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Ultra2 - wanting RAID-0, getting X-RAID2 - help!
Hello there, I've got a ReadyNAS Ultra 2 with one 3TB disk. It got filled with data, so I've decided to buy additional 3TB disk and (sadly) without RTFM, I installed it in the NAS. I was then greete...
elviso23 wrote:
Here's my idea for a quick solution - I'll be grateful if you'll prove me right or wrong here:
1. Pull the new disk out of the freeNAS
2. Format the pulled disk in a regular PC
3. Use the formatted disk in the PC that requires the storage (at the very moment, only one computer needs to use the required spare storage).
Will pulling the new disk out cause absolutely no harm to the data of the first disk (and its data), that's been originaly in the freeNAS? Since it's basically RAID1, it shouldn't, but I just want o be 100% sure if it's okay to perform such operation.
I think you meant ReadyNAS, not freeNAS.
Removing the new disk will give you a "degraded" volume warning, but the data will still be there (and accessible).
One way to switch over to JBOD is to
- Pull the new disk out of the NAS
- Format the pulled disk in a regular PC
- Copy the data on the NAS to the new disk over the network.
- Rebuild the NAS as flexraid (RAID-0) with a single disk
- Restore the data on the NAS using the backup
- Add the new disk as a second jbod volume in the NAS
- use frontview backup jobs to move some shares to the new volume.
But you might be better off just getting two bigger disks, and stay with XRAID. That makes it easier to expand the storage again later.
- remove the new disk (using it in the PC for emergency storage).
- insert a larger disk in its place and wait for resync
- replace the first disk with a new larger drive
What drives are you using in the NAS now?
elviso23 wrote:
- The data is very important, cannot delete it.
Then backup your data
elviso23 wrote:
- Cannot backup the data any further, as I've just bought a new disk and I'm out of storage to backup almost 3TB od data.
- I'm in urgent need of additional space, so setting the new disk free of its X-RAID2 grasp would be great.
What can I do? I'll be grateful for some help here.
That contradicts your earlier statement that the data is important. If it's important then you certainly would have a backup especially if wanting to use RAID-0. Redundant RAID levels such as X-RAID with multiple disks are still not a replacement for backups. Redundant RAID levels provide some protection against disk failure, that's all. There are a range of problems that they do not protect against.
elviso23 wrote:
What can I do? I'll be grateful for some help here.
If you really want to do this you could remove the new disk you've just added, wipe the disk and backup the data to that. Then after verify your backup was successful, update the firmware to the latest (if you have not already), verify the firmware update was successful (i.e. it comes up fine after a reboot), then do a factory reset. The NAS will briefly test the disk then there will be a 10 minute countdown during which time you can open RAIDar, click setup and choose Flex-RAID RAID-0 and confirm your choice. Once it's come up, restore your data from backup. Then after verifying that it was restored fine, delete the partitions off the disk that held your backup, add it to the NAS and create a second RAID-0 volume.
If you need more space I'd recommend upgrading to higher capacity disks or adding a second ReadyNAS.
I didn't want to overexplain my situation to keep the first post as "clean" as possible, but in order to clarify, here's how it looks like:
The data is backed up on a Google cloud storage system. The problem is that my colleague who's responsible for making the cloud uploads, is unreachable until the end of the week, due to health-related problems. That's why I am unsure of when the last upload took place and if 100% of the files are backed up. As we simply cannot cease work until monday (at best), we've decided to expand the storage.
Thank you for your aid, I think the best idea would be to simply buy additional FreeNAS device, but in our location, it'd take simply too long (I've waited for the disk to arrive for 2 working days).
Here's my idea for a quick solution - I'll be grateful if you'll prove me right or wrong here:
1. Pull the new disk out of the freeNAS
2. Format the pulled disk in a regular PC
3. Use the formatted disk in the PC that requires the storage (at the very moment, only one computer needs to use the required spare storage).
Will pulling the new disk out cause absolutely no harm to the data of the first disk (and its data), that's been originaly in the freeNAS? Since it's basically RAID1, it shouldn't, but I just want o be 100% sure if it's okay to perform such operation.
elviso23 wrote:
Here's my idea for a quick solution - I'll be grateful if you'll prove me right or wrong here:
1. Pull the new disk out of the freeNAS
2. Format the pulled disk in a regular PC
3. Use the formatted disk in the PC that requires the storage (at the very moment, only one computer needs to use the required spare storage).
Will pulling the new disk out cause absolutely no harm to the data of the first disk (and its data), that's been originaly in the freeNAS? Since it's basically RAID1, it shouldn't, but I just want o be 100% sure if it's okay to perform such operation.
I think you meant ReadyNAS, not freeNAS.
Removing the new disk will give you a "degraded" volume warning, but the data will still be there (and accessible).
One way to switch over to JBOD is to
- Pull the new disk out of the NAS
- Format the pulled disk in a regular PC
- Copy the data on the NAS to the new disk over the network.
- Rebuild the NAS as flexraid (RAID-0) with a single disk
- Restore the data on the NAS using the backup
- Add the new disk as a second jbod volume in the NAS
- use frontview backup jobs to move some shares to the new volume.
But you might be better off just getting two bigger disks, and stay with XRAID. That makes it easier to expand the storage again later.
- remove the new disk (using it in the PC for emergency storage).
- insert a larger disk in its place and wait for resync
- replace the first disk with a new larger drive
What drives are you using in the NAS now?
You're (as always, I've noticed! ;)) absolutely right, I've meant ReadyNAS.
At the very moment, I'm using the WD Red 3TB series. I've been using them in most of our sensitive data storage lately and - knock on wood - they haven't let me down yet. But funny that you've asked - I've noticed yesterday that instead of WD Red 3TB in Slot1, there's a Seagate ST3000DM001 and, frankly speaking, I've no idea where did it come from (gotta ask my colleague that's been in charge of it for a few months now - until now, when I'm replacing him until he gets back). So at the very moment, there's a Seagate ST3000DM001 in Slot1 and a WD Red 3TB in Slot2.
So I'm going to stick to your advice to keep on using the XRAID on the ReadyNAS, but for now I'll just use that WD Red directly inside one of the servers.
If I understand correctly, I cannot simply pull the new disk out and leave the ReadyNAS as it is, with just a single disk on XRAID2?
elviso23 wrote:
If I understand correctly, I cannot simply pull the new disk out and leave the ReadyNAS as it is, with just a single disk on XRAID2?
You can, but the volume will be shown in a degraded status. You can ignore that status, and it won't affect operation.
elviso23 wrote:
So at the very moment, there's a Seagate ST3000DM001 in Slot1 and a WD Red 3TB in Slot2.
That particular model has a high failure rate in RAID arrays. If it were my system, I'd swap it out at some point (even if I was using it jbod).
If you do expand the ultra's storage you should research the mounting positions on the replacement drive. Drives >= 6 TB are moving towards "alternative mounting" so the holes on the bottom of the disk tray might not align with some of the mount holes in the drive. You probably don't need to use all the mounts in a 2-bay NAS, but it is something to be mindful of.
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