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Forum Discussion
What is the best order of execution for a vertical disk upgrade?
Hello,
I have an RN628 (latest firmware) unit filled with 8TB drives in a RAID5 configuration with a single volume. I will be replacing the 8TB drives with new 14TB drives. The array is currently configured as Flex-RAID (vs X-RAID). The purpose of the new drives is to expand the size of the existing volume.
My question is: would I be best to (one-by-one) replace the existing drives while still in Flex-RAID mode and then convert to X-RAID after they are all installed and in synch? Or would I be better to switch to X-RAID mode first and then replace the drives?
The unit also has an EDA-500 expansion unit with 6TB drives. Once I have completed the vertical upgrade of the main chassis I also plan to the same with the EDA-500 unit by replacing the 6TB drives with the 8TB ones taken from the main chassis. It also has one volume using Flex-RAID. If the guidance is any different for the expansion unit that would also be helpful to know. The main thing I'm unsure about with that one is whether I need to do anything special with the 8TB disks since they were previously used (not newly unformatted).
Any advice on the best way/order to do this would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
4 Replies
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13Tech wrote:
My question is: would I be best to (one-by-one) replace the existing drives while still in Flex-RAID mode and then convert to X-RAID after they are all installed and in synch? Or would I be better to switch to X-RAID mode first and then replace the drives?
Switch to XRAID first.
13Tech wrote:
The main thing I'm unsure about with that one is whether I need to do anything special with the 8TB disks since they were previously used (not newly unformatted).
Again, I'd switch to XRAID first (assuming the system will let you).
It would be best to unformat the drives. If you can connect them to a Windows PC (either SATA or USB adapter/dock) then you can use the windows disk manager for this - just delete all the partitions (called volumes in the Windows disk manager). Or run Seatools or Lifeguard, and use the utility to zero the disks. The "quick erase" function will work (not sure if that is in Lifeguard or Seatools).
Thanks very much for the quick response. Can I please ask what the benefit is with switching to X-RAID first, just for my better understanding? My only hestitation with just doing that initially was thinking it might be better to have the additional capacity added all at once when switching to X-RAID at the end versus having X-RAID reconfigure the space multiple times as each new disk gets added. But I have no idea how X-RAID repartitions the disks as they get added to know whether that makes any difference at all.
The other thing I forgot to ask in the original post is whether its okay to do the drive swaps while the unit is running, or is it better to shutdown to do each drive replacement?
thanks again!
13Tech wrote:
My only hestitation with just doing that initially was thinking it might be better to have the additional capacity added all at once when switching to X-RAID at the end versus having X-RAID reconfigure the space multiple times as each new disk gets added.
XRAID will still operate on one disk at a time.
13Tech wrote:
Can I please ask what the benefit is with switching to X-RAID first, just for my better understanding?
The primary reason in my thinking is that the main use case for Netgear is that XRAID is always on (and also that switches between XRAID and FlexRAID are rare). So you'd be setting up a scenario that might not be well-tested.
Another is that there are situations when the system won't let you switch back - including the case where expansion is done under flexraid. It's be best to avoid that possibility (note I have seen cases here where the system won't let you switch back when it would have been safe).
But I don't know why you are in FlexRAID mode in the first place.
13Tech wrote:
The other thing I forgot to ask in the original post is whether its okay to do the drive swaps while the unit is running, or is it better to shutdown to do each drive replacement?
I always recommend hot-swapping the drives. Then the system software detects the drive removal and reinsertion, and doesn't have to figure as much out. Obviously wait for the full resync to be complete before moving to the next. Keep in mind that there will be two resyncs when second drive is replaced (the second will expand the volume). Similarly for the remaining drives.
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