Dear Community,

 

I have a somewhat unconventional use case for Unraid and would appreciate any guidance on achieving it, whether with the current version or the upcoming version 7.

 

Here’s my preferred setup:

1. Array: 2 HDDs with parity for important data.

2. Pool/Cache: 2 SSDs/NVMEs with parity.

3. Another Pool: 6TB HDD dedicated to media files only (without parity).

 

For the array (1), I’m open to adding a cache, but since data transfers are infrequent, it’s not a priority. I understand that setting up a cache for an array is relatively straightforward and is a common practice.

 

The cache (2) should primarily serve the media files. Ideally, I’d like to use it as a cache for the array as well if feasible. My goal is to keep the HDDs spun down most of the time to conserve energy. With a cache of around 1TB and relatively low data transfer, I plan to retain data in the cache as long as possible before transferring it to the media storage (3). Specifically, I’d like to keep data in the cache until it drops below 20% capacity. This way, new files are more likely to be served from the cache rather than the HDD.

 

My main question is: Is this setup achievable with either of the mentioned Unraid versions? Or is this approach fundamentally flawed? If so, could you explain why?

I appreciate any insights you can provide.

 

Thank you in advance!

Best regards

Unraid 7 supports one pool acting as a cache for another pool.

That's amazing, thank you so much for the quick answer.