I am just not too sure if I actually need a cache drive. Once I get all my blu rays ripped on to the array then the large file copies will be done for the most part. So I am really not sure if I really need to install a cache drive.

I do have an extra 640GB WD 7200 RPM drive I could use but I am not sure it is really needed.

 

I would appreciate some feedback on this and what others have done.

Thx

You only need it if writing allot of data to the protected array is taking longer then you are willing to wait.

 

I do not have a cache drive and I have no problem running a copy at 15-20mb/s.

I do not do that much and when ripping to the network share, the CPU doing the ripping and compressing is usually busier then the network.

I can't remember which power user recommended this, but another good use for the cache drive is a "hot spare", if the drive you are using as cache matches all/most of your other drives (if you have a bunch of 1TB data drive, you should use a 1TB as cache), if one of those drives prematurely fails, you can quickly switch the cache over to recover your data from the parity.

 

I personally don't have the extra cash right now to buy a 1TB cache/hot spare, but it's a great idea.

I can't remember which power user recommended this, but another good use for the cache drive is a "hot spare", if the drive you are using as cache matches all/most of your other drives (if you have a bunch of 1TB data drive, you should use a 1TB as cache), if one of those drives prematurely fails, you can quickly switch the cache over to recover your data from the parity.

 

I personally don't have the extra cash right now to buy a 1TB cache/hot spare, but it's a great idea.

 

I think it was Joe cooL who mentioned it. I think it's a great idea.

Although I don't use a cache drive, I usually have a cold spare sitting on the shelf.

Sure, nobody needs a cache drive, its a luxury.  However, it seems to me to be the ideal place to retire that old, slow drive you may have laying around.  You know, that drive that just isn't big enough or fast enough to be worth adding to protected array, well plop it in as a cache drive and get a bit of benefit from it.  If you don't copy much to the server, it will be spun down most of the time and won't use much power.  But every so often when you do add something new to the server, you will enjoy the benefit of faster transfer speeds.

 

That said, there's nothing wrong with using a fast, modern drive as a cache drive either, if you can afford it.  The other day, I transferred a bit over 7 GBs from my desktop to my unRAID server in about 60 seconds!    Watching that transfer bar fly by brings a tear to me eye... :'(