My current setup on the ReadyNas Pro 6 is: - 5x2TB in Raid 6 for volume DATA - 1x2TB in JBOD for volume SCRATCH
I now have a pack of 4x8TB WD RED drives looking at me. At the same time, I'm getting some weird behaviours from the ReadyNAS (TimeMachine is very slow, cant log in via SSH, the users disappeared).
I'm currently running 6.10.1 and I feel like I should do a Factory Reset.
What would be the right migration path for this unit? My prefered end state would be: - 4x8TB in RAID 6 for /DATA - 1x2TB for /SCRATCH And if possible, jump to 6.10.3.
But the current /DATA volume(5x2TB) is packed with the real 3,5TB of user data..... If I do that, I lose the currenta /DATA volume.
If you want to do a factory reset, then you need to back up the data. Hence step 5.
If you don't want to do that, then you could simply go with 4x8TB+2TB for the current DATA volume (expanding it). Though I'd still recommend doing a backup before doing that.
With that process, you'd hot-swap the new 8 TB drives one at a time, waiting for resync. You'd then need to create a new 4x6TB RAID-6 group using the new space, and concatenate it with the existing 5x2TB RAID-6 group.
You'd end up with an 18 TB volume instead of 16 TB.
Re: Upgrading from 5x2TB to 4x8TB on Readynas Pro 6
Your current SCRATCH and a smallish USB drive can hold all the data for the backup. Using another volume in the NAS for backup isn't the safest, but it is the fastest, especially on a NAS with only USB2.
Alternately, you could
Export SCRATCH
Insert one 8TB drive and Create a new SCRATCH8TB JBOD
Backup DATA to SCRATCH8TB (fastest via SSH, but RSYNC jobs can work with 127.0.0.1 as the "remote": address)
Eject SCRATCH8TB
Remove 2TB drives and insert 3 8TB's.
Factory default (which is really automatic with all new drives) and create a RAID5
Import SCRATCH8TB (just insert with power off and boot)
Restore data from SCRATCH8TB to new DATA
Destroy SCRATCH8TB
Use drive that was SCRATCH8TB to add redundancy to DATA to get RAID6
Insert and import SCRATCH.
If you save your configuration before starting the process, it will be easier to get back where you were by importing it. Just remember to re-install any apps before restoring the config backup. You can restore the apps anywhere after step 6.
Theoretically, you could also
Remove one 2TB and let DATA be degraded (but still with one drive redundancy)
Export SCRATCH (to insure it does not become the "primary" volume).
Add two 8TB and make them DATA2
Backup DATA to DATA2
Uninstall any apps.
Eject or destory DATA
Add remaining 2 8TB and add them to DATA2 to get RAID6
Rename any backup shares to the original names from DATA. Note that renaming DATA2 is quite a challenge (though I've done it), but should not be necessary, anyway.
Re-install any apps.
Insert and import SCRATCH
This theoretically retains you configuration through the whole process. The only issue with this plan is that I have run some tests and sometimes the home folders or apps folder isn't properly moved when you destroy or export the primary volume (what I call the one containing the home folders and apps) on which they reside. Note that even when home folder migration works, it does not migrate the data, so insure you backup includes that. Likewise, migration of the apps diectory does not migrate the apps themselves (thus the need for un-install and re-install). These are fixable via SSH, but it's a chore even for one versed in Linux, so it's best not to put yourself in that situation.
Re: Upgrading from 5x2TB to 4x8TB on Readynas Pro 6
EXPORT maKes the NAS "forget" the volume, but leaves the volume intact for later IMPORT, unlike a DESTROY. It marks the volume as exported in some way, but I have not determined how since it's no longer present once it's IMPORTed (where you can look at it). This is why you cannot IMPORT a volume that was not first EXPORTed. Note that IMPORT is automatic when you insert the drives with power on an boot. So if you re-boot without removing the EXPORTed volume, it's re-IMPORTed (unless it was the primary volume, then it can get messy).
Note, too, that you cannot boot from an EXPORTed volume, even if it previously was your primary volume (which causes the messiness above). You can import it to another NAS that already has a volume, as long as the volume name and all share names are different between the volumes. And any home or apps shares on it will remain invisible to everything except SSH.
And to continue other FYI's aligned with this, if you want to migrate a volume from one NAS to be bootable in another, don't EXPORT. Just move it, then DESTROY the missing volume on the original NAS. Note that both NAS will then have the same UUID, and I have no idea if that could ever matter.
I've run test cases on all of these because Netgear does not document the process well. It is during those tests that i experienced the issues with it not migrating home folders or apps. Those may have been due to the sequence of multiple events I followed, as I could not reliably repeat them (and neither could Netgear when I pointed them out).
What happens if I export the current DATA volume, get out all the disks, insert a brand new one, do a factory reset and then reattach the old DATA volume (the 5 disks)?
What happens if I export the current DATA volume, get out all the disks, insert a brand new one, do a factory reset and then reattach the old DATA volume (the 5 disks)?
One aspect is that the volume names need to be unique. So if you try this, then you need to make sure that the volume on the new disk isn't called DATA. So you'd want to switch to flexraid (which you need to do anyway), and then destroy the default volume and create a new one with a different name.
Another aspect is that your apps are installed in an hidden folder on the data volume. So you'd want to uninstall them before you do this, and then reinstall them later.
Based on experiences of other posters here: There is some risk of something going wrong with the import. It'd be a good idea to have a backup (inconvenient though it might be).
What happens if I export the current DATA volume, get out all the disks, insert a brand new one, do a factory reset and then reattach the old DATA volume (the 5 disks)?
That's anothe possible approach.
Because all this is not well documented (is it documented anywhere?), be sure you have a good backup before proceeding no matter which option you follow if it involves an EXPORT. I've done this, but cannot be sure it will always work. I have not, as an example, tried it on a volume with multiple RAID groups.
Be sure to export both DATA and SCRATCH, unless SCRATCH is disposable (as a volume, not a drive). Since you can't have the same volume or share names, you'll need to name the volume on the new drive something else and can either change the DATA share names before the export or make sure the new volume doesn't use the same names. If you have data in any personal folders and do not want to have to go to SSH to copy if to the new volume, copy that data to (a) standard volume(s).
Make absolutely certain you are done with setting up DATA before you export it. As I said in the response I must have been typing while you added this follow-up, you cannot make it a boot volume (at least, I can't tell you how) after it is exported.
Once the new volume is created, power down, insert the original DATA drives along with it, and boot. Import will be automatic if you've met the requirements I stated. Note that if you mess up and don't rename the shares, the data is not lost. Like data in personal follders, it can be accessed via SSH. Likewise, it is probably possible to mount the volume if it does not import properly; but I have not needed to in my experiments.
If you do have personal folder data to recover, remember those shares are not normally created until the user logs on, though there is a utility /usr/bin/mkhomedir_helper to manually create them from SSH. Use mkhomedir_helper username. The user must already exist, and I have not tried it with ReadyCloud users (because I have none).
