Possibly get back to unRAID (help?)


NLS

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(actual questions come after the --- ...the rest is to read if not bored)

 

Well I am a rather old user of unRAID (I don't mean old in age!) and a pro license owner, but was forced to switch to other products for my home server, due to the then limited capabilities of unRAID (aside from actually securing data) and some other things I prefer not to go into right now.

 

Anyway... this happened 11 years ago (that I left - because I started using unRAID in the first couple years of its release actually), so today we are talking about a different program.

The first thing I was curious, is if my license is still valid. I actually emailed LimeTech to ask, but before getting a reply I experimented myself. Found (!!!) my old USB stick for the GUID (tiny storage 2GB, Corsair, huge profile), found the backup of the files it used to have (including the key), got the new installer, installed it... put the key in the stick and... booted as a demo.

But then I found out the key should be in config folder.

AND IT WORKED! 11.5 years after its last boot!

 

---


My home server is now using SBS2011, but it is becoming obsolete by the day. I don't need all functionality from SBS, but I do need some.

So I make this post seeking assistance on how to make a successful "switch". Here are my data (with numbers so that I can get specific answers if possible):

 

1) I will need to switch from my old huge Corsair USB, to a tiny profile one. So GUID will change. How easy is that? EDIT: I remember it was possible.

 

From SBS I do not use Sharepoint functionality or WSUS but I do use these...

Here are software features I use and asking if I can somehow implement similar in unRAID.

 

2) Exchange (mail/contact/calendar server). Anything similar to enable in unRAID? Note that I make use of the pop connector (to download mail every 2 minutes from other servers, i.e. my hosting provider for my own domain mail, also gmail and yahoo).

 

3) Domain controller (my home computers are all Win 10 Pro and joined to domain). Any way to implement domain services?

 

4) File services. Erm ok... I guess covered.

 

5) DNS and DHCP (yes my server does that, not my router). Actually my DNS also has forward lookup zones for domains I have (router based) VPN with.

 

6) I haven't used it for long, but I will need to re-enable some media streaming capability.

 

Moving to hardware...

i5 based, 16GB RAM,

1x 500GB OS + "running" dats disk

1x 1TB disk with daily backup of above (that I chose backup over simple mirroring is a decision I made for my own reasons)

8x 3TB data disks (NTFS)

1x 3TB parity disk

 

7) The main issue is that my data disks are full of data. So, is there a way to "import" them even one at a time? A scenario I am thinking (if possible to actually do in unRAID), is to do something like that:

a- add old parity disk as empty array disk in unRAID

b- somehow mount one of the NTFS data disks (I guess this point is crucial)

c- copy data from NTFS "old" data disk to the (initially single disk) unRAID array

d- add the old NTFS data disk that I have duplicated data from to unRAID array (i.e. let the old NTFS get formatted by unRAID and added to array to expand its space)

e- goto b until there are no more "old" NTFS disks and all data are in the array

f- for the last ex-NTFS data disk, after copy, add it as parity

Possible? I welcome any and all suggestions!

EDIT: Found that there is a plugin exactly to help with that.

 

Later, if/when I feel comfortable with unRAID, I will eliminate the two smaller disks and/or possibly make them part of the array (or just use their slot for other 3TB disks).

 

Replies to this post will make me decide if I can make the jump back to unRAID.

Thank you in advance.

Edited by NLS
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1 hour ago, NLS said:

I will need to switch from my old huge Corsair USB, to a tiny profile one.

Don't do that. If you really need to switch to a newer USB because you are afraid the old one is failing, I recommend the Kingston SE9 series. There have been a spate of USB failures recently with tiny USB drives, my speculation is that the heat buildup in a tiny drive is too much and prematurely kills the drives. If you feel you need a tiny drive to reduce the vulnerability of the drive to physical attack from objects, it's a much better strategy to get a USB header adapter that will allow you to mount the drive inside the case, totally out of the way.

 

Transferring the license is easy now, just boot the new stick with the old key file, it will walk you through an automatic key transfer process. That can be done once a year without any hassle, sooner than a year and you will need to get Limetech involved to manually reissue a key.

