SoftUnRAID? - New Features/Suggestions

RE: SoftUnRAID?

mbezzo — Tue, 16 May 2023 17:20:58 +0000

Yes, I imagine this is QUITE the challenge! I'm on the fence buying a full license - I don't "need" it - but if it had this feature, I'd have already purchased! :)

RE: SoftUnRAID?

SoftRAID Support — Tue, 16 May 2023 17:16:45 +0000

@mbezzo

It appears attractive, however, it is pretty complex to do this reliably. the stripe unit size would have to be variable on disks (affects performance), or some other trick has to be performed. And it has to work on "any" hardware, as we offer SoftRAID Pro for any devices users may have. And USB is not that reliable.

So there are many factors why this does not exist yet.

RE: SoftUnRAID?

mbezzo — Tue, 16 May 2023 16:55:45 +0000

Yes, I think this is potentially a HUGE opportunity for SoftRAID - especially now with Drobo filing for bankruptcy. Some sort of hybrid RAID - where you can mix and match disk sizes and easily add/upgrade disks later - like Drobo's Beyond RAID and Synology's hybrid RAID would be amazing. The flexibility it adds along with the "grow at your own pace" by adding disks months or years later is a huge win for ease of use.

RE: SoftUnRAID?

SoftRAID Support — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 22:52:48 +0000

@mwallens

One inaccuracy you have is there is no measurable failure mode difference on HDD's with heavy duty, light duty or cold storage, except for electricity usage. Flash is another story and must be powered.

On a Mac, any connected disk will spin up. Don't know where you save on disk longevity.

RE: SoftUnRAID?

Mwallens — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 21:50:15 +0000

@softraid-support thanks for the fast response. If it matters to you guys, YouTube influencers like Linus swear by it. Take a look at his videos with 45Drives enclosures. You guys know that there are different needs for a scratch drive vs. cold storage, and for video editors looking to warehouse all their raw footage into cold storage, UnRAID is superior to the options you guys offer on SoftRAID. The closest you have is RAID 4 or 5 but those are both striped, so the drives are always spinning. And if it’s truly cold storage for the long haul, and you’re planning on a drive failing here and there, secondary advantage is that the drives are still readable and accessible when you’re rebuilding a failed drive.

RE: SoftUnRAID?

SoftRAID Support — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 21:35:12 +0000

I don't know much about the technical aspects of unRAID, but I can make the suggestion.

SoftUnRAID?

Mwallens — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 21:16:59 +0000

I implore the SoftRAID developers to add an UnRAID-style option, which is basically JBOD with two parity disks. So this would allow me to use your big thunderbay 8, with 6 disks for storage and 2 for parity, but because there’s no striping at all the disks aren’t spinning much, only when you’re using them. This is the ideal setup for “cold storage.” Not a scratch disk for editing but big long term cold storage. Also lets you add disks as you go, so you can grow into the enclosure over time by adding disks.