Started using RAID before it had finished initialising

[Thomas Koba]

Just got started with a new Mac Pro and Areca Thunder 8 RAID.

I coupled everything up, and started moving 2GB USB disk onto my 28TB or so RAID 5 Areca raid box. Then I noticed it was still initialising. Showed up fine in OSX. Is this a problem. Should I restart everything?

 

[Thomas Koba]

The dealer had started the setup, but hadn't finished the initialisation process.... i remembered he told me on the phone before.

 

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

I'm not sure about the Areca Thunder RAID, but I know from the Promise Pegasus RAID, that you can already start using it when it's not done making the whole RAID. They say you can do this, you just go at a lower speed.

Someone can correct me if necessary.

 

[Thomas Koba]

Thanx! This is also what I have found somewhere when googling. But just want to make sure. Anyone else?

 

[Michael Romano]

I can't speak for Areca but many other RAIDs I've used allow you to begin using the drive as it initializes. The Promise R6 units do for sure. I never have actually tried it in the past - It is so counterintuitive - but they state it is within normal operation. Consult Areca or one of their distributors directly for the official word.

 

[Derek Devine]

I use the Areca. You can initialize in the background which allows you work with the RAID. It takes a long time to initialize. My 12 TB took over 24 hours. You can also do a foreground ( I think that's what it's called) initialize which takes much less time (1-2 hours) but does not allow you to use the RAID. I assume the dealer did a background initialization. I can't remember if it starts over if powered off, so you might just do a foreground init, go to bed and wake up to your new raid. Nice box. QUIET. I recommend downloading the full manual. The quickstart is weird. We have 4 x 4bays with usb3. I'm not ready to take my 12 core mac pros out of commission. Caldigit USB card and I get ok speed. Nothing amazing. The Cal Digit card is slower than the usb3 connection on my macbook. I think it's a limitation of the PCI bus. It is much faster than firewire 800 and it's faster than a single thunderbolt or usb3 drive. While I'm at it, a single thunderbolt drive is no faster than a usb3 drive. Save your money. You get the thunderbolt speed advantage with RAID or SSD.

 

[Marc Wielage]

You could contact the manufacturer...

http://www.areca.us/support/ask_a_question.htm

 

[Peter Majtan]

Definitely not a problem with Areca. You can use the RAID while it is being initialized.
The only downside is that the performance will be very slow and the initialization itself will take longer...

:sifone: Peter

 

[Thomas Koba]

Thanx people!