Yet another question re: split-level and allocation method -- sorry

[leader-intron]

I'm on Unraid 6.12.6 with the following drive structure and share configuration:

• one 10TB parity, two 10TB data drives
• High-Water allocation
• automatically split only the top 2 directory levels as required
• /media share with the following folders:
  • /movies
    • /Movie Title Here (1900)
      • Movie Title Here (1900).mkv
    • /Yet Another Movie Title (1905)
      • Yet Another Movie Title (1905).mkv
  • /television
    • /Series Title Here (1900)
      • /season01
        • Series Title Here (1900).s01e01.mkv
  • /staging
    • /movies
      • /Movie Not Added to Plex Yet (1910)
        • Movie Not Added to Plex Yet (1910).mkv
    • /television
      • /Series Not Added to Plex Yet (1910)
        • /season01
          • Series Not Added to Plex Yet (1910).s01e01.mkv

 

* Note the staging folder that exists within the media share.

 

I add things to the staging folder first because I like to add certain titles to Plex in batches. My first 10TB drive is filling up pretty much all the way; it's currently sitting at 9.8TB full. I've made sure to add a 100GB buffer to ensure it doesn't fill up. There does seem to be some recent stuff that has been added to the second drive. My concern is that it doesn't seem to be following the High-Water allocation as I understand it.

 

1. Do I need to increase the split method to the top 3 folders?
   • Or should I simply create a new staging share instead (and keep the split setting at 2 folders deep to ensure there's no delay between content when watching via Plex)?
2. Is there some process to invoke to more evenly distribute the data among the data drives?
   • Or should I simply move forward with a solution from question 1 since trying to manually 'high-water' anything could cause issues?

 

All help greatly appreciated.

Edited December 16, 2023 by leader-intron

[Frank1940]

One should be aware that the Split Level setting causes more real life problems then it solves in the present world of super high capacity hard disks.  (This is because it overrides all of the other file location settings.)   If you generate and save all of the files for your individual movies and TV series at one time, they will ended up on the same disk  99.999% of the time.   Even if you change a file after this initial creation, a new file will simply overwrite the current file at its current location (e.i.-- that same physical disk). 

 

I would recommend avoid use split level except when it absolutely essential for things to work properly!

 

NOTE:  The split level was created when HD capacity were list in GBs (not TBs)  and folks were storing DVD rips in their normal file structure.  In that structure the .VOB files are limited in size to exactly 1GB and the movie consists  of a series of these .VOB files which are to played one after the other.  One file may end in the middle of a word.  If the player is forced to wait until other disk can be spun up, it is most disconcerting to the viewer.  This problem is largely gone now that, as most of the time, a DVD will be stored in an .ISO file or just the movie in a .MKV format. 

[leader-intron]

@Frank1940 So if I turn off split-level as you're suggesting, what's the process I would use to ensure that files are evenly distributed? How do I safely go about more evenly distributing my current files also?

 

Everything I read online suggests avoiding the unBalance plugin, and since I primarily use my server for Plex purposes, I want to ensure this is done correctly without breaking video playback.

Edited December 19, 2023 by leader-intron

[Frank1940]

19 minutes ago, leader-intron said:

I want to ensure this is done correctly without breaking video playback.

Exactly why (and how do you define) "breaking video playback" impact your enjoyment?  If it does not result in an actual break in the middle of the word (or Scene), why is the delay of a less than ten seconds before the start of the next episode (or movie in a series) really impact your experience? 

 

With High Water (I believe this is the current default...) and the current size of hard disks, there will not not more than probably five or six time per HD that a shift to another HD for the storage of the remaining files in a transfer.  Once that shift to another disk is done, any new files will be written to that new disk until 'High Water' reaches the new shift point. 

 

See here for exactly how 'High Water' works:

 

     https://docs.unraid.net/unraid-os/manual/shares/user-shares/#high-water-method

 

23 minutes ago, leader-intron said:

what's the process I would use to ensure that files are evenly distributed

 

You are now asking for two things that are contradictory objectives.  First, you want files to not be split between disks and, second, you want all of the disks to have things evenly distributed (Number of files??, Space used??) among the disks.  Why do you even care?  There have been no studies to indicate that a more full disk is less reliable than an empty one.  Even the fail rates of the disks appear to be independent of their capacity.  (In fact, if anything, small disks may be less reliable than large ones!)

 

I don't use PLEX but I do use KODI.   I have a situations where the actual movie will be on one disk and the rest of the files for that movie are on another disk.  (This situation came about when I transcoded my DVD ISO's to .MKV files to convert them to 23.976 frames per second.)  I have never observed any identifiable issue with all of the files for a single movie not being the same disk.  (If you are storing DVD's in file-and-folder format-- which was the reasons for the 'Split Level' in the first place ---consider using ISO files for DVD in the future.) 

 

[StylishQuoter]

On 12/16/2023 at 7:38 AM, Frank1940 said:

One should be aware that the Split Level setting causes more real life problems then it solves in the present world of super high capacity hard disks.  (This is because it overrides all of the other file location settings.)   If you generate and save all of the files for your individual movies and TV series at one time, they will ended up on the same disk  99.999% of the time.   Even if you change a file after this initial creation, a new file will simply overwrite the current file at its current location (e.i.-- that same physical disk). 

 

I would recommend avoid use split level except when it absolutely essential for things to work properly!

 

NOTE:  The split level was created when HD capacity were list in GBs (not TBs)  and folks were storing DVD rips in their normal file structure.  In that structure the .VOB files are limited in size to exactly 1GB and the movie consists  of a series of these .VOB files which are to played one after the other.  One file may end in the middle of a word.  If the player is forced to wait until other disk can be spun up, it is most disconcerting to the viewer.  This problem is largely gone now that, as most of the time, a DVD will be stored in an .ISO file or just the movie in a .MKV format. 

Sorry for bumping a old thread but this total convinced me to give up tweaking with split level.

But if this is barely a problem nowadays, who haven't this option be removed?

[itimpi]

3 minutes ago, StylishQuoter said:

But if this is barely a problem nowadays, who haven't this option be removed?

 

Because many people (myself included) still like to use it to get a bit more control over how their media is distributed across their drives.  It may not be NECESSARY, but it is still convenient.