Hey Guys.

 

So I finally got my unRAID box up and running.

 

Started creating a share I want for Media, but have totally lost my mind over splitlevel.

Basically I want my media shared between all my drives (Currently 4x3tb WD Reds, so 1x Parity, and 3x Data)

 

Currently my Media looks like this:

\\Media\Anime\Dragonball Z\DBZ - 001 - The Arrival of Raditz.avi

\\Media\Movies\2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)\2 Fast 2 Furious.mkv

\\Media\TV\Africa (2013)\Season 01\Africa (2013) - 1x01 - Kalahari.mkv

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\01 Train.flac

 

I would like this to be shared across all drives so that I have one LARGE share.

 

Would I also be better creating like a master share which includes Media?

As in:

 

\\Tower\Media\Anime...

\\Tower\Documents\Personal...

\\Tower\Applications\VisualStudio...

 

As I don't need multiple shares but rather 1 large drive with multiple folders.

 

On my current server I have it:

\\cube\Apps

\\cube\Backup

\\cube\docs

\\cube\and so on...

 

And this has served me well so far with a Raid 5.

 

Any ideas on how best to get this setup?

If you're happy with your current folder structure, just use the same thing with UnRAID.  You could even change the ID for your UnRAID box from Tower to Cube2, then create the same set of shares as you're accustomed to ... i.e. Apps, Backup, Docs, etc.

 

Then the only consideration is the split level.    If you want to ensure that lower level folders aren't "split" between drives, just use split level 2 or 3, depending on just how your media folders are structured.  From what you've outlined, I'd think 3 is the right choice ... but you can experiment a bit and confirm that works for you by setting your allocation method to "most free" (so all drives will be used), copying a few folders to the shares, and looking at the individual drives to see how the data was allocated.

 

Thanks Gary.

 

I think I will have a dedicated share for Media.

So this will be like so:

 

\\Media\Anime\Dragonball Z\DBZ - 001 - The Arrival of Raditz.avi

\\Media\Movies\2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)\2 Fast 2 Furious.mkv

\\Media\TV\Africa (2013)\Season 01\Africa (2013) - 1x01 - Kalahari.mkv

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\01 Train.flac

\\Media\Pics\Argentina\001.jpg

 

So splitlevel 3 is a good choice for this?

What does the allocation method do?

 

Everyone that asks about split level fails to provide this important fact.

 

How do you want the file storage structured on the drives in the array? In other words, do you want the files in certain directories to be stored on a single disk?

 

No-one can help you without this information.

So splitlevel 3 is a good choice for this?

What does the allocation method do?

 

As noted above, your best choice for split level depends on WHERE in the folder structure you want to allow UnRAID to split files among disks.  With the structure you've noted, 3 is a good choice.

 

Allocation method determines WHEN UnRAID will start using other disks.  You can read the specifics in the Wiki here:  http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/UnRAID_Manual#Allocation_method

 

I prefer "high-water", so it's not always changing between disks;  but the "most free" will spread the data more uniformly among your disks.

 

Everyone that asks about split level fails to provide this important fact.

 

How do you want the file storage structured on the drives in the array? In other words, do you want the files in certain directories to be stored on a single disk?

 

No-one can help you without this information.

 

No, I want it as spread out and uniformed as possible.

That way if one drive dies I don't lose lets say all my TV Shows.

 

Like I said, I currently use Raid 5 so its all spread out evenly and I would like to keep it that way.

 

I have no personal preference on the structure. I just don't want all my media on 1 drive as it were.

 

I'm not entirely sure this answers your question or not?

Im guessing that the media files should be stored on one disk at a time.

As in:

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\01 Train.flac

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\02 Citizen/Soldier.flac

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\03 It's Not My Time.flac

 

Should all be on the same drive.

 

But like:

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\The Better Life\01 Kryptonite.flac

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\The Better Life\02 Loser.flac

 

Can be on another drive.

 

I realise that if I put my music on random I may have all my drives spinning up and down.

And I suppose I could handle this.

 

What would you guru's suggest?

Remember this is my first time playing with unRAID so splitlevel's are totally new to me.

if you dont mind having it spread across all drives and the subsequent chance of you spinning up more drives when playing back any media then set the split level to 99, then choose allocation method of your choice, high water is the popular choice.

