New to unRAID, first steps; adding HDD with data to unRAID

[Vaseer]

Hello,

 

I build my first unRAID server and have couple questions.

I am using unRAID Pro 6 beta 12.

 

Does this manual: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Configuration_Tutorial/ - apply to unRAID 6?

For unRAID 6 I found this: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/UnRAID_Manual_6/, but it seems incomplete.

 

What are first steps to do, when first booting unRAID? Is this ok: Preclear discs, assign parity and data, copy files?

 

I have 2 new 3TB HDDs - 1 for parity and 1 for data - and 1x 256GB SSD for Cache.

When unRAID will be up and running I am planning to add 1x 3TB HDD which is 85% full. How do I do that? I don’t want to lose data, that is on this HDD.

Is this correct: plug in HDD to unRAID server; copy data to “new” data HDD; format “old” HDD? Is there anything that I need pay attention?

 

Thansks for help.

[trurl]

The configuration tutorial is probably good enough to get you started.

 

Yes, preclear, assign parity and data, copy files.

 

Do you have a license key? I don't think cache disks are supported on unRAID BASIC (free version).

 

What is the file system of the drive you want to add that has data on it? You must proceed carefully or unRAID will wipe it. Probably best to just copy the data from it over the network to one of the other drives, then you can preclear it and add it to the array.

 

Do you have backups?

[Vaseer]

Yes, I bought Pro license.

File system is ext3 - currently is installed in Ubuntu Server as data drive. On unRAID I am planning to use XFS.

No backups - this is why I choose to go with unRAID 

[trurl]

I think it is possible to mount ext3 outside the array and copy that way, but by the time you have that all figured out you could have probably just copied it over the network.

 

As for backups, see here

[Vaseer]

Thanks for that link. I will definitely read it.

But we misunderstood each other.

 

I have backup for personal files (files, pictures, etc). 95% of that 3TB drive is my movie collection, for which I am building unRAID - for streaming to couple PCs, HTPCs... and for backup of that data.

 

Which is the best way to transfer ~3TB of data from Ubuntu Server to unRAID over network? rsync?

 

Is it possible (with unRAID) to set 2 drives to be in RAID1 mode (2 drives with same data for personal files...)?

[Frank1940]

I am having difficulty in understanding what youare asking in the post above.

 

Have you read these two pages about unRAID about how unRAID works? 

 

          http://lime-technology.com/unraid-server/

 

                        and

        http://lime-technology.com/technology/

[Vaseer]

Is it possible to have 2 HDDs with same data?

Example: I have folder/share named Pictures and everything that is added to this share it is automatically written to 2 identical HDDs (like RAID1). And all this is also "protected" with parity data.

I hope it is more understandable 

If not, please, ask.

[Frank1940]

Is it possible to have 2 HDDs with same data?

Example: I have folder/share named Pictures and everything that is added to this share it is automatically written to 2 identical HDDs (like RAID1). And all this is also "protected" with parity data.

I hope it is more understandable 

If not, please, ask.

 

No.  Although in a parity and single data disk array, that is what happens.  (The parity disk becomes a mirror image of the sole data disk.)

 

The question that I have is why do you want to do this?  With unRAID, you are protected against the failure of a single disk.  In fact, in the event of a single disk failure, the system will emulate the failed disk allowing the data.  If you are truly worried about failures of two disks simultaneously, there are also a lot of other scenarios of hardware failures, system failures, natural disasters, etc that can cause data loss beside a double disk failure.   

 

If you are looking for a second backup, you should be looking at setting up a separate device to provide that.  (I personally have a round robin of three USB drives that contain the irreplaceable data with two of the three stored in a safety deposit box  in a bank!)  Some people here have used cloud storage for this type of backup.  Others simply have a second unRAID server setup.  ( I believe there are some options to automatically sync two servers together.  Try looking for rsync...)