Best way to install new drives

[Skatman]

Hi all,

Just got another new drive to install and noticed my old Preclear application is apparently no longer supported on my version of UNRAID. Is there/does anyone know of any guides on the best way to add a new drive now? I looked in guides and the only one is the same one from Spaceinvaderone I used last time I added drives about 2 years ago (that included Preclear).

[itimpi]

Note that pre-clearing drives before adding them is optional - it is only required if you want to stress test the drive before adding it.   Regarding pre-clear then if you search in the apps tab for it then you want the version that is an add-on to the Unassigned Devices plugin.

[Skatman]

Just now, itimpi said:

Note that pre-clearing drives before adding them is optional - it is only required if you want to stress test the drive before adding it.   Regarding pre-clear then if you search in the apps tab for it then you want the version that is an add-on to the Unassigned Devices plugin.

 

Cheers. Last time I added a drive it was recommended to preclear before adding to the array because it speeds the process up considerably. Is this no longer the case?

[itimpi]

2 minutes ago, Skatman said:

 

Cheers. Last time I added a drive it was recommended to preclear before adding to the array because it speeds the process up considerably. Is this no longer the case?

 

If you add a drive without pre-clearing it then Unraid will Clear it after adding it and starting the array before it is available to be used.   The Clear is much faster than a pre-clear but you do have this delay before you can format and use the drive.   If you pre-clear then this is done before you add the drive so it becomes immediately available when you finally get around to adding it.   Going the pre-clear route is longer in total elapsed time but it does stress test the drive before adding it.

[Skatman]

2 minutes ago, itimpi said:

 

If you add a drive without pre-clearing it then Unraid will Clear it after adding it and starting the array before it is available to be used.   The Clear is much faster than a pre-clear but you do have this delay before you can format and use the drive.   If you pre-clear then this is done before you add the drive so it becomes immediately available when you finally get around to adding it.   Going the pre-clear route is longer in total elapsed time but it does stress test the drive before adding it.

 

Just to confirm, if I don't pre-clear the disk and just add it, will it take the whole array offline until the 'clear' process has been completed? (as that's what it used to do last time I added a disk). If so, any idea on roughly how long that will be for a 10TB drive? Am I talking minutes, hours, or tens of hours?

[itimpi]

Just now, Skatman said:

 

Just to confirm, if I don't pre-clear the disk and just add it, will it take the whole array offline until the 'clear' process has been completed? (as that's what it used to do last time I added a disk). If so, any idea on roughly how long that will be for a 10TB drive? Am I talking minutes, hours, or tens of hours?

No - nowadays the Clear runs with the array online.   In terms of time it is probably around ~2 hours per TB (about the same as the write phase of a pre-clear).

[Skatman]

8 minutes ago, itimpi said:

No - nowadays the Clear runs with the array online.   In terms of time it is probably around ~2 hours per TB (about the same as the write phase of a pre-clear).

Great, thanks for your help. It's crazy how much things have moved on since the last time I added a disk haha. I've just gone for the 'add it and clear' approach.

[itimpi]

FYI:  There is a good write up of this process and the options here in the online documentation accessible via the ‘Manual’ link at the bottom of the GUI or the DOCS link at the top of each forum page. The Unraid OS->Manual section in particular covers most features of the current Unraid release.