Advice on new install

[thesmackdown]

Hi!

 

I am new to unRaid and am beginning to install it for use as a media server.

 

My current setup is that I have 12TB in a desktop computer that is a spanned dynamic volume.  It is over 7 disks.  I also had a Windows Home Server that did redundant backup of the 12 TB - that was spread over 8 disks.

 

I have taken the WHS apart and am currently in the process of preclearing the disks from that for use in the unRaid box.  One drive has failed preclear so far.

 

My plan at this point is to setup the unRaid, copy the files from the desktop computer over and then take those drives and put them into the unRaid.

 

Couple questions:

 

1.  Can I setup up the server without the parity drive.  If so, I will add the parity drive later.

 

2.  How long does it take to replace a drive and add a drive.  I will likely need all the space I can get in the unRaid to begin with so the drive that is failing will likely be needed - but I will replace it once I have the extra drives.

 

Thanks for the time!

 

Evan

[dheg]

1.yes you can, but array will be unprotected

2.what do you mean? Adding a drive, without parity, it's 2 min. Replacing? How do you replace without a parity drive?

 

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

 

 

[thesmackdown]

I plan to add a parity drive once I free up the desktop drives.

 

Once the parity drive is in place I will want to replace the drive that has failed preclear.

[itimpi]

Once the parity drive is in place I will want to replace the drive that has failed preclear.

You should not add a drive in the first place that fails a pre-clear as it will only cause you problems.  Therefore leave that slot in the array empty until you have a good drive to put into it.

[thesmackdown]

How long does it take to add a parity drive?

[itimpi]

How long does it take to add a parity drive?

Actually adding the drive takes seconds! 

 

When you now start the array parity needs to be calculated, and the time depends on both the size of the parity drive and your system specs.  I would estimate something like 3 hours per terabyte on the parity drive being typical. 

 

You can still use the array (albeit with reduced performance) while parity is being calculated, although many users prefer not to write to the array during this process to reduce chances of a failure happening.

 

[RickInHouston]

Add a parity drive?  12 hours, about, is my answer.

 

Don't use / delete your original drives with your data until you have all info copied and parity valid.  If you don't have enough drives to make that happen, buy enough drive space to accomodate. 

 

It wouldn't be good to overwrite your data drives in the new unraid and find out data was corrupt.  Years of info lost.