Checking out Unraid For the First Time!

[@darthkielbasa]

So glad to see Unraid getting some love. My lab runs entirely on an unRAID host. VMs and hardware passthrough is so stinking easy!

[@agr-tech]

I looked into unraid when I was standing up my server and decided that just using Debian 12 and setting the things up I wanted (Docker, BTRFS, SMB shares, Plex, VMs, etc) manually in the OS. While unraid makes this stuff easier (for a price) I would recommend this approach for anyone that wanted to learn more about Linux. It's free, you can do all the same things, and if you are trying to learn it can be a lot of fun.

[@fernandoblazin]

110% agree

[@sheldonkupa9120]

200% agree. I tried it, but got uncomfortable with the nas concept. And the bootstick. I tried proxmox (which is debian) and had a really hard learning curve wit zfs, lxc, samba, docker and gpu passthrough. A long way, but worth it, now i cant live without the cli. The only bad experience is that gpu passthrough gets broken over time (a general linux/kernel thing maybe).

[@durgeshkshirsagar116]

I recently had some research and development on Debian and Arch Linux. Arch seems better than Debian in terms of latest drivers for your nvidia gpu. Faster than unraid you can setup arch with all the above things.

[@Movies4118]

I've been running Unraid since 2017 after trying out quite a few NAS OS solutions. Unraid has been rock solid. The biggest positive is that its very hardware agnostic. I've swapped out the motherboard and CPU twice and also several minor hardware changes - every single time, it just came up without any problems using the same OS I had on the thumbdrive. Never had to reinstall anything.

[@ilenastarbreeze4978]

honestly this is the reason i have decided to use it when i start,

[@UcantBeSerious03]

That's the cats ass!

[@Darkk6969]

Yep. That is the coolest part since the license is tied to the flash drive.

[@julian.morgan]

Very true - my first Unraid server was based on a very old 4 core Haswell CPU which I swapped out for a 4C8T Haswell CPU on a better motherboard and then finally switched to AMD X570 - Ryzen 3700 a couple of years ago, soon to be upgraded to a 5900 when I get around to it. So far every change has been problem free and adding drives a cinch. I'm very happy to pay something for that kind of reliability and the support they offer if and when things do go wrong - though in fairness that's only ever happened because I did something dumb tinkering!

[@njpme]

​@@Darkk6969if the thumb drive is dead, are you SOL?

[@chrisfeyen437]

UNRAID was my first NAS system I setup in my home lab, and it's still running today and used heavily even though I have TrueNAS and OMV running. UNRAID can also have a parity disk so that you can have a disk fail and still have availability of your data etc. but the parity disk has to be a bigger drive than your other drives. But that's one of the things I like a about it, you can have a 2 TB parity drive, and use another other smaller drive for storage so I have a few 1 TB drives, down to a 128 Gig drive for storage and UNRAID can use all of them.

[@pakoottox262]

nope, it has just to be the same size.... I have 3x6TB + 1 x 6TB as parity and it works as aspected!

[@MrHasie]

I looked at Proxmox but decided on Unraid because of the USB. This mechanism allows one to use 100% of the hardware. I have it mounted it in the case so that it doesn’t accidentally get removed. It’s similar to ESXi from a boot perspective, so there’s that. What I don’t like about it is snapshots for VMs but that’s less because of Unraid itself.

[@MikeMcGrath]

You shouldn't have to go into permisions to fix anything. Did you set up a user? Once you set up a user and you export the share as you stated the users group's shows up at the bottom and you select which users have permisions.

[@haydenc2742]

I have been rocking UnRAID for a few years on my home lab...even have a PLEX server and audiobookshelf server working like a boss (vaultwarden, full arr stack)...there are so many things it can do...I run BTRFS on my array disks all 9 of em so far [with expandability to up to 24 drives in an old Supermicro 846 case I got for cheap) plus two redundant failsafe drives. it runs well on ASRock Z270 Killer SLI/ac Intel Core i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz 32GB RAM DDR4 Tons of apps, tons of tweaks, and TONS of support...got a problem...someone somewhere has figured out how it's busted and how to fix it Keep em coming!!!!

