NAS / OpenMediaVault

[Metalazzo]

Go to Web and enable root login for ssh. It is disabled because of security.

It's already enabled actually.
I can open a putty session but after the login is filled, no password is working ?
thanks for your help

edit: I disabled an re-enabled it and it's working now, thank you.

[stuartiannaylor]

Note: If you came across this thread because you wanted to find the great OpenMediaVault images for the rock64 that ayufan has slaved over, jump over to https://github.com/ayufan-rock64/linux-b...ses/latest and look for the jessie-openmediavault-rock64 images. But please do come back and read this topic at some point soon, to ensure you get the best possible performance from your setup! 

Due to the rather attractive feature set of the rock64 for it's price point (USB3 port, dedicated USB2 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, up to 4GB of RAM, up to 1.5Ghz quad core 64bit processor ), one of the expected uses for it is as a Network Attached Storage device, either running your own custom setup, or perhaps OpenMediaVault (I'd recommend the latter... you can't beat a pre-configured web-gui driven setup that's ready to go out of the box!  ). And talking of performance, I can't resist not posting this excerpt from tkaiser as to just how good the rock64 can be when configured right:

We're talking about +380MB/s on average with UAS. This is close to the maximum what we can get with USB3 SuperSpeed anyway (400MB/s or to quote the specs: "At a 5 Gbps signaling rate with 8b/10b encoding, the raw throughput is 500 MBps. When link flow control, packet framing, and protocol overhead are considered, it is realistic for 400 MBps or more to be delivered to an application.")

But this doesn't mean the road won't be rocky... there are things that can go wrong... from unstable power supplies... to configurations that just won't work... to glitches in the software that result in unpleasant surprises. This post attempts to pull together all of the various bits of information about potential problems you might encounter, and also to link to some of the more interesting bits of info about using the Rock64 as a NAS/OMV device. 

Before you read the performance related stuff, it may be wise to read this thread about what does all this benchmark stuff really mean!

Performance data:

• Some OMV GbE transfer statistics
  
• USB3 Storage device benchmarks - OpenMediaVault, USB3 performance thread 
  

Other useful stuff:

• If you're thinking about NAS / OMV, you're probably thinking about external storage. The best chipsets to use are JMS567, JMS578 or ASM1153E (the latter is only an issue in Seagate disk enclosures due to branded/broken firmware). And the pine64 store stocks a pretty cheap JMS578 USB3 to SATA cable (which is suitable for 3.5" disks with additional 12V/2A PSU, and *possibly* 2.5" drives without a powered USB hub, although one would be strongly recommended). If you want other optoins, similar items under the YEYI and ORICO brands, with the latter also having a full 3.5" disk enclosure relying on the JMS578 chipset. They can be found for as little as US$4.99 on AliExpress at the time of writing, and you might even be able to get them cheaper with the odd coupon that goes around...
  
• A lot of other people have used the Odroid XU4 as their NAS/OMV device. And when you consider the specs, it's no wonder why. However, specs are not everything in a NAS/OMV devices, real-world performance is. Configured correctly, and with the right hardware, the rock64 can probably outperform the Odroid XU4, whilst running cooler and consuming less energy. However, please make up your own mind on this... have a look at the threads on the Armbian Forum and the OMV Forum where tkaiser has collected a lot of benchmaking data, and stimulated discussion about real-world performance and usability. 
  
  

Potential Issues:

• USB RAID: In a home use application, it is a plain joke, as it isn't true RAID to start with. Plus, you can get into funky situations where your RAID setup actually shuts itself down due to undervoltage, making it lose and corrupt things all by itself. Someone on the IRC chat put it like "USB RAID (with one USB hub in between -- let some disks do some work --> under-voltage --> hub disappears from bus --> all disks are gone at the same time --> RAID my *aunt*).
  
• Undervoltage: This is very common issue in the SBC world, and is because mobile phone / USB chargers are simply not suited for powering SBCs. Save your self some unnecessary pain and suffering, and get the proper rock64 power supply. Its good, cheap, and will prevent random file system corruption, crashes and your rock64 suddenly powering off due to a undervoltage issue. And if you want to use external hard disk drives... you really should use a powered USB hub, as the rock64 will probably be able to power them if used with the correct power supply, but you are simply asking for undervoltage issues or for your external HDD to not power on properly. 
  
