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ReadyNas 424, replace all hard drives with new ones.
Hey there everyone, I'm sure this is super simple, just wanted some instructions on the correct way to replace all my hard drives with fresh ones. I am currently using Western digital RED drives and ...
Hey there everyone, I'm sure this is super simple, just wanted some instructions on the correct way to replace all my hard drives with fresh ones. I am currently using Western digital RED drives and will be replacing with the same drives. My current drives are full and I want to store them long term as a backup of all the data. I'm hoping that I can just power off the device, swap out the drives and power on again?
BronteKerr wrote:
I'm hoping that I can just power off the device, swap out the drives and power on again?
You can - but you will need to set up the NAS from scratch, recreate your shares, and reload any data you want on the NAS from backup.
BronteKerr wrote:
My current drives are full and I want to store them long term as a backup of all the data.
IMO, not the best long-term backup strategy. Access would require powering down, swapping the disks, powering up. And of course if two disks fail over time, all the data would be lost.
BronteKerr wrote:
I am currently using Western digital RED drives and will be replacing with the same drives.
Make sure you are getting either Red Plus or Red Pro drives.
The drives in the current Red line are all SMR, and are not good choices for RAID+BTRFS.
Check this on the wdc web site (as they did rebrand many of the red drives as red plus a while back).
Thankyou for your reply, I will only be loading up files as I go so am happy to start from scratch.
I am unlikely going to need access to the old drives, but will keep them there as a backup to clients' old photo galleries, and will load them into a plug'n'play hard drive system if ever needed. like this one.. https://www.amazon.com.au/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1CONS9MJE2SFC&keywords=sabrent+usb+3.0+to+sata+external+hard+drive+lay&qid=1658970866&sprefix=sabrent+usb+3.0+to+sata%2Caps%2C358&sr=8-1
The WD website states that the red drives are optimised for NAS systems, its too late for me as I have already ordered the red drives, but will fill them up in less than a year and order the red pro next time for sure.
Thankyou so much for all this info.
BronteKerr wrote:
The WD website states that the red drives are optimised for NAS systems, its too late for me as I have already ordered the red drives, but will fill them up in less than a year and order the red pro next time for sure.
Red Plus drives are also good choices.
BronteKerr wrote:
I am unlikely going to need access to the old drives, but will keep them there as a backup to clients' old photo galleries, and will load them into a plug'n'play hard drive system if ever needed. like this one.. https://www.amazon.com.au/Sabrent-External-Lay-Flat-Docking-EC-DFLT/dp/B00LS5NFQ2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1CONS9MJE2SFC&keywords=sabrent+usb+3.0+to+sata+external+hard+drive+lay&qid=1658970866&sprefix=sabrent+usb+3.0+to+sata%2Caps%2C358&sr=8-1
If you are thinking you can connect them to a Windows PC or a Mac, then that won't work. They don't support the linux file system that the NAS uses. Also, RAID will require that you connect all the disks, not just one. The simplest way is to put all the disks back into the NAS.
If the drives are WD red 6TB or less, don't use them. Trust me, you want to return them for Red Plus. The slowness of syncs, balances, and such is huge (something like 10x). Writing very large files is also affected, though not as dramatically.
I replaced just one failed WD red with one of the new SMR versions before it was well known the drives were SMR and I wondered what in the world was wrong with my NAS. Once I learned about the drive being SMR, I replaced it and performance was back to normal.
WDS is just plain wrong that the SMR red drives are suited for any NAS that uses RAID. But they refuse to say anything else because it could be used against them in a lawsuit.
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