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FLEXRAID combined with another OS?

post #1 of 16
11/13/12 at 4:28am
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Currently, I am using unRaid as my OS for my server. So, far it has done a good job for streaming all of my files. However, I am unhappy as to when unRaid will reach a final version. A lot of members at LimeTech forum are very upset due to this matter. I've been thinking for several weeks that I may need to look else where for a better Server to do more than just streaming my media. I've tried to use different plug ins for unraid (SBZ, couchpotato, etc), and I haven't been successful at installing them correctly.

Therefore, I've been looking at possibly making a new server. One with FlexRaid and Windows 7, but I would like to know if there is anyone on this forum who is currently using FlexRaid? What is your current hardware/OS? How easy is to use with other plugins / Services?

Thanks.
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post #2 of 16
11/13/12 at 5:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GusGus748s View Post

Currently, I am using unRaid as my OS for my server. So, far it has done a good job for streaming all of my files. However, I am unhappy as to when unRaid will reach a final version. A lot of members at LimeTech forum are very upset due to this matter. I've been thinking for several weeks that I may need to look else where for a better Server to do more than just streaming my media. I've tried to use different plug ins for unraid (SBZ, couchpotato, etc), and I haven't been successful at installing them correctly.
Therefore, I've been looking at possibly making a new server. One with FlexRaid and Windows 7, but I would like to know if there is anyone on this forum who is currently using FlexRaid? What is your current hardware/OS? How easy is to use with other plugins / Services?
Thanks.

You still don't want to try windows 8 storage pools?
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post #3 of 16
11/13/12 at 8:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlknez View Post

You still don't want to try windows 8 storage pools?

Windows 8 storage pools perforamnce is downright awful!. The performance in my testing is almost 10X slower than unraid. if the performance were good it would be awesome. flexraid is way faster...

what type of throughput are you getting with windows 8 storage pools?

Sean
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post #4 of 16
11/13/12 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sean_w_smith View Post

Windows 8 storage pools perforamnce is downright awful!. The performance in my testing is almost 10X slower than unraid. if the performance were good it would be awesome. flexraid is way faster...
what type of throughput are you getting with windows 8 storage pools?
Sean

The performance I have seen is dependent upon the hardware connection and the speed of the slowest drive in the parity pool as well as the CPU and the memory. This is no different than I have seen using unraid. I have not tried flexraid yet. What makes it faster?
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post #5 of 16
11/13/12 at 12:10pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mlknez View Post

You still don't want to try windows 8 storage pools?

Not really. I really haven't done any research about it since I've been reading a lot of bad reviews of it.
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post #6 of 16
11/13/12 at 5:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GusGus748s View Post

Not really. I really haven't done any research about it since I've been reading a lot of bad reviews of it.

Please point me to a bad review of storage spaces in the release version of windows 8. Thanks.
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post #7 of 16
11/13/12 at 6:37pm
^^^ GG, I haven't been keeping up; when the hell is 5.0 going to go GR?
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post #8 of 16
11/13/12 at 7:10pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mlknez View Post

Please point me to a bad review of storage spaces in the release version of windows 8. Thanks.

I apologize i didn't mean reviews but coments from some people who have tried it.
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post #9 of 16
11/14/12 at 2:28am
I've been using FlexRaid with WHS 2011 for about 9 months now, and I've been very happy with everything. I use it in snapshot mode with storage pooling + Raid infinity with 1x 3TB PPU and 8 DRU's (3x1,5TB, 5x2TB). I'm expanding storage along the way and I've not had any issues with it at all. I have a scheduled parity update every night to keep it in synch.

