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RN104 - moving from 2x JBOD to 4x Raid-5
At the moment, my RN104 has two disks in JBOD mode - 1x 3TB, 1x 1.5TB. These are both close to being full-up. I've bought 4 new 3TB drives, all the same type. I would like to change my setup so I'm running 4x 3TB in Raid-5, which will give me 9TB and a spare drive just in case. This will also leave me with the older 3TB drive which I can use as a replacement, if a drive does stop working.
I eventually would like to use the NAS for torrenting, Plex Server as well as storage I can access through the internet.
Will setting this up simply a case of taking out the old drives, putting in the new drives (assuming they've all been formatted correctly), then once the ReadyNAS is set up, plugging in the old drives via USB and transferring data?
Or will those older drives' data not be recognised if I connect via USB as they've already been setup with the ReadyNAS, and the data is in certain shares etc?
Any reason you are replacing the existing 3TB drive? Why not just leave it in there? Will make for a much faster upgrade, with less downtime.
I would copy the data from the 1.5TB drive to another external disk (maybe even one of the new 3TB drives you bought). Remove the 1.5TB drive, change from JBOD to X-RAID2. Insert one of the 3TB disks, and wait for the resync. Add a 2nd 3TB drive, and wait for the resync. Then finally add the third (and last) 3TB drive, and wait for resync. The copy the data back from the 1.5TB drive.
I would leave your old 3TB drive in the NAS, and keep one of the new drives as your spare. If you use the Old disk as a spare, you run the risk of it failing when you use it to replace a failed disk.
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No need to format new drives (the NAS needs to reformat them anyway). You might want to run disk diags on a PC though (lifeguard for Western Digital, seatools for Seagate).
I don't believe the NAS will recognize the internal drive volumes if you use a USB enclosure. I would "borrow" one or two of the new drives, and copy the data to them first.
Then copy back after you get the RAID array started, and unformat the transfer drive (and add it to the array).
You can start the copy while the RAID array is being built, but it is faster to wait until the RAID array is finished syncing, and then copy the data.
"I would 'borrow' one or two of the new drives, and copy the data to them first."
Wouldn't the disks be wiped anyway once I put them in the NAS/set up the new system?
NothingNiceToSa wrote:
Wouldn't the disks be wiped anyway once I put them in the NAS/set up the new system?
That used to happen automatically, but now there is a manual step. I think too many people mistakenly thought the data on their used disks would still be there when they inserted them into the NAS.
Any reason you are replacing the existing 3TB drive? Why not just leave it in there? Will make for a much faster upgrade, with less downtime.
I would copy the data from the 1.5TB drive to another external disk (maybe even one of the new 3TB drives you bought). Remove the 1.5TB drive, change from JBOD to X-RAID2. Insert one of the 3TB disks, and wait for the resync. Add a 2nd 3TB drive, and wait for the resync. Then finally add the third (and last) 3TB drive, and wait for resync. The copy the data back from the 1.5TB drive.
I would leave your old 3TB drive in the NAS, and keep one of the new drives as your spare. If you use the Old disk as a spare, you run the risk of it failing when you use it to replace a failed disk.
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