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Forum Discussion
Upgrade of my ReadyNAS from RN312 to RN214
I have a RN312 with 2 disks (1TB each) running in X Raid (RAID1). System is working well, with 390GB disk space free. OS 6.10 (Hotfix 2)
I now plan to buy a new RN214 (with 4 x 1TB, to be configure...
Thanks for the useful advice on this upgrade route. I will be using 4x WD Red drives, and will consider your suggestion to go for a larger (say 4TB) drive. I understand RN314 is not shipped as it is EOL, hence RN214 as my choice for the NASPrimary on a home system with only 2 users.
I will look in detail at using RSYNC as the route to populate the new RN214 from the old RN312. (I will convert the unused RN312 to a secondary Backup device (BackupB) just to store my RD snapshots). I already have a RN312 (2 x 2TB WD Red drives) called BackupA for daily backups.
As an alternative approach to change over from RN312 to RN214:
1. Place a new WD Red 4TB into the RN312, and allow to synchronise over 2 -3 days.
2. Use an old disk as a scratch disk to get the new RN214 onto network (new IP address) and update OS to latest.
3. Shutdown RN214, remove scratch disk, transfer WD Red 4TB Disk 1 from RN312 into slot 1 of RN214. Shut down old RN312, start up RN214. Map all links to new RN214 NAS.
4. Insert 2nd new WD Red 4TB disc into slot 2 of RN214 and allow to synchronise.
5. Add 3rd new WD Red 4TB disc into slot 3 of RN214 and allow to synchronise.
6. Add 4th new WD Red 4TB disc into slot 4 of RN214 and allow to synchronise.
Thanks,
Warren
WarrenT wrote:
As an alternative approach to change over from RN312 to RN214:
I don't recommend doing it this way. One reason is that the upgrade path from x86->arm NAS isn't a main use case - Netgear seems to assume that the main path is arm->x86. So it's not as well tested as the arm-x86 case (and might not even be fully supported). If you do try it this way, then make sure that the firmware on the RN214 matches the RN312 before you begin. Also uninstall your apps first, as they generally won't run on the RN214 (and won't migrate).
This would be a better path if you went with an RN424 (which is x86, but is also more expensive).
WarrenT wrote:
I will be using 4x WD Red drives,
Of course you can start with 4x4TB, though I'd suggest starting with 2x4TB with two empty slots instead. Then add drives later on when it fills. Perhaps get 4 drives, and upgrade one of the RN312s to 2x4TB while you are at it. That will ensure that you can back up the NAS for now (and also when/if you go to 3x4TB on the main NAS).
Thank you Stephen.
I will stick with your suggestion of the RSYNC route to populate the new RN214(from old RN312). I was surprised the 'new' RN214 was equipped with ARM processor and not Intel. Netgear must have had their reasons.
Point taken on the 2x4TB WD Red costing.
Thanks again for your very helpful advice.
Warren
I think a configuration backup on the old unit and restore on the new should move over all users and groups. It should work between OS6 units, ARM or Intel, just not from an OS4.x or 5.x system.
The 214 is getting to be a bit old. If you needed a faster machine as well as more bays, you should have gone with the 400 series or higher.
Thanks for the suggestions. Can I clarify your suggestion:
1. On the existing RN312, perform a configuration back up (say to my PC desktop).
2. On the new RN214;
a. Manually configure the identical Shares as on the RN312 (is this required or will a config Restore do this?);
b. Perform a Restore of the config file from my desktop.
3. This will transfer all the users, LUNs, permissions, backup jobs to the new RN214.
I note you say the RN214 is getting old. Do you know when this model was introduced? When was the new series RN424 introduced. I note the 214 has an ARM processor, whereas the 424 has Intel.
Thanks very much for your advice thus far.
Warren
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