Hi there,

 

I am sure this has been asked before but wanted to just get a quick answer as it seems to be mixed.

 

I currently have 36 4TB Sata disks that I want to use on with unraid server, While I have the full version and I believe there is no "disk Limit" what is the real limit when it comes to having this array setup with so many disks, Can I use all 34 disks with 2 parity disks and still have protection ? Do I need more then one copy of unraid ? or can I have second pool ?

Also dose anyone know how to make the location disk light flash on a disk away for a disk you want to find.... So if I want to replace a failing disk etc.. with out having to pull all he disks just to find the sn ?

unRaid pro currently has a 30 disk limit for the array, so that means up to 28 data disks and two parity disks. 

53 minutes ago, ashman70 said:

unRaid pro currently has a 30 disk limit for the array, so that means up to 28 data disks and two parity disks. 

 

yeah this

 

Damn I was afraid of that...

 

So I am going to have to buy another version of unraid, setup another server with another  set of network shares and divide up my storage is there no other way around this ? 

Assuming your requirement is to put 36 drives into the server for use as data and parity drives, no - no other way around it.

 

On the other hand, that's a funny requirement.  For instance, if your requirement is for 34x4 = 136TB of storage then you can do that with 17 8TB drives.  Or if your requirement is to use all 36 drives, then use 6 of them in a big cache pool.  Or you could put some of them behind a hardware RAID controller...  So there are options depending on what you want to do, but yes, you're hitting the unRAID device limit of the Pro license. 

no worries, I could use bigger drives and drop the numbers down but the reason why I am not is cost 4tb are a lot cheaper then 8tb  

 

my goal was... 2x 4TB parity and 34 x 4TB data. But as you said that past the limit of what I can do with unraid it appears with one license ..  and to be honest getting another license is not really a big deal there, what is crappy is the whole new server and having to split my storage etc etc..

 

Using a hardware raid would negate the purpose of using unraid.. If I was going to go down that path I would just use free NAS again. The Only reason why I use Unraid is the flexibility of the way it dose its storage.

 

I know that the ZFS roadmap now has features coming that will enable it to act a lot of ways like unraid with adding an removing storage but that is not until 2018 and I would also wait to see if freenas took it on. but for right now I think you have given me a good clear answer thankyou!

 

 

Here, 4T drives cost more per T than either 6T or 8T drives.  If you have do them then they are the cheapest, but if you don't and are buying them then going larger is cheaper.

3 hours ago, ExileWolf said:

4tb are a lot cheaper then 8tb

 

@ExileWolf where exactly are you in exile at? What country?

In the US, I get 4tb at about 90-100 each.. 8tb I can only get my hands on for around 200+ so price wise about the same same per GB but I am not wanting to spend $200 per pop as I buy them when needed... Also already have lik 26 4tb drives already atm

If I was buying them all in bulk at once, then yeah I would do the 8TB but spreading the cost over time to keep the outlay cheaper and as I need it

Edited November 6, 20178 yr by ExileWolf

5 hours ago, ExileWolf said:

In the US, I get 4tb at about 90-100 each.. 8tb I can only get my hands on for around 200+ so price wise about the same same per GB but I am not wanting to spend $200 per pop as I buy them when needed... Also already have lik 26 4tb drives already atm

If I was buying them all in bulk at once, then yeah I would do the 8TB but spreading the cost over time to keep the outlay cheaper and as I need it

 

The fact is your drive count is already beyond the limits of unRaid. You could lobby for higher counts which may or may not happen, but even if it did, would likely be over time and not over night.

 

Personally I believe that it is worthwhile to pay a modest premium to get larger disks and reduce drive count. Reduces power, heat, controllers, complexity, etc. In today's world, 8T are as cheap or cheaper than 4T. The WD EasyStore 8T, which contain 8T REDS, have been under $20/T, and as cheap as storage has ever been. I'd definitely be looking at something like that to reduce your drive counts - or looking at multiple servers to support your storage needs.

 

I will just add, that in a real sense, drives are consumables. They work for a period of time, maybe 4-5 years, and then become less reliable and show signs of looming failure in their SMART attributes. And need to be replaced. So you are going to have substantial costs over time to maintain your data. Replacing all your storage over the next 5 or 6 years is extremely likely if not a certainty. I find it helpful to invest in drives of increasing size over time, and when older/smaller drives cross the 4 year mark, start looking to replace them (using them for backups) with higher capacity models that are 2X+ the size. In doing so I can grow my capacity while maintaining a relatively consistent drive count and not letting my drives get to the point that I am having failures all the time and having to deal with that. It also gives me time to buy drives when they are on sale rather than having emergencies and having to settle for current pricing. Thinking in terms of a sustainable rhythm like this might be helpful.

 

Good luck! 

5 hours ago, ExileWolf said:

In the US, I get 4tb at about 90-100 each.. 8tb I can only get my hands on for around 200+ so price wise about the same same per GB but I am not wanting to spend $200 per pop as I buy them when needed... Also already have lik 26 4tb drives already atm

If I was buying them all in bulk at once, then yeah I would do the 8TB but spreading the cost over time to keep the outlay cheaper and as I need it

 

Keep an eye out for the 8TB EasyStore Drives from Best-Buy, they often go on sale for $160~$180.

 

All you have to do is open the case and there is an 8TB WD Red Drive inside. (sometimes its a "white label" drive meaning there isn't a normal WD Red Sticker)

Edited November 6, 20178 yr by MowMdown

MowMdown : Will do thank you :)

 

I have decided that I am going to split up my storage into two setups, a freenas... That I will use zfs2 on and put my critical data on and then slowly expand my unraid with 8tbs as needed.