Considered the drobo, but the performance is lacking.


Going to go with an online storage too.

 

Any update?

 

Works as advertised. It's a pretty simple device, no remote admin, etc. But it's fast, quiet and so far so good.

 

And now the backup device died (evidently)... Not sure what happened, but they're sending me a new one.

Question... I have a drive dock, to where I can insert a 2.5" or 3.5" internal drive and connect it via USB, etc. In a traditional RAID setup, can the individual disks be checked for integrity issues? Tech support was sure that it was a device issue and they if a drive had failed, the device would have told me, etc... I just want to make sure it's not a drive.

I don't know enough of how RAID configs work and if you can check a one disk at a time that has been used in this manner? And this would of course be on a mac...

 

Well a RAID drive outside of an array is gibberish. it's not even formatted, it requires the other drives cause with their powers combined (and captain planet) they make a single disk

In my limited experiencing connecting an individual disk that was in RAID array the disk shows up as RAW format in Windows which means it ain't working. So you couldn't do a read or write test to it. maybe you could do some low level tests but nothing with partitions. I'm sure stogie knows.

 

Don't mess around with the individual disks.

 

You can run diagnostic tools on a raid disk just as you would any other drive. Won't hurt anything but most all the diagnostic tools require it be hooked through a serial/ide cable(whichever interface the drive is) not a usb cable.

 

No point trying anything until the new controller shows up. Make sure you re-insert the drives in the same order (duh) and it should be fine.

Probably was the power supply in the unit. Were ANY fans spinning when you flipped the power on?

 

Yea, tech support said don't do it.

The fan was going at warp speed. The last backup was performed at 5:30am yesterday and my wife called me around 7am saying the alarm was going off.

None of the lights on the device indicated a drive failure, so....

My only issue is that the feedback on the various e-tailers are that most > 1TB drives, specifically Seagate and WD are crap. So I immediately thought I got a shit drive, or two.

Replacement will be here tomorrow. Time will tell.

 

Well, the nice thing about a RAID is if you get a shit drive, it's no biggy. Throw a replacement in and let it rebuild. You did have a redundant RAID setup, right? Not JBOD or simple striping?

 

RAID 5

Tech support was fairly confident that I I will be able put the drives back in (in the same order) and be a-ok.

 

Nice. No worries then.

 

You say that, but until I get the new device up and running...

Do RAID devices leave some sort of a signature on them, such that the disks are tied to that device. May sound like a stupid question... Tech support says I won't have any issues, so I have already answered my question. However, could these be transferred into another device that supports RAID 5?

 

The device itself, not really no. The controller (which should be the same in your replacement as your original) yes, but in the way it wrote the data, not so much a "serial number that must match" kind of situation.

 

I am no expert on controllers, but my understanding is that they use a certain "logic" to write the data. Two differing controllers may use the same logic, but two identical controllers do use the same logic. The logic is what is used to disassemble the data for striping, parity, etc... and also for re-assembly and presentation to the OS.

 

so there's no standard(s) for logic(s)?

 

Good question, but I think the answer is" There are but most vendors don't wholly abide by them"...


At this point, though, I am guessing...

 

I have never heard of anyone moving a RAID array between different brand of controllers. Most (all?) modern controllers write a copy of the RAID configuration to the disks. That way if the controller dies a replacement controller can read the configuration off of the disks and be ready to go.

 

Well, the replacement does the exact same thing.

So...... Either I have really bad luck or it's a bad disk or two or four. However, there's no indication the disks are bad on the device.

The tech did have the nerve to tell me that they have not tested the device with the WD 1.5TB Green's, which makes me a bit annoyed. Are RAID devices particular about what disks they use?

So now I'm on the fence. I am really thinking about returning the RAID and the disks and going another route. This is all really silly.

Not to mention, the strong likelihood of data loss. Pisses me off.

Can anyone recommend some reliable high density hard drives? Should I just buy a fucking drobo?

 

Hmm, I've read of issues with those Green drives. They have some kind of automatic spin down or something that gives certain devices fits. I've never used one myself though.

Since you are basically screwed try reformatting them or something.

 

Scrib, I can affirmatively vouch for the MicroNet products, as I use them regularly. You may pay a bit more, but they just work.

Take a look at the smartNAS or the maxNAS. FYI you CAN buy them unpopulated so ask what the price difference is and weigh the idea of buying your own drives. They may not willingly let on that you can but I did, although I was buying three units at once...

 

Uh-oh I think I know what your problem is! You see those 1.5tB WD Greens? It says they have 64mB of cache on them doesn't it? It does. While having 64mB of cache isn't the problem the problem is the WD greens that have 64mB ALSO have a new advanced format technology that uses a 4kB sector instead of the 512B sector that has been standard for many years.


Read up!
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2888

Your RAID controller isn't compatible with it. You need new drives, they aren't bad just not compatible. So far AFAIK only WD uses this tech (they invented it) so if you stay with WD look for ones with 32mb cache. Go Caviar Black! I have two 1.5tb caviar blacks that don't have this tech and they're faster than the greens.

/thread

 

I don't see the caviar blacks with the 512b option. They are now 64MB and 4k.

 

The blacks have 64mb cache just cause. AFAIK from my research and based on what WD website says only the Caviar Greens that have 64MB cache also have the Advanced Format right now.

It's prominently listed in the WD green page
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=773

while it isn't mentioned at all on the WD black page
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=733

 

I am leaning towards hitachi.

 

Done. Four 2TB hitachi's on the way. Greens are being RMA'ed.

 

I hope this works for you...

 

Me too...

 

Well, it was the drives. I ended up formatting them drives and am now in the process of zeroing them out before they are returned.

 

Shouldn't take too long.

 

17 hours to go.

 

I'd do the Gutman 35 pass wipe just to be sure! Stogie how long will the 35 pass wipe take on 6tb's of storage? It shouldn't be too bad, right?

 

better run that twice to be sure...

 

fo sho! you can never be too cautious...

 

One pass should be sufficient, no?

 

Yes, Stunta was being redonkulous.

 

This has been an interesting read the past few days.
.
I've thought about getting a drobo, but they're just so damn expensive. Then you have to by the drives on top of it.

I just don't like having a single drive store all my photos in case something was to happen to it.

 

Unless you think the FBI is going to intercept your RMA package, get a hold of one of those raid boxes, and try to rebuild it.