A few weeks ago I added 2 more WD Red 3TB drives for more space.  Also though it shows that the space has gone up I have noticed no data has been written to the new drives. 

 

How do I get Unraid 6 extend the data to all the drives?

 

Thanks

 

Did you create a share and include the drives in the share?

I just confirmed.  The shares are setup to use ALL the drives..

What is the allocation method set to for your shares?

 

Also, if you are expecting unRAID to move files for you it won't. Only new writes will go to the new drives depending on how your shares are configured.

Allocation is High-water.  The new drives replaced some older smaller drives.  I guess I did expect it to rebuild the new ones with the date that was on the old ones. 

 

What do you recommend so that all my data is protected across all the drives?

 

Thanks

 

Allocation is High-water.  The new drives replaced some older smaller drives.  I guess I did expect it to rebuild the new ones with the date that was on the old ones. 

 

What do you recommend so that all my data is protected across all the drives?

 

Thanks

You said you were adding drives, which is not the same as replacing drives. If you replace a drive that has data on it and you do it correctly, unRAID will rebuild the data that was on the old drive onto the new drive.

 

What exactly did you do?

The original build was 3 WD 3TB drives with 2 WD 1TB drives.  I pulled the 2 1TB drives and replaced them with 2 new 3TB drives..

 

So really I replaced 2 drives with 2 new drives.  There was nothing wrong with the 2 1TB drives, I just wanted more space and wanted all the drives to be the same.

 

Also tonight I added a new 180GB SSD drive and assigned it to be cache drive.  Is there anything special I need to do?  I did go into the shares and select the Cache drive option to yes.  I assumed that was what I was suppose to do..

 

Thanks for your help with this.

 

 

Also one other question.

 

at the bottom of the Main page there is an option to "Invoke the mover"

 

What is this?

Do you have a parity drive?

Yes I do.  It's a WD 3TB Red.  All the drives in the machine are this drive except the SSD that I added tonight.

Yes I do.  It's a WD 3TB Red.  All the drives in the machine are this drive except the SSD that I added tonight.

Did the drives you replaced have any data on them?

yes they did about 400gb each of used space

OK. Just wanted to make sure. Now that we have established that you do have parity, and there was data on the drives you replaced, there are a lot of details missing from this post.

The original build was 3 WD 3TB drives with 2 WD 1TB drives.  I pulled the 2 1TB drives and replaced them with 2 new 3TB drives..

 

So really I replaced 2 drives with 2 new drives.  There was nothing wrong with the 2 1TB drives, I just wanted more space and wanted all the drives to be the same...

So did you actually rebuild the drives or not? Is the data from the replaced drives on the new drives?

No there is no data on the new drives.  I installed them about 2 weeks ago with the assumption that unraid would automatically correct everything and spread the data across all drives..

 

 

The original build was 3 WD 3TB drives with 2 WD 1TB drives.  I pulled the 2 1TB drives and replaced them with 2 new 3TB drives..

Unraid can only rebuild 1 drive at a time. If you did both at once, there is no way unraid could have reconstructed them with the original data. If you still have the original drives intact, there are several ways you can get the data back.

No there is no data on the new drives.  I installed them about 2 weeks ago with the assumption that unraid would automatically correct everything and spread the data across all drives..

And even if you had rebuilt them correctly unRAID would not have moved any files from the other drives.

 

Have you read any of the wiki? You seem to have some false assumptions about unRAID.

Honestly every time I look for something on the wiki I never find what I am looking for.  so I typically just post my questions here..

 

 

Would you like to get the data from the removed drives back on your server?

Honestly every time I look for something on the wiki I never find what I am looking for.  so I typically just post my questions here..

 

Good to ask BEFORE doing something like this, even if only to confirm you have the right procedure.

 

In the wiki there is a nice write-up on what parity is and how it works to protect an unRaid array. Essential reading to avoid shooting self in foot! If you read and understand that, you'll realize there is no way unRaid could reconstruct two drives at once with one parity drive.

 

Luckily your mistake, if I understand right, did no harm (so long as the 1T drives hold up), but suggest you get the data copied over to the array and parity protected ASAP.

I am not missing any data since I removed the 2 1TB drives. 

 

I removed one of the new 3tb drives this morning.  At this time I would like for all the date to be located on all the drives.

 

What is the procedure to get the new drive that is connected to start collecting and holding my data?

 

Would it be easier to move everything off my UNRAID box and setup all my drives and array and then copy the data back to the shares?

 

I guess I don't see any good documentation for best practices on adding drive space.  My understanding of UNRAID was that the beauty of it was you can add storage anytime you want and it would increase the array and use the space..

 

Any links to documentation or wiki would be great.

Struggling to follow your issue.

 

UnRaid allows you to create a parity protected array that operate as a protected unit. If a drive fails, unRaid will simulate the disk using parity AND all other disks in the array. When simulating a disk, you are no longer protected from a secondfailure. And if a another failure were to occur, you'd lose the 2 disks of data. You can have unRaid rebuild a failed disk into a new disk of same or larger size. And even if a disk doesn't fail, you can still rebuild it into another disk to upside it. If two drives fail or are removed, you are unable to start the array.

 

If you add a new disk to the array, one of two things will happen. If the disk has been preclearrd, unRaid will instantly add it to the array and allow you to format it. If not, unRaid will clear it. This takes a long time during which the array is unusable. Once cleared, it can be formatted. In the end the effect is the same.

 

If you add a disk that contains data you want to add to the array, unRaid will immediately begin covering that data! The only time you can add a drive that contains data to the array is if you are recreating the array (creating a new configurationj.

 

All your talk of removing drives and adding then back is confusing. Maybe you have no parity. The rules are slightly different with an unprotected array. But this configuration is very rarely used, and if be hard pressed to give all the rules. But I don't believe you could willy nilly add and remove drives even with an unprotected array.

 

Be very careful, as you are playing with live ammunition and subject to shooting yourself in the foot! If you need help, take some time to document the current configuration and where you want to get to. As I said, I'd like to help but your explanation is not making much sense to me.

Sorry to be confusing.  I have added a screenshot to show you my build and that I do have a Parity.

 

As you can see Drive 3 isn't being used but it is part of the Array.

 

In a nutshell this is what I did and what I am trying to achive.

 

All I want to know how to do is "How to add a new hard drive and have UNRAID use the drive in the Array."  My understanding was that you can add new storage ass needed and UNRAID would split all the data across all the drives.

 

 

 

Sorry to be confusing.  I have added a screenshot to show you my build and that I do have a Parity.

 

As you can see Drive 3 isn't being used but it is part of the Array.

 

In a nutshell this is what I did and what I am trying to achive.

 

All I want to know how to do is "How to add a new hard drive and have UNRAID use the drive in the Array."  My understanding was that you can add new storage ass needed and UNRAID would split all the data across all the drives.

 

Your array looks fine. If you haven't recently, you might want to run a parity check to just confirm.

 

UnRaid allows you to add new drives, but the way data is stored and shared across the drives is under user control. Most people use user shares. You can review your user share settings to ensure files are being directed to the appropriate disks. Both allocation method and split level, in addition to included / excludes disks, come into play. I see no reason to attempt to rebalance data across the drives. Instead, if set properly, new files well start being stored on the new drives and eventually fill up to the same levels as other drives.

 

Look at the wiki on user shares. It is quite well documented with examples..

 

But to be clear, unRaid will not rebalance data when you add a new disk. If you saw this somewhere please post a reference do it can be corrected. The good news is this feature is not needed.

And with the default settings of high water for allocation method nothing will get stored to disk 3 until both 1 and 2 have less than 1.5tb free on them