jbod How to setup JBOD

[AdeptusMechanicus]

Hi all, I have an Orico External Enclosure that I've been using for a couple of Months. I have a 4TB Toshiba Drive installed and I'm receiving another 4TB Drive from them soon. I'm planning on using JBOD as the first Disk already has data on it. The Enclosure has settings for RAID and JBOD. I haven't changed it yet but I'll need to do it now. How do I exactly setup JBOD? Do I just turn it on and then wipe the second Disk then format it to NTFS? Or do I need to configure something within Disk Management?

 

Thanks for the assistance.

[NumLock21]

Drives you want to used in a JBOD setup must be added to the list and configured before any data and be stored on it. When there is existing data on the drive you want to add to a JBOD setup, it will wiped everything out. So if you got data on those drives, back them up before adding them to your JBOD setup.

[AdeptusMechanicus]

7 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

Drives you want to used in a JBOD setup must be added to the list and configured before any data and be stored on it. When there is existing data on the drive you want to add to a JBOD setup, it will wiped everything out. So if you got data on those drives, back them up before adding them to your JBOD setup.

I see, thanks. Once I do wipe them, how would I proceed with the configuration using Disk Manager?

Once it has been enabled, would it appear as Disk X then the Two Drives with the space would appear? I somehow understand the concept, though I'm not sure what the procedures would be once I enabled the JBOD switch.

[Nick7]

I'd suggest to use each drive as separate volume.

In JBOD - any drive dies, you lose ALL data.

[NumLock21]

2 minutes ago, AdeptusMechanicus said:

I see, thanks. Once I do wipe them, how would I proceed with the configuration using Disk Manager?

Once it has been enabled, would it appear as Disk X then the Two Drives with the space would appear? I somehow understand the concept, though I'm not sure what the procedures would be once I enabled the JBOD switch.

Drives are to be set at Dynamic and then the JBOD option will appear. JBOD basically combines two or more drives as 1 single drive.

[NumLock21]

8 minutes ago, Nick7 said:

I'd suggest to use each drive as separate volume.

In JBOD - any drive dies, you lose ALL data.

JBOD it's said data is actually filled up on 1 drive first before it goes to the next one. But there is no way to tell if this is true or not when, all we see is just a single drive and not 2 separate ones. So JBOD is basically having the same disadvantage as RAID 0, and without the added performance.

[AdeptusMechanicus]

10 minutes ago, Nick7 said:

I'd suggest to use each drive as separate volume.

In JBOD - any drive dies, you lose ALL data.

2 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

JBOD it's said data is actually filled up on 1 drive first before it goes to the next one. But there is no way to tell if this is true or not when, all we see is just a single drive and not 2 separate ones. So JBOD is basically having the same disadvantage as RAID 0, and without the added performance.

It's just a bunch of video files that I'd like to archive. From my understanding, RAID 0 writes the data of a single file into those two disks, while JBOD fills the first Disk then moves to the next one. If the files ever do fail, I'm okay with losing some of the data but I'd like to keep the files that are stored within the second disk at the very least.

 

So from my understanding this is the process: Wipe both the Drives > Convert them to Dynamic Disks > Set to JBOD within the Enclosure > JBOD will appear from the Right-click Menu. Is this right?

[Nick7]

With JBOD in case of single disk failure you lose ALL data. You cannot access data that is on 'working' HDD.

This is due to limitations of filesystems which is on top of virtual drive that is created as JBOD. Filesystem does not know if it is one drive, multiple drives, RAID0, RAID10 or whatever beneath it.

If you want to keep data that is on working drive, setup each drive as separate volume.

If you want one 'large' drive, use RAID0 or JBOD. If you want to survive one disk error, use RAID5 (or other RAID with redundancy).

As NumLock21 explained - JBOD is similar to RAID0 without added performance benefit (in most cases). Also, with JBOD it's easy to use drives of different sizes.

But - again, one drive dies, all data is lost. With recovery tools you MIGHT save something, but... it's a long shot. And you do not want to go that way.

[AdeptusMechanicus]

8 minutes ago, Nick7 said:

If you want one 'large' drive, use RAID0 or JBOD. If you want to survive one disk error, use RAID5 (or other RAID with redundancy).

As NumLock21 explained - JBOD is similar to RAID0 without added performance benefit (in most cases). Also, with JBOD it's easy to use drives of different sizes.

But - again, one drive dies, all data is lost. With recovery tools you MIGHT save something, but... it's a long shot. And you do not want to go that way.

I see, I was hoping that JBOD was the one that would fit my need, but separate disks seems to be the way. I think I'll use RAID 0 instead, since I'm not concerned with losing the data as I can re-download them. The files within the enclosure is mostly used to ensure that it can be accessed by the software in one location.