Suggested Settings/Configuration for New Convert?

[Dizzy]

I'm a long time FlexRAID user, and while the protection appeared to be there the reality is that it never really worked for me.

 

I will have a pool with 14 drives (10x 3TB, 2x 4TB and 2x 5TB drives).  The majority of my data is media (about 18TB) and not practical to duplicate it all.  I have another 2-3TB of personal files, work files, pics etc that I would like to duplicate.

I will also be running the Scanner software.  I understand that if I want to be fully protected I'd need to spend a ton of money on Enterprise drives, hardware RAID, etc, etc, etc.  I'm looking for settings/configuration (for both Drivepool and Scanner) that will offer me good protection/prevention.

 

I hooked up some old drives to my existing FlexRAID server and installed Drivepool and Scanner to play with it.  I need to play with Drivepool a bit more to understand how it works... I had one drive with data on it, and it added the free space to the pool, and there was a drive with just the data on it that remained.  I moved the data, but it didn't remove the now empty drive.  It scanned the drives, and one was a complete mess (but still worked), so it warned me it was going to die.  Another has always had heat issues, and it gave me a warning about the temp.  That's great, and as long as I have 5TB free it should copy files off the drive to minimize the risk of data loss.

 

Any suggestions for actual setup/configuration?  Tips for a newb?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Umfriend]

As I read it, you have 48TB capacity and 21TB of data. I would duplicate all as I assume you do not make backups and do want to be at least somewhat protected. Duplication <> backup but at least you are likely not to lose anything in case of a single HDD failure. It will leave about 6TB free (although, due to duplication it would only be about 3TB net).

 

I would consider adding one or two (or four) 8TB Seagate Archive HDDs. They are cheap per TB and read like crazy. There is a write-performance penalty but, frankly, I do not see that affecting your system as it would hit only when you have a lot of writes and I assume most of your data is actually static. It will leave you with a lot of room to move data to from current HDDs that start to fail.

 

The is a File Placement add-in that helps you to ensure that media files that belong to each other or not scattered over many HDDs (you could get it to have groups of files to be written to two HDDs only) but I do not use it and can not actually help with that.

 

I am usnure what you mean exactly by "I had one drive with data on it, and it added the free space to the pool, and there was a drive with just the data on it that remained.  I moved the data, but it didn't remove the now empty drive."

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Dizzy,

 

There are a couple of links you should check out:

• http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q4142489
  This is for "seeding" the pool. I'm not sure if you need it, but it specifically goes over how to move existing data into the pool without spending hours and hours copying the data onto the pool drive.
   
• http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q4822624
  So you can mount the pooled drives to a folder, so they're accessible, but not cluttering up the "This PC" section. 

 

And yes, if you clarify the specific sentence used...

 

 

 

 

And I completely agree with umfriend about the duplicated data. As somebody that felt the same way as you about the media stuff.... when I lost a few drives, I .... still haven't been able to replace some of the data lost. It bugs me, but there isn't really anything I can do about it. 

Additionally duplicated data has the added benefit of read striping, which may boost or optimize performance for the system.

 

http://stablebit.com/Support/DrivePool/2.X/Manual?Section=Performance%20Options

[Dizzy]

The Archive drives would probably be good for me since I have a lot of static data.

I actually just picked up two 5TB Toshiba drives for $130ea.  Can't beat that price.  I'm trying to get them in a pool to load them up and test them out to see if they will be decent.  I'm mostly concerned about the heat.

 

My goal is to expand my server, and gain some reasonable protection.  In the last 15+ years I've had a media server, I've had 5 drives die on me.  3 of them in a short time (all WD Green drives).  Every time I was notified (or could tell) that the drive was going out, and I moved the data off and I haven't lost any data.

 

I've tried hardware raid solutions, but they were too rigid.  The two software raid solutions I've tried have been fairly decent.  FlexRAID is decent, but it's a PITA to rebuild, scans come back with all kinds of errors and can't do anything about it, and to be frank, I feel that it isn't well supported.

 

I feel that if I duplicate 20+TB of data, that it's a HUGE waste.  At that point, I might as well run a RAID solution and just take a 1-2 drive hit on space instead of 50% hit    I will absolutely duplicate my personal files.  I'm looking for some middle ground on the media.

 

 

 

 

 

"I had one drive with data on it, and it added the free space to the pool, and there was a drive with just the data on it that remained.  I moved the data, but it didn't remove the now empty drive."

I have two drives with data already on them.  I added them to the pool.  Previously I expected the data to be automatically added to the Drivepool drive, but after some reading I discovered that is not the case.  My Computer window now looks like this: http://prntscr.com/8t73ld

I then moved the data from the drives (E: and G:) to the Drivepool drive (D:).  I expected Drivepool to consume the drives completely (increasing the Drivepool drive), and for the individual drives to disappear... But they did not.  Now I have: http://prntscr.com/8t7b2m

 

That's going to look very ugly with 14 drives    I like how FlexRAID removes the drives (and drive letter) from My Computer.

 

 

http://wiki.covecube...vePool_Q4142489

That one makes sense, and will be handy when I'm moving the data from my FlexRAID drives.

 

 

http://wiki.covecube...vePool_Q4822624

That one makes a lot less sense, but it could be because I don't yet understand exactly how Drivepool works.

Right now I'm fighting with my server and the drive letters which doesn't help...

 

 

 

Note:  The Toshiba drives are hitting 116F under load, and about 104F idle...  I think they may be going back  I can probably pick up one 8TB for the price of them... Net loss of 2TB 

Now I need to figure out how to get the SMART readings working from my LSI 9201 16i so I can see what temps the other drives are running right now.

 

I found this post, but it means nothing.

