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Hi all, I have just purchased a 4TB HDD which I would like to use purely for backup purposes. I have an XPEnology box with DSM5.2.5644.5 and a 3 volumes: RAID1, RAID5 and no RAID (actually they are all SHR, I used standard nomenclature to explain the redundancy). My question is: should I install the new disk inside the XPEnology box, create a new volume (volume4) and use this as the backup destination or should I insert the HDD into a USB external box and backup everything there? My thoughts: Internal: no space on desk, as fast as it can get, protected from power surges and shortages BUT ext4 (so a bit more complex to access backup if needed), power always on, backup in the same place (and power source) as the data; External: removable, NTFS makes access easier, powers off between backups BUT slower, heats up more What do you guys think? BTW: I tried to mount an internal drive as NTFS so that it is not part of DSM arrays, trying to get the best of both worlds, but it seems Synology has implemented a rather "unusual" way of dealing with fstab, so I can mount NTFS internal disks but they are not seen by DSM GUI so using them for backup makes things a little more cumbersome... Therefore I gave up. Thanks!

Hi, thanks for the reply! I sounds very interesting, it has to be seen if then I can access the mounted drive from any of the available backup tools... I think it is worth a try, I will keep you informed!

Hi all, I realise my need for a backup disk for all my data, so I've been wondering lately: if I connect an internal hard drive to a SATA port (so not USB), is there a way to convince DSM not to initialize it as part of an array but keep it standalone and access it as if it were an external USB disk? This would have two reasons: 1- Since it would only serve a backup purpose, I would like to format it to NTFS, it would make things easier should I ever need to recover data; 2- since I often have Download Station running, disks never go to sleep; if one of the disks is not part of an array, it would not have DSM installed on it, so there is at least a chance for it to suspend. What do you guys think? Thanks!

Same reply to me, too... Sent from my Nexus 10

Hi Trantor, My board, AsRock N3150M, uses the NCT6792; will it be compatible with the nct6775 drivers?... Thanks for your invaluable work!

Er... it does not... ??? root@DiskStation:~>parted /dev/sda align opt 1 1 aligned root@DiskStation:~>parted /dev/sda align opt 2 2 not aligned root@DiskStation:~>parted /dev/sda align opt 5 5 not aligned root@DiskStation:~>parted /dev/sdc align opt 1 1 aligned root@DiskStation:~>parted /dev/sdc align opt 2 2 not aligned root@DiskStation:~>parted /dev/sdc align opt 3 3 aligned Ouch... I am lost again... hdparm -I /dev/sda reports: Logical Sector size: 512 bytes Physical Sector size: 4096 bytes So my data partition on sda is in fact not aligned (not to mention the cache partition)?...

Wow, how right you were! I did as you suggested: Model: HGST HDN724040ALE640 (scsi) Disk /dev/hda: 4000787030016B Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: gpt Disk Flags: Number Start End Size File system Name Flags 1 1048576B 2551054335B 2550005760B ext4 raid 2 2551054336B 4698537983B 2147483648B linux-swap(v1) raid 5 4840079360B 4000681082879B 3995841003520B raid So in fact partitions ARE 4k aligned! 1048576/4096 = 256 2551054336/4096 = 622816 4840079360/4096 = 1181660 I did not know about the "unit" option in GParted! Thank you sooo much! But now I have yet another question: why is the first disk listed twice, once as hda and once as sda??? I see it happens to you as well...

Just done it!

Hi all, thanks for your replies. Absolutely agree. The datasheet for the HGST https://www.hgst.com/products/hard-drives/nas-desktop-drive-kit drives in question are silent on the topic though. Exactly. WD EARS are indeed Advanced Format, while HGST says nothing about it, but, according to Linux, it does have 4k sectors. I must gently disagree. For all operating systems and disk arrangements, sector size matters. For single disks, the minimum file system allocation unit must be a multiple of the sector size. Otherwise, misaligned allocation units will cause two sectors to be read / modified / written whenever a file system allocation unit crosses a 4k sector boundary. I gently disagree too. Now that I think about it, when I initialized under DSM the EARS disk which is NOT reported as having 4k sectors, the file transfers were extremely slow, around 30MB/s, and I could not understand why. Now I do! Yeah, the point is that, as I showed in my dumps in the OP, DSM system and cache partitions are not, while data partitions are. It is probably not so bad, since DSM system does not need that much speed, however the reason behind this strange behaviour puzzles me...

