Conecting HDDs via USB

[Jan854]

Hello, I wanted to know if it's possible to connect multiple HDDs via USB because when I tested it, it didn't showed all of my drives that i had plugged in. 

[Mobius]

i think if you use an external enclosure with multiple hdds only one will show up.

But in general it is not recommended to use usb external storage

feel free to read more hear
https://forums.truenas.com/t/why-you-should-avoid-usb-attached-drives-for-data-pool-disks/1499

[HomeHosted]

2 hours ago, Jan854 said:

Hello, I wanted to know if it's possible to connect multiple HDDs via USB because when I tested it, it didn't showed all of my drives that i had plugged in. 

As the other person said it is not recommended to use usb drives.

usb is not designed to be used this way.

on your board your manual will say what usb ports go to what usb chip on your board.  And usually they are 2-4 ports per chip.  This can cause a lot of stability issues, it will cause drive IO delays.  And don’t get me started on drive lettering for pools.

 

best bet.  Get an HBA card and shuck your external drives.

[AeroXuk]

I've been using a Terramaster D6-320 (USB-C 10Gbps enclosure) with TrueNAS Scale since October and had no issues so far. I'm aware that's not a long time so can't speak for longterm results.

On 12/27/2024 at 1:03 AM, Mobius said:

i think if you use an external enclosure with multiple hdds only one will show up.

But in general it is not recommended to use usb external storage

feel free to read more hear
https://forums.truenas.com/t/why-you-should-avoid-usb-attached-drives-for-data-pool-disks/1499

Before purchasing I reviewed the points raised there, and whilst they are good general points, I feel most of the potential issues listed can be mitigated for.

If you have the space to install a HBA card and connect the drives via that, I feel that is still the preferrer method.

In my case I don't have the space for that and had two unpopulated USB4 connections on my host. If you do go for a USB disk enclosure I would recommed going for a higher end one rather then a cheaper one. The one I use passes each disk through as a seperate device and has no built in raid funtionality.