All of my parts are finally here.  (Thanks Norco for not putting the 1 to 7 molex adapter that you KNEW i would need, in the box)

 

Anyway I have a few setup questions.

 

1.  So I have a 12 bay Norco Case.  4 drives on port 1 of the SUPERMICRO SAS, 4 drives on port 2 and 4 drives on the Motherboard SATA controller.

 

Currently I do not have enough drives to fill all 12, so are there any considerations to make for how to split them up?  Should I leave all the drives on the same controller, should I stagger them? (I have 6 drives right now)

 

2.  As a newbie, I would like to do things right the first time, so initially, I was going to install unraid 4.7 because beta software is beta....  But I noticed that the unmenu package I wanted to use only works with Beta Unraid 5...  Are these ok to use?  I really just want Preclear and Email Notify of failed disks.  I was looking at "simplefeatures" here http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12698.0

 

3.  Does unmenu include Preclear?

 

4.  When installing these packages like unmenu and preclear, I assume they have to be installed from the console?  Are there instructions for this?  I am very computer saavy, just not with linux so much.

 

Thanks

 

I would suggest that you look at the sticky post in this thread named "Read Here First".  There are links to the place where you can find detailed answers to most of your questions.  I would suggest you look first at "Getting Started with unRaid" and "UnRaid Configuration Guide". 

1.  So I have a 12 bay Norco Case.  4 drives on port 1 of the SUPERMICRO SAS, 4 drives on port 2 and 4 drives on the Motherboard SATA controller.

 

I have done a bit of reading around the subject, and Im in exactly the same situation as you, as i only just booted up my first unRAID 4 days ago. Regarding the distribution of drives, the only think to keep in mind is if you are going to be using a cache drive, it has been said that they are best kept on the same controller, in your case it would prob be best to stick the parity drive and cache on you Mobo.

 

2.  As a newbie, I would like to do things right the first time, so initially, I was going to install unraid 4.7 because beta software is beta....  But I noticed that the unmenu package I wanted to use only works with Beta Unraid 5...  Are these ok to use?  I really just want Preclear and Email Notify of failed disks.  I was looking at "simplefeatures" here http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12698.0

 

Again i had this debat! What to go for, 4.7 is stable but 5beta* has all the new applications, so in the end ive gone for 5beta14. Im firstly installed all the addons i want. And that has been running perfectly for a day or so, then ive started to transfer data. At the moment im making sure all data is safe somewhere else. Until the point i have total confidence in beta14. Then i will take the plung, and add the extra drives to my array! However that is a choice you are going to have to make stabile build over new addons and functionality?!

 

3.  Does unmenu include Preclear?

 

I dont think it comes included, however i installed unMENU and adding other apps is so easy, so if its not installed you wont have trouble. Heres a link to unMENU addons. (Im sure youve already found this)

 

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=UnRAID_Add_Ons

 

4.  When installing these packages like unmenu and preclear, I assume they have to be installed from the console?  Are there instructions for this?  I am very computer saavy, just not with linux so much.

 

Depending on the addon you want, there are a large number that come included, and they can all be installed via the browser, no touching the command line. These packages are included if im not mistaken.

 

http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=UnRAID_Add_Ons#Add_On_Packages

 

To install unMENU again is simple, there are some great tutorials out there but the best has to be the original thread, just follow the first post and you cant go wrong!

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5568.0

 

Let me know if you need any more help!

 

 

 

Edit: regarding the stability question this might help:  http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12224.0

unRAID beta is safe to use as long as you know about the known bugs and can calmly deal with them if you encounter them.  Read the release notes and read about each new beta that comes out before deciding if you should upgrade to it.  If all of this sounds like too much work, then just go with 4.7 and forget about simple features.

 

You should use up all of your motherboard ports before using the SATA card ports.  Your parity and cache (if used) should always be on the motherboard ports.

 

Most add-ons involve some type of command line magic when you first install them.  unMenu and preclear are no exception.  unMenu does not include preclear, though they were both written by the illustrious Joe L.  You access unMenu through your web browser, just like the standard unRAID web GUI.  Preclear you run in the command line either at the system console (a keyboard and monitor hooked up to the server), or remotely through telnet or PuTTy.  There are many guides that will walk you through how to preclear drives, it isn't difficult.

I guess I assumed that perhaps with unmenu there might be a preclear "Button".  If I still have to use putty to get this done, then the only thing I am missing would be email notifications.

 

Basically I guess there is no real upside to using Unraid 5 as long as I only use 2TB drives, correct? 

 

Thanks for everyones quick reply

the fact that you had the balls to build the rig and go ahead with unraid  tells me you know enough to learn what you need to know, i jumped into unraid from a cosy GUI based QNAP device, i sort of knew what i was getting into but it was still a jump in the very deep end for me but then that is the best way i think, i initially went with 4.7 final but when i saw it didnt support things like PLEX i thought sod it, threw caution to the wind and put on the latest beta, i have not had any real problems other than ones created by my lack of understanding but i kept on reading, as rajahal said, pre clearing drives is quite easy, i downloaded putty for my pc for telnetting into unraid, the unraid config is a deffo to read, you wont get spoonfed here but these guys will always help you to help yourself even if the answer may seem a little cryptic...keep reading !