"Clearning"

[tucansam]

v6.3.5

 

Just took five disks that used to be in another unraid server (they came out after upgrades and have been sitting ever since) and added them to another server... All five were added and now the array is in a state called "Clearing" with a 5-6hr ETA (that will change as MB/s declines) on a 3TB capacity, added two 3TB and three 2TB drives, so I assume this is pre-clearing one 3TB disk.  And then will do the rest....  

 

Is this correct?

 

I have never had a drive from another array require pre-clear when placed as a new disk in another server.

 

At this rate it will be some 24hrs before all drives are done, and I'm not sure if the array is protected (I assume it is, but "start/stop" array option is greyed out because it says "a parity operation is running").

 

What is the array doing at present, and am I still protected?

 

Thanks.

[itimpi]

Any time you add a disk to an existing array that is already parity protected it needs to be all zeroes to avoid invalidating parity.   If you have run the pre-clear process prior to adding the disk then unRAID will recognise this and add it immediately.   If it is not pre-cleared then unRAID will zero the disk as part of the adding process (this is the ‘clearing’ stage).   I believe that multiple disks are cleared in parallel (but I am not certain).    At the end of the clearing phase you will be offered the option to format the disks and at that point you can start using them.

 

the clearing phase is not needed if any of the following are true:

- you have pre-cleared the disk as the disk is already all zeroes.

- you do not have a parity disk as there is no parity to protect.   You will be given the option to format the disk to make it ready for use.

- you are doing a ‘new’ configuration.   In this case you effectively have no parity as it is still to be generated.  What is special is that if the disk is already partitioned as unRAID expects any existing data is retained.

[Phastor]

13 hours ago, itimpi said:

I believe that multiple disks are cleared in parallel (but I am not certain).

 

I pre-cleared my two 4TB Reds the other day simultaneously, so I'll verify this.

Edited July 7, 2017 by Phastor

[JonathanM]

39 minutes ago, Phastor said:

 

I pre-cleared my two 4TB Reds the other day simultaneously, so I'll verify this.

 

13 hours ago, itimpi said:

I believe that multiple disks are cleared in parallel (but I am not certain).

 

Pre-clearing and clearing are two different and distinct things. One is a user authored plugin, the other is a built in function of unraid.

 

@itimpi was talking about the clearing process, NOT pre-clear.

[Phastor]

11 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

 

 

Pre-clearing and clearing are two different and distinct things. One is a user authored plugin, the other is a built in function of unraid.

 

@itimpi was talking about the clearing process, NOT pre-clear.

 My mistake