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Can I Backup a Degraded Volume?
This is probably a really bad idea, but I am just exploring ideas.
Let's start with info on my current environment:
RN214: X-RAID with 2x8 TB + 2x3 TB
I have copied ~ 6 TB of DVDs to this X-RAID volume.
Total space used on the volume is about 8 TB, and everything except for the DVD copies is backed up.
What I want to do:
Since none of the DVD copies are at real risk of loss, they seem to be wasting a lot of protected RAID storage, so I am considering reconfiguring the NAS to Flex-RAID with a single 8 TB drive as RAID 1 (for the DVD copies), and 3x3 TB drives as RAID 5 for stuff I really want protected.
The problem is that I do not really have a spare 6 TB of storage sitting around that I can use to backup all of the DVD copies. And although the DVD copies are not really at any risk of loss, to re-copy all of those is a LOT of work! So I am trying to imagine the easiest way to make these changes to my NAS.
Here is my idea:
- If I remove one of the existing 8 TB drives from the current X-RAID volume, that volume will continue to operate in a degraded status. So I would re-format that now external 8 TB drive to connect as a normal Windows USB share, then back up the degraded share to this USB drive. In fact, there would be enough space on this single 8 TB USB drive to do new full backups of ALL the existing X-RAID shares (but the whole X-RAID volume would remain degraded during this time).
After I have the new backups on the USB drive, I would do a factory reset on the RN214 and configure it as Flex-RAID with the 1x8 TB drive RAID 1, and 3x3 TB drives RAID 5.
- Finally, I would restore the backups from the 8 TB USB drive, sending the DVD copies to the new RAID 1 volume, and all the other shares to the new RAID 5 volume.
Question:
Are there any problems with this plan (other than the increased risk of data loss during the time that the existing X-RAID volume is in degraded mode)?
Thanx for any thoughts or ideas you may have on this...
Mauser69 wrote:
so I am considering reconfiguring the NAS to Flex-RAID with a single 8 TB drive as RAID 1 (for the DVD copies),
This would be jbod, not RAID-1. RAID-1 is two mirrored disks.
Mauser69 wrote:
Since none of the DVD copies are at real risk of loss, they seem to be wasting a lot of protected RAID storage,
6 TB would be a lot of DVDs, so I am thinking that re-ripping them would be a very big job. Something to consider in your overall strategy of not backing them up.
Mauser69 wrote:
Here is my idea:
- If I remove one of the existing 8 TB drives from the current X-RAID volume, that volume will continue to operate in a degraded status. So I would re-format that now external 8 TB drive to connect as a normal Windows USB share, then back up the degraded share to this USB drive. In fact, there would be enough space on this single 8 TB USB drive to do new full backups of ALL the existing X-RAID shares (but the whole X-RAID volume would remain degraded during this time).
-
After I have the new backups on the USB drive, I would do a factory reset on the RN214 and configure it as Flex-RAID with the 1x8 TB drive RAID 1, and 3x3 TB drives RAID 5.
- Finally, I would restore the backups from the 8 TB USB drive, sending the DVD copies to the new RAID 1 volume, and all the other shares to the new RAID 5 volume.
Question:
Are there any problems with this plan (other than the increased risk of data loss during the time that the existing X-RAID volume is in degraded mode)?
This will work, but I suggest starting with just the 3x3TB disks installed. Then after the sync, you'd switch to flexraid and add the 8 TB drive as a jbod volume.
The reasoning here is that the apps and home folders are both placed on the initial volume. It's a bit better to make that redundant.
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Mauser69 wrote:
so I am considering reconfiguring the NAS to Flex-RAID with a single 8 TB drive as RAID 1 (for the DVD copies),
This would be jbod, not RAID-1. RAID-1 is two mirrored disks.
Mauser69 wrote:
Since none of the DVD copies are at real risk of loss, they seem to be wasting a lot of protected RAID storage,
6 TB would be a lot of DVDs, so I am thinking that re-ripping them would be a very big job. Something to consider in your overall strategy of not backing them up.
Mauser69 wrote:
Here is my idea:
- If I remove one of the existing 8 TB drives from the current X-RAID volume, that volume will continue to operate in a degraded status. So I would re-format that now external 8 TB drive to connect as a normal Windows USB share, then back up the degraded share to this USB drive. In fact, there would be enough space on this single 8 TB USB drive to do new full backups of ALL the existing X-RAID shares (but the whole X-RAID volume would remain degraded during this time).
-
After I have the new backups on the USB drive, I would do a factory reset on the RN214 and configure it as Flex-RAID with the 1x8 TB drive RAID 1, and 3x3 TB drives RAID 5.
- Finally, I would restore the backups from the 8 TB USB drive, sending the DVD copies to the new RAID 1 volume, and all the other shares to the new RAID 5 volume.
Question:
Are there any problems with this plan (other than the increased risk of data loss during the time that the existing X-RAID volume is in degraded mode)?
This will work, but I suggest starting with just the 3x3TB disks installed. Then after the sync, you'd switch to flexraid and add the 8 TB drive as a jbod volume.
The reasoning here is that the apps and home folders are both placed on the initial volume. It's a bit better to make that redundant.
StephenB wrote:
Mauser69 wrote:so I am considering reconfiguring the NAS to Flex-RAID with a single 8 TB drive as RAID 1 (for the DVD copies),
This would be jbod, not RAID-1. RAID-1 is two mirrored disks.
6 TB would be a lot of DVDs, so I am thinking that re-ripping them would be a very big job. Something to consider in your overall strategy of not backing them up.
This will work, but I suggest starting with just the 3x3TB disks installed. Then after the sync, you'd switch to flexraid and add the 8 TB drive as a jbod volume.
The reasoning here is that the apps and home folders are both placed on the initial volume. It's a bit better to make that redundant.
Thanx for the response. Of course a single disk is not RAID 1 - I knew that was wrong when I typed it, but my brain chose just that moment to remind me how stupid it can make me look whenever it wants! Oh well.
And I appreciate the suggestion on doing the RAID 5 volume first - that was new information for me. I guess I'll get another 3 TB drive and head down this path. The nice side-benefit of this change is that it will also give me back a spare 8 TB drive to use for whatever, and I'll end up with the about the same total amount of NAS storage that I have now (just that half of it won't be RAID protected).
UPDATE and new Question on this process:
So far so good. I did pull one of the 8 TB drives from the X-RAID volume and use it for the full NAS backup as a USB3 drive, formatted as EXT4. The only slightly odd thing I ran into was that I could not get the NAS to recognize the USB3 drive UNTIL I formatted it for Windows! After that, it immedieately recognized the drive and added it as a USB share, and I was able to use the Admin Page System Overview window to reformat it as EXT4.
Next, I pulled the other 8 TB drive, and with just 3x3 TB drives installed I reset it to Factory Default from the Admin Page. This seemed to work without any problems. Restoring the backup of my Configuration Archive worked perfectly to reset all the old Shares, email, security, etc. I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to re-do any of this somewhat tedious setup.
But now here is my NEW question:
Even though the \Data volume had no data on it at all (just the empty Shares defined), the NAS has been doing a long, protracted volume Resync, just as if I had done a volume expansion instead of a factory reset. After about 7 hours, it is only about 25% done. The log does not show anythingwrong, just this as the very first message after the reset: "Volume: Resyncing started for Volume data."
It is not that I think there is anything wrong, just that this resync surprised me. Does anyone know why it would need to do this on a brand new X-RAID volume?
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