• MicroSD fakes or poor performance: This issue crops up again, and again, and again. Regardless of if you buy a 'name brand' microSD from your electrical supply store, supermarket, or from a reputable online seller, fakes can be introduced anywhere in the supply chain without their knowledge, and regardless of that, the microSD could be faulty on arrival, or just not a suitable one for SBC applications. My personal recommendation is that you should get yourself a Samsung EVO(+) MicroSD. They have been tested numerous times, and provide excellent performance at a good price. And after you get one, still use something like h2testw (on windows), or F3 for linux and Mac, to check that your microSD is really the size it claims it is, and doesn't have any faults right from day 1.
  
• Error messages not quite meaning what you think: For example these logs might make you think that the uas_eh_abort_handler errors are an indication there is is something wrong with the UAS drivers or support on your system. However, in this particular case, the issue was actually an underpower issue for the cradle, and was occurring during some random write tests, as as that is when a disk drive is the most power demanding.
  

More will be added to this post as time goes on. Please feel free to make suggestions for more links and information to be added.

USB RAID yeah prob a joke but keep thinking about the Rock64 with its cost/IO and how it could be a great "TV Box NAS".
Its at a cost for SoHo use that with USB3.0 you still have the bottleneck of the 1Gig ethernet.

I keep wondering more about ease of use and if you could just stack cheapo 2 bay Raid1 or single drives where when you just need more space Just Add Another via USB3.0.
Anyone ever played with AuFS and knows how much the performance hit is?

I keep thinking apart from Docker AuFS & OverlayFS could provide some novel simple storage solutions that sort of fit the simplicity of 'Settop NAS'
Things are getting really cheap as look at what you get with a Rock64 same with 2bay RAID as found this thing for £30 https://www.amazon.co.uk/HDD-USB-RAID-En...bay+raid+1
It might be a bit mweh but it could be fit for purpose if its just SoHo

I am thinking of getting one just to play and see as prices are sort of getting to a point where maybe its not RAID but AIR (Array of Inexpensive RAID) or with me more likely just hot air.
AuFS could do just pure JAA (Just Add Another) where the multiple spindles of some pretty god damn awful drives of low cost just build up into a volume that does the job.
OverlayFS is more like a cache where the copy up to a fast 'work' drive could still closely mirror what we do with storage and periodically aged files get placed in the lower file system.

Maybe its a shame that the Rock64 didn't ship with just 2 independent USB 3.0 ports that be it network or storage you can just cluster via adaptors.

[fire219]

USB RAID yeah prob a joke but keep thinking about the Rock64 with its cost/IO and how it could be a great "TV Box NAS".
Its at a cost for SoHo use that with USB3.0 you still have the bottleneck of the 1Gig ethernet.

I keep wondering more about ease of use and if you could just stack cheapo 2 bay Raid1 or single drives where when you just need more space Just Add Another via USB3.0.
Anyone ever played with AuFS and knows how much the performance hit is?

I keep thinking apart from Docker AuFS & OverlayFS could provide some novel simple storage solutions that sort of fit the simplicity of 'Settop NAS'
Things are getting really cheap as look at what you get with a Rock64 same with 2bay RAID as found this thing for £30 https://www.amazon.co.uk/HDD-USB-RAID-En...bay+raid+1
It might be a bit mweh but it could be fit for purpose if its just SoHo

I am thinking of getting one just to play and see as prices are sort of getting to a point where maybe its not RAID but AIR (Array of Inexpensive RAID) or with me more likely just hot air.
AuFS could do just pure JAA (Just Add Another) where the multiple spindles of some pretty god damn awful drives of low cost just build up into a volume that does the job.
OverlayFS is more like a cache where the copy up to a fast 'work' drive could still closely mirror what we do with storage and periodically aged files get placed in the lower file system.

