Dear unRAIDians,

 

I recently started building my 1st unRAID server (v.5.0.5) following the steps given here --> http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Configuration_Tutorial

 

I have 2 TB x 3 drives that I precleared which almost took around 4 days. The best I could read from the reports tell me that all three drives passed it successfully.

But, I just wanted to confirm that from the experts here before add them to the array and start putting data on to it. Please find attached the report I got using this command -->

grep preclear /var/log/syslog | todos >> /boot/preclear_results.txt

 

Also, I can first copy all my data on the two drives and then I can add the third one as parity.. right?

 

If someone could take a look and respond, that will be a great help at this point!

 

Thanks in advance!

preclear_results.txt

I don't see any errors in the pre_clear, so you should be good to go.

 

As to your question on the parity drive - yes, you can add this after, and while it leaves you unprotected while copying data, your actual copy to UnRAID will be at least twice as fast without the parity drive checking each file as it's copied to the array.

 

Most users will use this process to get the data over quickly, then add and test parity to make sure everything is good.

I don't see any errors in the pre_clear, so you should be good to go.

 

As to your question on the parity drive - yes, you can add this after, and while it leaves you unprotected while copying data, your actual copy to UnRAID will be at least twice as fast without the parity drive checking each file as it's copied to the array.

 

Most users will use this process to get the data over quickly, then add and test parity to make sure everything is good.

 

Agree with everything bk says. It is common and many users have done it successfully.

 

BUT ... you might want to add your parity disk at the start or when there is still a fair amount of data left to copy. Copying all that data will be a very good test of your server's stability. You will be operating the system the way it will operate for real. It is far better to have problems when copying data over from your source data disks, rather than assuming the data is secure, repurposing the original disks and adding them to the array, and then having a problem without a backup.

Thanks a lot bkastner and bjp999 for your responses! It is a relief.. 

 

I think I will copy the data to the array, then add the parity and then delete the original copy.

Thanks a lot bkastner and bjp999 for your responses! It is a relief.. 

 

I think I will copy the data to the array, then add the parity and then delete the original copy.

Before you delete the original, I would add a couple steps. 1st, do a full parity check after the parity build is complete. Check smart reports on all the array drives, make sure they still look good. Do a spot check of the copied data, to be sure it's identical and hasn't been corrupted over the network. Spot check compare with your backups, to make sure your backups are intact before you erase the other drives.

Thanks a lot bkastner and bjp999 for your responses! It is a relief.. 

 

I think I will copy the data to the array, then add the parity and then delete the original copy.

Before you delete the original, I would add a couple steps. 1st, do a full parity check after the parity build is complete. Check smart reports on all the array drives, make sure they still look good. Do a spot check of the copied data, to be sure it's identical and hasn't been corrupted over the network. Spot check compare with your backups, to make sure your backups are intact before you erase the other drives.

 

That is a very safe way of ensuring the data is intact.. Sure Jonathanm, I will follow the steps you mentioned which apply in my case.. Thanks once again!