Addind a second volume versus extending an existing volume

[Craig Kawahara]

Project background: My first use of Freenas about two weeks ago consisted of using a old pc, installing Freenas 9.10 Stable, using 2, 2TB hard drives, to create Freenas01 as a mirror volume. Worked perfectly. Then I added 2, 1TB drives using an pcie sata expansion card, and, again, Freenas located the new drives, and permitted me to create FreeNas02 as a mirrored volume. This is exactly what the goal was.

Current situation: So happy with the test, I obtained a newer box (Dell Poweredge 840) which was capable of using 8 MB of Ram as recommended. I installed Freenas 9.10 Stable with the same 2, 2TB disk drives (with the partitions created on the trial wiped) to create mirrored volume Freenas01. As in the test setup, all is good.

Here is the rub: Now wanting to create the second mirrored volume,Freenas02, I installed the (same) pcie sata controller card, and two, just purchased, 2, 2TB disk drives (instead of the 1 TB ones used during the trial). However, Freenas Volume Manager will only allow me to extend Freenas01 using one of the new drives. I cannot seem to be able to create a new mirror volume Freenas02. The pcie controller appears to be doing its job, as I can see the two drives using the GUI interface as ada3 and ada4 when viewed under the tab "view Disks".

Question: Is the inability to create a new volume due to the use of 2 TB drives instead of 1 TB's? Would appreciate it if someone could point me to the manual location the clarifies my situation.

 

[danb35]

Freenas Volume Manager will only allow me to extend Freenas01 using one of the new drives.

What do you mean? If you go to the volume manager, can't you enter a new pool (volume) name of Freenas02, and leave "volume to extend" set at -----?

 

[nightshade00013]

Ok, I think I know what you are talking about and it's really simple. Don't extend a volume if you want to create a separate one. Leave the drop down where it is with the "-----" and give it a name in the first box. If you pay attention when you change the dropdown the box above it goes grey and can not be edited.

 

[Craig Kawahara]

Thank you two for the replies.
Danb35: In Volume manager, I enter "FreeNAS02" into the box for volume name. I am not able to alter anything. The attached file (pic2.jpg) is a screen grab of the Volume Manager. Note that the two new drives at ada3 and ada4 are not selectable or displayed.

nightshade00013: as you can see from the screengrab, putting a new volume name in the box does nothing to display the two new disk drives.

 

[nightshade00013]

You have one disk showing where it should be. So only one is missing. Do a zpool status and you will see the layout of the disks. You may have attached one of the ones you wanted to use as a new volume as a spare or something else.

 

[danb35]

That's exactly correct. Click Add Volume and you'll have

You have one disk showing where it should be.

I think you've misread that.

@Craig Kawahara, what you're seeing is exactly what you should be seeing. The new disks are ada0 and ada1. Click Add Volume and you'll be set.

 

[Craig Kawahara]

@danb35: Under disk view, there are four drives displayed, ada0 thru ada4. My understanding is that ada0 and ada1 are the drives comprising the volume Freenas1. The drives I want to use should be ada3 and ada4. Correct?

See the screengrab below....note the display shows ada4.



@nightshade00013: You might have something. I moved one hard drive controller connection from the pcie card to the one remaining sata connection on the modo. Freenas (see screengrab below) now shows that ada4 is available. It is now my guess that contrary to my assumption that it was doing it's job, the controller is doing something that makes the drive reconzigable but not usable to Freenas.


So now it seems my issue is to resolve why the pcie expansion card enabled Freenas to see the two drives ( the platform pc was a Dell SC440) while the same card in the permanent box (the Dell PE840) fails.

Thank you both for the insight.

Edit: What should zpool status look like. The config line shows two devices/volumes:
name status
freenas-boot online
ada1p2 online

What I cannot discern is what drives it is seeing on what sata connection.

Edit: How does one pause the zpool command to read it completely?

 

[pirateghost]

Stop thinking of drives in terms of *daX.

 

[danb35]

Maybe I'm just being dense, but I still don't see the problem. Here's what I'm seeing:

• You have an existing volume called Freenas01, which is a two-disk mirror.
• You have two more disks that you want to use to create a second volume called Freenas02, which will also be a two-disk mirror.
• The volume manger sees the latter two disks. It shows them in there as ada0 and ada1 in the first screen shot you posted, and as ada0 and ada4 in the more recent one. These can only be the unused disks, because the volume manager only shows unused disks (it won't let you use a disk that's already part of a pool). They have to be the same disks, because you only have two unused disks in your system.
• So, if you want to create that second volume, in either of the screenshots you posted, click Add Volume and you'll have it.

Edit: How does one pause the zpool command to read it completely?

'zpool status | more'

 

[danb35]

Under disk view, there are four drives displayed, ada0 thru ada4. My understanding is that ada0 and ada1 are the drives comprising the volume Freenas1. The drives I want to use should be ada3 and ada4. Correct?

Clearly this is not correct, because the volume manager is giving you ada0 as one of the unused disks.

 

[Craig Kawahara]

@pirateghost: Sorry, but that is what the displays show. If not ada* what is expected to be displayed? the GUI shows only ada#. Zpool (I founf the "|more" option displays volumes (such as FreeNas01 (in my case), and mirror-0, and huge alphanumeric strings which do not appear in the GUI option boxes. How is one to use other than ada. Sorry for being a newbie.

 

[danb35]

The problem is that drive numbers are not deterministic. The piece of hardware that the system calls ada0 today may or may not be the same piece of hardware that it calls ada0 after a reboot. The GPT IDs (the "huge alphanumeric strings" you mention) are consistent--a given string will always refer to the same device.

You thought your initial two-disk mirror consisted of ada0 and ada1. That may well have been the case when you created it. But now, those drives are called something different, apparently ada2 and ada3.

 

[Craig Kawahara]

Gentlemen one and all.

Well, I shall proceed with the try to create volume #2, disregarding the displaced names of ada*. It is quite plausible that my own lack of familiarity with just how the new os does things. I shall provide a follow-up so that any future users may see a conclusion.

Thanks again all.

 

[Craig Kawahara]

To close this thread, I would like to report that the second FreeNAS volumne was created, and Yes, as it was told to me, my belief that the drive designations was incorrect. The drive designated ada1 in the Drive View was not the ada1 drive in the displayed drives used in creating the volume in Manager. Volume Manager shows two volumes each with 1.8TB.

Thanks to all who assisted.