[Umfriend]

From those screenprints, I would guiess that you moved data from E:\ and G:\ (about 100-120GB in total) to somewhere else or deleted it?

 

DP will not delete the drive letters, you can still use the HDDs outside of the Pool as well (although, why would you make things difficult like that?). You _can_ do it yourself, see post by Drashna. In my experience, DP is made with the idea to be as little intrusive as possible, it will not, by default, make any changes to your system which could cause all kinds of issues (as in for axample certain programs needing data on certain driveletters).

[Dizzy]

From those screenprints, I would guiess that you moved data from E:\ and G:\ (about 100-120GB in total) to somewhere else or deleted it?

 

DP will not delete the drive letters, you can still use the HDDs outside of the Pool as well (although, why would you make things difficult like that?). You _can_ do it yourself, see post by Drashna. In my experience, DP is made with the idea to be as little intrusive as possible, it will not, by default, make any changes to your system which could cause all kinds of issues (as in for axample certain programs needing data on certain driveletters).

 

I like unintrusive, but as long as you can point to the DP drive, then it shouldn't be a problem not having the drives accessible.  I've had some odd mapping issues with FlexRAID, but mostly because I rarely restart the server and I've added and removed drives.

 

I just got all my new hardware for my server build (Going from an Atom processor with 2GB of ram to a Xeon with 32GB).  I also picked up a LSI 9207 8i.  I REALLY need to get the SMART readings working on these before I even think about doing anything else

[Christopher (Drashna)]

I like unintrusive, but as long as you can point to the DP drive, then it shouldn't be a problem not having the drives accessible.  I've had some odd mapping issues with FlexRAID, but mostly because I rarely restart the server and I've added and removed drives.

 

I just got all my new hardware for my server build (Going from an Atom processor with 2GB of ram to a Xeon with 32GB).  I also picked up a LSI 9207 8i.  I REALLY need to get the SMART readings working on these before I even think about doing anything else

 

Just FYI: StableBit DrivePool uses the Volume ID's to access the drive (run "mountvol", the "\\?\Volume{xxxx}" paths, that's what we use). IT doesn't matter if the pooled disks have a letter, are mounted to a folder, or not at all.  It will still use them.

 

But as umfriend mentioned, the software is meant to be as unobtrusive as possible, and not "hijack" your drives. 

 

 

Since we use the Volume IDs, you can move them around and change the mount points (or letters) without any issues. 

 

 

I think you'd like my server, and how it's setup.  In "This PC"/My Computer, there is only C:\ and S:\ (the pool)  and "T:\" (temp storage/downloading).  

All the pooled drives (all 18 of them) are mounted to folders in C:\DrivePool. Which is exactly what FlexRAID does. And is what the guild I linked you instructs you how to do. 

 

If you would like, I'll post detailed pics of my config, so you can take a look. 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the SMART data... I'm guessing that StableBit Scanner is not getting any SMART data from the drives on the LSI controller? 

If so, this is relatively normal. 

 

To fix the issue:

 

1. Click on the Settings button in the toolbar and select Scanner Settings.
2. Enable the Show advanced settings and information option, and hit "OK".
   • You will only need to do this once, from now on, it will always display this option.
3. Click on Settings, and select the new Advanced Settings and information option.
4. Open the Configuration Properties tab.
5. Find the "DirectIO" section, and check the "Unsafe" option.
6. Reboot the server, or restart the "StableBit Scanner Service" (run "services.msc" to do so)

Once you've done that, you should be able to get SMART data from the drives on the card.

[Dizzy]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!  I keep seeing references to the "Unsafe" option in various posts, but could never find it.

 

Found some interesting info...

My Barracuda XTs appear to be running about 96F, and my WD Red's 86F on average.  Lifetime max of 122F and 115F...  And max operating temp of 130F and 156F!

 

Those Toshibas I got were averaging 111F and hit 132F at one point.   Nonstop SMART warnings on them.  Max operating temp of 132 on them... Hmmm...

 

I pulled them out and they are going back and I'll replace them with one of the Seagate Archive drives.

 

Once the new Archive drive arrives I'll upgrade my server from the paltry Atom D525 with a whopping 2GB of ram to the Xeon E3-1276 with 32GB of ram

 

Yes, I'd love some shots of your setup.  Thanks!

 

Edit:  I tweaked the airflow and secured the drivebay screws to the Toshiba drives so the heat can disapate on them.  After 8 hours under full load they are 95.6F and 96F.  So I may keep them afterall

[Christopher (Drashna)]

You're very welcome.  

If ever have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them here: https://stablebit.com/Contact

 

 

And it's really odd... I have 3 different LSI cards (well, two now), and none of them have required the unsafe direct IO setting. Some systems do, some don't. It's ... really odd. 

 

But glad I was able to direct you to the setting, so you can get the SMART and temperature data!

 

 

 

And glad to hear that you got the airflow fixed and the drives running cooler! 

Though you can use the disk settings to change the max temp, if it is an issue. I do so for my USB drive as it's external ... and will run hotter.

[Dizzy]

"And glad to hear that you got the airflow fixed and the drives running cooler! "

 

Biggest thing was that I had the cover off, and it made a HUGE difference when I put it back on.  Makes sense though, with the cover on, the air is forced through the front where the drives are.  I also closed the vents on the bays where I didn't have drives.

 

If I upgrade this, or rebuild using a 4224 I will be getting the 120mm fan wall.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Yup, that would do it.

Personally, I don't mind the 80mm fan wall.

However, if I do upgrade my 4220, it will be to a 4224, and I will be installing 5x tornado fans.

I'm not as worried about sound. My 1U hyperV system is much louder.