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 1675]

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 3714]

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 3714]

16 minutes ago, DougCube said:

It is 28 right?

Yes, without counting parity devices.

[rpj2 4]

+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

[dahlenu 2]

I would also like this. Dual array would probably be enough.

[jortan 23]

Just adding another vote for this feature

[dada051 0]

I want to create 2 arrays, one with 7200rpm disks, another with 5400rpm. So multiple arrays or at least dual array should be great!

[hawihoney 32]

10 hours ago, dada051 said:

at least dual array

 

Please don't jump that short.

 

With currently available 30 cache pools, the limit for array pools should not get restricted to two only.

 

The market for 45-drive, 60-drive or 90-drive systems is increasing. Using these systems with Unraid VMs to overcome the current restrictions is limited. For every Unraid VM you need an USB-slot for the additional license/OS-stick and a PCIe-slot for the additional HBA you need to passthru. So the limiting factor currently are available USB-slots and PCIe-slots if you want to run big systems.

 

I would like to create several small and big arrays - e.g. dual parity/two array disks, 3x dual parity/22 array disks. And that based on bulletproofed Unraid arrays, no experimental BTRFS cache pools (my opinion based on several bad experiences with BTRFS).

 

[South Bronx 0]

I would like multiple arrays for what I think is a unique edge case.  I would like a second array for use of special purpose drives like WD Purple drives to store my backup security cam footage.  I would like to keep my reds for all the other data in a separate array.   

[Forusim 4]

+ for writing Chia plots to a second array without paritiy.

Initially I had the idea to make a "no cache" share on multiple disks with "most free" allocation.

But wrting the 101 GB plot to parity protected array is slowed down by 50-70%, which takes too much time in parallel plotting.

So the only reasonable way of plotting is against unassigned devices and rotate the destination disks in the plotting script.