPU

When mover runs, it uses around 70%-100% CPU

 

I suspect its the drives alone that's the biggest bottleneck, but I do have a few motherboards/CPU with lot more power I could switch to - if it would make sense, I'm just not to sure it actually would

 

I will never run heavy dockers or media stuff, this is not the box for that

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I have an old AMD Sempron in and old case where I toss all my old drives.  I run the sleep plugin. its a unraid box without a parity drive or cache.

 

Once a month my master unraid sends a WOL packet and rsync's to the backup box.  It uses about 90% cpu but has no issues pushing the drives close to 90Mb/s

then back to sleep it goes for another month.

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8 hours ago, rilles said:

 

I have an old AMD Sempron in and old case where I toss all my old drives.  I run the sleep plugin. its a unraid box without a parity drive or cache.

 

Once a month my master unraid sends a WOL packet and rsync's to the backup box.  It uses about 90% cpu but has no issues pushing the drives close to 90Mb/s

then back to sleep it goes for another month.

 

Hmm that sounds pretty clever tbh... My aproach is little more manual, but this is also my 1st actual unraid build so...

Well, I think I kinda answered my own question, I was playing with caching dirs settings and found a usable medium that both gives me a pretty good speed when searching the NAS for something, but also dont use a whole lot of CPU.

Cant honestly see why I would upgrade the CPU/RAM, this uses super little power and does everything I want.
So Ill just leave it as is

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34 minutes ago, AT0MAC said:

So Ill just leave it as is

Agree.

 

 

 

When I first meet Unraid, I use J1800 to act as backup server, it host 13 disks, it work well just performance drop significant if use dual parity ( i.e. 83MB/s to 60MB/s, single parity fine ). As upgrade to 10G network, then I merge main + backup in one powerful machine. ( Not 7x24, power draw crazy )

 

Two months ago, I also setup J1900 as small 7x24 server for camera recording, VM, docker. It work well but haven't enough power to do backup in parallel, then I switch to current build.

 

To summarize :

 

J1900 + 2 disks, around 30w

Ryzen 1700 + 3 disks + 10G NIC, around 70w, can do all job which I need.

 

Edited by Vr2Io
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