I have sorta given up on Time Machine working for now.

I am using a program called SuperDuper! to back up my computer.

It creates a .dmg file of my computer---which can be 2.7 tb large.

 

My array has 8 x 2tb disks in it.

 

So how would unraid handle this large file?

 

I have sorta given up on Time Machine working for now.

I am using a program called SuperDuper! to back up my computer.

It creates a .dmg file of my computer---which can be 2.7 tb large.

 

My array has 8 x 2tb disks in it.

 

So how would unraid handle this large file?

 

It won't.  Unless you split that file in smaller pieces.

 

I have sorta given up on Time Machine working for now.

I am using a program called SuperDuper! to back up my computer.

It creates a .dmg file of my computer---which can be 2.7 tb large.

 

My array has 8 x 2tb disks in it.

 

So how would unraid handle this large file?

 

 

A 2.7 TB file.  You will not be able to do that.  Nor would I suggest creating on file that large.

whats the max file size? 4g?

The max filesize is limited by the largest amount of space available individually on your data disks (/mnt/disk#/).

whats the max file size? 4g?

 

Max file size 8 TiB

But the way unraid works the max filesize is probably as large as the max available space on one of the drives. I don't know of any limits on size with the current samba (cifs) but the older one had a limit of 4gigs, not the case anymore.

whats the max file size? 4g?

 

Max file size 8 TiB

But the way unraid works the max filesize is probably as large as the max available space on one of the drives. I don't know of any limits on size with the current samba (cifs) but the older one had a limit of 4gigs, not the case anymore.

unRAID has never had a 4Gig limit over samba on any of its versions, and I've had my server from the very first version available 4 years ago. (version 1.050930 )  I've always been able to copy full size ISO images ov DVDs to it via samba. Most of the ISO images are over 4Gig.

 

As far as your backup program..  Any single file on unraid MUST fit on a single data disk.  next year, when 3 or 4 TB drives become available, you'll be able to store your 2.7TB file, as it will then fit in the reiserfs on a data disk.  As of now, the biggest data disk you can buy is 2TB, so basically that is the biggest a single file can be. (minus the file-system overhead)

 

The user-file-system will present a "union" view of all the data drive so they can apprear as if they are one to a media player.  No single file can span 2 physical disks.  If you have 2 2TB data drive, each with 750Gig free, you will not be able to store a new 1TB file, even though you have 1.5TB free collectively.

unRAID has never had a 4Gig limit over samba on any of its versions, and I've had my server from the very first version available 4 years ago. (version 1.050930 )   I've always been able to copy full size ISO images ov DVDs to it via samba. Most of the ISO images are over 4Gig.

I think you misunderstood me. I never said any versions of unraid had a 4gig limit. I was just pointing out that older versions of the SMB protocol had a 4gig limit. So, if you connected to your unraid server from a machine that had a very old smb version you would only have a 4gig limit.

unRAID has never had a 4Gig limit over samba on any of its versions, and I've had my server from the very first version available 4 years ago. (version 1.050930 )   I've always been able to copy full size ISO images ov DVDs to it via samba. Most of the ISO images are over 4Gig.

I think you misunderstood me. I never said any versions of unraid had a 4gig limit. I was just pointing out that older versions of the SMB protocol had a 4gig limit. So, if you connected to your unraid server from a machine that had a very old smb version you would only have a 4gig limit.

 

Old Windows = operating system without NTFS or exFAT support meants a file ssytem limitation of 4GB, not a networking protocol limitation.

Old Windows = operating system without NTFS or exFAT support meants a file ssytem limitation of 4GB, not a networking protocol limitation.

Well, I was recalling from memory. Lets use a little google to refresh my memory. Ok, to correct, smb had a 2 gig limit, not 4. It was more a limit of the kernel module smbfs.o. Switch to using cifs and there is no limit anymore. Anyway, this whole thing doesn't matter anyway because it has nothing to do with unraid.

So a guy has no way to back up that 2.7TB Excell file he has on his hard disk? 

 

Sure he does. Use 7zip to split it into pieces parts. MAC download files listed near the bottom -- http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Oh boy! You took that seriously. I don't have a 2.7TB disk. Yet.

 

How could a backup .dmg image be 2.7 TB when the largest drives currently available are 2 TB?  Does SuperDuper! make a single image out of the contents of multiple drives?

How could a backup .dmg image be 2.7 TB when the largest drives currently available are 2 TB?  Does SuperDuper! make a single image out of the contents of multiple drives?

You could store a single 2.7 TB file... by combining multiple smaller drives as a single much LVM array (Logical Volume Management) that emulates any size disk you might configure.

 

UnRAID does not include LVM support, and it would probably be near impossible to you to add it and still retain the benefit of the separate reiser file-systems.  It is possible to logically combine the space of multiple drives.

 

I too would question the need for such a large file (and if you do, unRAID is not the solution... not till 3 TB drives are available)

I too would question the need for such a large file (and if you do, unRAID is not the solution... not till 3 TB drives are available)

 

By then his 'backup' file will be 3.7TB and off we go again

The drive makers are targeting 2.5TB drives for this quarter, with 4TB drives for the end of the year.

My question wasn't how to store such a large file, but how one could be created in the first place.  If the largest one's system drive can be at the moment is 2 TB, how does SuperDuper! create a backup file that is 2.7 TBs?  The only way it makes sense to me is if it creates a single image out of a multi-drive system, or possibly if it keeps a lot of older versions of files.

My question wasn't how to store such a large file, but how one could be created in the first place.  If the largest one's system drive can be at the moment is 2 TB, how does SuperDuper! create a backup file that is 2.7 TBs?  The only way it makes sense to me is if it creates a single image out of a multi-drive system, or possibly if it keeps a lot of older versions of files.

Actually, you can create a 2.7TB (or larger) file now...

 

Try this:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/big_file bs=1M seek=4000000 count=1

 

Then

ls -lh /tmp/big_file

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3.9T Mar 15 18:03 /tmp/big_file

 

or

ls -l /tmp/big_file

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4194305048576 Mar 15 18:03 /tmp/big_file

 

 

 

Well you're talking about a SPARSE file. Typically a backup file would not be sparse.

 

Well you're talking about a SPARSE file. Typically a backup file would not be sparse.

I know... and a sparse file like this will really mess up a LOT of backup programs that attempt to save it in its entirety.  In the old days of unix the system admin would come gunning for anyone who created one, since the tape backups attempted to save every byte, sparse or not.

 

But... I do have a 4TB file... in memory at that!