Nobody?...

Can you please publish here what you wrote them?

Hi all, I have recently set up my system, starting with a pair of 4TB HSGT Deskstar NAS and then adding 1 TB WD green disks. Now I wonder if DSM is capable of correctly recognizing and aligning 4k-sector disks. I don't know if the HGST are in fact 4k-sector disks, but if I run: cat /sys/class/block/sda/queue/physical_block_size I get: 4096 However, if I run parted on /dev/sda and I press p I get: Model: HGST HDN724040ALE640 (scsi) Disk /dev/sda: 4001GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: gpt Disk Flags: Number Start End Size File system Name Flags 1 1049kB 2551MB 2550MB ext4 raid 2 2551MB 4699MB 2147MB linux-swap(v1) raid 5 4840MB 4001GB 3996GB raid So apparently parted and /sys/class/block/sda/queue/physical_block_size tell two different stories. In fact, you can see that the system partitions reported by gparted are not at all aligned, while the data partition, the most important one, appears to be, but I cannot be certain since the start is given in MB and not in kB, so the rounding could trick me. Then I have another disk, a WD WD10EARS-14Y5B1, which, following cat /sys/class/block/sda/queue/physical_block_size, reports 4096 as well, whereas parted says: Model: WDC WD10EARS-14Y5B1 (scsi) Disk /dev/sdd: 1000GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: msdos Disk Flags: Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 1049kB 2551MB 2550MB primary raid 2 2551MB 4699MB 2147MB primary raid 3 4832MB 1000GB 995GB primary raid Again, parted does not agree in the physycal sector section and system partitions are exactly as for the HGST (so not 4k aligned). However, the data partition appears to be aligned, with the same provision as before. Curiously enough, then, I have another WD disk, this time the model is reported by parted as: Model: WDC WD10EARS-00MVWB0 (scsi) Disk /dev/sdc: 1000GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: msdos Disk Flags: Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 1049kB 2551MB 2550MB primary raid 2 2551MB 4699MB 2147MB primary raid 3 4832MB 1000GB 995GB primary raid however, this one answers 512 to the cat /sys/class/block/sda/queue/physical_block_size. Possibly it does not report the physical sector size correctly, because, to my knowledge, the EARS are 4k "advanced format" drives... Am I correct? Being in RAID1 with the previous one, the starting point of partitions are identical. Last disk I have is: Model: WDC WD20EARX-00PASB0 (scsi) Disk /dev/sdf: 2000GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: msdos Disk Flags: Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 1049kB 2551MB 2550MB primary raid 2 2551MB 4699MB 2147MB primary raid 3 4832MB 2000GB 1996GB extended lba 5 4840MB 2000GB 1995GB logical raid reported again as 4k by cat /sys/class/block/sda/queue/physical_block_size. Also in this case the data partition would seem to be 4k aligned, even if I do not know why it ended up as logical partition instead of primary...??? To recap, my question is: why are system partitions not 4k aligned even if the disks report 4096 block size? Is it because it is not important that system partitions are, since they do not require speed, opposite to the data partition? Or did something go wrong during installation? Is there a way to realign existing partitions in a non-destructive way? Also: why the sdf has a logical partition in it? Thanks!!!

Did You solve it? Inviato dal mio Nexus 10 utilizzando Tapatalk

Have You tried running smart checks on the drives? Sometimes fake errors get cleared... Inviato dal mio Nexus 10 utilizzando Tapatalk

Have You tried running smart checks on the drives? Sometimes fake errors get cleared... Inviato dal mio Nexus 10 utilizzando Tapatalk

i dischi vengono visti ma come? Nuovi, inizializzati, non inutilizzati, vuoti, pieni?... Inviato dal mio Nexus 10 utilizzando Tapatalk

Apparently the only reason why they moved to N3160 is because the N3150 was phased out by Intel, but since no recalls have been issued, I believe there are no problems with the processor itself and DS716+ and DS216+ will continue to receive support and upgrades... I myself have an Asrock N3150M and I have no intention to change it... Inviato dal mio Nexus 10 utilizzando Tapatalk

I thought about buying the N3700 as well, but 30€ difference (70 vs 100) was unjustified for me, the difference being only the boost frequency (for the most part you will stay at 1.6GHz or less, unless you are heavily transcoding) and a slightly better GPU (which is mainly useless for a NAS). No brainer after a bit of research, and the reason is still valid after trying it.