[@julian.morgan]

This whole business of complaining about installing Unraid to a flash drive is a bit silly. Unraid's OS is stored on a flash drive but runs entirely in RAM, meaning that reads from the flash drive only occur at startup and writes very infrequently and on shutdown. I typically reboot my Unraid server once every few months. It is therefore absolutely NOT that you are using a flash drive as a typical boot volume - for example like people running Raspbian from a flash drive on their Raspberry Pi. Secondly Unraid is not free after a 30 day trial period, so your flash drive's UUID is linked to your account so that it along with all your settings is backed up to Unraid's cloud back up. If your flash drive dies you just login to your account and download the back up plus your certificates to install to a new flash drive - but that said I've been running Unraid since around 2017 from the same flash drive. That's basically because for all that time the flash drive is doing nothing 99.9% of the time.

[@sunnycloudy1337]

and yet, people complain about usb flash drives dying in their forums all the time, so how silly is it, actually? I have no problem spending a few bucks for software but the usb shenanigans is really really dumb; maybe they can figure out a better way of managing their licensing in the future because looking at proxmox on nvme zfs mirror is just superior. It's also quite funny, because you build yourself a home server, maybe you even buy some ECC memory for it, then make some zfs pools and even plug it in a UPS... all these mitigations and protections just for it to fail because of shitty usb flash drives in under a year 😂

[@jasonryals2560]

Exactly 👍 VMware is prime example of installing on usb of micro sd card . Server manufacturers put sd slots solely for the VMware , being honest but when I got dove head first into VMware , way back 2008 ish , sitting at partner required week training whole class was doooo what … seriously I’ve seen some with a raid 1 all for the os that is loaded in ram . Yank out one while running and keeps running. I had 100 plus hosts and uptimes were awesome 👏 300 plus days

[@Makumbi]

Thanks for this. I can't put an os on USB only. I have seen too many USB drives broken off for leaving them plugged in all the time. I am glad someone walked this awkward road for us.

[@haydenc2742]

Get the Sandisk Ultra Fit...Teeny Tiny and resilient as heck Using full size USB's for an OS is bad juju I have been rocking UnRAID for a few years...and it's been ROCK SOLID! I did bite the bullet and just pay the one time $129 though

[@theatermusic87]

Or get an internal USB header adapter and leave it inside the case

[@Makumbi]

c2742 I do IT Support and have seen too many extra special snowflake users who have broken Bluetooth dongles in their laptops and expect me to solve the problem. So I loathe USB drives that must stay plugged in.

[@Makumbi]

c87 sounds like an idea. Now I am thinking u raid vs proxmox.

[@mikeydud1987]

"extra special snowflake users" I do systems engineering and dealing with this type of attitude from IT support users like yourself who consider themselves better than the end users makes my job more unbearable. There's always a bigger fish out there Be better. I am sure your users would appreciate it too @@Makumbi

[@cease70]

I love Unraid and have been using it for years with no issues in my homelab. Speaking to what Don said about everything being laid out nicely and easy to understand - I couldn't agree more, and things being so easy (like setting up Docker containers via the web GUI where the required fields are all laid out for you already) have actually made it much harder for me to grasp how setting up apps/containers on TrueNAS works and I usually end up just giving up and sticking with Unraid.

[@EngineerK]

Newbie to unraid as well and loving it. Next question is hardware selection. Small form factor, low power consumption and then some grunt so spin up a workable Windows etc vm. I would consider using this a a platform for my workstation to host everything

[@IEnjoyCreatingVideos]

welcome to unraid Don! i think it is one of the best ones out there for people who are starting out with wanting a nas and vms and dockers and plugins all in one that is more user friendly to get started in lots of flex ability :) Thanks for sharing the video with us!💖👍😎JP

[@prlswabbie]

While it is locked to the initial USB, you can email support to move your license to a new device. I've done it twice and both times they got back to me in less than a day. Super support and community.

[@talktomenowxbmc]

Unraid is hard to beat on features and ease of use. I’ve been using unraid since version 4.7 when it was primarily storage device. Recently I did 4th rebuild of hardware and I’m still using the same USB key since the beginning. It just works.

[@toto99303]

You're a little late to the party! Enjoy!

[@rsisente]

Must have plugins - Appdata Backup, CA Cleanup Appdata, Community Applications, and Fix Common Problems

[@cig_in_mouth3786]

I used unraid in past and on 1 gigabit lan without cache etc.. Just a pool max out at 60 MBps whereas on truenas and xpenology it is 110 MBPS Tested via same computer multiple isos files

[@maxit0x]

Good stuff, very clear, keep the good work sir!

