Features/Fit

[Stuart Jones]

Hi, Unraid people.

 

I would appreciate a bit of handshaking as a Windows user with long-ago tries of Linux (understanding the CLI, desktop, etc.).  I presently have a W10 PC running Storage Spaces but have reached the limit of 63TB despite having disks of larger aggregate capacity.  I am not an IT expert, which is why I used Storage Spaces.  The files are nearly all audio/video and I have no need to run applications, I simply want a safe JBOD arrangement that can be accessed like a NAS.  I have a good MB, a 64-bit Intel Quad Core processor, with 16 GB ECC memory.  I don't want anything else from the system.

 

I have seen Unraid and have the following questions:

 

1. Is there a limit (from the filesystem) on the number of files (there may be up to 1 million)?

2. I assume I can have a parity (i.e. RAID5 or similar) arrangement which can protect against data loss from 1 drive.

3. That in the event of any disks going down, I can recover live (like Storage Spaces), simply swapping for a new drive of at least equal capacity.

4. Is there a mode that covers 2 drive failures?  (And how).

5. I read that different drive capacities can be used.  My set is presently 10x8TB, 2x6TB, 3x4TB.  If there is a problem with this set, please let me know.

6. It would be nice to have a Wake-On-LAN ability so I can start up a sleeping system remotely (I assume doable).

7. As part of 6 (sleeping), it would be nice to able to sleep the system by a Remote Desktop arrangement (if not Windows, I do not know how).

8. Is there something else I should really be aware of and have not asked (e.g., a recommended approach)?

 

Thanks to those that answer - especially if you know what you are on about!

Edited January 2, 2019 by Stuart Jones
Found documentation

[whipdancer]

2. Yes
3. No exactly that simple, but yes, you can swap in a new drive.
4. Yes - 2 parity drives
5. Should be no issues.
7. You don't use RDP. You use SSH/Telnet or web client to control the system.

Check out some of the videos on Unraid. They explain quite a bit.
 

 

Edited January 2, 2019 by whipdancer

[JonathanM]

5 hours ago, Stuart Jones said:

I read that different drive capacities can be used.  My set is presently 10x8TB, 2x6TB, 3x4TB.  If there is a problem with this set, please let me know.

No problems with those drives, HOWEVER... They cannot be assigned to Unraid and keep the current data on them. Any disks assigned to Unraid will be erased and set up with a linux compatible file system, XFS or BTRFS. You will need a way to migrate the data, either from your backups, or if you don't keep a backup, you will need to purchase additional disks. Drive replacement redundancy is not a substitute for backup anyway. Data loss is much more likely from human error or malice than equipment failure.

[Stuart Jones]

Thanks for the replies.  The video I found very useful and I am surprised and pleased just 2 drives can act as the parity protection.  I know I will need to transfer the existing drive content to further drives (which I have, though it will take forever...).  The Windows Storage Spaces is very intuitive and easy to use (though limited...) but all that remains prior to purchase is to ask: is there an alert (ideally by email) in the event of a drive going AWOL?  I'd like to be informed and replace said drive early on.  This aspect WSS is very good at (minus the email).

[JonathanM]

2 hours ago, Stuart Jones said:

is there an alert (ideally by email) in the event of a drive going AWOL?

Yes. It will ping you immediately as long as you have it configured properly and the server has internet.

 

2 hours ago, Stuart Jones said:

I am surprised and pleased just 2 drives can act as the parity protection. 

I would suggest you research this further. It's not just 2 drives that create the protection, it's ALL the drives, data drives included.

 

When a drive fails ALL the other drives are needed to emulate and reconstruct the failed drive. Adding the 2nd parity allows 2 different drives to be emulated/recovered, but the rest of the drives must all be perfectly healthy to reconstruct the failed drives.

 

Also, it's not file level parity, it's device level parity. There is no way to reconstruct individual files, only entire drives, filesystem included. A corrupt filesystem or deleted files cannot be addressed by parity protection. This is why I stressed current backups are needed on an ongoing basis.

 

2 hours ago, Stuart Jones said:

I know I will need to transfer the existing drive content to further drives

Why not use these drives to build out your unraid? That way you can keep the windows server up and running during the whole process?

[Stuart Jones]

Thanks for the clarification on the method of protection and drives involved (full set).  This now makes sense.  The email notification will be useful!

 

I have an HBA array with 15 drives and one free slot.  I also have 2 separate Synology NAS enclosures with about 15 TB free between them.  As the PC (currently Windows) has the 15 drives at 80% capacity, I will need to (a) copy as much as I can to the Synology boxes, (b) release individual drives, (c) reboot and with the same HBA array and great care not to overwrite existing drives (I may even pull them all) create the Unraid array with the released drives, (d) repeat a-c until done.

 

I can't think of an alternative when using the same box, but if there is a better way I am up for it as I know my way will take forever...  (It may be a bit advanced, but the only alternative I can see is to run Unraid in a VM, would that be possible or dumb).

 

If only WSS (W10) was not so limited.  I did look at Storage Spaces Direct (Server) and pooling drives but this is not obvious as the documentation is surprisingly poor.  I guess the assumption is people are IT technicians with requisite training.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Stuart Jones

[trurl]

1 hour ago, Stuart Jones said:

the only alternative I can see is to run Unraid in a VM, would that be possible or dumb

Some people do run Unraid in a VM but it isn't supported and most of us couldn't help you if you went down this path.