Maybe its a shame that the Rock64 didn't ship with just 2 independent USB 3.0 ports that be it network or storage you can just cluster via adaptors.

As long as you've got just one hard drive/SSD, the Rock64 would make a very good NAS. As has been mentioned before, the performance of the USB 3.0 controller will come close to saturating the SATA3 interface of modern disks.

However, when you add more drives, regardless of whatever method you use (AuFS, ZFS, you name it) you will be bottlenecked by that single USB connection. Not to mention that USB is not exactly a reliable protocol. It will be the single point of failure which could compromise uptime at minimum and completely corrupt your data at worst.

My suggestion if you want multiple disks? Find another board to use, or cluster multiple Rock64s.

Also, the reason that the board didn't ship with more than one USB 3.0 port is because the RK3328 SoC doesn't have any more USB3 controllers.

[stuartiannaylor]

USB RAID yeah prob a joke but keep thinking about the Rock64 with its cost/IO and how it could be a great "TV Box NAS".
Its at a cost for SoHo use that with USB3.0 you still have the bottleneck of the 1Gig ethernet.

I keep wondering more about ease of use and if you could just stack cheapo 2 bay Raid1 or single drives where when you just need more space Just Add Another via USB3.0.
Anyone ever played with AuFS and knows how much the performance hit is?

I keep thinking apart from Docker AuFS & OverlayFS could provide some novel simple storage solutions that sort of fit the simplicity of 'Settop NAS'
Things are getting really cheap as look at what you get with a Rock64 same with 2bay RAID as found this thing for £30 https://www.amazon.co.uk/HDD-USB-RAID-En...bay+raid+1
It might be a bit mweh but it could be fit for purpose if its just SoHo

I am thinking of getting one just to play and see as prices are sort of getting to a point where maybe its not RAID but AIR (Array of Inexpensive RAID) or with me more likely just hot air.
AuFS could do just pure JAA (Just Add Another) where the multiple spindles of some pretty god damn awful drives of low cost just build up into a volume that does the job.
OverlayFS is more like a cache where the copy up to a fast 'work' drive could still closely mirror what we do with storage and periodically aged files get placed in the lower file system.

Maybe its a shame that the Rock64 didn't ship with just 2 independent USB 3.0 ports that be it network or storage you can just cluster via adaptors.

As long as you've got just one hard drive/SSD, the Rock64 would make a very good NAS. As has been mentioned before, the performance of the USB 3.0 controller will come close to saturating the SATA3 interface of modern disks.

However, when you add more drives, regardless of whatever method you use (AuFS, ZFS, you name it) you will be bottlenecked by that single USB connection. Not to mention that USB is not exactly a reliable protocol. It will be the single point of failure which could compromise uptime at minimum and completely corrupt your data at worst.

My suggestion if you want multiple disks? Find another board to use, or cluster multiple Rock64s.

Also, the reason that the board didn't ship with more than one USB 3.0 port is because the RK3328 SoC doesn't have any more USB3 controllers.

My whole point is that its not the USB 3.0 controller that is the bottleneck but the 1Gig Ethernet controller.
But to be honest confused as you seem to say the Rock64 would be a good NAS and then say the mechanisms for doing so are not. "Not to mention that USB is not exactly a reliable protocol"

AuFS or OverlayFS are not blk level file systems but purely ways to concatenate filesystems ZFS, EXT4... and RAID can run under AuFS or OverlayFS as they work at a file level but have a single mount point.
Each raid unit or disk isn't part of a volume or span the drivers just make it look that way but you do get a performance hit.

I have no idea why you have any preference to a single disk as why a single usb-> single port sata adapter is any better or worse than a usb -> multiple port sata raid has me bemused? 
Or a single drive in a usb hub is any better than multiple?

If you have a raw 5gbps USB port and a collection of relatively slow HDD drives why would you partition them into clusters.

Clusters are a good idea but until you need them.

I know its a shame about the RK3328 SoC it was just a thought about SoCs in general where embedded functionality dictates employment.
CPU + GPU + USB + mPCIe maybe but that was just a wishlist.