It used to be free at first, but then from around easter last year you had to pay. I got in on the introduction lifetime offer and to me it's been totally worth it. Using Windows over something like unRaid has its benefits as you can have the server do all sorts of other things without messing around too much with plug-ins etc. WHS 2011 has been great as well and very stable. I only really reboot the server when I install new hardware or similar.
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post #10 of 16
11/14/12 at 2:46am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adrgha View Post

I've been using FlexRaid with WHS 2011 for about 9 months now, and I've been very happy with everything. I use it in snapshot mode with storage pooling + Raid infinity with 1x 3TB PPU and 8 DRU's (3x1,5TB, 5x2TB). I'm expanding storage along the way and I've not had any issues with it at all. I have a scheduled parity update every night to keep it in synch.
It used to be free at first, but then from around easter last year you had to pay. I got in on the introduction lifetime offer and to me it's been totally worth it. Using Windows over something like unRaid has its benefits as you can have the server do all sorts of other things without messing around too much with plug-ins etc. WHS 2011 has been great as well and very stable. I only really reboot the server when I install new hardware or similar.

See that's something I am really interested in. I am getting tired of messing around with Plugins. I just want to install the damn software or hardware and be done with it. I hate trying to figure out if the damn plugin was installed or not, and if it was installed is it working properly. Then I've got to try doing some Linux code, which in no way do I know how.

I think I am going to trying and make a FlexRaid / Win 7 or WHS 2011 server. The only issue I've got so far is that, I've got about 8TB of data that need to be transferred from unRaid eek.gif Got to spend some $$$ on hard drives now.
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post #11 of 16
11/14/12 at 2:56am
Well, give it a go and see how you like it. They have a free trial that lasts for a month (I think). Why do you need to transfer data from unRaid though? Does unRaid alter the file structure of the drives? FlexRaid does not.

When I built the server I looked at unRaid, but since I feared it would restrict me in terms of use that goes beyond it just being a NAS I decided to look at other options. Using Windows with remote access I can easily host, say a game server if I feel like it. I like that freedom.
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post #12 of 16
11/14/12 at 3:09am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adrgha View Post

Well, give it a go and see how you like it. They have a free trial that lasts for a month (I think). Why do you need to transfer data from unRaid though? Does unRaid alter the file structure of the drives? FlexRaid does not.
When I built the server I looked at unRaid, but since I feared it would restrict me in terms of use that goes beyond it just being a NAS I decided to look at other options. Using Windows with remote access I can easily host, say a game server if I feel like it. I like that freedom.

Well, I've got to transfer the data since all of the data might be in multiple drives rather than just one. So, I would like to be on the save side and make a Flexraid server, transfer the data to it. I think I might still use my unRaid server for back up only.


Any recommendations on hardware?
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post #13 of 16
11/14/12 at 3:38am
I see. Well, FlexRaids pooling makes a pretty good effort in putting similar things on the same drive instead of scattering it about.

I don't know about hardware, I suppose it would depend on what you want to do with the server. I just used an Intel 755 board I had lying about, an old HUGE server tower (that can house at least 20 HDD's), and some parts I bought used to keep costs down. SATA controllers are by far the most expensive components in these storage rigs... I've used my 10 available SATA ports now so I'll need to buy another controller ASAP.
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post #14 of 16
11/14/12 at 6:26am
I like what you are saying Adrgha. I'm curious though, how long does the sync take every night?

Bill
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post #15 of 16
11/14/12 at 6:46am
Depends entirely on how much data I've added or changed that day, so it's hard to say. If nothing is changed syncing is obviously skipped. It would also depend on the speed of the HDD's you're using as well the speed of your CPU. Building the parity data with everything from scratch when I built the system took around 12-14 hours if I remember correctly, with about 10TB of data. I've set it to run at 4 AM when there's no chance I'm actually watching anything, and I've never seen it still running when getting up at around 6 AM, at least.
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post #16 of 16
11/14/12 at 7:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adrgha View Post

Depends entirely on how much data I've added or changed that day, so it's hard to say. If nothing is changed syncing is obviously skipped. It would also depend on the speed of the HDD's you're using as well the speed of your CPU. Building the parity data with everything from scratch when I built the system took around 12-14 hours if I remember correctly, with about 10TB of data. I've set it to run at 4 AM when there's no chance I'm actually watching anything, and I've never seen it still running when getting up at around 6 AM, at least.

Thanks for the info. Currently I have about 18TB of data so I imagine the initial PPU creation will take a while, lol. I normally add a few movies a month so after the initial setup I hope it won't be too bad since not all drives will be getting data.

Bill
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