Using a cache drive cause any instability or other issues not mentioned here? Right now I have all 6 of my SATA ports full on my mainboard. I'm going to get an SATA add-on card. I have all 1TB drives, but will want to upgrade/add 2TB drives soon to get more space. I want to change my parity drive first of course with a 2TB drive. After that is all done I would like my new cache drive to be connected to the on-board SATA connections. But currently my array drives are on there. Is there an easy way for me to shift the entire array down one so I can free up a connection on my mainboard? I know I always have to make sure I assign the drives back to where they were. Would I be able to take out one drive (essentially removing the entire drive) and then re-assign that drive to another disk device and then rebuild?

 

 

I don't quite follow what you're doing. You want to get rid of one of the data drives and change it to a cache drive???

 

If so, you can just do the assignments on the devices page and then you log-on or telnet to the command line and do a initconfig. That will reset the array and allow you to start a parity build. I'd suggest you first do a parity check and confirm the drives are all healthy.

 

You could also look up the threads and info on removing a drive and preserving parity if you want to go that route.

 

Peter

First I want to swap out my parity drive for a 2TB drive. I want to do that because I will be upgrading/adding some drives to 2TB in size. This is a an easy step. Just replace the parity drive and then let it parity up again.

 

Then I want to add a cache drive, but connect it to a port that is on the mainboard. Currently they are all being used by drives already. Without even talking about upgrading or adding drives what is the easiest way to shift all my drives down one port so I can free up a port on my mainboard? I just want to make sure I add my cache drive to the mainboard and not an add-on card.

 

 

Just move them and re-start the server. If unRAID doesn't figure it out and start the array then the main web page will show the messed up disks and part of the line for each disk will show the original drive s/n which was in each slot. Go to the devices page and match up the drives to the main page and it should all come up green dots and be ready to start.

 

Peter

I did ask this question in the hardware area, but is probably more suitable here. I basically want to shift all the drives (not the parity) down one disk so I essentially have disk 1 free. Why? I want to add a cache drive to the system and want to connect it to one of the MAINBOARD SATA ports. Is there an official way to do this without maybe destroying data?

 

Hi!

 

You can plug-unplug as many drives as you want and arrange the data cables differently and UnRaid is still capable of dealing with it.

 

Turn server off

Re arrange as you want

re-boot server

the main page will show invalid disks

go to the devices page (as shown in your screenshot) and use the drop down boxes to set it up so that the main page says valid.

 

and you should be good to go!

 

Seen as peoples data is at risk, would be good if someone confirmed this was right before you tried it on your own server. I would do this to my own, but its my head.

I do NOT want to make any hardware changes. I just want to re-assign the slots, but keep DISK1 free, as to preserve it for when I do install my cache drive. As I understand from reading the "Trust my array" it indicates that you can re-assign drives to where ever you want, but make sure the parity drive is the same. The "Trust my array" also says make sure you have no "missing disks" in your array. In the situation I'm in, there will be a missing disk. Will the "Trust my array" still work in this case? I've taken a screen shot of my original device page (in the original post) and what I want it to be. I need to know if this is possible. Maybe Tom can check this out, I do not want to lose any data.

Here is the original working great array:

 

 

 

And here is what I want it to look like:

 

But the cache drive has its own slot assignment at the bottom of the devices page....

Using a cache drive cause any instability or other issues not mentioned here?

 

No

 

Right now I have all 6 of my SATA ports full on my mainboard. I'm going to get an SATA add-on card. I have all 1TB drives, but will want to upgrade/add 2TB drives soon to get more space.

 

Ok, this is no problem.

 

I want to change my parity drive first of course with a 2TB drive.

 

There is a special unRAID process called "swap disable" that allows you to replace the parity drive with a larger one, while simultaneously moving the existing parity drive to become a data disk.  Or you can just replace the parity disk and have it rebuild onto a new 2T drive, and leave the existing parity disk out of the array (for example if you want to use the disk as your cache disk, or use in another computer).

 

After that is all done I would like my new cache drive to be connected to the on-board SATA connections. But currently my array drives are on there. Is there an easy way for me to shift the entire array down one so I can free up a connection on my mainboard?

 

I believe you have a slight misassumption.  There is no relationship between the disk slot numbers (i.e., disk1, disk2, disk3, etc.) and which controller your drives are connected to.  I will illustrate with an example.  Say you had an array with 4 disks all using motherboard  slots.  And that you bought a new controller and (for some reason) wanted all of the array disks to use the new controller.  What you would have to do is power down and physically connect the 4 drives to the new controller.  When you reboot unraid, it will not start the array.  The main page will show that the disks are missing, but in italics show the disk expected in each slot.  You would then go to the devices page and assign each of the 4 disks to their respective slots.  Then the main page will say the configuration is valid and let you start the array.  This will just take a couple mins - there is no rebuilding of disks - just reassigning disks to their proper disk slots.  [i don't know why unRAID doesn't look at the drive's serial number to assign drives to slots, but if it did even this step would be unncecessary.]