I have just built a NAS with exactly that board, and I am very happy about it. It is true, there is no burst CPU control yet, but that is no real problem, at least for the basic stuff I have yet to see the processor go above 50%, usually much less. Another problem is that I cannot control the HD fan speed, but also for that I hope that drivers will be included in the next xpenoboot release. I cannot say anything about WOL, never used it...

Hi Trantor, I just assembled my NAS with a AsRock N3150M motherboard, and I cannot see fan controls in control panel. Does it require a specific driver for that? I would like to be able to control fan speed according to disks temperature, otherwise it always sounds like an aeroplane taking off... Thanks!

Thanks for the reply. Extend it yes, but add the 4 TB to change the RAID level from nothing to RAID1... I have not found a way... Is it possible? EDIT: I have re-read your reply more carefully and I cannot quite figure out what could happen without trying (and I cannot do it now because the two 2TB disks are currently busy).. I can only guess that adding a 4 TB disk to a 2x2TB SHR will give me the choice to move from RAID1 to RAID5... Perhaps it could allow me to create two 2TB volumes, redundant each on half the 4TB disk... to 2TB//(4TB/2) + 2TB//(4TB/2), but I am not sure this is what will happen... Can anybody enlighten me?... Thanks!

Hi all, I have just finished assembling my station: N3150M motherboard, extra Syba SATA controller, 8GB of RAM. I am experimenting a bit and I am trying to do something which does not appear, unfortunately, possible. First attempt: I thought I could take my new 4 TB drive, create a volume and copy data on it, then add my spare 2x2TB drives, create a disk group in JBOD and use this group as second member of a RAID1 array. In pratice, 4//(2+2). Apparently, not possible. Second attempt: I was disappointed to find out I could not do this either: 2TB+2TB disk group in JBOD, create a volume with that group, add the 4TB disk and create a RAID1 array. In practice, (2+2)//4. Not possible, too. What I get from this is that, even if still great, the DiskStation has it limits in terms of flexibility in disk usage and assembly (or maybe I was expecting too much!). Can you confirm that my deductions are correct? Is there no way to concatenate more drives in JBOD style and use the resulting bigger capacity as if it were a bigger disk in a RAID1/5/6 array? Thanks!

Hello, thanks for your replies. In fact I am still undecided: I am trying to choose between the N3700M (mATX) and the N3150-ITX. The former has 3 free PCIe slots, but only 2 SATA ports on board, so I would need to install 2 PCIe SATA controllers to reach 10 SATA ports (8 needed at the moment), plus 1 empty slot for a possible GBE card for redundancy/link aggregation on Ethernet. The 3150-ITX, on the other hand, has 4 SATA ports but only one PCIe slot, plus a miniPCIe, for which exist GBE cards but it is unknown (to me!) if they will work... And then there is the memory thing... but I like the ITX form factor! Are there any PCIe x1 SATA controller cards which carry more than 4 ports which are known to work with XPEnology? And mPCIe GBE network cards? Thanks!

Hello, I am wondering if, for a system based on the N3150 or N3700, it makes a huge difference to have single channel or dual channel memory. I am planning to buy 8 GB for my XPEnology station, the question is: 2x4 or 1x8? Of course 2x4 would be better, however one single 8 GB module is more "recyclable" shoud I realise that I need more memory (maybe for virtualization): I could simply add one more module, while if I buy now 2x4 I would need to replace both, and recycling 2x4 GB modules might be a little harder. Or is 2x2GB enough? Thanks!

Haha! I thought so... Well, some extra work to be done then, but probably worth it... Thank you very much!