 

Your points 2,3,5 are going to be more complicated. They may deserve their own topic kind of complicated.

 

2. https://nextcloud.com/groupware/

I run a nextcloud container on my unraid, but I haven't attempted to set up the contacts / calendar / email personally.

 

3. I googled a little, came up with https://www.turnkeylinux.org/domain-controller

which says they provide a ready to run virtual disk which can be used with KVM qemu, which is what unraid uses for VM implementation. I have ZERO experience trying to implement something like that. I run all linux based daily driver stuff.

 

5. I run a PfSense VM, which provides all that and much more. It's complicated though, and as you already know, you lose your network when the server is down unless you make other arrangements for failover.

 

The rest of your issues are pretty straight forward, you've probably already got them covered with minimal searching.

 

 

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Thank you for your reply.

I will look into the solutions you listed.

 

Still trying to figure out the details + if my hardware makes all these things viable (because any extra investment and it's no go for now).

Migrating TO unRAID makes it hard to just "undo" if things are not as I expected. No go back to SBS2011 and NTFS disks.


 

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3 hours ago, NLS said:

Migrating TO unRAID makes it hard to just "undo" if things are not as I expected. No go back to SBS2011 and NTFS disks.

Not really. You can set up all your critical services on a single SSD, assigned to the cache slot. You don't mention already having one, and they are relatively cheap right now. I know you say no extra investment, but a SSD cache is rather critical for a smooth experience with unraid.

 

So, to get unraid up and running, all you need is an SSD around 250MB+ and a regular hard drive, size not particularly important. Assign the SSD as cache and the HDD as disk1, and you are off to the races as far as setting up a test environment. All your current drives with important data can stay disconnected while you play.

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I registered for Spaceinvader One's tutorials, they seem VERY good.

Seems I'll be able to add docker containers for most (if not all) of my requirements.

NEW QUESTION: I do a monthly sync of 3 USB disks back to my server (i.e. most of the times the USB disks have some new content ALONG with already synced content and I mirror the new/updated data to the array).
How can I implement this without the use of an extra computer (except unRAID server)? i.e. put disk on USB, mount it easily for unRAID to sync and run some sync command to my array.

 

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15 minutes ago, NLS said:

NEW QUESTION: I do a monthly sync of 3 USB disks back to my server

See the Unassigned Devices Plugin.

 

There is an example script in the description that automatically backs up the Photos share on the array to a USB drive when the drive is plugged in.  Of course, I understand that this is not what you want to do, as you want to sync content in the other direction, but scripts can do what you want to do as well.

 

Unassigned Devices is a very useful plugin with many uses.

 

You could also combine the Unassigned Devices Plugin with the User Scripts plugin and run scripts on a custom cron schedule.

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Am I correct to assume that most "extra functionality" needs the cache disk? Or am I wrong? I mean I think the cache disk takes the role of storage for anything extra to basic unRAID as unRAID is hosted on a (usually small and slow) USB stick?

 

Also to go back to OP, I am still looking (preferably in docker form, as I don't want to waste limited resources for a full VM):

 

- A free-for-home-use solution for mail/contact/calendar (I don't think nextcloud's solution is free)...

 

- Domain controller services (central login credentials, preferably in sync with unRAID shares user access).

 

- DNS/DCHP. I believe those two services are pretty basic Linux functionality, so I don't think I need over-complicated solutions, just (possibly) a plugin to enable and configure those on unRAID's own "backbone" OS? Yes/no?

 

- (welcome) Torrent.

 

- (welcome) Steaming services (Plex, something else?).
 

 

Edited by NLS
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1 minute ago, NLS said:

Am I correct to assume that most "extra functionality" needs the cache disk? Or am I wrong?

The cache disk was originally implemented, as its name suggests, to cache writes to the array so they could happen more quickly.  The "mover" then ran later to move the contents of the cache disk to the parity-protected array at a time when write performance was not a concern.

 

As you already know, the unRAID OS and it's related configuration files are all on the boot USB and load into RAM at each reboot.

 

These days, the more common use for the "cache" disk (usually an SSD) is as a home for the appdata share which is where docker containers and their configurations usually reside.  Some will dedicate an unassigned device to VMs (this is what I do), but, if the cache disk is large enough, VMs can live there as well.