 

i personally use a combination of split level 0 for important data so i know what disk its on, and split level 3 or 4 for media that cannot fit on one drive and/or that i wouldn't be gutted if i lost it.

 

share split level 0

 

pro's

you know what disk its one

minimize spin up's of disks and thus save power and limit stutters in playback

 

con's

you have to keep an eye on disk space

single point of failure for your media if kept on one disk

 

split level 99 is basically the opposite pro's and con's of split level 0 :-).

The examples you gave imply that split level 3 would work for you.  If you want everything uniformly split among disks, set your allocation method to "most free".

 

By the way, split level 99 is essentially the same as simply turning off split level (just leave it blank).

 

 

By the way, split level 99 is essentially the same as simply turning off split level (just leave it blank).

 

thanks garycase, i thought that was the case but wasn't 100% positive, thats good to know.

Would it be worth leaving split level off then?

 

Otherwise I will use 3.

If you leave split level off, then a single media item may have it's files spread across multiple disks.  The example you gave indicates you don't want that ... so I'd suggest you use level 3.

 

Thanks Gary you have been uber helpful

First off, unRAID and RAID5 store data completely different so it's useless to say you want this to work like RAID5. RAID5 stripes the data across all the drives making it appear you have 1 large drive. unRAID uses each disk individually but combines the data from each disk via the user share feature.

 

The way I read your list, you have 4 shares - Anime, Movies, TV and Music.

 

Anime - Level 3 means there will be no file structure on each disk. If your individual directories contain more than a single file I would recommend level 1 for this share.

 

Movies - same as Anime.

 

TV - Level 3 also means no file structure on each disk. I would recommend level 1 to keep each TV series on a single disk or level 2 to keep each season of a TV series on a single disk.

 

Music - same as TV.

 

Using level 3 for your shares is the same as using level 99. Your files go wherever on the different disks. Them, add in using most free and it really fragments TV seasons and music albums all over the different disks. This might sound OK but what happens if you lose disk2 and can't recover for example? Now, you have TV series and music where individual episodes are missing from a season or songs are missing from an album. Good luck sorting that out - it's start over time. At least with some level of structure you know what's combines and what happens if the worst happens.

 

 

Level 1 is far too restrictive.    If I understand what the OP wants, it's to simply ensure that all files associated with a specific recording stay together, but NOT all the files for a specific series ... and the subfolder structure has both the general name (TV), a series name, a season number, and THEN the actual media files -- so split level 3 accomplishes this quite nicely.

 

Level 1 often results in "why did I run out of space" questions on this forum, where the split level is forcing a drive that the allocation scheme would otherwise switch away from.    Even level 2 can do that with some directory structures, although it's far less likely.

 

What I'd suggest is simple:  Set Level 3.  Set the allocation to "most free", so UnRAID will freely change between the disks.  Then copy some media files to the share and look at the individual drives to see if that's working how you want it.  If UnRAID is splitting files you don't want it to between disks, change the split level to 2;  delete the files; and copy again.

 

Level 1 IS required to keep each individual movie directory and each individual Anime directory on a single disk if those directories contain more than the single movie file. Even if there is only a single file I would still use a split level of 1. Otherwise, even if you only replace or edit a file you could find an empty directory on one disk and a directory containing the file on another disk. For examle, I sometimes run mkvmerge on my movies, creating a new version and then deleting the old one. Do that with too high a split level and you can end up with an empty directory on a disk once done. Especially if using the most free allocation method.

 

Level 2 will do exactly as the OP described in reply #6, keeping each individual season and each individual album together but allowing different seasons and albums to be on different disks.

 

Now, the OP has referred a number of times to \\Media\.... On my computers the first part \\Media is the name of the server, not a user share so I believe he's creating a number of shares and not one share called "Media". One of the question originally posted was the use of shares. I personally highly recommend using a share for each type of file. ie, "TV_Shows", "Movies, "Documents", "Pictures" etc and not one big share like "Media".

 

Level 3 is the equivalent of Level 99 where nothing is kept combined on each disk. Too high a level results "Why are my files spread all over my disks?" forum questions.

