First time setup

[Uggers]

Hey,

 

So I'm building my unraid array this weekend and wanted to verify the best way of setting it up and transferring the data across.

 

I have;

2x 3TB WD Blue HDDs which I want to use for dual parity

2x 3TB WD Red HDD's in old 2bay zyxel NAS

1x 3TB WD Red HDD not yet used

1x 60GB SSD which I'd like to use for Cache

 

Unless I've got it incorrect, I believe I want to;

 

1) Install both Blue and the single 3TB Red

2) Do not turn on Parity yet.

3) Pre-clear the 1TB Red and add to array

4) Using Midnight Commander (or is there something better?) transfer the data from the old NAS to Unraid

5) Install the x2 3TB Reds and Pre-Clear, then add to array (I assume they are wiped during this)

6) Install SDD and active as Cache (I assume no Pre-Clear required?)

7) Activate dual Parity

 

I'm not sure if I have everything in the correct order or the best method of copying from the Zyxel to Unraid, would rather not run my PC as a thirdparty between them

 

[tdallen]

Hi, it's great that you're ready to setup your server - but this doesn't sound quite right, let me ask some questions.

 

In your inventory of parts you don't mention a 1TB drive, but in your steps you do.  Is that part of the equation?  Also, how much data do you have on the Zyxel NAS?

 

Here's the thing, if you have 3 or 4 or 6TB of data on the Zyxel NAS and you want to copy it to unRAID, you will need the same amount of space on your unRAID server.  And, unfortunately, you can't use the Blue drives for that purpose.  Parity drives are unique - they store parity information, not data.  Also, if designate a drive as parity when it already has data on it, the data will be wiped out - there's no auto-magic migration of data.

 

So based on what you have above, the strategy that seems like it would work is to setup your unRAID server with the two Blues as data drives (and any other drives you want to use as data).  Once all the data is copied over then install the WD Reds and designate them as parity.  Not what you wanted, but it would work if I understand your situation.  There might be other options if the Zyxel NAS isn't full.

 

For copying, use Community Applications to install the Unassigned Devices plugin and then mount the Zyxel NAS directly on your unRAID server.  That will allow you to use Midnight Commander for the copy operation.

 

Oh, and yes - the 60GB SSD should make a good cache drive based on the assumption that you will use it primarily for Dockers.  No pre-clear is required.

 

 

[bman]

Alternately to tdallen's suggestion, if all your "empty" drives are in fact 3TB at the moment, you can use your two Blues as data, and the empty 3TB Red as single parity and have the benefit of parity protection while you're transferring from your other NAS.

 

When all your files are safely onto your unRAID server you can preclear one of the Zyxel drives to be used for another data drive, and designate the last Zyxel drive as second parity. 

 

I don't suspect there's much difference between Red and Blue in terms of overall longevity, but I'd guess the Blue's 2 year warranty versus Red's 3 year means using Blue for unchanging data and Red for parity would offer the longest lifespan overall.

 

 

 

 

[Uggers]

Hey,

 

Thank you for the replies, to clarify a few further points;

 

1) The zyxel only has about 2.8TB of space consumed (out of total 6TB Max), its currently in JBOD

Hence why I assume I could use the single unsed Red 3TB to accept the zyxel data

 

2) Apologies that was a typo, there is no 1TB Red, that should of read 3TB Red

 

3) My thoughts on using the Blue's as Parity was a possible performance increase accessing movies etc using all 3 of the Red as the storage drives.

That and it just seemed tidy in my mind, not that unraid cares about disk size/type other than the parity's being largest or = to largest size drive on the array

 

If it matters, the raid will be powered off fairly regularly when I travel I don't need to access it and previously I used to just sent a WoL packet to my zyxel before I went home to get it start catching up with anything.

Edited May 17, 2017 by Uggers

[tdallen]

That works, then.  You aren't talking about a ton of data, so I'm not sure whether it would be faster to setup parity initially or defer until after the data is copied.  Assuming you defer, setup the array with the 3TB Red as the only data drive, no parity drives assigned yet.  Copy the NAS data to the array, which will be fast since there is no parity setup.  Then assign the Blues as parity drives and allow the parity sync to run, after which your data will be protected.   Then you're ready to bring the other Reds, which will be formatted when they are added to the array.  By the way - dual parity seems like overkill for 3 data drives, but I assume you've thought that through... 

 

Standard disclaimer - parity protection in unRAID, even dual parity, isn't a backup.  You should still have a backup strategy with multiple copies of your data.

[Uggers]

To be honest I didn't really know how the parity bit worked. I was under the impression that if you lost a Parity drive and also lost a array drive then you'd be totally stuffed.

 

If you lost 1 parity and 1 array drive you'd be ok with the 2nd parity.

 

12 minutes ago, tdallen said:

Standard disclaimer - parity protection in unRAID, even dual parity, isn't a backup.  You should still have a backup strategy with multiple copies of your data.

 

I do indeed, I have 2 USB drives with the important data (one at home, one at parents house) plus cloud backup

[tdallen]

38 minutes ago, Uggers said:

To be honest I didn't really know how the parity bit worked. I was under the impression that if you lost a Parity drive and also lost a array drive then you'd be totally stuffed.

 

If you lost 1 parity and 1 array drive you'd be ok with the 2nd parity.

Yep, that's true.  Single parity under unRAID allows you to tolerate the failure of any one drive, dual parity allows you to tolerate the failure of any two drives.  It's more common to see people implement dual parity for large arrays where the potential of two failures is higher, but it's certainly a good idea for any array if your budget and setup can accommodate the extra drive.