How to Upgrade Disks in ReadyNAS Duo V1

I have an older Sparc ReadyNas Duo V1 with RAID-X and two 500 GB Disks.
We use our NAS as our primary network storage within the media share.

There is the regular assortment of folders with office documents, etc within the media share, the largest being "pictures".
I use the backup share on the NAS for snapshot backups of Quickbooks and to make an image copy of a couple of notebook computers.

Our NAS is on UPS backup and it is set to power off when the UPS gets to 30%. The RAIDAR health screen shows 33 minutes of UPS power.
I use the power off/on scheduler to power off every night around midnight and power on around 7 or 8 AM. This has worked flawlessly.

The NAS is about 75% full, so I have purchased a pair of 2TB disks to replace them.
I chose the WD20EFRXAZ, which is the NAS specific RED versions.

I was backing up my NAS to a 500GB MyBook, alternating between two of them, monthly or whenever.
They will be replaced by 2TB MyBooks, again an alternating pair of them.
I run two backup jobs, one with source: media share and one with source: backup share. The second job is checked to "Unmount usb drive after backup".

I have never had to perform a "restore", so I need a little guidance. And THANKS IN ADVANCE! for your help.

In reading other posts, it seems like I should do a "complete backup" (or two), and a configuration backup.
Power off, remove old 500GB disks.
Install new 2TB disk.

Then somehow do a "factory reset"?

Restore my configuration backup.
Restore my data.

Could it be that easy? Detailed question follow...

I appreciate every bit of help and advice you can give me. For sure, I know almost nothing of LINUX!

What I think I know may be only enough for me to be dangerous, but here is what I think:
to backup/restore the configuration, I plan to use the Frontview panel of System>Config Backup, the "backup" tag and choose "Everything".
I see this creates a .zip file which I have on a couple of PC desktop screens.

I assume that I'll restore the ReadyNAS configuration from System>Config Backup, the "restore" tab and pick that .zip file from my desktop?

For data backup and restore,
I think I use the Backup> Add a new backup job and define it to save everything.
So does that mean two backup jobs: one each with the source my media share to a destination of USB front panel,
and another with the source my backup share and destination the USB front panel.
OR should I using the source of "Select this ReadyNAS or remote"? Is that an option?
What is meant by "volume C:" ? Is that the C: drive on my local PC or the entire drive in the ReadyNAS?

To RESTORE, it seems like I need to create more "backup jobs" with the source and destination reversed?
For RESTORE, my source would obviously be the USB front panel, but what is the destination?
Is "Select this ReadyNAS or remote" an option for the destination?
I don't see "volume C:" as a destination, so "volume c:" probably doesn't refer to the ReadyNAS disk?

It seems like I would need two RESTORE "backup jobs"? One for my media share and one for my backup share?
Unless there is a way to simply "save all data" and "restore all data"?

Thanks for helping this non-LINUX guy understand.
As a non-LINUX user, how can I look at my backup drive to be sure that it is complete?

FrontView

ReadyNAS Backup

30 Replies

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StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Dec 13, 2014
One thing to check is whether you have 4K alignment. That doesn't matter for your existing drives, but it is needed for best performance with the 2 TB ones. In order to figure this out, read through the guide here: http://www.rnasguide.com/2011/06/22/why ... -readynas/ The relevant section is "4k sector partition alignment" about half way down the web page.

If you don't have 4K alignment then it is best to do a reset, and not expand. If you do have 4K alignment, then expanding will be fine.

You have the right idea overall on how to handle the reset, here's a slightly expanded view of the steps.
(a) back up your data
(b) update your firmware (esp. if you are running 4.1.7 or earlier).
(c) back up your config (using frontview as you say)
(d) Note whatever add-ons you have installed (via Frontview).
(e) Power down, remove your two disks, and label them. (You could still reinsert them if you needed to later on).

Then on the rebuild steps
(1) insert the two new disks (unformatted)
(2) Power up the NAS - it will do a factory install. Admin password will be netgear1.
(3) Reinstall any add-ons (BEFORE restoring the config)
(4) restore the config zip using the method you said.
(5) Restore the data.

If you don't need a reset, then the full process is
(a) back up your data
(b) update your firmware (if desired).
(c) back up your config (using frontview as you say)
(d) remove disk 1 with the NAS running, and then hot-insert a new disk into the NAS.
(e) wait for the resync to complete. Volume size will still be 500 GB.
(f) remove disk 2 with the NAS running, and hot insert the second new disk into the NAS
(g) wait for the resync to complete. Volume size should expand to 2 TB (a reboot might be needed after the resync for this to happen).