This is why SplitLevel has my head spinning...

 

I can create individual shares for each type of media if thats easier.

I'm not adverse to that idea.

 

For Movies:

\\Movies\Avatar (2009)\Avatar.mkv

\\Movies\Avatar (2009)\Avatar-Fanart.jpg

 

\\Movies\The Impossible (2012)\The Impossible.mkv

\\Movies\The Impossible (2012)\The Impossible-Fanart.jpg

 

For this instance I would like each folder to be on a separate drive.

As in Avatar on Drive A and The Impossible on Drive B.

 

TV:

\\TV Shows\The Big Bang Theory\Season 01\01 Pilot.mkv

\\TV Shows\The Big Bang Theory\Season 01\02 The Big Bran Hypothesis.mkv

 

\\TV Shows\The Big Bang Theory\Season 02\01 The Bad Fish Paradigm.mkv

\\TV Shows\The Big Bang Theory\Season 02\02 The Codpiece Topology.mkv

 

For this I would like each Season on a separate drive.

As Lionelhutz points out losing a few individual files in a Season will be a pain to find.

 

Music:

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\01 Train.flac

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\02 Citizen/Soldier.flac

 

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\The Better Life\01 Kryptonite.flac

\\Media\Music\3 Doors Down\The Better Life\02 Loser.flac

 

So again each Album (3 Doors down, and The Better Life) should be fully on a separate drive each.

 

Anime:

\\Media\Anime\Dragonball Z\DBZ - 001 - The Arrival of Raditz.avi

\\Media\Anime\Dragonball Z\DBZ - 002 - The World's Strongest Team.avi

 

Now as Anime can get quite large, I think it would be best to just have it split among drives.

As for instance DBZ has 291 episodes so having it all on 1 drive can start to take up a lot of space.

 

Splitting them out between drives is fine, and I'm not too worried if I lose some Anime.

 

Hopefully this will make things easier?

 

But just another question, wouldn't the Parity help cover if I lose a drive?

As Lionelhutz says if you lose a drive that is unrecoverable?

Yes, parity provides fault tolerance ... so if you lose one drive you don't lose any data.

 

As for the split level ... set it to a number (pick your poison) and EXPERIMENT to see how UnRAID distributes the files.  As I noted before, you need to use a "most free" allocation, or the files won't be spread out no matter what the split level.  I do NOT agree that "3 is the equivalent of 99"  [99 is, of course, equivalent to simply leaving split level blank (= off) ] ... there are many folder structures where the 3rd level is what you want.    And 1 is far too restrictive ... you WILL end up with files that can't be copied to your disk due to "no space" when you have LOTS of available space on the array, because the split level won't allow it to be placed on another disk.

 

But rather than argue about what makes the most sense, just try it and pick what works best for you.    I'd start with 2 ... and if you find files aren't being distributed the way you'd like, bump it to 3.  [You'll likely want different levels for different shares.]

 

This is why SplitLevel has my head spinning...

 

I can create individual shares for each type of media if thats easier.

I'm not adverse to that idea.

 

For Movies:

\\Movies\Avatar (2009)\Avatar.mkv

\\Movies\Avatar (2009)\Avatar-Fanart.jpg

 

\\Movies\The Impossible (2012)\The Impossible.mkv

\\Movies\The Impossible (2012)\The Impossible-Fanart.jpg

 

For this instance I would like each folder to be on a separate drive.

 

This is the reverse of the split level concept. The contents of folders above the split level will be kept on the same disk. Each folder can not be on a separate drive unless you have 1 drive for each movie on the server. I don't think that you wish to limit your movie collection to 22 movies. Many movies can be stored on the same drive. I do not think that you want "each folder to be on a separate drive." Split level ensures that the contents of a folder are kept on a single drive. Directories at or below the split level may be split across multiple disks and the contents of a folder above the split level is guaranteed to be kept on a single disk. There a diagrams with explanations in the wiki. Think of split level as the deepest level that you wish to allow splitting.

 

 

In this case, above means deeper. Split level numbers increase as the directory tree is descended.

