From Terramaster OS to Unraid

[golgoth]

Hello there,
owner of a Terramaster F4-424 PRO here: wonderful machine, but Terramaster OS is terrible, so I'm thinking about installing Unraid.

 

I have 4x8 TB HDDs and 2x1 TB NVMe. My usage is media player through emby (not only locally, but also through web), torrents download and syncthing. In the future i could make some use of home surveillance apps.

Is Unraid good for me?

 

Also, how should i set my drives? In particular, should I install Unraid on my NVMe and set them in pairing? Should I use one NVMe for OS and one for caching?

 

Thanks

[trurl]

The Unraid OS  does not install to any of your storage.

 

Unraid OS is unpacked fresh from the archives on flash at each boot into RAM, and runs completely in RAM. Think of it as firmware. 

 

The flash also contains your configuration (any settings from the webUI) so they can be reapplied at boot. 

[PPH]

For the current release of unRAID - 6.12.11 - one option would be:

• 1 x unRAID "Array" consisting of 3 x 8TB disks and 1 x 8TB Parity disk (this will provide 'protection' for the loss of up to 1 disk)
• 1 x unRAID "Pool" configured as a mirrored pair of the two 1TB NVMe disks

The "system" Shares (appdata, domains, isos & system) should be stored on the NVMe Pool.

 

Create a "media" Share set to Primary Storage = NVMe "Pool" and Secondary Storage = HDD "Array".  Then install the appropriate Docker Applications via the "Community Applications" plug-in.  Take care when configuring the correct (File) paths within Docker Applications to make sure 'downloads/data/files' are stored in the correct location (typically the NVMe "Pool" for this configuration).

 

If you have any existing data/files/media then you will need to store these elsewhere then transfer back onto the unRAID Server once it's up and running.

 

There is also the possibility to create a configuration using two ZFS "Pools" - 4 x 8TB in raidz1 and 2 x 1TB in a mirror - but for unRAID 6.x.y you still need to have a 'traditional' unRAID "Array" with this configuration.  You can use a single, small-ish USB 'thumb drive' for this purpose (nothing will be stored on the 'thumb drive' "Array").

 

ZFS does typically offer much faster read and write speeds but this comes with the downside that all disks in the ZFS Pool need to be up and running to read or write a file.  With the 'traditional' unRAID "Array" only the disk containing the (media) file will be spun up (if powered down) to access the file.  Also, the 'traditional' unRAID "Array" supports disks of different sizes (although Parity Disk(s) need to be as large as or larger than any 'data' disk).  Although, one downside of the way the 'traditional' unRAID "Array" works is that write speed is usually slower (although for a media server this is not normally a problem - write once then read many).

 

[Don't forget to set "Settings -> Disk Settings -> Default Spin Down Delay" within unRAID to spin down disks after the configured period of inactivity.]

 

My recommendation, with being new to unRAID, would be to go with the 'traditional' unRAID "Array" plus the mirrored "Pool".

 

Not sure if you are aware, but you can download a trial version of unRAID, save to a USB 'thumb drive' and then test out all the features during the trial period duration.

 

You will also need to figure out how to get into the BIOS of the F4-424 PRO and configure it to boot from "USB". 👍

 

 

[golgoth]

First of all thanks for the time you spent answering, I read everything deeply and i'm starting to understand how unraid works.

 

Just one question, at the moment:

6 hours ago, PPH said:

• 1 x unRAID "Pool" configured as a mirrored pair of the two 1TB NVMe disks

 

Are you talking about a cache pool? Or is this something different?

[itimpi]

2 hours ago, golgoth said:

Are you talking about a cache pool? Or is this something different?

You should think of a 'pool' and a 'cache' as 2 independent capabilities.   Do not be confused by the fact that the default name for the first pool is 'cache' - this is just a historical artifact and does not mean the pool is necessarily used for caching.   You specify at the share level which pool (if any) is to be used for caching that share.

