So have been migrating data from unassigned devices disk drive to the disks in the array on a new build. However, just stumbled upon multiple threads where people have been very clear telling users not to copy between disks/shares etc as it ends in disaster.

 

My question is, does it apply for unassigned devices? I originally copied my files from unassigned to disk 1, and as that was close to filling I swapped to copying (yes copy not move) my files from unassigned to a SHARE. With the logic being, I wasn't sure if the OS needed to be the thing to create the folder on disk 2 or if I could do it manually. No worries I thought, as it's using high-tide so if I just copy to the share instead it will automatically make a folder and start piling stuff onto disk 2 (and it did).

 

Now i'm freaking out a bit after reading all the threads. Appreciate any input and words of advice? Or is it all just related to disk->disk copies and not unassigned devices copies?

Edited March 26, 20215 yr by Yekul

That restriction only applies when copying files within the main array or cache pools.   It does not apply to drives (e.g. those handled by Unasdigned Devices) that do not participate in User Shares. 

14 minutes ago, itimpi said:

That restriction only applies when copying files within the main array or cache pools.   It does not apply to drives (e.g. those handled by Unasdigned Devices) that do not participate in User Shares. 

 

Phew, started to freak myself out a bit. Thanks for the clarification. So I currently have a 4 drive array (3 storage + 1 parity) but migrating from a Windows based setup so have been doing a hard drive shuffle during transfers as it didn't have the parity setup (just used off site backups). Ideally once all the files are onto these two drives, I can then wipe and add the third data drive to the array as i'd like to have specific shares assigned to specific drives. The logic being if I set two drives to shared media I can limit spin ups on the other disk which is largely used just for backups, software installers, things I use a few times a week not multiple times a day etc.

 

When I do those transfers, they will indeed be within the array. In those instances I should only transfer (not copy?) from disk 2->disk 3, correct? I use Krusader which is passing /media to /mnt. For within Krusader it would be /media/disk 2 transferring to /media/disk 3. Is it ok to make the corresponding folder if it doesn't yet exist in disk 3? Or should I change the shares to be disk 3 only and drag a file onto the share to get it to populate a folder itself first? Had issues with permissions in the past with various things and i'm totally new to Unraid so don't want to stuff anything up at the shares level is all.

35 minutes ago, Yekul said:

When I do those transfers, they will indeed be within the array. In those instances I should only transfer (not copy?) from disk 2->disk 3, correct? I use Krusader which is passing /media to /mnt. For within Krusader it would be /media/disk 2 transferring to /media/disk 3. Is it ok to make the corresponding folder if it doesn't yet exist in disk 3? Or should I change the shares to be disk 3 only and drag a file onto the share to get it to populate a folder itself first? Had issues with permissions in the past with various things and i'm totally new to Unraid so don't want to stuff anything up at the shares level is all.

Disk to disk is fine (as is user share to user share).   What is not fines is mixing them in the same command.   

Just now, itimpi said:

Disk to disk is fine (as is user share to user share).   What is not fines is mixing them in the same command.   

 

Ok great to know thanks. And should I always use transfer over copy? I'm used to Windows thinking where if it fails mid copy it sometimes vanishes into the abyss so always tended to do a copy and hten delete the old data. Though I suspect the duplication of data in the array may be the reason for the transfer vs copy now i'm typing it out?