January 12, 200917 yr Hey guys, im realy new to Unraid, and love the system so far....i need help though as i dont want anything to go wrong.....few quick questions though that need to be answered before i go ahead: Heres my current setup: 2 x 500gb SATA HDD's for DATA 1 x 500gb HDD for Parity 1 Share created ( "movies" ) i have finally shifted all my media onto the 2 x 500gb HDD's used for data in my Unraid array.....all is well, and i can see all my media under the share i created in Unraid from within Windows Xp PRO....everything is looking good. Few quick questions: 1) How should i go about adding my Parity Disk?.....do i just install it into my unraid file server, and assign the disk as parity from within Unraid..... 2) If i wanted to remove any of my data disks from my array (be it data or parity), how do i go about it?....just stop the array, power down the unraid box, and remove drive?....will it redetect my hdd's upon my next unraid boot??? 3) What buttons should i stay clear from within Unraid after initially having everything setup?......i.e i hear the restore button is a no go etc..... Reason i ask no.2 is because i want to label my HDD's now so i dont mix them up in the case of a drive failure.... Thanks!
January 12, 200917 yr You just need to stop the array, go to the devices page, assign the drive as the parity slot, and then start the array. unRAID will proceed to build parity. Just make sure there is nothing you want to keep on the parity drive. It will be completely overwritten by a parity build. If you want to remove a disk from the array just to label it, you can power down, remove it, label it, and then put it back in. The computer will never know you took it out. Maybe I'm not understanding your question here. REALLY removing a disk from the array is a bit harder and generally not a good idea. The restore button is pretty confusing. You might think that "restore" would "restore a backup" or something. That is NOT the case. Restore reinitializes the array, and effectively drops parity. It is the worst thing to press if you have had a drive failure. Take a look at the "Best of the Forums" (see link in my sig). Also read the FAQ (you'll find a link to the FAQ on the Best of the Forums page). Those two sources will answer a lot of questions about unRAID.
January 12, 200917 yr Author How long does it take to build the Parity?......and can i still read off my data disks during a parity build? Thanks
January 12, 200917 yr 1) yes 2) yes (but why? can you describe a case?) 3) in your case no problem (bjp explained) 4) (new) usually longish time, depends on the number of disks, sizes, controller you use etc. - you can see the progress in the web interface and yes you can use (read AND write) disks during parity building (but why not just let it finish and don't delay things?) I've noticed that you have three disks same size - you know that you can add different size disks in the future right? (as long as the parity is same or larger than the largest single disk).
January 12, 200917 yr Author So Far So Good.....its building the Parity as we speak at around ~70,000 kb/sec....roughly 50mins to go.... Im really happy with the way Unraid turned out for me.....its doing exactly as i expect, and exceeded my expectations in many ways......Yeah the Write speeds are slow...but to be honest, i transfer whatever i need to the media server at night and i dont need to worry about it:).... Haven't yet played with read speeds, but expect them to be great....i only serve HD to one machine at a time, though i may have HD and SD running on multiple displays at the same time, id like to see how Unraid handles this....i only have 100mbps, but i was able to stream hd perfectly using windows, so dont see Unraid being any worst:)))
January 12, 200917 yr Could be worse esp. using user shares. We'll see. For greater (i.e. normal) write speeds add a small cache disk. ...and move to gigabit the soonest possible. With today's data needs, 100mbit just don't cut it.
January 12, 200917 yr Author UNRAID gets my VOTE!!!........Im about to purchase the full blown version now.... Here's my review.. I still have ~30mins while the parity is being built, just for fun (not expecting much), i turn on my PS3, i navigate to the Twonky Media server (which i installed on my Unraid Box)....put on the most intense HD i have with an average bitrate of around 15-20 mbps......what do i get?.....i Flawless image with no stutter whatsoever, remember my parity is still being built so it can only get better.... I even tried fast scanning x1, and also x10....both work flawlessly, i could never scan at x10 with windows, as the movie would just freeze!!! Im extremly happy with the results, and it was well worth it in the end.....i wont be moving to 1g network as my 100mpbs seems to be fine for my needs, i can even stream HD and SD at same time with no stutter!...Amazing! Very happy customer!
January 12, 200917 yr Author It really is a Average machine to be honest... Gigabyte GA-8N SLI Mobo P4 3.0ghz 530 - 1MB Cache/800mhz 2GB DDRII Memory Coolermaster 430w silent PSU Sunbeamtech Case + 4 Fans Thats about it....i bought it all on the cheap alot 2nd hand, and it was well under $200 as i had the memory already, and the cpu aswell:) i have 2 sata HDD's 1 IDE Parity HDD ......Would it be worth while buying a 4in1 hard drive bay with cooler? Thanks!
January 12, 200917 yr Author Note: is it worth doing the read improvement with the latest version of Unraid?....i heard theres no real benefit with them now?.....i really dont see read being an issue....writes on the other hand.... I am really stoked with my Unraid Linux Server:)
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