I am pretty sure the Rock64 will make a great NAS unit and multiple drives will be used for greater storage size but not all accessed at the same time.

[fire219]

USB RAID yeah prob a joke but keep thinking about the Rock64 with its cost/IO and how it could be a great "TV Box NAS".
Its at a cost for SoHo use that with USB3.0 you still have the bottleneck of the 1Gig ethernet.

I keep wondering more about ease of use and if you could just stack cheapo 2 bay Raid1 or single drives where when you just need more space Just Add Another via USB3.0.
Anyone ever played with AuFS and knows how much the performance hit is?

I keep thinking apart from Docker AuFS & OverlayFS could provide some novel simple storage solutions that sort of fit the simplicity of 'Settop NAS'
Things are getting really cheap as look at what you get with a Rock64 same with 2bay RAID as found this thing for £30 https://www.amazon.co.uk/HDD-USB-RAID-En...bay+raid+1
It might be a bit mweh but it could be fit for purpose if its just SoHo

I am thinking of getting one just to play and see as prices are sort of getting to a point where maybe its not RAID but AIR (Array of Inexpensive RAID) or with me more likely just hot air.
AuFS could do just pure JAA (Just Add Another) where the multiple spindles of some pretty god damn awful drives of low cost just build up into a volume that does the job.
OverlayFS is more like a cache where the copy up to a fast 'work' drive could still closely mirror what we do with storage and periodically aged files get placed in the lower file system.

Maybe its a shame that the Rock64 didn't ship with just 2 independent USB 3.0 ports that be it network or storage you can just cluster via adaptors.

As long as you've got just one hard drive/SSD, the Rock64 would make a very good NAS. As has been mentioned before, the performance of the USB 3.0 controller will come close to saturating the SATA3 interface of modern disks.

However, when you add more drives, regardless of whatever method you use (AuFS, ZFS, you name it) you will be bottlenecked by that single USB connection. Not to mention that USB is not exactly a reliable protocol. It will be the single point of failure which could compromise uptime at minimum and completely corrupt your data at worst.

My suggestion if you want multiple disks? Find another board to use, or cluster multiple Rock64s.

Also, the reason that the board didn't ship with more than one USB 3.0 port is because the RK3328 SoC doesn't have any more USB3 controllers.

My whole point is that its not the USB 3.0 controller that is the bottleneck but the 1Gig Ethernet controller.
But to be honest confused as you seem to say the Rock64 would be a good NAS and then say the mechanisms for doing so are not. "Not to mention that USB is not exactly a reliable protocol"

AuFS or OverlayFS are not blk level file systems but purely ways to concatenate filesystems ZFS and RAID can run under AuFS or OverlayFS as they work at a file level.
Each raid unit or disk isn't part of a volume or span the drivers just make it look that way but you do get a performance hit.

I have no idea why you have any preference to a single disk as why a single usb-> single port sata adapter is any better that a usb -> multiple port sata raid has me bemused? 

True, 1GbE is the bottleneck here, unfortunately your only other option without spending a lot of money is 802.11ac WiFi... which is not a great idea for NAS use for hopefully obvious reasons.

USB is not ideal for NAS work, but in this price range there isn't much else option. The risks can be mitigated by keeping it simple: single USB-SATA adapter (JMS578, preferably) and one drive (HDD/SSD). The issues with USB come in when you throw hubs into the mix, as you would have to in order to have multiple disks. This still is not what I would call an enterprise-ready solution, but for SoHo use it is adequate.

[stuartiannaylor]

USB RAID yeah prob a joke but keep thinking about the Rock64 with its cost/IO and how it could be a great "TV Box NAS".
Its at a cost for SoHo use that with USB3.0 you still have the bottleneck of the 1Gig ethernet.

I keep wondering more about ease of use and if you could just stack cheapo 2 bay Raid1 or single drives where when you just need more space Just Add Another via USB3.0.
Anyone ever played with AuFS and knows how much the performance hit is?

