[solved] adding cache drive

[squirrellydw]

I just moved some data off of a drive i had in unraid to another drive and now I want to use this drive as a cache drive.  Do I just have to assign it has a cache drive?

 

Thanks

[Johnm]

Pretty much.

that's all you need to do.

assign it as the cache drive.

change your shares to "use cache drive"

you might have to stop and start the array after assigning the change.

 

many (myself included) people would suggest a preclear or 2 to make sure the drive is good.

you will be trusting a lot of data to that drive with the potential to cause corruption.

it is best the drive  is in good shape.

you might also check a smart report to make sure there are no red flags.

[squirrellydw]

I unassigned the drive and it now has a red dot beside it and next to "STARTED" it has a yellow dot.  I have not pre cleared the drive yet.  Is it safe to preclear it now, and how do I get a green dot again next to "Started"?

 

Can someone please give me step by step what I should do, I don't want to lose my data.  I want to take a data drive and make it a cache drive and run a preclear on it.

[Johnm]

I apologize,

 

I somehow read that as you had a spare drive from another unraid server. not one in your existing array.

 

I would have had you run a parity check first. to late there. lets move on....

 

you need to first remove the drive from the array. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ#How_do_I_remove_a_hard_disk_that_I_do_not_plan_on_replacing.3F

 

 

 

it should be:

Stop the array (already stopped)

log in via telnet, type

initconfig

respond with "Yes" (capital "Y", lower case "es")

go back to the main web-management page and start the array.  Parity will be newly calculated on the new array configuration.

 

once you have removed the drive, you can add it back in as a cache drive.

 

[squirrellydw]

edit, think I got it

[squirrellydw]

yup, I got it.  Now if I want to reorder some drives it's the same process right?  As long as I leave the parity drive alone I won't lose any data correct?

[Johnm]

beta11 and physically move the drives in the case?

if so, you should be able to power down and move all of the drives around, including the parity.

it is best to have a screen cap of your drive settings just in case.

 

there is always risk involved, but it should do it automatically for you.

 

4.7 is a lot more work. you have to reassign the drives.

 

[squirrellydw]

thanks, rebuilding parity now

[squirrellydw]

should I change all my shares to "use cache drive"?  Also when I copy something to my server how does this work?  If I move a movie to my movie folder does it go to the cache drive first than to the movie folder right away or does it do it at a certain time?  Still trying to figure this out.

 

also some of my shares have an orange dot next to them since I did this, what is this about?  The cache drive I added was empty?

[prostuff1]

should I change all my shares to "use cache drive"?

That is up to you.  I do not use a cache drive for some of my shares

 

Also when I copy something to my server how does this work?  If I move a movie to my movie folder does it go to the cache drive first than to the movie folder right away or does it do it at a certain time?  Still trying to figure this out.

It goes to the cache drive and is moved by the mover script at 3:40 in the morning (unless you have changed its default time)

 

also some of my shares have an orange dot next to them since I did this, what is this about?  The cache drive I added was empty?

Stuff on the cache drive that has not be moved to the protected part of the array yet.

[squirrellydw]

Since my cache drive is/was supposed to be empty what is the best way to delete everything. I didnt think I had anything on it.

 

Also the script you mentioned, is this installed by default if so where is it?  If not can I add it through unmenu? 

 

Thanks

[prostuff1]

Since my cache drive is/was supposed to be empty what is the best way to delete everything. I didnt think I had anything on it.

\\tower\cache and see what is on the drive, or see what is on the drive via the unRAID webGUI

 

Also the script you mentioned, is this installed by default if so where is it?  If not can I add it through unmenu? 

 

Thanks

There by default, look in the unRAID webGUI.

[squirrellydw]

Got it thanks, one more question.  My cache drive is 250gb and in the settings it says Min free space as 2,000,000 and Mover Schedule as 40 3 * * *  Is that right?

 

Thanks

[dgaschk]

2G seems low for free space. It should be bigger than the largest file that you'll ever transfer.

[squirrellydw]

I increased it to 10,000,000 so that should be big enough.  I deleted everything off of the cache drive and all my shares had a green dot next to them.  I didn't add anything and now I have some orange dots next to some shares, whats going on?  All I did was browse some shares.

[prostuff1]

I increased it to 10,000,000 so that should be big enough.  I deleted everything off of the cache drive and all my shares had a green dot next to them.  I didn't add anything and now I have some orange dots next to some shares, whats going on?  All I did was browse some shares.

did you browse them from a Mac and over AFP?

 

If so that Mac probably create .DS_Store files in those shares and those little files are proabbly going to the cache drive.

[squirrellydw]

thats what I did thanks.  Is this right, it was the default  Mover Schedule as 40 3 * * *  What does this mean?

 

Thanks

[prostuff1]

thats what I did thanks.  Is this right, it was the default  Mover Schedule as 40 3 * * *  What does this mean?

 

Thanks

Google search cron for more info, but the short answer is that move will run every morning at 3:40am

[squirrellydw]

one more question......I just added about 20gb to my cache drive and ran the mover script.  Everything went to where it was supposed to in about 1 minute, is that right?  That seems way to fast.  However earlier I did drag the files where I wanted them, for example I dragged a movie to the movie folder from the cache disk to my movie disk.  Did I do this right?

 

If so it's safe to delete them from the cache disk right?

 

Thanks

[Joe L.]

one more question......I just added about 20gb to my cache drive and ran the mover script.  Everything went to where it was supposed to in about 1 minute, is that right?  That seems way to fast.  However earlier I did drag the files where I wanted them, for example I dragged a movie to the movie folder from the cache disk to my movie disk.  Did I do this right?

 

If so it's safe to delete them from the cache disk right?

 

Thanks

NO.... It is NOT safe to delete them.  You should never delete anything from the cache drive manually. 

The files will appear to be in their correct locations in the user-shares, even if not yet moved.  If you delete the files from the cache drive, you'll be deleting the only copy.

 

Joe L.

[squirrellydw]

So they will be delete themselves after they are moved?

[Joe L.]

So they will be delete themselves after they are moved?

yes.

[squirrellydw]

So it looks like my files didn't move from the cache drive.  Any idea why?  syslog attached

syslog-2011-11-17.txt

[Joe L.]

So it looks like my files didn't move from the cache drive.  Any idea why?  syslog attached

Did you enable it on the shares involved?

does the mover move the files when you invoke it manually?

[squirrellydw]

I enabled them on the disk shares.  No they DON'T move if I do it manually.  Am I supposed to enable them on the actual share, for example on disk1 "MOVIES"? 

 

On the cache drive I have it setup to use "cache only".  Last night I dragged a TV Show from the cache drive to my "TV Shows" folder on disk1.

 

hope you can help