How to copy data from the one harddrive to another within the same readynas?

[ekot]

Hi,

I have a ReadyNas RND2D running firmware version 6.10.1 in X-Raid mode and I had only one 1TB drive inserted into it. Everything is working fine but my drive is almost full. So I purchased a new 2TB  drive and inserted it into the second channel. After doing this my system has resynced (I have not rebooted it yet) but the storage capacity stays the same.

This is what I want to do eventually :

1) Copy the old 1TB drive (image) to the 2TB drive
2) Replace the 1TB drive with the 2nd new 2TB drive
3) Expand the drives from there

Is there anyway for me to copy the data from old 1TB to new 2TB drive?

What should I do from here? 

Thank you for your help

Please find attached a screenshot of the volumes admin page.

Thank You

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@ekot wrote:

When I inserted my new 2 TB harddrive, it was synced for three days. What did it do? 

If I understand correctly about your words "the second disk adds RAID redundancy (RAID-1 mirroring), not more space.", it means by that now the data from the old 1 TB has been copied over to the new 2 TB. Am I correct?

The RAID-1 sync copied every sector of the 1 TB drive to the 2 TB drive - so they are now mirrored.  Anything written to the NAS now is written in parallel to both disks.

Three days is quite a long time for a 1 TB sync - what model 2 TB disk did you purchase?

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@ekot wrote:

I have bought another 2 TB harddrive, do I need to restart or do anything in the admin page before opening the case and removing the old 1 TB to replace it with another 2 TB harddrive? I only have two harddrive slots in my NAS.

My goal is to create 4 TB total storage, in my understanding I need to :

1. First, copy the old 1 TB to new 2 TB

2. Second, remove the old 1 TB replace it with another 2 TB

3. Finally, expand the total storage to 4 TB

Do I need flexraid for this? Sorry I am still a bit lost, thank you for your patience.

If you are willing to settle for 2 TB of storage, then you can simply remove the 1 TB disk, and insert the 2 TB disk (with the NAS running).  The volume will resync, and then expand to 2 TB.  All data and settings would be preserved. The benefits of doing this are

• You would have protection from a simple disk failure, thanks to the RAID-1 mirroring.  Note this doesn't mean you don't need a backup, as RAID volumes can sometimes fail.
• Further expansion in the future would not require starting over with an empty volume.  Though you would have to purchase 2 larger disks every time you want to expand.
• XRAID is simpler, so it doesn't require as much knowlege on how RAID works.

If you want to create 4 TB of storage, then you need to use flexraid.  The process isn't the same as what you are thinking.  You'd first need to copy all your files to external storage (for instance a USB drive).  Then you'd need to switch to flexraid, and destroy your current volume.  At that point, your data and shares will be gone. Then upgrade the 1 TB drive to 2 TB.  The next step is to create new volume(s).  I'd recommend creating two 2 TB volumes (one for each disk), and then creating some shares on each.  Then restore your files from the external storage.

While it is possible to create a single 4 TB volume with flexraid, I don't recommend that you do that.  The reason is that when a disk fails (which will eventually happen) then you will lose all the files in the volume.  If you create two 2 TB volumes, then when a disk fails you would only lose the files on that particular disk.

Chapter 2 of the software manual gives more informaton on all of this:  https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/READYNAS_OS_6_SM_EN.pdf

[StephenB]

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@ekot wrote:

Hi,

I have a ReadyNas RND2D running firmware version 6.10.1 in X-Raid mode and I had only one 1TB drive inserted into it. ... So I purchased a new 2TB  drive and inserted it into the second channel. After doing this my system has resynced (I have not rebooted it yet) but the storage capacity stays the same.

That is what is supposed to happen.  The NAS uses RAID, and when you use the default XRAID, the second disk adds RAID redundancy (RAID-1 mirroring), not more space.

You can get a 2 TB volume by purchasing another 2 TB drive.  Then remove the 1 TB drive with the system running, and hot-insert the replacement.  The NAS will resync the existing 1 TB of space first, then expand the volume to 2 TB.

