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Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

t_m
Aspirant
Aspirant

Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

(Originally posted by mistake in Chinese forum, Sorry)

Hi, I have a RN214 which I populated with whatever disks I had lying around in a fully JBOD config (1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 3TB respectively) when I bought it. Now I'm trying build up safety by upgrading disks and pairing them. Step 1: Disk1 is 1TB to be replaced by 2TB and paired with Disk2 which is already 2TB in either Xraid or RAID1 configuration.

Currently Disk1 has the login/ home directories of my family ONLY. These have already been backed up to Disk2.

I need your help to be very sure of the next steps before I actually do them:

I remove Disk1_1TB and replace it with a 2TB HDD.

Format the new Disk1_2TB.// I use btrfs always - can that be an issue later? Does creating a RAID1 or Xraid necessarily need BOTH disks to be empty.

Question - Do I switch off and replace OR just replace while on? I believe I should stay on else logins will fail - I will need to be admin for backup recovery. Please confirm.

Now, can I create an Xraid/ RAID1 immediately between Disk1 and Disk2 - I assume not since the login/ home directories are not there.

So I bring up the new Disk1 as JBOD...

I recover the backup from Disk2 to Disk1. Now I should get logins, home directories etc back in place.

Now I move everything from Disk2 to Disk1. //Now Disk1 is ready & complete, while Disk2 is empty.

Change Disk1 from JBOD to Xraid/ RAID1. //Which one should I choose? I believe that it would be better to go to RAID1 (mirroring)

Pair it with Disk2 and let it sync by itself. // Does this work? Or do I have to do something more?

I do NOT want that disk3&4 (JBODs) to be touched (they'll need to be replaced by a pair of 8TB or higher HDDs) - thats in the future, one step at a time. // Do I need to remove them from the system while configuring Disk 1&2?

Finally I should get Disk1&2 in a Xraid/ RAID1 pair, Disk3 & Disk4 to continue as JBODs as before. Phew!!

Further down the line : pair Disk 3&4 as Xraid or RAID 1 in addition to the Disk1&2 pair established above.

I really need to be sure of all the steps before I start. I can't afford to loose any data on any existing hard disks.

TIA

Model: RN214|4 BAY Desktop ReadyNAS Storage
Message 1 of 13
Marc_V
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

@t_m

 

Welcome to the Community!

 

If you are planning to make all drives to be one volume then going X-RAID would be the way to go. However, If I understand it correctly, you are planning to have two volumes on RAID1 so if this is the case, staying on Flex-RAID is needed.

 

If you are upgrading Disk 1 and plan to do RAID1 with Disk 2. It would be best to do full backup on both drives then replace Disk 1 and destroy Disk2 volume then recreate the volume on RAID1 selecting Disk 1 and 2.

 

You will be doing this procedure on Flex-RAID.

 

1. Do full backup on Disk 1 and Disk 2.

2. Replace Disk 1 with new 2TB

3. Destroy Disk 2 JBOD Volume

4. Create new volume RAID 1 using Disk 1 and Disk 2

5. Transfer Backups on new RAID 1 volume

 

New configuration would be RAID 1 (Disk 1 and Disk 2) JBOD (Disk 3) JBOD (Disk 4)

 

The same wil be done if you are planning to change Disk 3 and 4 in the future. 

 

It is best to do full backup so as no data will be left out, you don't have to worry about logins as well, it stays with the system. 

 

HTH

 


Regards

 

 

Message 2 of 13
StephenB
Guru

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)


@Marc_V wrote:

 

You will be doing this procedure on Flex-RAID.

 

1. Do full backup on Disk 1 and Disk 2.

2. Replace Disk 1 with new 2TB

3. Destroy Disk 2 JBOD Volume

4. Create new volume RAID 1 using Disk 1 and Disk 2

5. Transfer Backups on new RAID 1 volume

You do have to destroy Disk 1 volume, then create a new volume on the 2 TB disk. 

 

There is another option though.

  1. Destroy Disk 2's volume
  2. Add Disk 2 to the Disk 1 volume for redundancy (making it RAID-1, but wasting 1 TB of space)
  3. Hotswap Disk 1 with the new 2 TB disk.  The volume should expand to 2 TB at this point.
  4. Transfer Backup of original disk 2 volume on the new RAID-1

This avoids the need to restore the home folders and reinstall your apps.

Message 3 of 13
t_m
Aspirant
Aspirant

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

Hi,

Thanks for the responses...

 

Re: the 2nd solution - please confirm if my understanding is correct? By default, the (FlexRAID) RAID1 would need to be recreated destructively on both disk1 and disk2 for the larger 2GB size OR actually, the RAID 1 expansion from 1G to 2G is actually a smooth no data loss operation?

 

Should I remove the other 2 HDDs before doing the above?

Message 4 of 13
StephenB
Guru

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)


@t_m wrote:

 

Should I remove the other 2 HDDs before doing the above?


