Remove inactive volumes to use the disk/swapping drives
When in JBOD configuration, is is possible to swap drives in and out and still have the volumes recognised without needing to format or recreate volumes when an existing drive is put back into the nas?
I have two drives with a volume on each (drive1 and drive2), I took one drive out to test a new drive, created a volume on the new drive (drive3) and then removed it. I then placed the original drive back in, expecting it to still be recognised but instead the drive is not shown on the overview and within the volumes tab, my original volume drive1 shows no info (no space etc) but there is a volume drive1-0 with an error message of 'remove inactive volumes to use the disk'. Additionally, the drive3 volume is still listed. How do I get the original drive1 volume to be available again?
Once a drive is removed, is the volume no longer accessible when the drive is put back into the nas?
A second question, if I took the drive out and put it in a pc, do I have access to the data on the drive or is there any sort of encryption/proprietory access that means the volumes only available in the nas?
When in JBOD configuration, is is possible to swap drives in and out and still have the volumes recognised without needing to format or recreate volumes when an existing drive is put back into the nas?
No, as you found it's really not designed for that.
A second question, if I took the drive out and put it in a pc, do I have access to the data on the drive or is there any sort of encryption/proprietory access that means the volumes only available in the nas?
The volume uses the BTRFS file system, which isn't supported in Windows PCs or Macs. So there's nothing proprietary here, but you can't easily access the files in a PC.
Overall, the concept with a NAS is that it consolidates all your storage (and is sized accordingly).
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk/swapping drives
While it's a bad idea to use other than for rare instances like moving a volume to a new NAS, there is the EXPORT function that should be used before removing a volume. I also think your problem is made worse because both removed volumes have the same name.
If you just need to get data off the orignally removed drive, you should be able to boot the NAS with just that drive and have access. Every drive has a clone of the OS for just such an occasion.
I believe this will also work, but it's trickier: With power off, put the drives back in that last worked (the newest one and the one never removed) and boot. I believe this will boot properly and show both volumes.
Then, EXPORT the new volume, power down, and remove that drive.
Insert the old drive and power back up. This is the only iffy part, you have to hope that the volume that was not properly exported will properly import once the other volume of the same name is "forgotten" via the EXPORT.
It's a bad idea to continue to do that. If the two volumes weren't named the same, you could put one in an eSATA chassis and connect it that way. Maybe USB, too, but I'm not sure. But you can't rename volumes and get around it.
Once imported, you will likely need to go to the Shares tab and re-set network permissions.
If the unit does not boot up with the newer and not removed drive, you can try booting with just the never removed drive and DESTROY the "phantom" new volume, then power off and re-insert one of the removed drives to be imported at power-on. But doing that means you now have to rely on each of the removed volumes doing a proper import without an export.
