I currently have 2 N40L servers which "serve" me well. I am working out my next steps and preparing for an upgrade to 6.0. My first server is just for storage and the second is for backups (crashplan) and the usual SAB, couch etc. The main server has been modified to have 6 disks of sizes ranging from 2 to 4TB. There is only a little spare space in this server. Total storage currently is 12TB with 4TB Parity.

 

I was considering a new build but this is quite expensive given i have all of this existing hardware. I also do not feel i need 2 servers sat on the desk doing different things when 6.0 should be stable, dockers will keep the different apps from messing things up and so i would like to work with one larger UnRaid and have the critical stuff from my PC backed up here and then on again to Crashplan cloud.

 

The six disk server has no cache drive which i would want to add to speed up writes and so will lose a disk slot to that and so reduce the capacity before i can increase it ! . The eSata on the server is routed back into a disk mounted inside the server alongside another in the optical drive bay (all based on info on here when i first got it all set up)

 

I have been thinking about 2 different options - but i am sure people on here could thing of more or better ones

 

Firstly is there a way to simple connect the 2 Unraids together or to use one N40L as just an additional storage bod for disks attached to the principal machine?

 

Secondly i am wondering about an external caddy of some description connected to the server to add in more of my existing disks to enlarge the array, i would just sit this on top of the server. This could be eSata or USB 3.0 (i dont have USB 3 ports but would add a card for this - is this simpler than eSata, less expensive, similar speed etc?)

 

My reasoning for wanting to extend the amount of disk slots is that i have the disks available and so it should be a neat but also cost effective option. I have considered larger drives but as i will lose a slot even replacing the parity drive with an 8TB and adding another 8TB in place of a 2TB, using the 4TB parity to replace the last 2TB gives me some growth but it seems that £400 is expensive for what will be "only" 6TB more than now - and a big waste of several fully functional disks

 

So has anoyone done this and could recomend a way forward? are there speed or compatibility issues to think about? Can i use my second N40L as a storage box and how would i do that? should i think about eSata or USB 3.0 to connect to a caddy ...... or should i just stick with 2 machines and just use them for different things (not ideal but doable)?

 

As always all input is good input

 

EDIT 1 - Would something like this work with the N40L? I do not think the eSata port has port multiplying (unless someone knows how to do that. Would a USB 3.0 card be a good idea and would it be quick enough speed wise (not a speed freak but for parity checks etc?). This kind of thing seems a good option to simple add 4 more disks to the server and so make it easy to do the expansion using my current hardware for not a big invetment but i do not know if it would work as expected? http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4-bay-silverstone-ts431u-35-hdd-tower-usb-30-and-esata-interface-black

 

Edit 2 - would this card be fine with UnRaid? http://www.amazon.co.uk/ORICO-PAS3062-2E-PCI-Express-Blackplate-Compatible/dp/B00B3RCC4G/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1431596214&sr=1-5&keywords=low+profile+esata

 

I am reading as fast as i can to try to understand and it seems i need an eSata port (or an internal sata card as the N40L eSata is used for the 6th drive) and a cage which supports JBOD - hope i am on the right track ....

 

 

Added in some edits to first post, I am reading as fast as i can to try to understand the options here. Can someone tell me if this is going in the right direction and are the links above good selections in order to add an external storage cage?

 

Anything else i need to be aware of?

Firstly is there a way to simple connect the 2 Unraids together ...

The way I'm doing it is as follows:

1. Create directories inside share subdirectory on disk1 on server1, to use as mounting points.

2. Mount disks from server2 to these directories, one disk per dir.

 

This way disks from server 2 appear inside the share exported by server1. Not an elegant solution, but it works.

 

Secondly i am wondering about an external caddy of some description connected to the server to add in more of my existing disks to enlarge the array, i would just sit this on top of the server. This could be eSata or USB 3.0 (i dont have USB 3 ports but would add a card for this - is this simpler than eSata, less expensive, similar speed etc?)

You can not use USB. unRAID would not let you assign to array any drive connected via USB.

 

I do not know if eSATA could be used for the same purpose.

Never used one of these multi-drive eSATA enclosures, but since they only have one eSATA port then all the drives will be sharing it, so you can expect a big hit to performance even if it did work.

Never used one of these multi-drive eSATA enclosures, but since they only have one eSATA port then all the drives will be sharing it, so you can expect a big hit to performance even if it did work.

 

Actually a dual-drive eSATA dock won't really cause a performance hit as long as it's on a SATA-III port.  The interface speed at SATA-3 speeds is well above twice the sustained data rate of any rotating platter drive.    Even 3 drives would be fine ... although with high capacity drives there'd be a minor bandwidth restriction if all 3 drives were being used at once and were on the outer cylinders.

 

Just a quick clarification - if i was to purchase an Gen8 microserver (can get for £100 after cash back in the UK right now) could i use an external USB 3.0 port for the cache drive?

 

Is the cache drive seen as part of the array or not? would UnRaid see the USB connection as a selecatable drive for the cache?

 

The gen8 is not so good for expansion due to the size reduction but 5 drives in the array and an external cache would work for me if i used 8TB drive for parity and to replace one of my existing 2TB drives.

... could i use an external USB 3.0 port for the cache drive?

AFAIK, no. Not sure about the latest version, though, did not test it yet.

Thought it would be too simple an idea, although there might be technical reasons i dont understand why this could not be a simple addition. I have seen a feature request for this also but it did not get any reply or feedabck as far as i can tell.

 

Will need to carry on thinking about my options - maybe i just get a N54L motherboard and stick it into my N40L and do the normal upgarde and then stick in some bigger drives.

 

Thanks for the quick input

Just a quick clarification - if i was to purchase an Gen8 microserver (can get for £100 after cash back in the UK right now) could i use an external USB 3.0 port for the cache drive?

 

Is the cache drive seen as part of the array or not? would UnRaid see the USB connection as a selecatable drive for the cache?

 

The gen8 is not so good for expansion due to the size reduction but 5 drives in the array and an external cache would work for me if i used 8TB drive for parity and to replace one of my existing 2TB drives.

The way I normally use the term "array", it only includes the numbered drives plus parity. In fact, this is the way they are listed in the UI. Cache is separate. However, USB cache is not supported.

I have two Gen7 Microservers.

 

One has 8 drives. 7 are internal:

4 in internal bays

2 in an X-swing

1 2.5" cache drive under the x-swing

1 in an external caddy

 

I use an (old-ish) Adaptec 1430SA to connect the extra drives.

 

7 of the drives are 4TB and the next upgrade will be to 8TB drives.

 

I like the Microservers so much, I have no plans to switch to other hardware. 

Yes, they are very good machines and were a very good price. I might just go for 2 * 8tb drives for parity and an extra 6tb of space (replace a 2tb data drive). This would give me space for now and a new v6.0 platform with a machine left over - spares :-) with more 8tb drives I could get to 32tb in 1 MicroServer without pushing it. Amazing really !

 

As I only use this for storage, downloading some stuff and a backup for my PC's etc it seems a sensible solution given my relatively low power needs.

 

Now just need to ponder file format changes, migration path / sequence ....

 

Thanks everyone for the inputs