 

A cache disk is not required in an unRAID server but having an SSD (NVMe, SATA or PCIe) as a cache disk (or in a cache pool with multiple disks) with the flexibility of additional disks managed through Unassigned Devices really adds to the flexibility and performance of an unRAID server.

 

Regarding your other questions, I do not know about a mail server or domain controller on unRAID as I have never had a use for either; however, I know there are several users in these forums running pfSense in a VM on the unRAID sever for DNS/DHCP.  Yeah, that's not as simple as a docker container, but, it works well for many users. Of course, pfSense could also be run on separate hardware.

 

Personally, I have a Ubiquiti UniFi setup for my home network so I am not concerned about DNS/DHCP on the unRAID server itself.

 

You could go to the APPS tab in the unRAID GUI and do some searches for particular functionality of interest.  All Docker containers and plugins currently available for unRAID can usually be found there.

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2 minutes ago, NLS said:

OK one more question, for the VM's and possibly appdata.
Why not use an array share? (separate share for VM's and separate for appdata) Possible?

Yes, it is possible to have appdata on the array.  Some do.  If you do that, it is best to limit it to one array disk. 

 

Same with VMs, you can have them on the array.  Having a separate cache disk and/or unassigned device for docker containers and VMs is usually a performance issue.  SSDs are faster than the spinners in the array.  Some of us just like the idea of the organization of array disks for data shares, "cache" drive for dockers and write caching (if needed) and an unassigned device for VMs.  Of course, those could also be combined on the same disk.  Some users even have appdata and or certain dockers on an unassigned device.  Downloads are sometimes also done to an appdata or unassigned device location outside of the array and then moved to the array manually or programmatically.

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16 minutes ago, NLS said:

Why not use an array share? (separate share for VM's and separate for appdata)

unRAID automatically creates appdata, isos, domain and system shares.  You can put them wherever you want.  The last three are used for VMs and you can chose to use them or designate your own paths.  My VM structure predated the addition of these share so, I still use my own custom locations for VM-related ISOs, disks, etc.

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1 hour ago, NLS said:

OK one more question, for the VM's and possibly appdata.
Why not use an array share? (separate share for VM's and separate for appdata) Possible?

There is nothing that stops you using array drives for everything!

 

The reason that this is often not the recommended way to get the best out of your Unraid server is that writes to array drives are much slower than writes to non-array drives.   This is even more so if the non-array drive is an SSD.  If you are running ‘VMs or docker containers this can mean their performance is much worse if they are running of array drives compared to non-array drives.

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Understood.
Good that I have this flexibility.

My setup also predates those options (remember I did have unRAID when it was still young product), so I already have VM folders in my current array.
I will evaluate the best options.

Thanks again.

 

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Pointers for these remain:
 

- A free-for-home-use solution for mail/contact/calendar (I don't think nextcloud's solution is free)...

 

- Domain controller services (central login credentials, preferably in sync with unRAID shares user access).

 

- DNS/DCHP. I believe those two services are pretty basic Linux functionality, so I don't think I need over-complicated solutions, just (possibly) a plugin to enable and configure those on unRAID's own "backbone" OS? Yes/no?

Many suggest phSense (in VM!), although it is probably an overkill just for these features that are already more or less IN linux basic functionality.

 

- (welcome) Torrent.

 

- (welcome) Steaming services (Plex, something else?).

 

- (NEW) Is there a way to browse this "CA" without having unRAID yet installed? I want to browse what is available to plan things up.

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I am leaning towards implementing a VM after all.

Either Zentyal or Nethserver.

They both implement Active Directory and can function as Domain Controllers.

They both have DNS and DHCP services.

They both have email support, including webmail.

They both implement calendar and contacts in their mail system.

 

I will now evaluate both and see what fits me better (already have both in VMs on my Windows to test, using VirtualBox... already tested ClearOS -it lost- and considered one other that lost before I even installed it).

Would be great is someone has already made the comparison (already read a couple older online, but first hand experience is better - esp. considering unRAID environment) and can help.
 

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