Change is Coming

[dwoods99]

Regarding the Advanced Format Drives (WD EARS), I have one that was written to already in Windows, but has been formatted via Windows Disk Management to NTFS

 

Also want to know if I can create a new array with existing WD green drives that were formatted with Windows 7 and Linux, and created as NTFS and ext3?

 

I really don't want to have to remove 2TB of contents to add jumpers or use new blank HDDs to create an array.

 

[prostuff1]

Regarding the Advanced Format Drives (WD EARS), I have one that was written to already in Windows, but has been formatted via Windows Disk Management to NTFS

 

Also want to know if I can create a new array with existing WD green drives that were formatted with Windows 7 and Linux, and created as NTFS and ext3?

 

I really don't want to have to remove 2TB of contents to add jumpers or use new blank HDDs to create an array.

 

 

You will not be able to "just use" NTFS and ext3 drives in an unRAID array.  You will have to clear them and format them to reiser fs for use in unRAID.

 

with 5.0b3 you will not need to add the jumper though.

[WeeboTech]

I'm also quite excited about the dedicated Pimp Your Rig subforum.

I'm not surprised to hear you say that.  It seems that you have a PC building addiction/fettish.  Not that that's a bad thing. 

 

Hey there's an idea.  Maybe Tom needs to add a "support" section in the forums (a la Alcoholics Anonymous) for help with PC related addictions.  Perhaps just start with two sections - digital hoarding and compulsive PC construction.

 

We call it Unraid Compulsive Design. UCD for short.

You see an unRAID design in every computer or computer part.

Design them in your head and dream up new sized servers to pimp.

 

[WeeboTech]

This is possible now for a small cost. monitor eBay for arc-1200 I got one for $99  and I've seen them at that price point (Takes time).

Right now they are $160 to $199.  This also provides the possibility of RAID0 Parity/RAID1 Cache.

 

New one at NewEgg is currently $136

 

Reasonable option, but some negatives:

 

1. Dedicated slot (I have none left )

 

2. Unable to monitor individual drives with Smart

 

3. Ties you to specific hardware which may be difficult to replace in the future.  unRAID's hardware independence is much preferred.

 

4. Not sure, but does it spin down when not in use?

 

Since Linux supports software RAID, would be great to be able to use it.

 

1. It requires a slot, no choice in that.

2. The Controller monitors the drive's health and does alarm if the drive goes bad. You can see this information from the controller bios.

   They may allow passthru, I know the 3ware/AMCC does.

3. They have been around for a long time. I Don't think this will be an issue, it just may cost you.

4. I've stated in multiple threads, idle drives spin down after 60 minutes (That's the max I saw in the bios). It does work.

5. Pro and Con. There is a small amount of cache on the controller which speeds up access, but also requires a graceful shutdown, UPS is required.  The cache can be disabled if desired.

[dgaschk]

This is possible now for a small cost. monitor eBay for arc-1200 I got one for $99  and I've seen them at that price point (Takes time).

Right now they are $160 to $199.  This also provides the possibility of RAID0 Parity/RAID1 Cache.

 

New one at NewEgg is currently $136

 

Reasonable option, but some negatives:

 

1. Dedicated slot (I have none left )

 

2. Unable to monitor individual drives with Smart

 

3. Ties you to specific hardware which may be difficult to replace in the future.  unRAID's hardware independence is much preferred.

 

4. Not sure, but does it spin down when not in use?

 

Since Linux supports software RAID, would be great to be able to use it.

 

1. It requires a slot, no choice in that.

2. The Controller monitors the drive's health and does alarm if the drive goes bad. You can see this information from the controller bios.

   They may allow passthru, I know the 3ware/AMCC does.

3. They have been around for a long time. I Don't think this will be an issue, it just may cost you.

4. I've stated in multiple threads, idle drives spin down after 60 minutes (That's the max I saw in the bios). It does work.

5. Pro and Con. There is a small amount of cache on the controller which speeds up access, but also requires a graceful shutdown, UPS is required.  The cache can be disabled if desired.

 

How does it tie you to specific hardware? Parity drives can be rebuilt using the new hardware and the cache drives should work with any vendor.

[fitbrit]

 

 

We call it Unraid Compulsive Design. UCD for short.

You see an unRAID design in every computer or computer part.

Design them in your head and dream up new sized servers to pimp.

 

 

LOL, I think I have UCD then.

[duderaid]

Awesome. Looking forward to it. Just got around to updating to 4.6 and just connected my first drive to the AOC-SASLP-MV8 card. Expansion is coming...

 

 

[bonienl]

I added an extra column in the main page called "Used" this is next to the "Free" column. This way I can see for each disk how much space is consumed.

 

An extra row was added to show totals of the array, this is information about the total array size, total used and total free numbers.

 

Perhaps it is interesting to have the absolute numbers as percentages too, e.g. Used: 1.95TB (93%)

 

My question can this be added to unRAID as standard (or configurable), i.e. without the need to edit the original files? See the image below.

 

 

[Joe L.]

I added an extra column in the main page called "Used" this is next to the "Free" column. This way I can see for each disk how much space is consumed.

 

An extra row was added to show totals of the array, this is information about the total array size, total used and total free numbers.

 

Perhaps it is interesting to have the absolute numbers as percentages too, e.g. Used: 1.95TB (93%)

 

My question can this be added to unRAID as standard (or configurable), i.e. without the need to edit the original files? See the image below.

 

 

%used is actually very useful too.  I have both on the unMENU display in addition to the totals.  Your addition is one of the very first requested when we started talking about improvements to the user interface that eventually led to unMENU's creation.

