I installed a new second disk to the array and set it up over night had a green indicator but noticed it went white to inactive I have spin down set to 1hr I suspect this is normal but figured I'd ask here. Also when I want to add something to a folder do I want to add it to the cache (ssd for speed), the share or the shared disk still learning so bear with me just trying to make sure before I mess something up

IF... you have a cache defined (single drive, pool of drives), AND your share you plan to upload it to is configured to use the cache, you would just upload it to the share and unRaid will handle the process of loading it into the cache and then actually moving it to the share later based on your schedule. As soon as the initial upload is completed, the file(s) will appear to be in the share and can be used as you see fit.

 

nitty gritty here:
https://wiki.lime-technology.com/Cache_disk

PS. to address your original concern about the share disk being inactive, when using the cache system, your upload to the share is actually going to the cache so activity lights on the share drive would not be blinking due to that, but the cache drive would be.

41 minutes ago, interwebtech said:

IF... you have a cache defined (single drive, pool of drives), AND your share you plan to upload it to is configured to use the cache, you would just upload it to the share and unRaid will handle the process of loading it into the cache and then actually moving it to the share later based on your schedule. As soon as the initial upload is completed, the file(s) will appear to be in the share and can be used as you see fit.

 

nitty gritty here:
https://wiki.lime-technology.com/Cache_disk

That's a good read thanks for the link, I didn't see any mention of ssd vs hdd for the cache the reason I ask is my box is a pre built so I'm limited to 4 3.5 slots for hdd's and 1 pcie x1 slot and 1 pcie x16 slot I will be putting one of those expansion cards which supports 2 ssd's in the x1 slot which will give me the ability to mount 1 ssd on the card and jury rig the other in the case if I use the x16 slot for which I don't know what is the best bang for the buck in terms of its use i.e. a multi port nic or some other option then I will have some options I have a raid card which allows for 4 more sata connections but I'm not sure if raid cards play nice with unRAID so I'll continue reading from that link seems pretty straight forward, thanks again for any help you can provide!

3 hours ago, mrbilky said:

That's a good read thanks for the link, I didn't see any mention of ssd vs hdd for the cache the reason I ask is my box is a pre built so I'm limited to 4 3.5 slots for hdd's and 1 pcie x1 slot and 1 pcie x16 slot I will be putting one of those expansion cards which supports 2 ssd's in the x1 slot which will give me the ability to mount 1 ssd on the card and jury rig the other in the case if I use the x16 slot for which I don't know what is the best bang for the buck in terms of its use i.e. a multi port nic or some other option then I will have some options I have a raid card which allows for 4 more sata connections but I'm not sure if raid cards play nice with unRAID so I'll continue reading from that link seems pretty straight forward, thanks again for any help you can provide!

There are lots of RAID cards that work in unRaid. Some may need to be flashed to IT mode to work. I have a 24 port Areca and use it in JBOD mode (it calls it "pass-through"). When you go to configure your cache, any disks that are not members of the array will show up as eligible to be added to the pool.

For best results, I would recommend matched pairs of SSD if possible. This will give you RAID1 redundancy. One disk by itself has the potential of going bad and losing anything on it (Dockers, vms, data waiting to be moved to the array, etc.).

If mounting spots are scarce (as is mine), consider one of these dual SSD mounts. I mounted it to the back of case using regular PC screws through the airflow venting holes (turn it up on end and line up screw holes).

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Dual-Mounting-Bracket-CSSD-BRKT2/dp/B016498CK0/ref=ya_od_pd_dx_gc_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B016498CK0&pd_rd_r=SX4WTN52SCYY1A3ZQPE1&pd_rd_w=tZnnn&pd_rd_wg=IHwmS&psc=1&refRID=QAJA513ZS9C9B62M4ZFA

Edited August 20, 20178 yr by interwebtech
clarity

23 minutes ago, interwebtech said:

There are lots of RAID cards that work in unRaid. Some may need to be flashed to IT mode to work. I have a 24 port Areca and use it in JBOD mode (it calls it "pass-through"). When you go to configure your cache, any disks that are not members of the array will show up as eligible to be added to the pool.

For best results, I would recommend matched pairs of SSD if possible. This will give you RAID1 redundancy. One disk by itself has the potential of going bad and losing anything on it (Dockers, vms, data waiting to be moved to the array, etc.).

If mounting spots are scarce (as is mine), consider one of these dual SSD mounts. I mounted it to the back of case using regular PC screws through the airflow venting holes (turn it up on end and line up screw holes).

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Dual-Mounting-Bracket-CSSD-BRKT2/dp/B016498CK0/ref=ya_od_pd_dx_gc_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B016498CK0&pd_rd_r=SX4WTN52SCYY1A3ZQPE1&pd_rd_w=tZnnn&pd_rd_wg=IHwmS&psc=1&refRID=QAJA513ZS9C9B62M4ZFA

Yep have a couple of those I have a total of 4 factory slots for 3.5 drives with only 3 sata ports and I have 1 pcie x1 with the cache drive on it, it also has a sata connector to add a drive off the card for a total of 5 drives but that's a good idea didn't think of that I have quite a bit of unobstructed space as its a pre-built so you can imagine there's not much in there although it is an i7 6700 w/16gigs of ram  I'll have to look at the specs on my raid card that has a 4 cable break out but I might be getting close to the psu threshold as its only 350 watts.