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Topic starter
Hi guys :)
I will be very happy if I could get some advise on RAID - and especially on how to get it done right.
I have four HDD's sitting in a ICY BOX, connected to my Mac Pro 6.1 via USB3.
They are not in a RAID mode. All four disks have been formatted/initialized, named and HFS+ journaled via Diskutil in El Capitan.
After reading many suggestions here, I think that it will be a good idea to get them converted into a RAID 5 solution.
Is there a way to get them “SoftRAID’ed” without loosing their content? Or is that a sure way to disaster?
I can't seem to find the answer in the manuals on this site.
Any suggestions and advise or links to where I can read up on a solution will be much appreciated.
Thanks and all the best,
Erik
Posted : 10/10/2016 9:34 am
No, you cannot convert them to RAID 5.
With USB, I would suggest RAID 1+0.
USB is not the best bus for RAID 5.
Posted : 11/10/2016 1:59 am
Topic starter
No, you cannot convert them to RAID 5.
With USB, I would suggest RAID 1+0.
USB is not the best bus for RAID 5.
Thank you for replying :)
So best solution would be to start fresh on new HDD's?
I'm replacing the ICY BOX with a Thunderbolt 2 solution anyway...
Would you go for a Hardware Raid solution or is a software Raid solution just as good? though a bit cheaper...
Whats your opinion these?
AKiTiO Thunder2 Quad (4-bay)
LaCie Thunderbolt 2 (2-bay)
OWC Thunderbolt 2
Thanks,
Erik
Posted : 11/10/2016 2:44 am
Thunderbolt is much better.
Software RAID has more flexibility, allows mixing drives and can better diagnose drives which are starting to have problems.
The only disadvantage of software RAID is if you want to connect it to Windows also.
All Thunderbolt 2 enclosures are certified, so they all will work well.
The Thunderbay from OWC comes with a version of SoftRAID, so you do not have to purchase it separately.
(The Bundled version of SoftRAID has one limitation - that you can only manage drives in the Thunderbay - but if you need to, it can be upgraded to the "retail" version.)
Posted : 11/10/2016 3:02 am
Topic starter
Thunderbolt is much better.
Software RAID has more flexibility, allows mixing drives and can better diagnose drives which are starting to have problems.
The only disadvantage of software RAID is if you want to connect it to Windows also.
All Thunderbolt 2 enclosures are certified, so they all will work well.
The Thunderbay from OWC comes with a version of SoftRAID, so you do not have to purchase it separately.
(The Bundled version of SoftRAID has one limitation - that you can only manage drives in the Thunderbay - but if you need to, it can be upgraded to the "retail" version.)
Great info, thanks!
I will not use Windows.
When I ask about software or hardware RAID solution... it is because, I can see that the Lacie comes with: Hardware RAID 0 (FAST) / 1 (SAFE) / JBOD.
The AKiTiO comes witt: Non-RAID
I think the OWC has Hardware RAID, but I could be wrong.
I'm not really sure what the difference between a Non-RAID and a Hardware-RAID is - and maybe it's not that important.
I'm a Photographer og Graphics Designer, and I have thousands of fairly large files on different HDD's, backups etc...
Thanks,
Erik
Posted : 11/10/2016 9:08 am
The OWC comes with SoftRAID. They do have a hardware RAID model the Qx2, but the Thunderbay is non RAID.
The Akitio does not have hardware RAID
You would use the LaCie in JBOD mode. (It has hardware RAID controller inside the enclosure)
hardware and software RAID work essentially the same, but software RAID uses the CPU's to do the calculations, while hardware RAID uses a chip inside the enclosure.
Posted : 11/10/2016 11:33 am
Topic starter
The OWC comes with SoftRAID. They do have a hardware RAID model the Qx2, but the Thunderbay is non RAID.
The Akitio does not have hardware RAID
You would use the LaCie in JBOD mode. (It has hardware RAID controller inside the enclosure)hardware and software RAID work essentially the same, but software RAID uses the CPU's to do the calculations, while hardware RAID uses a chip inside the enclosure.
Thanks, you are a great help :)
What would you choose?
And one last question...
I just read your first reply again... you say that i cannot convert my HDD's to RAID 5, and you suggest I use RAID 1+0 with USB. I understood your reply as "No I cannot convert them at all", at least not without loosing the data on them - I am confused, and english is not my native language. But Hey..! I bet my danish is way better than yours, right? ;)
All the best,
Erik
Posted : 11/10/2016 12:54 pm
Yes your Danish is better than mine. I suspect so is your German, French and Dutch!
The only convert we support from one RAID level to another is RAID 0 to RAID 1+0.
We do not support converting any volume to RAID 4 or 5.
I try to stay away from recommending specific hardware, because we are a sister company to OWC, so any opinion would be perceived as biased. Also, this forum is for supporting SoftRAID, not to promote specific hardware.
Posted : 11/10/2016 1:19 pm
Topic starter
Yes your Danish is better than mine. I suspect so is your German, French and Dutch!
The only convert we support from one RAID level to another is RAID 0 to RAID 1+0.
We do not support converting any volume to RAID 4 or 5.
I try to stay away from recommending specific hardware, because we are a sister company to OWC, so any opinion would be perceived as biased. Also, this forum is for supporting SoftRAID, not to promote specific hardware.
I didn't know that, and I understand your situation. Respect and kudos to you. Many could learn from that.
My HDD's is not in RAID mode - they sit in the bay as four individual disks. And to "make" them into a RAID mode (for better safety) using SoftRAID is not possible, right?
You have been a great help, so thank you again.
Best regards,
Erik
Posted : 11/10/2016 1:45 pm
You are welcome.
What you need to do is backup, then initiialize each disk with SoftRAID and create a RAID 5 volume. Then copy your data back to the volume.
If you do not have a backup, you need to have backups. ;-)
You can convert volumes to mirror volumes. Mirror volumes are the "safest" type of RAID, but have 50% of the total space reserved for redundancy.
Posted : 13/10/2016 11:19 am
Topic starter
You are welcome.
What you need to do is backup, then initiialize each disk with SoftRAID and create a RAID 5 volume. Then copy your data back to the volume.
If you do not have a backup, you need to have backups. ;-)
You can convert volumes to mirror volumes. Mirror volumes are the "safest" type of RAID, but have 50% of the total space reserved for redundancy.
Thanks :-)
Yeah... I have been reading up a little about the different RAID modes. I wouldn't say that I have made my mind up to which one I will choose. Think that all the info on the internet and peoples suggestions on this and that about RAID, just make the decision more difficult ;-)
I have decided that I will go for a OWC solution that includes Thunderbolt 2.
My USB 3 bay is acting up and getting more and more slow and unstable. I get read-, and write speeds up to 120 MB/sec. and that is way slower than the speeds I was used to have.
The manufactor promises speeds up to 600 MB/sec.
I Know that manufactor speed shall be "taken with a grain of salt"... but 80-120 MB/sec....
Thanks,
Erik
Posted : 13/10/2016 1:01 pm
