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The original was posted on /r/unraid by /u/minektur on 2023-09-25 18:43:58.
Recently I posted about my rebuilt unraid array that idles at 35W compared to the power guzzler that I had before.
MANY people recommended to me to not use my 4 SSDs as the array, but to make a zfs-cache pool with it instead. The issues are with eventual poor performance due to lack of TRIM at best, or data-loss at worst, depending on the specifics of my SSDs.
I backed up all the data, nuked the config, made a new pool. I have two identical nvme drives and two identical 2.5" sata drives - which are now in a 2x2 mirrored zfs pool. Copied all the data back, but of course you can't operate with just a pool - you MUST have an array drive: With a USB motherboard header adapter I put an ancient 2GB usb stick in (and my unraid usb stick) - no more sticking out the back of the system. I'm happy to have all that stuff internal.
not this exact one, but one very like it:
It's kind of annoying that I have to have a usb "drive" in my array, that the array has to exist - it's not a big deal, but just a minor annoyance.
It also took a little while of fiddling to get ALL the data on the cache rather than the fake-noparity-usb-array. (notes for my future self if I need to repeat this)
- disable VMs and Docker in config
- Set all the shares to be "array->cache"
- run mover
- double check that the array is really empty
- re-enable VMs/Docker in config
- Set all shares to be "cache only"
I might set it up so that the boot/license usb stick gets tar-gz'd onto the actual array usb stick weekly or something - but otherwise, no data on a 15+ year old USB2 stick as my array.
Anyway, my data is all moved back and things are humming along. I also replaced my demo usb stick with my old licensed one (sandisk cruzer). I backed up the old stick, and the new demo stick. Then i basically copied the entire contents of the new stick onto/over the files of the old, made sure my license file was still there, and booted up - it worked first try.
The only real issue I have left is that I have a dmz on my firewall that I had plugged in to a second nic in the old system configured as a bridge for my VMs. Since part of this downgrade was to make it into a 1U shallow-depth case, I ended up in the short run with a usb network adapter, zip-tied to the back of the case. Theoretically it will change to one port of a 82576- based 2 port gig card, once my pcie flexi-riser arrives. Cabling wont be perfect, but it'll all fit in the little telecom rack I've got and once mounted I hope to just not think about it :) I don't need amazing network speeds for these VMs - they're mostly for me playing around, doing research, etc. Not a lot of data in and out - mostly just me via ssh sitting on an open terminal...
Lastly, I am still considering whether undervolt-underclock is worth pursuing for more power reduction.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and suggestions everyone.