I keep thinking apart from Docker AuFS & OverlayFS could provide some novel simple storage solutions that sort of fit the simplicity of 'Settop NAS'
Things are getting really cheap as look at what you get with a Rock64 same with 2bay RAID as found this thing for £30 https://www.amazon.co.uk/HDD-USB-RAID-En...bay+raid+1
It might be a bit mweh but it could be fit for purpose if its just SoHo

I am thinking of getting one just to play and see as prices are sort of getting to a point where maybe its not RAID but AIR (Array of Inexpensive RAID) or with me more likely just hot air.
AuFS could do just pure JAA (Just Add Another) where the multiple spindles of some pretty god damn awful drives of low cost just build up into a volume that does the job.
OverlayFS is more like a cache where the copy up to a fast 'work' drive could still closely mirror what we do with storage and periodically aged files get placed in the lower file system.

Maybe its a shame that the Rock64 didn't ship with just 2 independent USB 3.0 ports that be it network or storage you can just cluster via adaptors.

As long as you've got just one hard drive/SSD, the Rock64 would make a very good NAS. As has been mentioned before, the performance of the USB 3.0 controller will come close to saturating the SATA3 interface of modern disks.

However, when you add more drives, regardless of whatever method you use (AuFS, ZFS, you name it) you will be bottlenecked by that single USB connection. Not to mention that USB is not exactly a reliable protocol. It will be the single point of failure which could compromise uptime at minimum and completely corrupt your data at worst.

My suggestion if you want multiple disks? Find another board to use, or cluster multiple Rock64s.

Also, the reason that the board didn't ship with more than one USB 3.0 port is because the RK3328 SoC doesn't have any more USB3 controllers.

My whole point is that its not the USB 3.0 controller that is the bottleneck but the 1Gig Ethernet controller.
But to be honest confused as you seem to say the Rock64 would be a good NAS and then say the mechanisms for doing so are not. "Not to mention that USB is not exactly a reliable protocol"

AuFS or OverlayFS are not blk level file systems but purely ways to concatenate filesystems ZFS and RAID can run under AuFS or OverlayFS as they work at a file level.
Each raid unit or disk isn't part of a volume or span the drivers just make it look that way but you do get a performance hit.

I have no idea why you have any preference to a single disk as why a single usb-> single port sata adapter is any better that a usb -> multiple port sata raid has me bemused? 

True, 1GbE is the bottleneck here, unfortunately your only other option without spending a lot of money is 802.11ac WiFi... which is not a great idea for NAS use for hopefully obvious reasons.

USB is not ideal for NAS work, but in this price range there isn't much else option. The risks can be mitigated by keeping it simple: single USB-SATA adapter (JMS578, preferably) and one drive (HDD/SSD). The issues with USB come in when you throw hubs into the mix, as you would have to in order to have multiple disks. This still is not what I would call an enterprise-ready solution, but for SoHo use it is adequate.

Yeah the bottleneck is the 1Gbe and the router we are probably going to plug into prob has better 802.11ac WiFi.

I am quite excited about the Rock64 especially at its price point as with previous SBCs I would say you are correct as the I/O hasn't even been sufficient for SoHo (Apols Pi Users, I had one and they are great but I/O sucked)

I am not really sure what "USB is not ideal for NAS work" means to be honest as it is very dependent on what your NAS work is.

I am thinking though at the price level of the Rock64 and the tech level of SoHo USB could be fit for purpose and still struggling to see how a single USB drive is in anyway better or worse than multiple.
I imagine quite a few Rock64 boards will be connected to some of the cheap 4 bay USB 3.0 RAID units that are on offer and they will be fit for purpose and giving much larger volume sizes that home media might dictate.
There might be people out there who connect a few 4 bay RAID units mounted at different mount points purely for volume size.

OpenMediaVault already has a Aufs plugin just haven't played with it to see what the overall performance hit is.
Need to get my Rock64 and play with some images.

We might see due to lower costs and wider consumer adoption simpler Just Add More solutions to questions of initial specification and purchase of volumes and drives.
I am just playing with some ideas that the Rock64 could do and actually could be fit for purpose, just depends on what that purpose is.

