I thought I would make the suggestion of just a cache disk licence key. I run unraid and its great, I find that the free version is perfect for my needs, it has the option of two discs and the parity. The only thing I would like is the cache drive! I have an apps drive which I mount with snap but this program doesnt seem to be getting updated anymore and I worry it will stop working with each unraid update. But I'd be willing to pay for a license just for the cache. I just find the 69 dollars a bit steep when I'm really not planning on using over two drives. I don't know if this is a good idea or what, but to me it seems that a lot of people buying a lower priced cache addition license is better than most free users not upgrading.

 

Cheers m

I actually have a different idea, but something similar.

 

How about a new feature called 'app drive'?

A drive that is not protected by the parity and can't be used as a cache drive..

so cache drive would still only be available for plus/pro user, but this 'app drive' will be available for all type of license.

 

 

Since unraid is getting more and more plug ins, it would makes sense to have a separate app drive that is not a cache drive.

Nice idea for an app drive but in it's current form wouldn't unraid  have to lose a data drive in the pro version since it can only has the 26 sdX addresses?  If it does then I can't see it happening.

I like the idea for a cache only license though, when my server was small and I was using the free version it was frustrating not having it for both performance and an installation point for apps,

I don't think purchasing a plus license is much to ask. The free version is really just intended as an evaluation version. If you want anything beyond the bare minimum features you need to purchase a license. There is just one man developing this software and without our support he may not be able to continue development.

It's very easy to add your own cache or app drive. Mover scripts in a cron job etc.

 

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I don't think purchasing a plus license is much to ask. The free version is really just intended as an evaluation version. If you want anything beyond the bare minimum features you need to purchase a license. There is just one man developing this software and without our support he may not be able to continue development.

like to agree with that.

also, considering that someone intends to stay with 2 data drives - what are all the plugins needed to be installed to require the cache/ app hdd? just as many as possible for the sake of installing apps? many apps going along the lines d/l more, easier etc. that will require storage. so sooner than later you need more hdd's anyway.

 

i initially d/l'd the free version also (not so long ago) to check if it fills my needs. it did. but even at this point i was way beyond the storage options of the free version. compared to other solutions for nas/ backup/ server and beyond it is a very small price to pay for 'full' functionality, in top of it scale-able still as your system grows. if $69 ($59 after finding the discount key in this forum or just online) seems to much, i don't know... support small biz! comes to mind

Your wish MAY be granted 

 

According to Tom (as part of a reply to a question I asked about # of drives supported by each version in the next release), in v5 final "... Basic will support 3 drives with no other restrictions."

 

So that SHOULD mean you can have a parity drive, a cache drive, and one data drive 

 

Your wish MAY be granted 

 

According to Tom (as part of a reply to a question I asked about # of drives supported by each version in the next release), in v5 final "... Basic will support 3 drives with no other restrictions."

 

So that SHOULD mean you can have a parity drive, a cache drive, and one data drive 

 

 

FYI, I asked a specific question about this and Tom confirmed that v5 Final will indeed allow a cache drive ==>  so you will not only have a "Cache License" ... but it will be FREE 

Your wish MAY be granted 

 

According to Tom (as part of a reply to a question I asked about # of drives supported by each version in the next release), in v5 final "... Basic will support 3 drives with no other restrictions."

 

So that SHOULD mean you can have a parity drive, a cache drive, and one data drive 

 

 

FYI, I asked a specific question about this and Tom confirmed that v5 Final will indeed allow a cache drive ==>  so you will not only have a "Cache License" ... but it will be FREE 

 

Good news

Your wish MAY be granted 

 

According to Tom (as part of a reply to a question I asked about # of drives supported by each version in the next release), in v5 final "... Basic will support 3 drives with no other restrictions."

 

So that SHOULD mean you can have a parity drive, a cache drive, and one data drive 

 

Semantically speaking, isn't 1 data drive +1 parity drive technically a mirror 

 

J/K, I understand the technicality of the difference but thought I'd pop into the forums somewhere and say howdy as a new user.

 

 

+1 on coughing up the cash though, I just went all out (pro + 2nd key) even though I could probably get by with plus for a while and I think it is not much to spend all things considered.

