RAID with JBOD

I wouldn't move from x86 to ARM.

OS6 x86 can boot from disks with 4.2.x on them for the purposes of copying data off a 4.2.x array. We have a procedure for this.

Moving an array from a legacy x86 device running OS6 to a new OS6 x86 device should work, but if the legacy device is still working copying the data across your network e.g. using backup jobs would be a better option.

Unfortunately a number of users don't backup their data. We do what we can by allowing migrating disks from one NAS to another with the same CPU architecture and OS, but sometimes someone may think their NAS has failed only for it to turn out the problem is with one or more disks or the array.

I agree such "activities" shouldn't be performed under most circumstances. Especially with data of importance.

As my first post stated one case would be creating a volume on a single drive (perhaps using iSCSI) which does nothing but hold recordings. It would be nice to be able to move the volume/drive from one device to another and have it simply show up online. Another would be a volume (of perhaps more than one drive) which holds files for streaming.

I guess my real question (more for understanding than practice) is does the NAS have a boot drive per se (the first drive found or inserted) and are all of the other drives only (data) filesystems... not containing any OS. Much like your typical OS where there is a boot drive (containing the OS) and all of the other drives only contain data and can be installed and mounted by another device's OS.

If so it sort of leads to the ability to install a single drive in any device and upgrading it to the same OS version (X-RAID2 disabled in both cases). Once it's operational insert the drives for the volumes you want transferred and they are back online.

Again... it's more abstract than desired practice.

All of the disks contain the OS partition. If there is a problem with a disk, information on the OS partition stored on other disks can be invaluable.

Thanks. Makes sense although transferring volumes around certainly doesn't. :)

I would move all disks or none across and remove any disks already in the new NAS before moving the disks across.

mdgm wrote:
I would move all disks or none across and remove any disks already in the destination NAS before moving the disks across.

Yes. Since that works from OS6 ARM to OS6 x86 it is a convenient way to migrate to a new NAS.

It'd be nice to know if it also works from x86->arm, though that seems less likely.

I don't think we would test x86 to ARM. There are definitely some situations where moving disks from x86 to ARM couldn't work. It's not something we would support.