[xecutionx]

As long as they don't suspect fraud and your flash failure story is genuine, I don't think you would have any problem getting a replacement license from them.

I haven't seen a case of a flash drive failure on their forums, even after browsing thousands of posts.

If you don't want to purchase unraid, then it's your loss. I'm a 20 year old college student and I saved up and bit the bullet (and I rarely make software purchases). It's worth the money, open source or not and I have been extremely happy with the level of support given.

In regards to those who say it should be free, then why do people purchase bottled water? Convenience, no? Unraid is very simple to setup, especially when compared to some of the other software based RAID setups out there.

[Subliminal Aura]

Honestly I wish Unraid was more open too, if only so I could rip it's features off primitive Slackware and move it to something modern like Debian/Ubuntu.

You can always debootstrap Debian or Ubuntu

[wsume99]

I haven't seen a case of a flash drive failure on their forums, even after browsing thousands of posts.

It does happen (there are a few posts) but like was previously said if you have a genuine failure then Limetech will send you a new key. The reason you probably don't hear a lot of complaints is because it is handled properly.

[edz2k9]

Hi all.

Many thanks for the points, sounds like its a fairly safe proposal then.

I haven't seen a case of a flash drive failure on their forums, even after browsing thousands of posts.

Maybe, but I'm an infrastructure engineer by profession so single points of failure (in this case 2, a drive that cant be backed up and a single small company supporting it) scare me from a design perspective. In this case, since I'm not going to buy a spare license just in case, all I can do is buy a resiliant flash drive which is scarey...

If you don't want to purchase unraid, then it's your loss. I'm a 20 year old college student and I saved up and bit the bullet (and I rarely make software purchases). It's worth the money, open source or not and I have been extremely happy with the level of support given.

And

In regards to those who say it should be free, then why do people purchase bottled water? Convenience, no? Unraid is very simple to setup, especially when compared to some of the other software based RAID setups out there.

Oops if that was for me I’ll just clarify, I’ve been in coms and IT 22 years I have no problems paying for software generally or this specifically, it seems like a very cool bit of software and a good fit for what I want to do. Yes, I do use a lot of “free” software – ubuntu, xbmc etc but they are by far the best solutions within budget for what I need or want to do. I also use windows xp, windows 7, osx and a myriad of packages from eclipse to photoshop cs2. I just worry that, in this case the license is tied to a piece of hardware that in turn ties to the core of the system. Failed pen drive = no media = family coming after me.

[Choque]

From what I understand about unRAID if you remove the HDDs from your server and plug them to a normal PC you can access the files which are on the HDD like it's a normal HDD

[edz2k9]

From what I understand about unRAID if you remove the HDDs from your server and plug them to a normal PC you can access the files which are on the HDD like it's a normal HDD

I do believe you're correct but since this is the core of a multi-pc and media player system that wont really help. Since the point here is to maintain access (hence the use of unraid in the first place rather than using, say, ubuntu and JBOD).

To clarify I think the approach of unraid is very good. I've looked at ZFS etc and freenas. All are great but I dont want (and cant afford) to drive-mirror hence ZFS drops off the list. Since unraid / parity allows for stability and easy expansion without striping across discs (hence the ability you mention above to remove and read a single disc from the array) in conjunction with a decent backup procedure of non-easily-replacable media (e.g. backing up docs, photos, home movies and non-ripped media) makes the most sense.

I just question the use of a protection mechanism (locking you to one piece of hardware which allows access to your > 3 HDD array) that seems at odds with the whole concept of using something like a "raid" or "unraid" idea (ensuring any piece of data can be rebuilt from the parity drive) to ensure continuity of service.

[maxinc]

There are other, more expensive, bits of hardware that are more likely to fail such a mainboard, a SATA controller or HDDs, all of which would cause a certain amount of downtime depending on how much redundant infrastructure you are willing to invest into.

For absolute piece of mind, getting a backup license which you could either keep in the safe or use it to build a second backup server, could be an attractive idea.

If downtime is really not an option, than a second mirror server needs to be in place and this would apply for any type or NAS.

[wsume99]

From what I understand about unRAID if you remove the HDDs from your server and plug them to a normal PC you can access the files which are on the HDD like it's a normal HDD

That is correct except for one caveat ... the system has to be able to read a reiserfs filesystem. You could always just use the free version of unraid and mount 2 data drives at a time to copy the data off the drives.


