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NAS for Dummies
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Just an off-topic but slightly related question re overall network/lan configuration. I can think of a few possible configurations, but am not sure if one offers any advantages/disadvantages over the other in terms of network speed (which will be relevant when sending data to the server to be written).
Option 1: Router -> 4-port switch in the same room -> x3 outputs from switch (x2 outputs terminating in a bedroom each) -> final output terminating where the server will be in a utility cupboard
Option 2: Router -> 4-port switch in the same room -> x1 output from switch feeding into bedroom 1 -> 4-port switch in bedroom -> x2 outputs from bedroom switch (one terminating in bedroom 2, the other terminating at the server)
Option 3: Router moved across the room (requires cabling, but eliminates the need for a switch in this room) -> x3 outputs from router following the same path as option 1
Basically, none of the cable runs are hugely long, and well within 5e spec. Am I better having shorter runs, with a switch in the middle, or longer cable runs without a switch in the middle? I tried to illustrate the room configuration in a diagram but lost patience
Well, Option 3 but it begs a big question, I assume you already have Cat5 going from router and switch so why do you have to do any cabling? Are you using the ISP's router or are you bridging it with your own?
Just to give you my two cents, always look to reduce the amount of devices you have to baby sit and keep fed. I'd work towards option 3 every-time.0 -
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Just an off-topic but slightly related question re overall network/lan configuration. I can think of a few possible configurations, but am not sure if one offers any advantages/disadvantages over the other in terms of network speed (which will be relevant when sending data to the server to be written).
Option 1: Router -> 4-port switch in the same room -> x3 outputs from switch (x2 outputs terminating in a bedroom each) -> final output terminating where the server will be in a utility cupboard
Option 2: Router -> 4-port switch in the same room -> x1 output from switch feeding into bedroom 1 -> 4-port switch in bedroom -> x2 outputs from bedroom switch (one terminating in bedroom 2, the other terminating at the server)
Option 3: Router moved across the room (requires cabling, but eliminates the need for a switch in this room) -> x3 outputs from router following the same path as option 1
Basically, none of the cable runs are hugely long, and well within 5e spec. Am I better having shorter runs, with a switch in the middle, or longer cable runs without a switch in the middle? I tried to illustrate the room configuration in a diagram but lost patience
You're better off link teaming your NAS to your switch so its got 2Gb and each client has 1Gb :pac:I plan on using the bios 'wake on rtc' feature to boot the machine at a given time, then using Unraid to stop the array and shutdown at a given time. Hopefully it works as smooth as that!
Most of my parts are here now, here's what I went with in the end:
Ryzen 2700 (overkill for now, but will open up expansions down the line)
Asus Prime X470 Pro
16GB 3000 Ram
WD Green 120GB SSD x2 for cache drives
Phanteks Enthoo Pro Case
Hyper 212 Evo cooler
Evga 650w G3 Gold PSU
Asus GT710 GPU (passively cooled)
Sandisk Cruzer Fit 16GB USB2.0 drive (for Unraid)
All that's left to buy are some Noctua fans for the case, and the actual drives themselves. I'll be going with WD Red's I think (unless I go down the shucking route, I'm not sure about that though). So most parts are here, but x4 6TB Red's is the guts of a grand so I'm a while away from completion.
Not always on? /r/dataHoarder would be sick!
Are you building a 4 disk NAS? Or a 5? Seems like a very big build for very little spinning rust tbh? HBA on the cards?So all the parts are pretty much here, I got the hdd's at a great price on Amazon a few days back, and I'm just waiting on a few small pieces like molex to sata power adapters etc. So I'm beginning to map this all out in my head, and have been watching a fair bit of Unraid content to learn as much as I can before jumping in.
Quick question - I've ~8TB of content sitting on an external hdd, is the best way of getting it onto the array to transfer it over the network, BEFORE allowing the array to parity check? Can that even be done? Also - it seems I can set a particular share to bypass the cache drive(s), is this correct? (I've x2 120GB ssd's providing cache duty, so they're only for handling day to day additions, not the whole 8TB's!)
Install all the drives and don't pool them, test them all for 2-3 days of constant read/writes. That'll throw any clear lemons straight away. Then build the array and stress it. After that comes your data. rsync/Robocopy are fine. 8TB will take about 17hrs with them, if you try explorer.exe itll just crash.0 -
You're better off link teaming your NAS to your switch so its got 2Gb and each client has 1Gb :pac:
I don't know what that means:(Not always on? /r/dataHoarder would be sick!
Nope not always on. It just doesn't sit right with me leaving a pc running 24 hours a day that'll be used for at most maybe 2 hours, more over the weekends. I figure it's a waste of electricity, and needless running for the hardware - bios autoboot via rtc for wakey wakey time, and an Unraid scheduled shutdown for dreamy sleepy nighty snoozy snooze time.
^^ Unless doing so actually is detrimental to the array, I'm fine with that.Are you building a 4 disk NAS? Or a 5? Seems like a very big build for very little spinning rust tbh? HBA on the cards?
x2 SSD cache drives (which I believe Unraid will Raid 1 them)
x4 WD Red 6TB's for the array itself (x3 for data, x1 for parity).
I went with the Enthoo Pro because if offers me in-case expandability down the road. The current size utilises all x6 sata ports on the mobo, so if I do need to expand (Serephucus reckons I'll have to anyway :P) then I'll utilise some sort of expansion card yeah, I remember someone saying something about SAS cards? Not very up on them tbh.Install all the drives and don't pool them, test them all for 2-3 days of constant read/writes. That'll throw any clear lemons straight away. Then build the array and stress it. After that comes your data. rsync/Robocopy are fine. 8TB will take about 17hrs with them, if you try explorer.exe itll just crash.
Cheers for this. How would I go about testing them for a few days with constant read/writes, is there something within Unraid to do that? Will look into rsync and robocopy, didn't want to do something like this with explorer so cheers for the tips!0 -
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A few hours later, I've data migrating, various plugins installed and running, a mariadb docker image running and managing my Kodi library (successfully providing db services to multiple kodi clients), a Pihole docker image running and configured, and a shutdown schedule plugin installed configured with a Cron code...
...a few hours previously I'd not have understood my own post
I have to say, Unraid is the bees knees. It's INCREDIBLY simple to use and set up (with patient reading of various guides and tutorials etc), and I've not had one single issue throughout the process yet (punching a piece of wood here as I type). My only issue was trying to wrap my head around split level settings for a given share, it seems to be explained in a manner I'm not wired to understand. I think I have it now, but we'll see as the data migrates...
Massive thanks to all here who have helped and kindly advised, in particular Serephucus, t'was all his idea so it was!0 -
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