This is probably a dumb question, but i'd like to get an answer from the pros before i make any changes to my array.

 

At first i wanted to use my cache drive for everything -- speed up writes to my array and for VMs/Docker.  I soon realized thats not the best option since my cache drive quickly fills up.  Now i want to only use it for VMs/Docker. 

 

this is all i have on my cache drive currently:

~# ls /mnt/cache/
VM/  docker/

 

I used to have more things in there, but that got moved by the mover:

Apr 30 03:40:01 Tower logger: mover started
Apr 30 03:40:01 Tower logger: moving "VM"
Apr 30 03:43:18 Tower logger: moving "docker"
Apr 30 03:43:25 Tower logger: ./docker/docker.img
Apr 30 03:43:25 Tower logger: .d..t...... ./
Apr 30 03:43:25 Tower logger: .d..t...... docker/
Apr 30 03:43:25 Tower logger: >f..t...... docker/docker.img
Apr 30 03:58:47 Tower logger: moving "virtmgr"
...
Apr 30 03:59:48 Tower logger: ./virtmgr/
Apr 30 03:59:48 Tower logger: .d..t...... virtmgr/
Apr 30 03:59:48 Tower logger: mover finished

 

What is my option to safely disable the mover and use the cache only for Docker/VMs? Do i just disable cache drive in the settings (img attached)?

This is probably a dumb question, but i'd like to get an answer from the pros before i make any changes to my array.

 

At first i wanted to use my cache drive for everything -- speed up writes to my array and for VMs/Docker.  I soon realized thats not the best option since my cache drive quickly fills up.  Now i want to only use it for VMs/Docker. 

 

this is all i have on my cache drive currently:

~# ls /mnt/cache/
VM/  docker/

 

I used to have more things in there, but that got moved by the mover:

Apr 30 03:40:01 Tower logger: mover started
Apr 30 03:40:01 Tower logger: moving "VM"
Apr 30 03:43:18 Tower logger: moving "docker"
Apr 30 03:43:25 Tower logger: ./docker/docker.img
Apr 30 03:43:25 Tower logger: .d..t...... ./
Apr 30 03:43:25 Tower logger: .d..t...... docker/
Apr 30 03:43:25 Tower logger: >f..t...... docker/docker.img
Apr 30 03:58:47 Tower logger: moving "virtmgr"
...
Apr 30 03:59:48 Tower logger: ./virtmgr/
Apr 30 03:59:48 Tower logger: .d..t...... virtmgr/
Apr 30 03:59:48 Tower logger: mover finished

 

What is my option to safely disable the mover and use the cache only for Docker/VMs? Do i just disable cache drive in the settings (img attached)?

Ensure all user shares are set to "use cache=no". Done!  I think you can even disable this at the global share settings level and not have to worry about individual share settings level. Forgive my ignorance as I am on my mobile and not in front of a test system right this moment and wanted to get you a fast answer.

Like jonp said, set all user shares to use cache disk: No.

 

Except, any share you want to stay on cache, set it to use cache disk: Only

 

I have 2 shares set to cache-only, my VM share, and my appdata share which is where my dockers keep their data. All of my other shares are set to cache: No

 

Many of the docker templates use a cache share named appdata so that is a convenient name to use for that share. If you have any plugins they can use that share also.

 

Also, mover won't touch any actual files at the root of cache. Only folders that are not set to cache-only. I have my docker.img stored in the root of cache and mover leaves it alone.

thanks!

 

If i set these shares to "use cache disk only", will that move the files back onto my cache disk?

thanks!

 

If i set these shares to "use cache disk only", will that move the files back onto my cache disk?

No - it just stops files not being moved to the array.  If you have files already on the array that you want on the cache you have to move them back manually.

 

Note that it might be a good idea to still have the cache disk enabled for some shares, but set the minimum free space to a high value.  That way you still get the performance benefits of the cache while free space is above that limit, but when it drops below the Min Free Space value writes start going straight to the array.