Any info on when unRAID will support more disks and maybe multiple volumes? I mean why is this that difficult to implement? At least more disk support will be highly appreciated. Even charging more for a Pro Pro license is ok.

Regarding multiple volume / array support...

 

The Linux kernel drivers for the 'md' devices needs a major revamp to handle multiple volume support. The '/proc/mdcmd' interface into the kernel drivers needs to be revamped as well. All the management software (emhttp / webGui) needs to be revamped too. The user share software (shfs) needs to be revamped too. The configuration aspects such as /etc/samba/ and /etc/rc.d/rc.samba and the files stored in /boot/config/ and /boot/config/shares/ need to be revamped. In addition, the system needs to be expanded to handle issues with possible duplicate shares between the multiple volumes / arrays.

 

This is not a trivial effort.

 

Ok, what about support for more than 22 disks? This is surely a #define somewhere in a header file.

why the need for more disks? at current capacity that is more that 40TB of space? i currently have 22 disks (including parity and cache) in my array, but i am only at 21TB. most of my drives are 1TB or smaller. instead of adding more disks, i just upgrade the smallest one. Maybe at some time in the future i would need more, but 3TB drives are on the horizon which would take you to 60TB if needed.

i have a norco 4020 case and it holds exactly 22 drive (20 hotswap and 2 non). i don't know of many cases that hold more than that, so now you would have to have two cases, two power supplies and cables running from one to another. i can see the need for this in a business or enterprise situation, but most of us here are using it for person storage and some digital media (music, tv shows, movie backups).

i am also curious on why the number 22 was the stopping point, but like i said above that is a lot of space with current drives. if you are using a bunch of smaller older drives it might be beneficial for you to look at how much power they are drawing. maybe upgrading a couple of the older ones to some of the newer green drives could be offset by the money saved on your power bill.

 

just my two cents

 

kingpin

unRAID (and most other OS's) will not be able to use the 3TB drives without a major change.  The MBR used to define disk partitions is maxed out at 2.1TB.    Therefore, don't hold your breath on expecting to pop a 3TB drive in ANY PC for a while.  It is for that reason they are only being sold in USB versions so far.

while this is true, but the time i populate all 21 data drives with 2tb hard drives i am sure there will be some kind of update or maybe usb support for unRaid.

USB? You must be joking! Wondering how long a parity check would take, and whether it would ever complete ;-)

I wouldn't dream of doing that without enforcing it to be USB 3.0 with multiple USB Hubs. Even then, as a last resort.

 

Caveat, this might not be accurate but it's something I recall reading about in general for USB. I think even with USB 3, all devices still share the total available bandwidth per USB Hub. Even if you used 4 USB 3 Ports on the motherboard but each Port was to the same USB Hub internally on the motherboard, they would still share the available bandwidth.

Would be nice if Tom could make a comment?!