Multi-bay dock RAID compatibility

[jrichg]

Hello,

I have a TS-1253U-RP, and I have configured a Dual-Port USB3 dock with 2 disk drive configured in RAID0 using mdadm and LVM for some of our backups. Unfortunately the QNAP does not recognize the drives as a RAID and does not recognize the ext4 file system configured on the drives. I configured MDADM and LVM on a separate machine, do I have to configure the LVM on the QNAP itself or is this just something that is not compatible with QNAP.

Thanks!

[Don]

RAID on external devices is only supported on QNAP external enclosures.

[goatghost]

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I was trying to find where it is definitively stated that non-QNAP external RAID enclosures are not supported (I looked in the manual, but I couldn't find this statement - maybe, I looked in the wrong place).

I just spent several days trying to get an IcyDOCK dual drive external enclosure working with my TS-453PRO, but it is unusable (it doesn't matter if the IcyDOCK is set to BIG, RAID 0, JBOD, or individual drives...the QNAP recognizes it, but unmounts it, sporadically).

Looks like I'm going to have to get a couple of single bay external enclosures (which kind of stinks, since I was hoping to back up everything on my NAS to one device).

[dolbyman]

if those raid enclosures present a single target (have their own cpu and raid management system) .. the qnap can use it no problem (raidsonic,etc)

[goatghost]

Yes, one would think.

The IcyDOCK definitely has its own RAID controller hardware. My QNAP recognized it as being an external RAID, even though I think it should just regard it as one generic external storage space. It shouldn't matter to the QNAP what configuration the external device has.

I'm wasn't looking to span RAIDs, internal and external. I was just trying to utilize two drives to make for one large external storage space to back up the NAS.

Oh well.

[dolbyman]

if the QNAP kicks it out sporadically then it might be the enclosure .. the qnap either see's it, or not

[Don]

How is it recognizing it as an external RAID? Can you post some screen shots?

[goatghost]

Unfortunately, it's all boxed up and going back to the vendor I bought it from.

Within the new QNAP Backup utility, Hybrid Backup Sync (which was, until recently, in *beta*), the drive was populating as an external "RAID" (even though I think it should have just seen it as a generic external storage device). The Event Notifications log would show the device as being mounted. But, within several seconds to several minutes, it would decide to unmount it, without warning. This cycle would repeat itself and would cause me to have to reboot the NAS.

The IcyDOCK has a slider switch in the back, which allows you to configure it as JBOD (seen as individual disks), RAID 0, RAID1, or BIG (an aggregation of storage). After moving the slider to the desired position, you would just hold down its reset button for 3 seconds and it would configure the device as specified.

I tried JBOD, RAID 0, and BIG, but all had the same results. I tried formatting the IcyRAID as NTFS, Ext3, and Ext4, but nothing worked consistently. The two drives that I populated it with (HGST 4TB NAS drives) were, previously, in my QNAP NAS, and they have been working flawlessly for the past few years.

Another issue I have is that the QNAP Hybrid Backup Sync software does not allow you to back up Apple Time Machine backups. I was hoping to back up my PC backups (Acronis .tib files), as well as my Mac Time Machine backups (sparsefiles). But, that's another issue.

Anyway, I'm planning on buying some cheap USB 3.0 enclosures this weekend. Hopefully, the QNAP won't give me issues with them.

P.S. - My QNAP TS-453PRO is on the latest firmware and Hybrid Backup Sync is the latest version ("non-beta"). The IcyDOCK and drives were recognized, separately, by my PC and my Mac, so I'm pretty sure that it wasn't a defective IcyDOCK unit.