Hi folks. So an option has cropped up and rather than just try it though i would run it by the more knowlegable people here for input

 

I have a HP N40L microserver running R5-b14. It has currently 4*2TB data and a 2TB parity. I also have a readynas duo NAS with 2*2TB in a mirror which was my old storage solution before i went the UnRaid route. My idea is to connect the readynas with an ESata cable to the back of the server and to use this as the parity drive, bit like using a very posh external caddy. This would give me 2TB of extra storage and mean my parity drive was mirrored. In case of failure of a disk i could use the mirror disk from the readynas, preclear and repalce a failed drive, when i got a replacement i would stick it back into the readynas and the mirrow would be rebuilt.

 

So does this sound like a reasonable thing to do?

Any issues people think i should be aware of?

As the readynas is set up as a media server etc would it function just as a drive do you think?

What steps would i need to go through to reallocate my parity to the readynas and make the current parity available as data?

 

I have had some issue to get this far and now my UnRaid server is up an running so dont want to take chances. If its a daft idea bacause of x.y.z please let me know and why and i will just keep the readynas for backups and keep it in a different location

 

Thanks for any input

I'm not too sure you can use the ReadyNAS in that fashion... even if you can (to get the mirror of parity drive you are talking about), its going to be VERY SLOW.  Remember, every time you write to the array, it has to read Parity, then write Parity back in the same place.  why at best most people get 30MB/s write to protected array.  I'm betting with doubling the number of read/writes on parity by having a mirror in a non-cached array box like the ReadyNAS its going to cause you to have extremely slow write speeds.

 

You could always try it with a free copy of unraid in either a different box, or just use your current, but use a new USB with unraid on it for testing with new drives in the ReadyNAS and a spare data drive (if you have that many extra drives).

 

Not sure what model ReadyNAS you have but neither of mine have an eSATA port. If yours does it's probably intended to support an additional drive, not connect to a host system.

Not sure what model ReadyNAS you have but neither of mine have an eSATA port. If yours does it's probably intended to support an additional drive, not connect to a host system.

 

+1

 

Neither does my Readynas.

1) Take the 2 drives out of the ReadyNAS and put them in your Microserver -- it will take 6 drives easily: see my sig.

 

2) Sell the ReadyNAS.

 

3) Profit!

Honestly, I think the parity drive is the most useless disk to mirror. You do not lose any data if the parity fails. You have a single parity disk and 4 data disks so the odds of a dual disk failure being parity plus another data disk is less than it being 2 data disks.

 

You may be thinking that the parity is used all by itself to reconstruct a failed disk so the parity is the all important disk that must be kept safe at all costs. This is simply not the case - all other disks are used to reconstruct a failed disk so all other disks must be healthy.

OK, thanks to everyone for the feedback. Looks like not the smartest idea.

 

Would put another drive in the server but i added a hot swap draw to the ODD space and dont think there is room in there now for anything other than maybe an SSD or a 2.5 drive.

 

2 options now are get a caddy with esata and add another disk outside of the server or just use the Nas for holding e.e all photos and back ups and all music and movies on the server. will give it some thought but thanks for now :-)