HDD Sleep Problems - Why Can't QNAP Fix This??

[Pablo1288x]

I've owned a 1288x and a TS-664 running both QTS and QuTS (latest versions). I've never been able to get my drives go to sleep and stay asleep even under simple configurations like:

- Completely fresh initialisation - no apps installed, no configuration changes whatsoever.
- System initialised with no disks connected to begin with, just two NVMe drives in the built in slots with nothing stored on them.
- The moment the first SATA HDD is plugged in and a storage pool / volume is created, the periodic disk activity starts and repeats every few seconds or minutes.

If I set a 5 minute disk sleep time in hardware settings, this continual disk access causes them to sleep, wake, sleep, wake, sleep, wake. Repeated motor spin up is, i'm told, pretty bad for drive life. So I simply set the power sleep setting to 30 minutes to stop this.

The result is i'm pointlessly paying for an extra 5w of power for every disk I connect, even when I don't need to access its data for the majority of the time. 6 disks totalling 30w of wasted power is costly over long periods with current energy prices. Because of this I safely detatching the storage pools of as many disks as possible and remove them until needed. This is crazy!

From what I understand, QTS writes a small amount of system data to an area of every disk you use for redundancy purposes? What is the point of HDD power saving capabilities if QNAP will not let us use them? How do I solve this? It amounts to an unnecessary tax for using my NAS when I pay for power I don't use every month. Thanks!

[FSC830]

Well, discussed and posted here about 10.000 times... Use forum search and buzzwords like hdparm, disk, sleep, spin down, ...
You dont need to pay unnecessary tax, the NAS is equipped with a power switch, isnt it?

Regards

[dolbyman]

Yup discussed many times...here is a way to kick some disks off the system to make them sleep

It should work with QTS and QuTS ...
viewtopic.php?t=130788

[Pablo1288x]

I wish to run various services on the NAS aside from just data storage. I would like to run it all the time. I have already taken to shutting the NAS down each night with a scheduled morning wake-up but it creates hassle with network configuration of clients over night when you're using it as a VPN client gateway, for example. If the technical reason for this compulsory disk chatter on all spinning rust is redundancy for system information, then why not give people the option to only write it to much lower power NVMe drives for example? Seems like a perfectly acceptable option for those who prefer it. If you have two NVMes in a redundant configuration surely that's enough to keep this system data safe? Or have I misunderstood the problem / technical requirement here?

Thank you for the link, i've seen this post already but it amounts to way more tinkering than we should need to do! QNAP should give as a tick box under power settings that says 'Only write system information to solid state drives' ...or something?? There's an obvious requirement here, as evidenced by how many users post about this problem. I wish they would do something to properly support it. That's the true reason for my post.

[dolbyman]

Doubt QNAP will ever do this differently...the way it is right now allows the user to remove all drives but one and still have the system work. Your proposed way is leading to even more unhappy users that lose all their files(no they do not have backups) and a couple that are happy that some drives spindown
[cost vs benefit]

Feel free to complain via ticket..but complaining here will not do anything.

[Pablo1288x]

I've avoided raising a ticket because I don't have the time or desire to go through a load of pointless troubleshooting steps as i've seen with others who've raised this. It seems to me there is plenty of scope for an informed user decision here. We all make informed decisions when we decide on data storage redundancy levels, this is hardly very different. You're just making a decision on system data redundancy. Include a nice clear and detailed warning message and let people get on with it, if we choose.

[dosborne]

I would suggest seeing if your router is capable of handling your VPN requirements. Running it on your NAS doesn't fit your usage scenario nor would I rely on QNAP security.

[Pablo1288x]

Unfortunately it's not up to it, although I am thinking of getting a new one. I agree the router is a better place for VPN stuff. I need to run other 24/7 services on the NAS though like virtualisation and home automation.