RAID disks spinning up

[jakew]

I have a WD MyBook World Edition II.* The disks spin down after 15 minutes of idle time, which is fine. When they spin back up, though, the unit spins them up sequentially. The first disk spins up fully, then the second one spins up. It takes forever, especially since they're green drives.

QNAP and Synology RAID1 users: Do your disks spin up simultaneously or sequentially?


* I know, I know--it sucks. But it was free!

 

[claykin]

One after the other is fairly normal. Takes only a few seconds for my Readynas to spinup Seagate ES2 disks.

 

[stevech]

I have a WD MyBook World Edition II.* ...

QNAP and Synology RAID1 users: Do your disks spin up simultaneously or sequentially?

A guess: The power supply peak load is more if both spin up simultaneously... (motor current in-rush). By starting drives sequentially they saved a little cost.

 

[jakew]

A guess: The power supply peak load is more if both spin up simultaneously... (motor current in-rush). By starting drives sequentially they saved a little cost.

Oh definitely. This thing doesn't even have a fan. I was hoping that it was unique to this wimpy model and that others would have enough juice to spin them up at the same time.

I'm using the NAS more as a central file server these days so when it takes 15 seconds to wake up, I notice it.

 

[stevech]

I use a longer delay-to-spindown

 

[sfx2000]

I don't let my NAS drives spin down - hardest thing on the drive is the spin-up/spin-down cycle, and that's where most eventually fail...

spinning idle, they don't use much power compared to the rest of the box...

 

[claykin]

I don't let my NAS drives spin down - hardest thing on the drive is the spin-up/spin-down cycle, and that's where most eventually fail...

spinning idle, they don't use much power compared to the rest of the box...

+1. Seriously, just disable spindown. Make sure the NAS is in a well ventilated area and connect it to a UPS. Backup data to an external source (don't rely on RAID as backup). Run it until it dies. You'll likely get years out of it unless the disks are crap. Knowing WD they used Green disks in the World Book so definitely backup your data. Next time buy a Readynas/Synology/Qnap and get Enterprise disks.

 

[stevech]

I have my Synology (home use) power itself down after midnight and power up in morning. I have spin-down set to an hour but I've not seen spindown happen.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Even high end servers..RAID on SCSI/SAS 'n hot swap drives....they power up the drive sequentially.

 

[jakew]

+1. Seriously, just disable spindown. Make sure the NAS is in a well ventilated area and connect it to a UPS. Backup data to an external source (don't rely on RAID as backup). Run it until it dies. You'll likely get years out of it unless the disks are crap. Knowing WD they used Green disks in the World Book so definitely backup your data. Next time buy a Readynas/Synology/Qnap and get Enterprise disks.

I have my important files (my own docs and photos--things that cannot be replaced--backed up offsite). But let's discuss this: Why not rely on RAID as a backup? Beyond fire and theft, the only issue I can think of is file system corruption. Is that what you're getting at?

Also, who cares what kind of drives they are? Yes, they do happen to be WD green drives, but isn't that the point of RAID? If one disk fails it can be replaced. Enterprise disks seem like overkill to me, especially for a non-critical use like mine.

 

[stevech]

File system corruption due to a power issue, power supply fault (common to both drives), drive controller fault, software bug, etc., for me, is a concern equal to drive failure. Indeed, drive failure is often a slow decline but electronics/power supply can be without warning.

So in my little 2 drive NAS, I use two volumes instead of RAID1.
And there's a USB drive backup for offsite too (counter-burglary).
And an SD card in the NAS for critical files.

 

[jakew]

Do you write to one drive then copy to the other? Or do you have it set up so that it automatically writes to both?

 

[stevech]

the Synology software runs at 11PM each day. Keeps volume as a dupe of volume 1 (different drives).

Also use Synology's "Time Backup" (time machine) to have a day by day backup so I can get any prior version.

Could run these several times a day, but this home system gets used mostly in the evening.

 

[claykin]

the Synology software runs at 11PM each day. Keeps volume as a dupe of volume 1 (different drives).

Also use Synology's "Time Backup" (time machine) to have a day by day backup so I can get any prior version.

Could run these several times a day, but this home system gets used mostly in the evening.

Keep an eye on that config. Verify that the Synology backup is working and properly copying files. I've been down the road with Synology before and they sometimes do some stupid things.

i.e. their DSM4 firmware supports Cloud Station (as they call it). You sync your stuff over the Net to the Syno NAS, etc.... Good idea on surface. That's where it ends. Its not encrypted at all. Not even data transfer. Everything is in clear. Goofy thinking @ Synology.