You could also back up your data, and then switch to flexraid.  You can then create two volumes (one for each disk), and put some shares on each.  Then restore the files from your backup.

[ekot]

Hi @StephenB ,

Thank you for your reply.

I want to double check a few things before removing the old 1 TB.

At the moment, in my understanding, all the data is stored in the 1 TB. 

When I inserted my new 2 TB harddrive, it was synced for three days. What did it do? 

If I understand correctly about your words "the second disk adds RAID redundancy (RAID-1 mirroring), not more space.", it means by that now the data from the old 1 TB has been copied over to the new 2 TB. Am I correct?

I have bought another 2 TB harddrive, do I need to restart or do anything in the admin page before opening the case and removing the old 1 TB to replace it with another 2 TB harddrive? I only have two harddrive slots in my NAS.

My goal is to create 4 TB total storage, in my understanding I need to :

1. First, copy the old 1 TB to new 2 TB

2. Second, remove the old 1 TB replace it with another 2 TB

3. Finally, expand the total storage to 4 TB

Do I need flexraid for this? Sorry I am still a bit lost, thank you for your patience.

Thank you,

Eko

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

---

@ekot wrote:

When I inserted my new 2 TB harddrive, it was synced for three days. What did it do? 

If I understand correctly about your words "the second disk adds RAID redundancy (RAID-1 mirroring), not more space.", it means by that now the data from the old 1 TB has been copied over to the new 2 TB. Am I correct?

The RAID-1 sync copied every sector of the 1 TB drive to the 2 TB drive - so they are now mirrored.  Anything written to the NAS now is written in parallel to both disks.

Three days is quite a long time for a 1 TB sync - what model 2 TB disk did you purchase?

---

@ekot wrote:

I have bought another 2 TB harddrive, do I need to restart or do anything in the admin page before opening the case and removing the old 1 TB to replace it with another 2 TB harddrive? I only have two harddrive slots in my NAS.

My goal is to create 4 TB total storage, in my understanding I need to :

1. First, copy the old 1 TB to new 2 TB

2. Second, remove the old 1 TB replace it with another 2 TB

3. Finally, expand the total storage to 4 TB

Do I need flexraid for this? Sorry I am still a bit lost, thank you for your patience.

If you are willing to settle for 2 TB of storage, then you can simply remove the 1 TB disk, and insert the 2 TB disk (with the NAS running).  The volume will resync, and then expand to 2 TB.  All data and settings would be preserved. The benefits of doing this are

• You would have protection from a simple disk failure, thanks to the RAID-1 mirroring.  Note this doesn't mean you don't need a backup, as RAID volumes can sometimes fail.
• Further expansion in the future would not require starting over with an empty volume.  Though you would have to purchase 2 larger disks every time you want to expand.
• XRAID is simpler, so it doesn't require as much knowlege on how RAID works.

If you want to create 4 TB of storage, then you need to use flexraid.  The process isn't the same as what you are thinking.  You'd first need to copy all your files to external storage (for instance a USB drive).  Then you'd need to switch to flexraid, and destroy your current volume.  At that point, your data and shares will be gone. Then upgrade the 1 TB drive to 2 TB.  The next step is to create new volume(s).  I'd recommend creating two 2 TB volumes (one for each disk), and then creating some shares on each.  Then restore your files from the external storage.

While it is possible to create a single 4 TB volume with flexraid, I don't recommend that you do that.  The reason is that when a disk fails (which will eventually happen) then you will lose all the files in the volume.  If you create two 2 TB volumes, then when a disk fails you would only lose the files on that particular disk.

Chapter 2 of the software manual gives more informaton on all of this:  https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/READYNAS_OS_6_SM_EN.pdf

[ekot]

Hi @StephenB 

Thank you for your amazing explanation, I understand it now. 

I have removed 1 TB with 2 TB while NAS is running. It is currently syncing 🙂 And hopefully it will grow to 2 TB when it is done. 

Thank you for your help.