No.

 


@t_m wrote:

 

 the (FlexRAID) RAID1 would need to be recreated destructively on both disk1 and disk2 for the larger 2TB size OR actually, the RAID 1 expansion from 1T to 2T is actually a smooth no data loss operation?

 


You'd need to destroy the volume on disk 2, but not the volume on disk 1.  So there should be no data loss on the disk 1 volume.

 

You convert to RAID-1 (2x1TB) with the 1 TB disk in place.  Hotswapping the 1 TB disk will first resync the 2x1TB RAID group, and (per the manual) will automatically expand to 2x2TB RAID-1. 

Message 5 of 13
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

There are yet other options, though there may be a bit more risk (which I will describe later).

 

The first step is always backup.  By that, I mean on another device.

 

If you EXPORT drive 1, the home share location  (but not the data in them) should migrate to drive 2.  Unfortunately, as with their original creation, the actual shares won't be creted until the user again logs on.  Once you've done that, you can replace drive 1 with a larger drive and add it as redundancy to Drive 2.  Then, restore the content from Drive 1.  The risk here is that I have seen a case where the home folder location wasn't properly migrated (though I was doing a lot of experiments, and something I did earlier may have triggered it) and that i do not know absolutely that the home folder location will not migrate to another drive (if that even matters to you).  Note thast, if needed, the EXPORTed drive can be re-IMPORTed to the NAS (though you'd need to make room for it), but the data in the home folders on it will only be accessible via SSH.

 

You could also EXPORT drive 3 and/or 4, put the new drive there, and add redundancy to the volume on Drive 2 with Drive 1 still in place, then EXPORT drive 1 later.  If done when no other volumes are present, the migration of the home folder location is more assured.  Once all that was done, re-IMPORT drives 3 and 4.  Note that an IMPORT is done simply by powering down the NAS, inserting the drive, and powering back up. 

 

If you have apps you are using, then there is more to be considered, and @StephenB 's recommendation is the better direction, though you could EXPORT the volume on Drive 2 instead of destroying it, and replce it with the new 2TB for adding redundancy to the Drive 1 volume.  That also leaves you the option of re-importing it (after making room for it) if needed, until you use it to replace Drive 1 and expand the volume.

Message 6 of 13
t_m
Aspirant
Aspirant

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

Hi,

 

That's a great suggestion - I didn't even think along those lines. Great stuff! Thanks!

 

Drives are backed up - thats not a problem. I'll be refreshing all the backups just before I start work in every case. I'm paranoid on this - seen too many disasters without backups.

 

Export talks about 'to another ReadyNAS system' - does it work on different JBODs in the same box? Or can it work only to an external external (USB based HDD mount)? That is not clear from the documentation

 

Assuming it works on JBODs in the same box - the sequence I need to follow is :

1) Replace disk2 by a (blank) new_disk_1

2) EXPORT disk1 to new_disk_1

3) Replace disk1 by new_disk_1 as JBOD //new_disk_1 now takes over the functions of disk1

4) Reinsert disk2 as JBOD

5) Move everything on disk2 to new_disk_1 //new_disk_1 now has everything on it and disk2 is empty.

6) Create Xraid combining new_disk_1 and disk2

7) Wait for sync to complete

 

Did I miss something?

Model: RN214|4 BAY Desktop ReadyNAS Storage
Message 7 of 13
StephenB
Guru

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)


@t_m wrote:

 

Assuming it works on JBODs in the same box - the sequence I need to follow is :

1) Replace disk2 by a (blank) new_disk_1

2) EXPORT disk1 to new_disk_1

3) Replace disk1 by new_disk_1 as JBOD //new_disk_1 now takes over the functions of disk1

4) Reinsert disk2 as JBOD

5) Move everything on disk2 to new_disk_1 //new_disk_1 now has everything on it and disk2 is empty.

6) Create Xraid combining new_disk_1 and disk2

7) Wait for sync to complete

 

Did I miss something?


This won't work.  You can't export disk1 to something else.  You can only export it.  Export just allows it to be added back to a readynas later on w/o data loss.  It doesn't copy any data.

 

One way or another you need to restore data from your backup.  My way requires you restore the shares on disk 2.  @Sandshark's alternative requires you to restore the home folders and shares on disk 1 instead.  His alternative gives you a fallback for disk 1 contents if something goes wrong with your backup. Note it is possible that you could lose disk 2's contents in the process also, and it doesn't provide any fallback for that possibility.  Whether the fallback is worth the extra trouble is of course up to you.

 

Sketching out his approach:

  1. uninstall all apps
  2. copy all public shares on disk 1 to disk 2 (using different share names)
  3. export volume on disk 1.  Home folder location is moved to drive 2  (but files are not moved).
  4. remove disk 1
  5. reinstall apps
  6. restore home folders from backup (best done from Windows File Explorer, logging in as each user).
  7. rename the shares you copied in step 2 to their original names
  8. hot-insert new disk into slot 1.
  9. add the new disk to the volume in disk 2 for redundancy.