It's not as hard as all the steps make it sound...

For restoring the data, all you really need to do is create a new "restore" backup for each of your two shares - reversing the source and destinations in your current backup jobs.

Though it is much faster to copy the data using a PC over an ethernet connection (assuming they are formatted USB or NTFS). You can connect them to the PC and use teracopy to copy them back. I suggest teracopy because it can verify the data.

If you aren't confident that your USB backups are complete (or that the drives are solid), you can also make a full backup using teracopy and a PC. That should take about 6-8 hours. Probably worth the time.
Bob_Nes
Aspirant
Dec 13, 2014
Wow, thanks!
It's the weekend, and I am anxious to do my upgrade,
so I REALLY APPRECIATE your quick response.
I will post back regarding my success.
Thank you!
Bob_Nes
Aspirant
Dec 13, 2014
I would like to be able to read (maybe even copy) from my USB External My Book, which I use as a Destination Backup from my ReadyNAS Duo, from my Windows 7 PC.
I downloaded linux-reader from diskinternals and it shows the My Book, but it doesn't show any contents.
Any ideas or other ideas?
Thanks!
StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Dec 13, 2014
How is that USB drive formatted?
Bob_Nes
Aspirant
Dec 13, 2014
Formatted by ReadyNAS to EXT3.
StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Dec 13, 2014
Can you see the data when its plugged into the NAS?
Bob_Nes
Aspirant
Dec 13, 2014
How or where would I see the data on my USB drive when it is plugged into the NAS?
I see, just use the Browse... I can't access it right now because I selected "filesystem check".
Sometimes I really am a dummy...

It seems that I need to do a factory reset and I kind of like that idea anyway as it will prove that my backup strategy is working (or not).

I checked and my block size is 16384, so that's good.
I checked and my sector partition alignment is only 512, so I need the factory reset to get the 4K alignment which will be the best (or maybe even required) for my new 2TB disks.

I tried to look at my USB My Book (2TB) through Frontview where it shows:
Device Part. Description Used Size FS Speed
USB_HDD_3 1 WD My Book 1230(Partition 1) 512 MB 1862GB EXT3 480

Does that seem correct? What does that 480 speed mean?

The only option that I thought might be useful (and not destructive) was:
"filesystem check" so I clicked that.
Kind of a time consuming mistake I guess.

I think your instructions are pretty clear StephenB, so now it is just a matter of putting in the time...

Thanks again for your help.
(I especially like this approach because it seems like my worst case would be to insert the old disks).
Bob_Nes
Aspirant
Dec 14, 2014
So, the upgraded disks are in.
Factory reset worked to the 4K sector partitions.
Config & data restored.
ReSync 100% for Raid-X.
All seems good.

EXCEPT - somehow the permissions are messed up.
I can open WORD and EXCEL and JPG, but it won't let me SAVE them back.

Could someone tell me how to properly set up two users (me & wife) to have complete read/write access to everything in the two shares (media/backup) on my NAS?

Thanks!

(I'll do some forum research and reading too... I'm sure there is an easy remedy.)
vandermerwe
Master
Dec 14, 2014
Have you set up users in security in Frontview?
Just set up 1 or 2 users in the security tab. Give one the name and password of your pc login credentials. If your wife has her own windows login, then do the same for her user.

Then go to the share listing and click on cifs. Thee you should be able to set read/write permissions for users or everyone. Make sure you click apply.
Once you have done this , go to the advanced tab and click the tickbox next to the paragraph about resetting permissions, then click on apply at the bottom.

Set the owner of the share as admin, and the group as users.
Bob_Nes
Aspirant
Dec 15, 2014
Thanks Vandermerwe! Permissions seem to allow both of us to edit and SAVE Office Documents on the NAS!

Between you and StephenB, my weekend went great!

My new APC-550 UPS is installed and being monitored and says 450 minutes, wow!

My new ASUS AS2400 router (RT-AC87U) is now delivering HD video camera clips smoothly to my iPad upstairs (8Player App)
and to my Samsung Galaxy S4 (BubbleUp App), from my old ReadyNAS Duo (with the new 2TB Raid-X disks).

I'm starting to love my home network setup and I haven't even had time to try my new ASUS Wifi adapter AC1200 on my notebook computer!
It's supposed to deliver wifi speeds using the new 802.11 AC,