Migrating from X-RAID2 single redundancy to Dual redundancy

As all drive bays are already full you would need to backup your data and do a factory default (wipes all data, settings, everything), during the 10 minute countdown click setup in RAIDar, choose X-RAID2, tick the dual-redundancy option and confirm your choice, then restore your data from backup.

I was afraid that was going to be the answer. :/

Thanks for the very quick reply!

Best regards,
Steve

If you last did a factory default on very old firmware (your sig still shows 4.2.8 as the firmware running on your Pioneer) there would be some other nice benefits from a factory default.

These benefits would include: Native EXT4, 4k sector partition alignment of all disks (regardless of whether you installed them before/after upgrading to 4.2.12+), support for files >2TB in size etc.

I will plan on it, but it will take a bit more logistical preparation. Gathering up the needed disk space for a Backup of 4TB of data is going to take a little planning. ;)

Thanks again!

Hi, I wondered if anyone might be able to help me in a similar situation please.

I have read different bits and pieces about dual redundancy : there is an option in front view to add it for new drives and that the option for DR is only available with a clean install,

I am using 4.2.25 on a Pioneer Pro, with five disks (2 1TB and 3 2TB). Most of the data has been pulled off it (only about 1.5 TB left on the system) as I'm assuming I have to rebuild the Raid. It's currently X-RAID2. I am using 4.2.25 as I have Mavericks and wanted to use Time Machine. I was hoping that when I added more disks there would be the option for dual redundancy in the Frontview panel, but it doesn't seem to be there under Raid Settings. Am I missing something, or was this feature perhaps removed from this RC1? In any event, any suggestions you can offer that might help me achieve dual redundancy without a rebuild would be most welcome!

This option might only be there if you have a single layer. Since you've already had some vertical expansion (adding two or more 2TB disks) you definitely have more than one layer.

A backup and a factory default (wipes all data, settings, everything) would be the way to go for you too.

I have two Pro Pioneer Systems that need to be upgraded this month.

System 1:
4 x 2TB Samsung HD203WI drives
X-RAID2 (single redundancy)
RAIDiator 4.2.25

System 2:
6 x 1TB WD WD1002FBYS-01A6B0 drives
X-RAID2 (single redundancy)
RAIDiator 4.2.11

My goal is to replace all disks and migrate to 4 x 4TB drives using RAID 6 dual-redundancy in both systems.

What is the recommended expansion procedure for each system?

System 1 has two open bays and gives me the option to use the next added disk for dual-redundancy. Should I add a new dual-redundant disk first, then start replacing existing disks? And would that require 5 disks final instead of 4? I'd like to keep it to four disks total and avoid a factory reset on this system if possible.

System 2 has all bays full already I assume I need to factory reset to get dual-redundancy, correct?

Both systems have just under 4TB of data and will be fully backed up before we do anything.

Any advise and suggestions on how to best proceed?

Thanks!

System 1:

Would have to go to 5 disks to switch to dual-redundancy without a factory reset. However you could say use 1x2TB and 4x4TB disks. This would give you more capacity than simply using 4x4TB disks. However do be aware of the expansion limitation that you cannot expand by more than 8TB over the life of the volume. If your volume capacity was 1.8TB when you last did a factory default you can't expand past 9.8TB.

System 2:

Yes a factory default would be needed. After backing up your data you should update the firmware as 4.2.16 is the minimum firmware needed to support 3TB (or greater) capacity disks. After updating the firmware do a factory default with the new disks in place to get a clean setup on the new firmware.

mdgm wrote:
you could say use 1x2TB and 4x4TB disks. This would give you more capacity than simply using 4x4TB disks. However do be aware of the expansion limitation that you cannot expand by more than 8TB over the life of the volume.

OK, so would this mean adding 4 x 4TB disks and leaving one of the 2TBs in place?

Re: expansion limitation - is there an easy way to check what volume capacity was at last factory default? IIRC, it would be the current capacity of 5.54TB, but it's been years and I'm not sure.

Would there be any additional benefits to a factory reset on this system?

Thanks again!

dhl wrote:
OK, so would this mean adding 4 x 4TB disks and leaving one of the 2TBs in place?

Yes. You would need to check the dual-redundancy option for the next disk (and apply your changes) before putting a disk in one of your two empty drive bays.

dhl wrote:
Re: expansion limitation - is there an easy way to check what volume capacity was at last factory default? IIRC, it would be the current capacity of 5.54TB, but it's been years and I'm not sure.

I don't think so. But if you download your logs (Status > Logs > Download all logs) you could check if there has been vertical expansion in mdstat.log. If there is a md3 then you have had vertical expansion. This doesn't tell you if you've had horizontal expansion though.

dhl wrote:
Would there be any additional benefits to a factory reset on this system?

Yes. If you post the contents of initrd.log I can include/omit things in my explanation that are/are not relevant in your case.