 

Guillaume

Semantically speaking, isn't 1 data drive +1 parity drive technically a mirror 

 

No, not the same at all.    The contents of the parity disk will, in fact, be identical to the single data disk;  but that's a consequence of the fact that UnRAID uses even parity ... so the parity computation will have that result.    But it happens to be that way because of the parity computations -- not due to simply mirroring the drive.  [Mirroring would actually be MUCH simpler computationally]

 

Semantically speaking, isn't 1 data drive +1 parity drive technically a mirror 

 

No, not the same at all.    The contents of the parity disk will, in fact, be identical to the single data disk;  but that's a consequence of the fact that UnRAID uses even parity ... so the parity computation will have that result.    But it happens to be that way because of the parity computations -- not due to simply mirroring the drive.  [Mirroring would actually be MUCH simpler computationally]

 

And all that is why I don't see why you'd want to use the free version with a cache drive if the cache drive is included in the three drive limit. The only benefit I can see is so if you upgrade to a paid version later you won't have to migrate any data. Otherwise, why not just use a simple RAID1 mirror?

Semantically speaking, isn't 1 data drive +1 parity drive technically a mirror 

 

No, not the same at all.    The contents of the parity disk will, in fact, be identical to the single data disk;  but that's a consequence of the fact that UnRAID uses even parity ... so the parity computation will have that result.    But it happens to be that way because of the parity computations -- not due to simply mirroring the drive.  [Mirroring would actually be MUCH simpler computationally]

 

And all that is why I don't see why you'd want to use the free version with a cache drive if the cache drive is included in the three drive limit. The only benefit I can see is so if you upgrade to a paid version later you won't have to migrate any data. Otherwise, why not just use a simple RAID1 mirror?

 

Note the original question in this thread -- the user is fine with the free version, but has apps he wants to run on the cache drive.    Although a single-drive system doesn't provide any storage benefit over a simple RAID-1 array, it DOES let you run UnRAID and have both fault-tolerance plus a cache drive ... AND the ability to easily increase the storage if you should ever choose to buy a license.    With modern high-capacity drives, a free version using a couple of 3 or 4 TB drives plus a cache may very well satisfy the storage requirements of some users for a good while.

 

... in addition, although I'd think it's a generally unlikely scenario, you could use some spare drives of different sizes (e.g. a 2TB and a 1.5TB) for the protected array.

 

Version 5 has been released but I can't see an option to add my drive as a cache one

I'll set up a basic v5.0 system to confirm this -- but I'm sure you're right.  Tom's gone for a few days, but I'll be sure he addresses this ... it may be an oversight, or he may have changed his mind about what he'll allow in a basic (free) system.

 

You're right -- I thought perhaps you simply needed to do a "New Config" to allow the 3rd drive to be assigned as cache, but that option isn't presented at all.

 

I'll contact Tom and see if this was intentional or simply an oversight -- he DID indicated earlier that v5.0 would have no restrictions on what the 3 disks could be used for ... I specifically asked him if that meant one could be a cache drive, and as I told you at the time he said that was correct [His answer was specifically "no restrictions means no restrictions"]

 

Hopefully he'll post a response here.

 

Friendly reminder, Tom#2 indicated Tom#1 would be offline for a bit due to travel, don't expect an immediate reply here

Yes, I should have mentioned that 

Okay, I've heard back from Tom.    As you noticed, there is no cache drive capability for UnRAID Basic in v5.0

 

That's because of the way in which that was going to be possible => it depends on the btrfs "cache pool" feature that was originally planned for v5.0    Obviously that did not get implemented.

 

WHEN btrfs is implemented, then you'll be able to assign a drive as either data or "pool" ... which essentially means "cache".

 

It's not clear, however, just when that will be -- and I hesitate to guess.    But it IS coming in a future "point release"  (i.e. v5.1,  v5.2,  etc.)

 

Are you saying unraid will have btrfs instead of current fs?

That's great.  We will have best of both, a disk and data protection.

 

 

Tom should look into opensuse implementation of btrfs. They marked it as stable in July.

 

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Are you saying unraid will have btrfs instead of current fs?

 

No -- only the cache pool will use btrfs