 

So to answer the question.  You would need to (physically) move one of your array disks to the addon controller (e.g., disk2), physically install the cache disk and hook it up to the motherboard slot, and boot unRAID.  DO NOT START THE ARRAY.  unRAID will be a little confused as to your intentions and think you want to rebuild your array disk onto your cache drive.  To correct this, you will need to go to the device page, assign the array slot (e..g, disk2) to the corresponding drive you moved to the add-on controller, and assign the cache disk to the cache slot.  The main page should say that it is a valid configuration, and your cache disk should appear there.  Only then should you start the array.

 

I know I always have to make sure I assign the drives back to where they were. Would I be able to take out one drive (essentially removing the entire drive) and then re-assign that drive to another disk device and then rebuild?

 

I don't understand this question.  The word "take out one drive" in the second sentence is throwing me.  Do you mean take out of the machine?  Unassign the disk slot on the device page?  Or assign the disk to another disk slot in the device page?  You would need to rephrase the question for me to do it justice.

You do not need to shift any drives for adding a cache drive. As previously stated the cache drive option is at the bottom of the assignment tab. You will need to scroll down to see it.

Do not create multiple thereads on the same topic.

 

I merged the two topics together.

 

I gave a pretty thorough response to your question earlier today - did you see it?

Disk1 on the devices page and the SATA connector the drive is connected to have no direct relation to each other.

 

If all the ports on your motherboard are in use then you must either remove a data drive or move one of the data drives to a SATA add-in card. However, moving a data drive to a SATA add-in card does not require the disks to be re-arranged on the devices page.

 

Peter

 

 

 

Disk1 on the devices page and the SATA connector the drive is connected to have no direct relation to each other.

 

Agreed

 

If all the ports on your motherboard are in use then you must either remove a data drive or move one of the data drives to a SATA add-in card. However, moving a data drive to a SATA add-in card does not require the disks to be re-arranged on the devices page.

 

Not so sure about that. If you move a disk to another controller card (or even another port), unRAID will not assign know that the disk belongs to that port.  But the logic used is a little convoluted, and sometimes it winds up mapping the right drive to the right slot anyway.  Bottom line, though, is that after you move drives around you need to make sure that they are in the right slots before starting the array.

I have read your responses...I am understanding it more but it hasn't "clicked" yet. Maybe I just can't do what I want to do. Right now I have 6 sata ports on my mainboard. All ports are being used. One parity and 5 data. Very soon I want to add a cache drive, but want to add the cache drive on one of the mainboard ports which are all being used. Let me know if this sounds correct.

 

I can do what I want to do but not until I get my add-on card and another hard drive. I'll have to stop the array. Power down. Remove one drive off the mainboard controller and hook it up to the add-on card. Then install my cache drive and hook it up to where the other drive was just hooked up to (mainboard). Power on computer and make sure all the data disks are assigned to their proper unraid ports. Then assign my cache drive to the new drive i just installed, which is on my mainboard controller.

 

I think I was thinking ahead and wanted to prepare for this move before getting the parts.

I have read your responses...I am understanding it more but it hasn't "clicked" yet. Maybe I just can't do what I want to do. Right now I have 6 sata ports on my mainboard. All ports are being used. One parity and 5 data. Very soon I want to add a cache drive, but want to add the cache drive on one of the mainboard ports which are all being used. Let me know if this sounds correct.

 

I can do what I want to do but not until I get my add-on card and another hard drive. I'll have to stop the array. Power down. Remove one drive off the mainboard controller and hook it up to the add-on card. Then install my cache drive and hook it up to where the other drive was just hooked up to (mainboard). Power on computer and make sure all the data disks are assigned to their proper unraid ports. Then assign my cache drive to the new drive i just installed, which is on my mainboard controller.

 

I think I was thinking ahead and wanted to prepare for this move before getting the parts.

 

Exactly right!

I think you have it.

 

You could do what you asked but it's really a pointless exercise. You don't need the disk1 assignment free to use the SATA1 connector.

 

bjp - by re-arrange I mean move drives to different slots, ie the second picture that opentoe posted.

 

You might have to go to the devices page and put the correct drives into the correct slots any time you change the hardware port connections but this is not re-arranging, this is re-assigning or re-setting to what existed before.

 

Heck, you can completely replace all your hardware except the drives & flash and you still will only have to sort out the assignments on the devices page to get the array to start as if nothing changed.

 

Peter