New user looking for some input.

[sp00nix]

Hello!

 

To start off I am new to unraid, I have a test system going right now and I am really digging it. It's time to replace my 10+ year old Windows server. To save money I would like to use some of the equipment I have on hand, but I wanted to get some input on my plans to make sure it makes sense to the more seasoned users. I am planning to use this for one of my data backup locations for my main desktop and work laptop as well as less critical media storage and Plex server. I also will run VMs and Dockers on it to replace some of the duties my current windows server handles. I am also toying with the idea of building a second one to store at a friends house that will VPN home to sync. For this I have a bunch of terrible, but new, Seagate SMR drives. Not worried about performance on that one.

 

So what i have right for the test rig:

-Dell Optiplex 3070 SFF computer, i5 8500, 8GB RAM

-Sabrenet 4x USB 3 hard drive bay, 4x 2tb Dell/WD Drives (1 parity, 3 data)

-1x 500GB SSD

-1x 256GB NVME

 

My plan is to upgrade the test rig and use it in production:

-64GB of RAM (or 32, some say 64 may work. This will be trial and error)

-9th gen i7 or i9

-5x 10TB HGST refurbished drives (1 parity, 3 data, 1 spare) (I have been using these for years, so far no issues)

 

 

The final config will probably ditch the NVME drive, and use the SSD for cache and VM, I am open to suggestions as I got this far by googling and tinkering.

 

 

Additional questions I have:

-Is there a simple way to have the unraid connect to a windows share on my main machine to sync up when it's online? Right now i use All-way Sync/GoodSync on the source machine.

 

-Anyone else have a setup with an offsite machine to sync to over VPN?

 

-Every 3-5 years I cycle out my spinning disks and put them in storage, is there a solid method for doing this on my rig?

 

-Can i setup an email or other method to alert me of any issues with the machine? A PC speaker alarm would probably suffice.

 

Thanks in advance, sorry if this is a bit of a run on post.

[trurl]

38 minutes ago, sp00nix said:

USB 3 hard drive bay

USB not recommended for array or pools for many reasons. 

[trurl]

Some USB implementations may exhibit one or more of these issues:

• Disconnects. When a disk in the parity array disconnects, it becomes out-of-sync and must be rebuilt. Could be a frequent occurrence. Disconnected disks in multi-disk pools can have a similar problem, and even disconnects in single disk pools may have some consequences depending on how they are used.
• Inconsistent disk identification. Unraid uses disk serial number to track disk assignments.
• No SMART reports, so Unraid can't monitor disk health.
• Altered or misreported disk characteristics, such as disk capacity. This can be a problem when replacing disks, since a disk cannot be replaced by a smaller disk, and parity can't be smaller than any array disk.

Maybe some others I'm forgetting.

 

Also, connecting multiple disks through a single cable (unless SAS) will result in poor performance.

 

USB is good for disks temporarily connected, such as for file transfers using the Unassigned Devices plugin.

 

[trurl]

37 minutes ago, sp00nix said:

SMR drives

Not recommended for a parity slot but will probably be OK for array data disks.

[sp00nix]

Thanks you for the input, much appreciated.

 

I have been stress testing and downright abusing this setup without an hiccups for a couple weeks now, but the seed of doubt has been planted. I will continue to try and break it for the rest of the trial while I re-think my setup. Might be worth while to find another case, or motherboard that will support the hardware i have, again trying to keep within a budget and re-use what I have in the "junk" pile.

[trurl]

Setup Notifications to alert you immediately by email or other agent as soon as a problem is detected. Don't allow one problem to become multiple problems and data loss. All array disks must be working well to allow you to rebuild a failed disk. Parity by itself can rebuild nothing.

[trurl]

Post your diagnostics and we can take a look to see if your USB is giving some of the problems mentioned.

[sp00nix]

I haven't had any problems outside of any self inflicted issues to see how it works, and figure out how to fix them. It's seemingly rock solid so far.