Multiple Arrays

[-Daedalus 41]

Thank you @testdasi for all the info, good to know. I might play around with a RAID5 pool when 6.9 goes to stable then.

[Ralf. 3]

I would definetly also want mutliple arrays. That would give the ultimate felxibility to organize the storage of the server.

Every array with its own parity disk(s) would be an independet fault tolerance unit. Without speed and securtiy degration, if in another array a drive fails and the array needs to be reconstructed.

It would be possible to spread the risk over more disks when the data is split by mutliple arrays.

Statistically, the over all reliability gets lower and lower, the more drives you add to a single array with its max. 2 parity disks. With multiple arrays, this could be prohibited.

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Ralf.

[BrianAz 0]

I am interested in running two dual-parity protected arrays in a single chassis w/ Unraid on bare metal.

 

I have a smaller array for testing and data that would be a minor headache to replace (6 data drives + 2 parity). I also have my "Production" Unraid array that houses my primary data that would be a huge issue if I lost (18 data drives and growing + 2 parity & full/daily offsite backup). 

 

My chassis is 36 bays and I currently run Unraid on top of ESXi, passing through the USB keys along with HBAs and NVMe cache drives to get as close to bare metal as I can.

Edited October 10, 2020 by BrianAz

[Xomniuri 0]

+1 for multiple arrays.

I'd settle for just a second array, for my SSD storage that way my frequently used data such a time-machine, phone backups, newly "acquired" media and my "to be played" steam library would not need to spin up my spindle disks all the time relegating them to infrequently used media.

Having my largest capacity (expensive) disk spinning all the time isn't great.

This is the main feature I'm missing to move from an aging Synology NAS to Unraid.

 

Given Synology's horrible track record with me over the last two years i would gladly pay double the pro fee to get this feature

[trurl 1519]

30 minutes ago, Xomniuri said:

a second array, for my SSD storage

There is already multiple pools for SSD storage in latest beta

[DougCube 3]

+1 for multiple arrays

Is this targeted for a specific future version yet? Like 7.0?

Would this allow going past the limit of 24 disks?

[JorgeB 3389]

3 hours ago, DougCube said:

Would this allow going past the limit of 24 disks?

Limit for the array is 30 devices.

[DougCube 3]

1 minute ago, JorgeB said:

Limit for the array is 30 devices.

I was wrong earlier. But I meant not including parity, pool, boot, or unassigned. It is 28 right?

[JorgeB 3389]

16 minutes ago, DougCube said:

It is 28 right?

Yes, without counting parity devices.

[rpj2 3]

+1 for multiple arrays - even if it was just a second one.

[Simtech 0]

+1 for this too. Would save me running an Unraid VM within Unraid