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Replacing hdd in rn104
Hi I currently have the rn104 nas device and currently only have one 2tb hdd installed and 3 empty slots. I want to replace my my 2tb hdd with a 4tb hdd will this be just a simple hot swap plug ...
Maximus360 wrote:
So am i right in saying that both methods suggested will destroy all data on the disk and once the 4TB disk is installed i will have to physically copy the data back across, i.e. my movies etc.
The first method does not destroy the information on the 2 TB disk. That won't happen until you reformat it on your new system. As I tried to say earlier, that gives you a fallback if something goes wrong. For instance if your independent backup has failed, you could power down the system, reinstall the 2 TB drive by itself, and then power up again. Your original system is back on line, and you can make another backup.
The second method does destroy the data in step (d) - "Destroy the volume".
Maximus360 wrote:
in step (h) you say restore the data from backup. Does this mean copy it across from another disk?
In both methods I assumed that you would be restoring the data from another drive - either USB or over the network. You can revise Brian's procedure to allow you to copy the data from the existing 2 TB volume.
(a) switch to flexraid (if you haven't already)
(b) hot-insert the 4 TB drive (leaving the 2 TB drive in place)
(c) create a new volume on the 4 TB drive with a new name
(d) create new shares on the 4 TB volume (with temporary names)
(e) create and run backup jobs to migrate the data from each share on the 2 TB volume to the corresponding share on the 4 TB volume.
(f) uninstall all apps
(g) destroy the 2 TB volume
(h) remove the 2 TB drive.
(i) rename the shares on the 4 TB drive to match the original share name.
(j) reinstall apps
Maximus360 wrote:
Looking at the stages below it looks to me Brians option would be longer,
Just counting the number of steps might be misleading. The breakdown is a bit arbitrary, and some of the steps are faster than others.
If you want a clean slate, then the factory reset method is what you should use. If you want (or need) to transfer data directly from the 2 TB volume to the new disk, then Brian's alternative is what you should use.
Hi Maximus360,
If you will remove your existing 2TB hard drive, there will be no volume or data available that your 4TB will sync into. It would be better if you put the new 4TB disk in one of the available slots (RAID of the volume will change to RAID 1) and let it sync then remove your original drive (which is optional).
Please take note that if you will do this procedure, ensure that the X-RAID toggle bar is clicked when you add or hot-swap the new drive of yours.
Kind regards,
BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team
Hi Brian
Thank you for your input, i think i understand!
So if i put my new 4TB disk in slot 2 this will sync because of RAID?
When i remove my 2TB disk from slot 1 can i then put my 4TB disk from slot 2 into slot 1?
I do have the XRAID toggle on so that should be fine.
What i am concerned about is with XRAID when you add a second disk this second disk acts as backup not storage, so does this mean once the 4TB is installed i cannot add files to that disk? Hope that makes sense how i understand XRAID works is if you have a 4 bay system you will have 3 slots for storage and 1 slot for backup?
Regards,
Mark
Maximus360 wrote:
What i am concerned about is with XRAID when you add a second disk this second disk acts as backup not storage, so does this mean once the 4TB is installed i cannot add files to that disk?
That won't be a problem. The second disk is not a backup it is a mirror - holding everything the first disk has.
However, the volume will be degraded RAID-1 when you remove the 2 TB drive, and I don't think it will expand to 4 TB when the 2 TB drive is removed. So I suggest doing a factory reset instead of using Brian's procedure.
Alternatively get two 4 TB drives - then hot-install one drive in slot 2, wait for sync, and then hot-swap the disk in slot 1.
Maximus360 wrote:
how i understand XRAID works is if you have a 4 bay system you will have 3 slots for storage and 1 slot for backup?
No, it doesn't actually work that way. With 3 or more disks, the volume is spread across all of them, and the redundancy is also. So there isn't 1 slot reserved for redundancy.
Also, redundancy is not backup, and it is important that you do maintain a backup on a different device.
Maximus360 wrote:
When i remove my 2TB disk from slot 1 can i then put my 4TB disk from slot 2 into slot 1?
It should be ok to shuffle the disks into any slot order, but there is no need to do that. Generally I think its best not to move them around if you don't need to.
OK thanks for your help.
In terms of HDD - should i be concerned about RPM when purchasing my drive. I use my NAS for storing and streaming my media files, i.e HD Movies.
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