Microsoft ReFS is better than anything out there and you are Jelly. But can you ReFS an unRAID !? We find out.

[GRRRRRRR]

So you think your storage is the shizzle.

 

But have you considered what Storage Spaces with ReFS is capable of doing 😈

 

Here is the virtualization layering:

 

1. unRAUD host passthrough virtual SCSI to 1x or 2x Win Dev build VMs or tiny11s

 

1.1. Per VM passthrough a  fast nvme - same ot each VM or split it by passing virtual scsi or whatever

1.2. Per VM plus any other whatever disks passed through same to each VM

 

2. On The VMs do a Storage Spaces without protection on the available disks and ReFS

 

😈 ----> What does this do? This will create auto-tiered NVME cache which' capacity is part of the Storage Space. Mind blown, pants pooped. 

Writes go fast then ReFS rebalances them later. The MS code writes parallel with high iops so combining may different storage can work.

 

The unRAID Array can not do this with it's simple XOR-ness.

 

3. Add a RAID1 layer somewhere either on the VM or on the host, depends on which one will be with the lesser overhead

 

4. Enjoy the best balance between performance and protection in the known universe.

 

Congrats. You have broken the matrix.

 

For sure this can be optimized somehow.

[MAM59]

37 minutes ago, GRRRRRRR said:

But have you considered what Storage Spaces with ReFS is capable of doing

Yeah, I tried, tested and deleted them very fast again.

 

UNRAID is not great, but flexible. Adding a disk is a piece of cake and does not need major reconstructions. For smaller demands good, just lacks the read cache (I have asked for it, need people to support the request)

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by MAM59

[GRRRRRRR]

Yes I wanted to make the same post.

 

I just want to use junk storage in high iops Storage Spaces without protection, and protect them with raid1 btrfs raidz1 or similar.

 

And I want to run the containers and the VMs on unRAID.

 

I want to go fast cheap.

 

I also want to turn off the HDDs so yes READ CACHE everything and spin up HDDs rarely.

 

Are you aware of a Linux filesystem that can spread the IOPS across different media, like how Storage Spaces does?

 

 

[MAM59]

1 hour ago, GRRRRRRR said:

Are you aware of a Linux filesystem that can spread the IOPS across different media, like how Storage Spaces does?

No, I don't use Linux beside of UNRAID.

My Backup server is also Windows with ReFS, but single drives only, just mirroring the UNRAID Disks with robocopy. I am a fan of "I can use the disk anywhere", so I do not use any RAID types that make disks dependend on each other.

And that is one thing I really love with UNRAID, seperate drives, a parity protection above, but not fixed to the disks.

The write cache thing does work quite well too already, just the read booster is still missing.

 

The downsides of UNRAID are VMs (slow and not really working well) and Dockers (totally stupid idea, using NAT for IPV6 is really a shame thing to do). Dockers are "good thought" but "poorly done". I try to stay away from both of Dockers and VMs.

 

[GRRRRRRR]

Well if it works sufficiently stable?

 

It can always be optimized later.

 

Docker is not optimal I don't know why it became so popular.

 

Many want to replace it but I don't remember wiith what exactly LXC ... ? Need to doublecheck that.

 

Kubernetes will be moving away from docker containers is what I know however each system can prolong that 20 years if they waynt unless we instigate some fights or something.

[GRRRRRRR]

I think it's a good system to run the dockers and the VMs on unRAID and that it should be the right environment to become more stable and better.

 

Better than Proxmox. If Lime Tech expand a little.

[okkies]

(i got here while my mind wandered during learning for AZ-800 :P)

cool concept. 
but how does Refs handle power effeciency ? 
will it spin down disks? 

at the moment unraid is more or less a fight against power usage 
 

[GRRRRRRR]

The OS can spin down disks, when they are unused for some time.

 

The IOPS can be redirected to the nvme ssd cache, so that the disks will indeed be unused.

 

The ReFS is configurable when to rebalance the stuff on the disks or at least should be.

 

However I would advise against targetting this scenario for powersavings.

 

For powersavings I will advise to go straight to huge SSDs. Unless you have some special situation then some special finetuning may be possible but still unpractical I would judge.

 

For archiving I can advise UnRAID power savings are sufficient.