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Forum Discussion
Replacing the drive with an SSD
Welcome, I would like to replace drive 1, where I think the settings and user accounts and snapshots are stored. How do I replace this drive without losing data, how do I correctly copy the data to ...
Lukasino wrote:I would like to replace drive 1, where I think the settings and user accounts and snapshots are stored.
Settings (including accounts) are stored in the OS volume - which is mirrored on all drives. This is a small (4 GB) volume that you normally don't see.
Snapshots are stored on the same volume as the share they are made from. It is not possible to store them anywhere else.
The private home shares (if you use them) are on one drive, as is the apps folder (if you use any apps). It is important to know for certain where these are. You can find that out using ssh pretty easily. You can also access the NAS volumes using admin credentials from SMB. You'll see a "home" folder on the volume that hosts the private home shares, and you'll also see a hidden .apps folder.
Lukasino wrote:
How do I replace this drive without losing data, how do I correctly copy the data to the new drive.
If the SSD is the same size as the drive you are replacing, then you could power down the NAS and clone the old drive to the SSD (using a clone program that does sector by sector copying). Then insert the SSD into that slot and power up the NAS. This is by far the simplest approach.
If you can't do that, then make sure you copy the contents of the shares on it, the home folder and apps folder first. (You can also uninstall the apps, and reinstall them later on). Then you'd need to destroy the volume on the first disk, remove it, and insert the SSD - creating a new volume on it. Then create a new volume, and restore the shares from the backup.
The home folders and the app folder likely will end up on another volume - Sandshark might recall how to change that. No matter where they end up, you will need to restore them from backup.
Since your basic assumption is wrong, perhaps you can explain your intent of this swap so we can help you make a decision. In general, swapping a single drive for an SSD accomplishes nothing. Also, what if the drive and volume make-up on your NAS? Is the NAS still running OS4.2.x or is it a V2 and you converted to OS6? (Or is it not a rack-mount RN2120 as you stated?)
Sandshark wrote:
Since your basic assumption is wrong, perhaps you can explain your intent of this swap so we can help you make a decision. In general, swapping a single drive for an SSD accomplishes nothing. Also, what if the drive and volume make-up on your NAS? Is the NAS still running OS4.2.x or is it a V2 and you converted to OS6? (Or is it not a rack-mount RN2120 as you stated?)
Lukasino: I missed the model information. I am a bit confused, since you have earlier posts talking about your RN3138.
Either way it should be running OS-6 (the RN2100 was 4.2.x). But it is important to understand what NAS you have and what firmware you are running.
If you are running jbod, then an SSD will improve performance for any shares that are hosted on that drive. It won't make much difference for the OS itself, since any writes to the OS still have to be mirrored.
Welcome,
I have two devices:
ReadyNAS 2120 software 6.10.10
ReadyNAS 3138 software 6.10.10On the main drive, there are user folders and network files that we work on, mainly word and excel. Backups are made on the other drives. Users sometimes experience slower performance on network documents. I thought an SSD might solve this problem.
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