[golgoth]

7 hours ago, itimpi said:

You should think of a 'pool' and a 'cache' as 2 independent capabilities.   Do not be confused by the fact that the default name for the first pool is 'cache' - this is just a historical artifact and does not mean the pool is necessarily used for caching.   You specify at the share level which pool (if any) is to be used for caching that share.

So, for a media server it's better to use NVMe as a storage pool with emby in and all medias inside HDDs?

 

Is this solution better than emby + media on HDDs and NVMe used for caching? 

[PPH]

1 hour ago, golgoth said:

So, for a media server it's better to use NVMe as a storage pool with emby in and all medias inside HDDs?

 

Is this solution better than emby + media on HDDs and NVMe used for caching? 

With my recommendation of configuring a 'traditional' unRAID "Array" (HDD) with a mirrored "Pool" (NVMe) and a "media" Share - files downloaded to the "media" share will

be stored on the NVMe disks and then when "mover" is run (typically once a day) the files will be 'moved' from the NVMe "Pool" to the HDD "Array".  With this type of configuration you get the speed/benefit of the NVMe disks with the storage capacity of the HDDs.

 

"Mover" (Settings -> Scheduler) can be adjusted to run on different schedules and there is also a "Mover Tuning" plug-in that offers many options on which files should be moved (although, with being new to unRAID, I would stick with the standard "Mover" until more familiar with unRAID).  Note that files are only moved between different storage locations if the "Shares" settings have both the "Primary" and "Secondary" Storage options configured.

 

Also, with the above configuration - the NVMe "Pool" will have the dual role of storing the "system" Shares (appdata, domains, isos & system) on the NVMe disks and they will also be used to store new files that are saved to the "media" Share and then moved when "mover" runs.  ("Mover" can also be manually run by clicking on the "Move" button at the bottom of the 'Main' GUI page.)

 

If you do plan to wipe your F4-424 PRO, then have a go at the unRAID trial, creating various configurations (Array, Pool, Shares), copying files onto the Server then running the "Mover" feature to understand how it works.

[golgoth]

I think i will have to read a lot of guides and watch a lot of youtube videos, but it will be pretty fun

 

Now i only have to backup 18TBs of files and i'm ready to switch.

[leman]

I'm about to switch to unraid on F4-424 Pro in a pretty similar way and I like the suggested setup a lot, so plan use all the advice above and set up the array / pool exactly as described above. 2 questions though:

1. I'll be moving from 2-bay Synology NAS with 2*4tb HDDs in it and ca. 2.5tb of files. I have extra 2*4tb HDD and 2*1tb SSD for F4-424 Pro, so my plan is to start unraid on F4-424 Pro with just 2 HDDs / 2 SSDs (setting up the array + pool as described above), move the files and then wipe and move 2 remaining HDDs and rebuild the array. Any issues with this plan? If no, should I designate 1 HDD as data and 1 HDD as parity before moving the files or it would be essentially the same to just have 1 HDD as data and only add parity after I have moved the files and put all HDDs in F4-424 Pro? I realize the second option gives no protection during the transfer process whatsoever, but it will be faster I guess (as F4-424 pro won't have to write the parity disk during files transfer) and then both options have an "unprotected" phase when the parity is rebuilt after adding the remaining 2 disks...

2. In the setup above NVMe pool acts as "system" shares storage plus a kind of cache for "media" share (as it will have all files written to NVMe and then moved to HDD array by Mover) - all that without designating it as "cache" for "media" share, right? To use this quasi-cache setup for other shares I'll just have to create those shares replicating Primary / Secondary storage configuration described above? I understand this Primary / Secondary storage approach is different from another option which is to create a share on HDD Array and then designate NVMe pool as "cache" - what are the benefits of Primary / Secondary storage + Mover setup?

 

Sorry if I misunderstood something in above, I'm yet to tinker with unraid to see how things are done there.