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How to "secure" my Drivepool?


Fredrick

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Hi,

 

I've recently suffered another drive failure, which is causing me to re-evaluate how I secure my data. This is my current set up:

- Replaceable files (media, remuxed blu-rays etc.) are stored non-duplicated on the Drivepool

- Irreplaceable files like personal photos, documents etc are duplicated, stored on a second computer, and most of it is also in the cloud.

 

The problem when loosing a drive with this set up is the time it takes to recover lost "replaceable" files, and a struggle to identify which items was on the failed drive. As I see it there are multiple options:

 

Duplicate all data in the pool

  • Unfortunately a costly solution due to need for extra drives. Provides a fast way of recovering from drive failures

Upload all data to cloud

  • Annual cost of about 99$ for my cloud providers unlimited plan. Bandwidth is not a problem, but file recovery will still take quite a lot of time. 

RAID-solutions outside of Drivepool

  • Not really interested in this solution. Requires formatting to get started, still need to purchase extra drives.

--

 

I'm currently at about 30TB Pool, if I'm going for duplication I'd need 3 more 8tb drives, which is fairly expensive here in Norway (about 300$ per drive)

 

Any comments or other suggestions? What would you do?

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I'm sorry to hear about the drive failure, as that is never a pleasant experience!  

('ve definitely been there, so I totally understand your pain). 

 

 

First, keep in mind that redundancy (mirroring, duplication, etc) is NOT backup.  If you delete a copy of a file, all copies of it are deleted.  Redundancy is meant to minimize downtime, and to make it less of a hassle to restore/repair your storage array. 

 

Storing it offsite (eg, in the Cloud, a safety deposit box, etc) is a great idea, especially for those irreplaceable files. 

 

 

 

Honestly, you've pretty much hit upon all of the good options here, and their pros and cons. 

 

 

That said, duplication is probably going to be the best option. Yes, expensive, but it's going to be the most reliable when dealing with drive failure. 

 

 

As for uploading to the cloud, you may want to check out CrashPlan or BackBlaze, as these services are specifically designed to handle that. 
Otherwise, ... shamelessly, you may want to check out StableBit CloudDrive to handle this. 

 

 

 

As for RAID solutions ... a simple solution may actually to use SnapRAID in conjunction with StableBit DrivePool.  You'd still need a single, large drive (equal to or larger than any single drive it's protecting).  It's snapshot parity, and should be able to recover data from a failed drive.   You'd only need to purchase (or maybe re-appropriate) a single drive. 

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As for RAID solutions ... a simple solution may actually to use SnapRAID in conjunction with StableBit DrivePool.  You'd still need a single, large drive (equal to or larger than any single drive it's protecting).  It's snapshot parity, and should be able to recover data from a failed drive.   You'd only need to purchase (or maybe re-appropriate) a single drive. 

 

I am doing exactly this.  Works well, although I have yet to go through a drive failure (I just set this up on a new build last month).  Seemed like the best balance of pooling and redundancy available for a good price point.  I do also backup all my critical files to an external USB hard drive twice a week.

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I am doing exactly this.  Works well, although I have yet to go through a drive failure (I just set this up on a new build last month).  Seemed like the best balance of pooling and redundancy available for a good price point.  I do also backup all my critical files to an external USB hard drive twice a week.

 

We have a number of users that have restored.  It can be a bit tricky with DrivePool, due to how the software works, but it does work.  

 

There are a few threads on the forum that do go over this,  actually. 

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Thanks for the feedback. Since posting this I've seen really bad symptons from more drives. Currently troubleshooting, but looks like two more drives are failing. 

 

They are running a bit hot, but not too bad (about 45c). Even changed PSU since the first one failed. 

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Ouch, I'm very sorry to hear that. 

 

45C isn't hot enough to cause issues really, unless the drives are *very* bad. 

 

 

That said, check ... everything.  Run a memory test, CPU stress test.  Check the storage controller (stableBit scanner's "burst test" can do this).  Swap out SATA cables.  Et cetera. 

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Ran 24hrs memtest without error. (42gb ecc ram). 

 

Ran Burst test for 24 hours without error

 

Already tried different sata cables (swapped when also changing the PSU). Havn't tried stressing the CPU, no VM has access to full CPU atm. 

 

So far my best theory is that my previous two drive failures were pretty random. One was pretty old. And the last two was a bad batch (drives bought at the same time, failed in the first month, similar symptoms). Bad luck, but 

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