JBOD (Single)-function (2 HDDs as 2 independent drives) on USB

[komm_it]

Hello,

I'm trying to set up a JBOD box  (IcyBox IB-3662U3) with 2 HDD as 2 independent drives on a one of the USB port.

The RN31600 only recognize 1 HDD. Windows or MacOS recognize and mount both Ext4 HDD.

Is there anyway I can make ReadyNAS 6.9.3 system recognize both HDD?

Thanks

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@komm_it wrote:

Well, perhaps a new 4 drives NAS set up as JBOD is actually a better / safer solution…

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I think it is safer, but your approach does allow you to remove the drives and access them directly with ext, which is a plus.

[mdgm-ntgr]

I don't think so.

Btw if you download the logs what is the date in bios_ver.log?

[komm_it]

Ok thank you.

Could a newer bios do the job?

/sys/class/dmi/id/bios_date
::::::::::::::
11/06/2013

[mdgm-ntgr]

No. In any case you already have the latest BIOS for your ReadyNAS installed.

What the latest BIOS does have is a USB3 F/W update.

[komm_it]

Well, actually, after having created sharepoints on both drive separatly (only one drive physically connected at a time) and connecting both drives again, I can see and access (r/w) both sharepoints via SMB and FTP…But the system only recognises 1 physical USB HDD

Could this set-up be reliable and what could be the possible drawbacks of such a set-up?

[StephenB]

Personally, I think it is better to set up the NAS with enough capacity to hold your data on internal drives.

If the drives are disconnected for some reason (or if the NAS has the power cut) you might end up with "dirty" volumes (due to lost cached writes).   While this can also happen with internal volumes, the risk is higher with external drives.  I suggest protecting the IcyBox and the NAS with a UPS (a single UPS protecting both devices, with the NAS monitoring the UPS over USB).

If you don't have any linux systems (apart from the NAS) you might try installing R-linux for Windows, and see if it can read the volumes (with the Icybox connected to a PC).   https://www.r-studio.com/free-linux-recovery/

[komm_it]

Thanks, I understand the risk with power cut and a UPS is definitely a good advice.

We have some free space on the NAS (X-RAID2) but all slots are used and the space left won't cover the need for this particular project

Those external drives are supposed to collect raw pictures from a timelaps system via FTP.

This system will be running over 3 years, accumulating a really large amount of data (raw pict) from 4 differents cameras.

We'd like to use both USB3 port with 4 x 12TB HDD (1 HDD per camera)

The idea by using a USB external JBOD system instead of internal NAS is to be able to easily replace the HDD when they are running out of space.

A JBOD system makes the whole set-up much more flexible. HDD can be stored and used directly on workstations for editing.

Well, perhaps a new 4 drives NAS set up as JBOD is actually a better / safer solution…

Thanks again for your advice

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@komm_it wrote:

Well, perhaps a new 4 drives NAS set up as JBOD is actually a better / safer solution…

---

I think it is safer, but your approach does allow you to remove the drives and access them directly with ext, which is a plus.