Another way to manage your folders is to simply do it yourself 

 

Although the concept of a user share means you don't have to be concerned with WHERE on the array files are kept; many folks still like to have more fine-grained control ... and while split level can often do this, it sometimes still doesn't arrange things quite like you might like.

 

You can simply copy to the disk shares instead of the user share and ensure everything is exactly where you want it.

 

e.g.  If you want to have the following movies in your Movies share:

\\Movies\The Impossible (2012)\The Impossible.mkv

\\Movies\The Impossible (2012)\The Impossible-Fanart.jpg

 

... but for whatever reason want them on different disks, you could copy the first movie to  \\Tower\disk1\Movies  and the second one to \\Tower\disk2\Movies

 

Both would be seen in the "Movies" share, but they would be stored exactly where you wanted them without regard to split level or allocation method.  In other words, YOU would decide where to put them; NOT UnRAID.

 

Geeze, with the folder structure as I interpreted it and described it, level 3 will give the same result as level 4 or 10 or 99.

 

SavellM

I'm now believe that the first part in your description is the share name. When navigating in Windows the \\ is first followed by the server name and the next slash is followed by the share name. ie \\SERVER\Share is what appears in the address bar of Windows Explorer when you are navigating to a share.

 

I 100% believe you should create a share for each type of media. You can not get your media to store as you are describing if you use 1 big user share. If you put your Movies and Music inside a single share then the correct split level for how you want your Music stored would be wrong for how you want your movies stored.

 

Level 1 is the correct split level for the Movies share with the structure you described.

 

Level 2 is the correct split level for the TV Shows share with the structure you described.

 

Is Media the share name for your music and Anime? I will recommend split levels once you clarify this. I don't want to give another wrong number until I know for sure how you're storing these.

 

As for the Parity. The parity protects against a drive failure. However, it doesn't mean you can't lose one or more drives of data it things go really wrong (for example, the parity and one data disk both die at the same time).

 

 

Thanks All..

 

@Lionelhtz. whooops that was a copy and paste mistake without correcting it

 

Should be:

Music:

\\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\01 Train.flac

\\Music\3 Doors Down\3 Doors Down\02 Citizen/Soldier.flac

 

\\Music\3 Doors Down\The Better Life\01 Kryptonite.flac

\\Music\3 Doors Down\The Better Life\02 Loser.flac

 

And:

\\Anime\Dragonball Z\DBZ - 001 - The Arrival of Raditz.avi

\\Anime\Dragonball Z\DBZ - 002 - The World's Strongest Team.avi

 

The \\ is the Share so as you pointed it it may have to be:

\\tower\music\3 Doors Down

\\tower\movies\Avatar (2009)\avatar.mkv

\\tower\tv shows\the big bang theory\...

 

I'm still in the process of building my box and away now so I cant report back just yet on exactly that.

 

But each Movies/Music/TV Show/Anime \\ is a User share created via the gui in unRAID.

So above \\Anime = Anime User share created in unRAID

\\Movies = Movies User Share

 

So I think you are correct I missed out the server in my file path.

 

\\tower\Movies

\\tower\Anime

\\tower\TV Shows

 

Sorry

Excellent. Just need to get things clear. It sure helps with any confusion on both sides. OK, for your descriptions of the shares and what you want combined vs split, Level 2 will work for the Music and Anime shares.

 

So, to summarize.

Movies - 1

Music  - 2

Anime - 2

TV Shows - 2

 

You can see why using 1 big share as you first posted is the wrong approach since the Movies needs a different split level then everything else. You'd need something like \Media\Movies\Movies to add an extra directory level and make them all even.

 

You can also see why we need to know the structure on the disks. For example, if you had wanted to keep one complete TV Series on a disk you'd want to use level 1 for the TV. Same with Anime, if you had wanted to keep Dragonball Z on a single disk it requires level 1.

 

Agree Level 1 works to keep the entire share on one disk.  I simply think that's far too restrictive for a share -- the whole idea of a share is to enable automatic spanning of the disks as needed in a way that's transparent to the user.    If you want a single share to always be on one disk, you don't need to use ANY split level => just use an "Include" for that share of ONLY the one disk you want it to use 

Agree Level 1 works to keep the entire share on one disk. 

 

No, I don't agree with that....