 

Zip up your changes to the main page .php file(s) and attach them to this thread for lime-tech to use and/or impliment.  You are not alone in wanting totals on the columns, nor on wanting a "used/%used" columns.

[bonienl]

%used is actually very useful too.  I have both on the unMENU display in addition to the totals.  Your addition is one of the very first requested when we started talking about improvements to the user interface that eventually led to unMENU's creation.

 

Zip up your changes to the main page .php file(s) and attach them to this thread for lime-tech to use and/or impliment.  You are not alone in wanting totals on the columns, nor on wanting a "used/%used" columns.

 

Okay, I created a MS Word document (excuse me) of the original PHP file and inside highlighted the additions I made. These are not that many and some parts can be simplified (I don't know if there is a "used" variable directly available) and the display of the extra totals row needs revising too, since it includes inline style statements which are a no-go I understand.

[redia]

hello everyone,

 

I am a little bit confused.

and really sorry if this question has been answered.

 

but I understand that 5b3 will handle 4k disks.. that's awesome for the future.

any new disk we pop can be plugged without adding the jumper and will be dealt with.

 

but what about disks we are already using.

we have multiple scenarios :

1. a disk with no jumper

1a. which was connected only to unraid

1b. which was connected to another OS then to unraid

1c. which was aligned with the appropriate tool

 

2. a disk with a jumper

2a. which was connected only to unraid

2b. which was connected to another OS then to unraid

2c. which was aligned with the appropriate tool

 

 

will there be any action needed.

from what I read I have the feeling that you can leave them as is. but is that correct ?

is there a way to improve their perf ?

I don't mind having to move the data around as long as I use the unraid following some kind of best practice.

 

Cheers,

R

[limetech]

I'd also like you to look at the BookMark Mod for SMF.

It allows you to bookmark your favorite threads so you can come back to them no matter what machine your on. I mentioned it a while back just in case you need a refresher.

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=6822.0

 

I'd like to add that mod, but SMF 1.1.12 is not mentioned in the "Compatible With" list, so I think it's a no-go.

[kizer]

I was reading through the support forum and it appears the author never updated it to 1.1.12, which basically means that page was never updated. There are reports of other users using it in 1.1.12. What I normally do is I try to install things and normally it fails meaning it doesn't pass a check then it doesn't install. However its often a comfort thing if/when some try even thou its not listed.

 

Can't say never asked.

[ShiftyPowers]

Hey guys, great news about 5b3!  AFP support is what I was hanging on to unRAID for   but one small itsy question....any time sense on when it will come out? :)  <insert flames>

[DizyDiz]

Do you have plans to add more RAID Card Drivers? Especially LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-8i?

 

Jess

[tyrindor]

hello everyone,

 

I am a little bit confused.

and really sorry if this question has been answered.

 

but I understand that 5b3 will handle 4k disks.. that's awesome for the future.

any new disk we pop can be plugged without adding the jumper and will be dealt with.

 

but what about disks we are already using.

we have multiple scenarios :

1. a disk with no jumper

1a. which was connected only to unraid

1b. which was connected to another OS then to unraid

1c. which was aligned with the appropriate tool

 

2. a disk with a jumper

2a. which was connected only to unraid

2b. which was connected to another OS then to unraid

2c. which was aligned with the appropriate tool

 

 

will there be any action needed.

from what I read I have the feeling that you can leave them as is. but is that correct ?

is there a way to improve their perf ?

I don't mind having to move the data around as long as I use the unraid following some kind of best practice.

 

Cheers,

R

 

Need to know this too..

 

Is there any benefit to removing the jumper, wiping my existing 7 EARS, and re-transfering the data back to them?

 

Limetech please advise.

[prostuff1]

hello everyone,

 

I am a little bit confused.

and really sorry if this question has been answered.

 

but I understand that 5b3 will handle 4k disks.. that's awesome for the future.

any new disk we pop can be plugged without adding the jumper and will be dealt with.

 

but what about disks we are already using.

we have multiple scenarios :

1. a disk with no jumper

1a. which was connected only to unraid

1b. which was connected to another OS then to unraid

1c. which was aligned with the appropriate tool

 

2. a disk with a jumper

2a. which was connected only to unraid

2b. which was connected to another OS then to unraid

2c. which was aligned with the appropriate tool

 

 

will there be any action needed.

from what I read I have the feeling that you can leave them as is. but is that correct ?

is there a way to improve their perf ?

I don't mind having to move the data around as long as I use the unraid following some kind of best practice.

 

Cheers,

R

 

Need to know this too..

 

Is there any benefit to removing the jumper, wiping my existing 7 EARS, and re-transfering the data back to them?

 

Limetech please advise.

 

NO, if you have a jumper on an EARS drive that was previously formatted with an older version of unRAID it is highly suggested that you just leave it alone.

[SSD]

Need to know this too..

 

Is there any benefit to removing the jumper, wiping my existing 7 EARS, and re-transfering the data back to them?

 

Limetech please advise.

 

In theory, the removal of the jumper and repartitioning using the new 4K aligned partitions will have NO performance improvement over a disk with the jumper installed and using the prior (sector 63) partitioning.  Based on this, it is not expected there would be a good reason to do the significant effort of repartitioning all of your drives.

 

But occasionally "in theory" and "in reality" are two different things.  So there may yet be some reason that it will make sense to make the change (highly unlikely, but possible).  My recommendation is that you sit tight, wait for the new version to come out, and wait for some users with test arrays to post their results.  Once these results come back, and once YOU are convinced that the new version is stable enough to trust your 14T of data to (you might want to wait until the official release), then you can decide if there is any reason to reformat any of your drives.

 

[opentoe]

Do you have plans to add more RAID Card Drivers? Especially LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-8i?

 

Jess

 

Ditto