USB RAID 1

damnforums · Apr 3rd 2019

Hello,

i realy dont like forums but i could not find a proper answer. Is there a way i can toggle a setting in the config somewhere so usb connected devices still show up? I dont want to hear that it would be a bad idea or stuff like that. I use two 1TB HDDs connected with a Sata USB 3.1 connector and want to create a raid with those. I use a raspi and i dont care much about the speed. Its only use will be to store rather small music files and those are added rarely. My problem is that USB devices are not listed under Raid. if it does not work i will use mdadm for the raid and samba for sharing or something like that. Atleast i could use the raspi for other things too that way.

geaves · Apr 3rd 2019

Quote from damnforums

My problem is that USB devices are not listed under Raid

That's right that option was disabled, gone, bad idea!!

raulfg3 · Apr 3rd 2019

sorry that you can't ear, but use USB in a NAS to store valuable Data is the worse idea you can have.

tkaiser · Apr 3rd 2019

Quote from damnforums

I dont want to hear that it would be a bad idea

It's not a bad but a horrible idea for two reasons

with a primitive mdraid-1 you waste one disk for almost nothing (who needs data availability at home?)
in case you trust in RAID protecting your data and skip backup you're very likely to loose your data since mdraid with USB only works as long as you don't need it.

So better overthink your decision, stop to play RAID and focus on data safety. With two USB disks connected to a RPi using the rsnapshot plugin will provide you with way better data safety compared to a useless mdraid-1 which will fail with USB disks anyway once you need to rely on the array.

jollyrogr · Apr 3rd 2019

Quote from damnforums

I dont want to hear that it would be a bad idea or stuff like that.

Might as well just delete your data now and save yourself the hassle.

macom · Apr 3rd 2019

Quote from damnforums

i realy dont like forums

Great way to introduce yourself. Welcome to the forum.

Quote from damnforums

if it does not work i will use mdadm for the raid and samba for sharing or something like that. Atleast i could use the raspi for other things too that way.

Even if you use OMV you can use the RPi for something else. There are a lot of plugins. There is Docker. And you can even install directly on the OS which is beneath OMV.

You should really look into rsnaphot-plugin as an alternative to RAID.

bkp_42 · Oct 1st 2021

So, RAID configuration for external USB storage... Do the following at your own risk. As others have said, it's not a great idea, but if you are determined to do it, here's how you can fool OMV into letting you proceed.

a) install the LVM plugin available from omv-extras

b) Add each of your USB drives to LVM under Physical Volumes. disk1, disk2, disk3, etc.

c) Create a Volume Group for each physical volume. group1, group2, group3, etc.

c) Create a logical volume for each volume group. volume1, volume2, volume3, etc.

d) Head on over to RAID configuration, and all of your logical volumes should be available.

Best of luck!

carriba · Dec 6th 2021

Quote from bkp_42

So, RAID configuration for external USB storage... Do the following at your own risk. As others have said, it's not a great idea, but if you are determined to do it, here's how you can fool OMV into letting you proceed.

a) install the LVM plugin available from omv-extras
b) Add each of your USB drives to LVM under Physical Volumes. disk1, disk2, disk3, etc.
c) Create a Volume Group for each physical volume. group1, group2, group3, etc.
c) Create a logical volume for each volume group. volume1, volume2, volume3, etc.
d) Head on over to RAID configuration, and all of your logical volumes should be available.

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Is this a workaround for the above said? There is no "undocumented" feature available for OMV to still configure a RAID for a bunch of USB disks?

chente · Dec 6th 2021

Quote from carriba

Is this a workaround for the above said? There is no "undocumented" feature available for OMV to still configure a RAID for a bunch of USB disks?

The fact that this function does not exist is not because it cannot be implemented, it is designed that way precisely to avoid problems. Are you sure you need Raid? Do you know that Raid is not a backup? Do you have a separate backup of your data? If you continue with this you will need it.

Soma · Dec 6th 2021

Quote from carriba

Is this a workaround for the above said? There is no "undocumented" feature available for OMV to still configure a RAID for a bunch of USB disks?

Read, learn, investigate.

Then do it by hand on the CLI.

OMV won't complain if you have a RAID already created on 2 seperate USB disks.

Just don't expect anyone to help you out with whatever issues that will happen.

And, if you really care for the DATA on the RAID, be sure to have a SOLID backup of it.

It won't be long until the RAID goes bananas

chente · Dec 6th 2021

Quote from Soma

It won't be long until the RAID goes bananas

Exactly. Better explained than I did.

carriba · Dec 6th 2021

Quote from chente

The fact that this function does not exist is not because it cannot be implemented, it is designed that way precisely to avoid problems. Are you sure you need Raid? Do you know that Raid is not a backup? Do you have a separate backup of your data? If you continue with this you will need it.

The RAID function does exist on the OS level. Yes, I know that RAID is not a backup and am not using it for this purpose.

chente · Dec 6th 2021

Quote from carriba

The RAID function does exist on the OS level. Yes, I know that RAID is not a backup and am not using it for this purpose.

When I say that it does not exist I mean OMV. Obviously at the operating system level you can do many things. Some of them will be "harmless" and others can literally destroy your installation.

Go ahead if you know what you are doing, in this case you will know how to solve problems when they arrive.

geaves · Dec 6th 2021

Quote from carriba

The RAID function does exist on the OS level.

You can create an array from the CLI using USB drives and the array will appear under raid management in the GUI.

EDIT: and by the power of Grayskull -> What's all this with USB

carriba · Dec 6th 2021

Thank you for the feedback on this and do appreciate having forwarded the "What's all this with USB?" article.

It is not my intend to use any RAID setup with disks hanging on a single USB cable or hub. Though, for educational purposes it does merit a mention on how RAID can be setup with any kind of disks setup.

I stop here for now on this topic

Participate now!