The issue is not one of do you lose your data when your flash drive fails but how much will it cost you to access it? If your flash drive fails you have three options...

1. Limetech gives you another license key so you can use your existing license on another flash drive (Cost = 1 flash drive = ~$10)
   
2. Limetech does not provide an additional key so you have to purchase one (Cost = 1 flash drive + new license = ~$80 unRAID Plus or ~$130 unRAID Pro)
   
3. Abandon unRAID and retreive data using another system (Cost = free)
   

In my opinion option #1 is the most likely outcome. I think that Limetech recognizes that they would lose a substantial amount of business if they did not provide replacement keys in the event of a failed flash drive. Limetech also offers a package where you can get 2 keys for just a little more than the cost of a single key. The thought being that you'd have a hot spare in the event of a flash drive failure. I believe this package was developed to address concerns about continuity of service that you mention.

[Choque]

Option 2 = $110 ? Isn't the Plus version (which supports up to 6 HDDs) only $69? But I guess Limetech will give you another license key if they have no reason to think there's some fraud going on.

[TugboatBill]

Maybe, but I'm an infrastructure engineer by profession so single points of failure (in this case 2, a drive that cant be backed up and a single small company supporting it) scare me from a design perspective. In this case, since I'm not going to buy a spare license just in case, all I can do is buy a resiliant flash drive which is scarey...

If you feel single points of failure are important for HT media then you're planning on a full offsite hardware/media backup in case of theft/fire, right?

[wsume99]

I was assuming that it was the pro option @ $99 but apparently it is $119. My mistake. Hopefully you didn't have a heart attack over that one. I've corrected my previous post.

[edz2k9]

If you feel single points of failure are important for HT media then you're planning on a full offsite hardware/media backup in case of theft/fire, right?

Lumps taken, for the photos/home video, important docs (wills etc etc) and music collection I have a triple backup at the mo (no raid at the mo) the main on server, an rsynced version over to my machines external drive and an NTFS formated TB drive I keep locked up at work.

The general video rips dont get backed up (the originals are the backups) but anything not ripped (e.g. TV recordings that have ended up in the media collection or VHS conversions) are backed up on another drive but not taken offsite.

I did read on - i think - pimp my server (or something similar) about someone who had two 20+ drive (e.g. 40TB + parity) boxes who was syncing them line of site with wireless after an initial sync over gigabit

(EDIT: it was on hardforum.com)

[edz2k9]

Righty o, progress has been made (at least online) today.

I have a rather nice 4 x 3.5 and 4 x 5.25 bay case in the garage with an older motherboard / 2.6GHZ / 1GB RAM motherboard. But with no SATA ports. With 2 Sata ports on it (need to replace that garage light!)

A quick purchase of 2 4 port SATA PCI cards later and that should be fine for this version of the server.

A further visit to scan and:

1 Coolermaster Full Alloy 4 in 3 Devices Module

1 650W Coolermaster RS650-ACAAE3-UK GX, 80 PLUS, 85% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, , EPS 12V, 120mm Fan

And..the bit with real pain...

4 2TB Western Digital WD20EARS Caviar Green, SATA 3Gb/s, IntelliPower, 64MB Cache, 8ms

So now I await lots of parcels and a build then, yes, a visit to get the plus license from unraid and then lots and lots and lots of population from my current 4 1TB external NTFS drives.....

What I found really upsetting is the lack of good pc shops nowadays. I've always been prepared to pay a little over internet prices for good service and equipment but all thats left down here in Bournemouth / Poole is the usual PC World / Currys / Maplin stores. None of which had a power supply that could handle more than 2 SATA drives....

Ah well, next week it is.

In the meantime I can wait for the ebay 24 port switch that I snagged for £20 :p I'll need that to add the new server into my network!

[maxinc]

A quick purchase of 2 4 port SATA PCI cards later and that should be fine for this version of the server.

I hope you meant PCI-E controllers and not basic PCI, otherwise is going to take a very long time to build up the parity for those 2TB Drives.

[edz2k9]

I hope you meant PCI-E controllers and not basic PCI, otherwise is going to take a very long time to build up the parity for those 2TB Drives.

Yes...and no...

I have both since the board only had 1 pcie slot. In the meantime I'll prep the drives via my development box and then let them run empty, no rush for it to be ready. Phase 2 of the build will see a new box with ~16 sata ports on the motherboard. This is to get me out of a tight slot with the current system that led to 4 1 TB USB drives!!