[Metalazzo]

Hi guys,
I need some help, I must be doing something wrong with my rock...
Let me explain : I bought an adapter with an ASM1153 chip which normally is OK on the UASP side. I plug a SSD (on the USB3) and I'm doing some copy speed test and it's... slow. Copy cant' reach 30MB/s on 2GB+ file ?
I can't understand how you can get 60MB+/s.
Is there some magical parameter to fine tune ? Some voodoo dance to perform ? Some goat to sacrifice ?

Code:

root@rock64:~# lsusb -t
/:  Bus 05.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci-hcd/1p, 5000M
   |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=uas, 5000M
/:  Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci-hcd/1p, 480M
/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ohci-platform/1p, 12M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-platform/1p, 480M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=dwc2/1p, 480M

So it seems it should be working but it's not. 
As you can guess I'm a noob but I try.

To verify if the hardware didn't have any problem, I tried the SSD with windows10 and the same adapter and I can reach 100MB+/s on 4GB+ files...

Thanks for your help (and your patience).

[fire219]

Hi guys,
I need some help, I must be doing something wrong with my rock...
Let me explain : I bought an adapter with an ASM1153 chip which normally is OK on the UASP side. I plug a SSD (on the USB3) and I'm doing some copy speed test and it's... slow. Copy cant' reach 30MB/s on 2GB+ file ?
I can't understand how you can get 60MB+/s.
Is there some magical parameter to fine tune ? Some voodoo dance to perform ? Some goat to sacrifice ?

Code:

root@rock64:~# lsusb -t
/:  Bus 05.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci-hcd/1p, 5000M
   |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=uas, 5000M
/:  Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci-hcd/1p, 480M
/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ohci-platform/1p, 12M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-platform/1p, 480M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=dwc2/1p, 480M

So it seems it should be working but it's not. 
As you can guess I'm a noob but I try.

To verify if the hardware didn't have any problem, I tried the SSD with windows10 and the same adapter and I can reach 100MB+/s on 4GB+ files...

Thanks for your help (and your patience).

Where are you copying the file from? If it's the SD card, then there's the problem. the SD card interface on the R64 is pretty slow.

[Metalazzo]

Hi guys,
I need some help, I must be doing something wrong with my rock...
Let me explain : I bought an adapter with an ASM1153 chip which normally is OK on the UASP side. I plug a SSD (on the USB3) and I'm doing some copy speed test and it's... slow. Copy cant' reach 30MB/s on 2GB+ file ?
I can't understand how you can get 60MB+/s.
Is there some magical parameter to fine tune ? Some voodoo dance to perform ? Some goat to sacrifice ?

Code:

root@rock64:~# lsusb -t
/:  Bus 05.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci-hcd/1p, 5000M
   |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=uas, 5000M
/:  Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci-hcd/1p, 480M
/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ohci-platform/1p, 12M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-platform/1p, 480M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=dwc2/1p, 480M

So it seems it should be working but it's not. 
As you can guess I'm a noob but I try.

To verify if the hardware didn't have any problem, I tried the SSD with windows10 and the same adapter and I can reach 100MB+/s on 4GB+ files...

Thanks for your help (and your patience).

Where are you copying the file from? If it's the SD card, then there's the problem. the SD card interface on the R64 is pretty slow.

Source is from one of my SSD and for the moment, it's an SSD which is plugged on the Rock. Network is gigabit of course.

[Metalazzo]

Well, I tried iozone with 1GB "file" :

Code:

                                                     random    random     bkwd    record    stride
             kB  reclen    write  rewrite    read    reread    read     write     read   rewrite      read   fwrite frewrite    fread  freread
        1024000       4    21398    30223    77006    76949    74991    28235
        1024000      16    54907    77383   245716   246803   239836    73787
        1024000     512   118921   132870   322434   312990   323876   126180
        1024000    1024   117895   147201   304274   318403   316472   121843
        1024000   16384   125973   120491   320027   321014   320234   129416

Past reclen=16, speed is ok for me (I could live with it ).
So why is speed so low when transferring file from my PC to the SSD on the Rock ?