 

One aspect to consider here is whether you actually need the home folder feature in the first place.  Personally I don't use them.  I see value in a business NAS, but I think it's simpler to keep all the files in public shares for a home NAS - especially if you use ReadyCloud or multiple volumes in flexraid. So I have all file sharing protocols turned off on the home folder, so there basically are no home folders.

 

If you don't really need home folders, then I suggest first moving the files in the home folder(s) into one or more public shares (using network access to limit access if you need that).  You could then use either procedure (and in the case of @Sandshark's you would skip step 6 above). Note with my procedure you would create the new public shares on disk-1, disk-3, or disk-4.  With his, you'd create them on disk-2, disk-3, or disk-4.

 

Message 8 of 13
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

While the primary intent of Export is to move a volume to another NAS as a secondary internal volume, once exported, your old NAS will accept it for import just as any other OS6 NAS will.

 

You've missed something, and your proposed path will not work

 

EXPORT doesn't export it to anything, it "disconnects" the volume from the NAS (similar to what a DESTROY would do) but leaves the content intact so it can be imported to another (or the same) NAS afterward.

 

You cannot simply remove disk 2 without the NAS complaining the volume is missing.  You can EXPORT or DESTROY it.  I am unsure what will happen if you just let the NAS continue to complain it's missing until you re-insert it.

You cannot EXPORT disk 1 to new-disk_1.

The rest just doesn't work because these steps don't.

 

Maybe we need to start over:

Will the contents of disk1 and disk 2 all fit on disk2?

 

 

Message 9 of 13
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

It seems @StephenB and I have a propensity for answering questions concurrently, which can make them seem duplicative and/or not mesh completely.

Message 10 of 13
t_m
Aspirant
Aspirant

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)

Hi,

 

Many thanks for all the inputs - upgrading an HDD seems to have a sharp learning curve - which is good! I prefer to learn from people, rather than learn from my mistakes!!

 

Currently, Disk1 only has the home folder and the login directories there - these are already fully backed up on Disk2 by running a backup job. I'll refresh the backup just before I start.

 

Basically Disk1 (1TB) can be scratched any time.

 

I have its replacement 2TB disk ready and empty. I also have a external HDD casing (empty) where I can mount an HDD and connect to the RN214 via USB3. I only have a 200GB HDD as spare.

 

I basically want to avoid redoing all the settings etc done through the admin login over the years. The logins of rest of the family etc can be easily redone. User files are also all backed up - they are therefore a non-issue.

 

TIA

Message 11 of 13
StephenB
Guru

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)


@t_m wrote:

 

I have its replacement 2TB disk ready and empty. I also have a external HDD casing (empty) where I can mount an HDD and connect to the RN214 via USB3. I only have a 200GB HDD as spare.

 


My process requires that you have a full backup of disk 2, because that was to be destroyed as part of the process.  It sounds like you don't have space to do that.  Sandshark's didn't require that.

 

But more importantly - even with RAID you need a backup of your NAS.  RAID redundancy isn't enough to keep the data safe (and at the moment you don't even have that).  I suggest that you should get enough USB capacity to back up all the data on the NAS, and that you put a backup plan in place (perhaps using the scheduled backup job feature of the NAS)..

 

 

Message 12 of 13
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Upgrading 1st disk on RN214 (pure JBOD config) (English)


@t_m wrote:

 

Currently, Disk1 only has the home folder and the login directories there - these are already fully backed up on Disk2 by running a backup job. I'll refresh the backup just before I start.

 

Basically Disk1 (1TB) can be scratched any time.

 

I have its replacement 2TB disk ready and empty. I also have a external HDD casing (empty) where I can mount an HDD and connect to the RN214 via USB3. I only have a 200GB HDD as spare.

 

I basically want to avoid redoing all the settings etc done through the admin login over the years. The logins of rest of the family etc can be easily redone. User files are also all backed up - they are therefore a non-issue.

 

TIA


Each of the drives has an OS partition that holds a copy of your OS and configuration data.  The only thing unique about the primary drive other than folders you have created is that user home folders and app folders are on it. While I agree with @StephenB that a full backup is best first, since it protects your data if something goes wrong, the next step after that is to either DESTROY or EXPORT drive 1.  I know an EXPORT should move the location for the home folders and apps (but not their contents) to another drive.  I'm not sure how the NAS determines which drive that is (or if you care).  I believe a DESTROY should also do that, but I've not run that experiment.

 

Once you do that, you can replace drive 1 with the new one (with power on is best here) and "Add Redundancy" to the volume on drive 2.  After sync completion, the two drives will be a RAID1.

Message 13 of 13
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