I recently started using UnRaid as a Proxmox network storage.

UnRaid is more highly scalable than any other NAS solution. 
Ceph requires a too much expensive minimal hardware setup. 

ZFS is the most awful and slower thing ever (I know... but this is in very short my personal opinion and experience). 

 

I'm running 10Gbps Ethernet on UnRaid and Proxmox hosts.

The UnRaid PC has 32GB RAM and 9gen six core i5.

NFS is out of the way because it doesn't reconnect by itself so I switched to SMB.

 

To reach my goals I would like to get 3 different "levels" of storage, I'm going to summarize their scope and then I will explain my consideration about my unRaid knowledge.

a) SSD storage for performance demanding VMs

b) HDD storage for regulars VMs

c) storage "without care" for VMs backup

 

a) I created a unRaidSSD share then I could use with "cache = only" or "cache = prefer" settings.

The fact that some data exists ONLY in the SSD without being also present in the parity protected array worries me a lot.

In my idea there should be not only a mover, but a background sync process between SSD cache and HDD (rsync?).
it could be a new feature request or is it just an impossible to implement perversion in my mind?

 

b) unRaid parity protected array share with "cache = no"  setting

During long I/O Mover operation I got some VM data corruption.

Reading this forum, I'm achieving that I will get the same when I will add a parity drive.

There is a way to set Mover and parity rebuild process as background priority?

Because VMs are made by a single huge file they will not benefit of any "cache = yes" setting, except occasional snapshots.

 

c) unassigned drive share without any parity 

In general the possibility to manage a parity excluded array could be a bonus.

 

What are your advice and considerations (including unRaid is not the right solution) ?

 

Thanks!

 

Did you find a good solution for this in the meantime?
I struggle with this too

I'm still not completely happy with it, anyway I opted for OpenMediaVault 5.

I Installed on it MergeFS and SnapRaid, basically is the same solution without many whistles.

OMV is based on Debian and it is more open to any need, if you need a packet you are free to install.

I have fear of "closed" solutions like unraid, is not a matter of price.
I'm also not happy of what I found on this forum. I think Unraid is a great work but more suitable for an home media center. Different uses are seen with diffidence.