Back-up / Stand-by Unraid box

[JPanda]

Hi folks,

 

I don't really know where to post this, so if its better elsewhere please advise.

 

I've a 48Tb (and growing) Unraid setup. The rate of change of content is pretty low and the vast majority of the content was copied over from my old Drobo NAS.  The Drobo is unstable with 12Tb disks, hence upgrading to the Unraid box. I'm now looking to re-use the disks from the Drobo and use them to backup my Unraid server.

 

I'm thinking that I could possibly pick up a 8-bay USB 3.0 UASP Hard Drive Enclosure to put my disks in from the Drobo and hook it up to a spare NUC I have sitting around. I could boot it up with a Unraid thumb drive and I have a backup capability and cold standby server. 

 

Questions

 

1)   Are there any standard patterns / recommendations for this kinda of solution?

2)  Presumably I'd need to have a separate license for the standby server or could I literally just move my Unraid thumb drive from one machine to the other.

3)  on the back-up / stand-by server would a parity drive seem overkill?

4)  maybe I don't need two servers, perhaps I use the external disk cab USB connected to the primary to back up to periodically, and hook it up to the NUC only if I needed to run the standby as the primary has failed.

 

Seeking guidance from the collective mind.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

[trurl]

NUC isn't a good platform for Unraid NAS functionality. Each disk in array or pools needs a separate, permanent connection.

[JPanda]

Thanks - so its not a NUC issue per se, the real issue is using a USB external disk enclosure, or is there something specific about the way NUC's use this type of setup? 

[itimpi]

2 hours ago, JPanda said:

Thanks - so its not a NUC issue per se, the real issue is using a USB external disk enclosure, or is there something specific about the way NUC's use this type of setup? 

Not really - it is the USB factor.   Unraid does not function well if the connection to the disk is not rock solid as it is not 'hot-plug' aware and cannot handle momentary disconnects which is something that USB drives are prone to.

 

Note:  The UD plugin CAN handle non-array drives connected in this way.

[JPanda]

OK - I have the UD plugin on my primary Unraid box and to be honest had forgotten it was a plugin. 

 

It sounds like I've either got to build a "proper" secondary server for Unraid, or look to something a bit more DIY - maybe a run diet pi on the NUC, hosting some dockers to replicate data off the primary and host a couple of apps on standby. If I had to switch over to standby, reduced performance and some data loss would be acceptable to me.

 

A reasonably up to date backup it my primary goal. Some continuity is the apps I host would be a bonus, but RTO would be pretty relaxed.

 

Thanks