[@RingwelskiJacek]

Yes the license is not a yearly fee license. But it only gives you 1 year of updates. After that 1st year you are locked into that version and will only get security updates, not new features. To extend your license for 1 year is $36 regardless of the version. Only something you need to do if you want access to a new feature in a later release. Seems very reasonable. Like if you bought windows 7, you wouldnt expect to get windows 8 for free. But would still get security updates, until product EOL. EOL is when your version becomes 2 times removed from current version. Ie. If you have version 7.1 when your license ends you get security updates through version 7.2 and become EOL at version 7.3

[@AindriuMacGiollaEoin]

Unraid is something I would like to see more of, nice video

[@captainmcadams]

This is the only OS i have every purchased, it’s so worth it. Only recently needed to upgrade from basic to plus…

[@MarioUrquilla]

the only thing missing from unraid is the ability to run docker-compose directly from a file, I find more of a hassle when I can't access the "native" features of docker behind the "apps" gui

[@marcorobbe9003]

Hi and thanks for all your great videos. I really them. Maybe have alook at "unassigned devices" apps as well as well as the Dynamix file manager. I yust started with unRaid and installed paperless ngx. I am struggeling with managing the docker container, where to finde the docker-compose files, ... . Would be great to see an overview / introduction on that.

[@PabloMurad]

Hello, how are you? I didn't understand what hardware you are using. Can you tell me the name? It's zma blade? My English is not so good

[@---GOD---]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

[@noormohammedshikalgar]

Hello Novaspirit, I just noticed that the Unraid software tells the RAM is LPDDR4 8GB, but the official site of zimablade says that it supports LPDDR3L can you clarify this ??

[@NovaspiritTech]

your not wrong i just noticed this, it should be ddr3 not ddr4

[@CharizardSnyper]

Plug ins I would recommend: Folder view Impitools for server board users Appdata backup Cleanup appdata Dynamix auto fan Dynamix cache directories Dynamix file integrity Dynamix file manager Dynamix system temperature Gui search All rhe unassigned plugins Apps: Scrutiny Qdirstat

[@UcantBeSerious03]

plugins: fix common problems, appdata backup, ca mover tuning, nerd tools, unassigned devices, unassigned devices plus, unassigned devices preclear, unbalance.

[@michaelosmolski]

What UNRAID dashboard / colour theme is that? I am using 'black' but yours looks more gray than black.

[@Gragorg]

Easiest way to change permissions is with dynamix file manager

[@pducharme]

Hi! Must have : Fix Common Problems (plugin)

[@espressomatic]

Unraid is the steak to TrueNAS's MacDonald's hamburger.

[@brunekxxx91]

I mean hey with how broken licensing is now its a miracle that its locked to a flashdrive not to one device (or i missed some detail, please let me know) EDIT: WAIT IT BOOTS OFF THIS USB STICK 😢

[@joespurlock4628]

It only loads the OS to RAM off the USB at boot, and writes only config changes OS upgrades and a bit of log data to the usb. It’s incorrect to think the USB is its root/boot disk that gets constantly hammered with writes etc. Technically RAMdrive (~500MB) is the “boot drive” - Slackware Linux actually. Strong suggestion is get a little dongle for your motherboard for an internal usb header and keep the usb plugged in inside your case, then it won’t get unplugged lost etc. That said, it’s smart to get a high quality usb stick that runs cool (not one of the hot rod usb3 sticks). I’ve been using same little usb2 sandisk nub for over a decade.

[@TheDarkstorm77]

FIle manager plugin

[@ericandrews4861]

CA Fix Common Problems CA Appdata Backup/Restore CA Auto Turbo Write Mode CA Appdata Cleanup CA Auto Update CA User Scripts CA Config Editor Mover Tuning Dynamix WireGuard Preclear Disk Dynamix Active Streams Dynamix System Info Dynamix Date Time Dynamix System Buttons Dynamix SSD TRIM Dynamix S3 Sleep Dynamix System Statistics Dynamix System Temperature Dynamix Cache Dirs

[@Mattscreative]

Unraid is the best!

[@marcusroussy9271]

unraid is soo awsome

[@mrq332]

wow noob

[@ZiggleFingers]

was this a paid review?

[@Makumbi]

Never

[@TheKetsa]

most likely.

[@tjb_altf4]

probably not as he is using the 30 day trial

[@sunnycloudy1337]

sure looks like it, too bad he didn't disclose this at the beginning, now you will never know 🦆