No, you cannot simply transfer the drives. The RN314 uses a different filesystem which is incompatible with the one used by the Ultra 2, so you'll have to copy the data from the Ultra 2 to the RN314. The best way would be to backup the data somewhere else so you can put all four drives into the RN314 and create a new 2x2TB + 2x4TB array (it will have a usable capacity of 8TB, not 6TB), then copy the data from the backup to the RN314.
If you don't already have enough backup storage to hold the contents of the Ultra 2's array, you could put one of your new 4TB drives in a USB enclosure and backup the Ultra 2 array to it, then create a new array in the RN314 with the two 2TB drives plus the remaining 4TB drive (for a usable capacity of 4TB). Copy the data from the 4TB USB drive to the RN314, then pull the 4TB drive out of its USB enclosure and add it to the RN314's array. You'll end up with the same 8TB usable capacity.
Do I need to format any of the drives or set-up partitions before I move them into the new RN314.
I was planning on using the x-raid set-up for all the drives.
My plan was as follows:-
1) back-up data to spare 4tb drive. 2) Move the two 2tb drives into the new RN314. 3) set-up the drives in the RN314 with x-raid 4) Add additional 4tb drive set to x-raid 5) copy data over from external 4tb HDD 6) put additional 4tb drive into RN314 (Should I format it first ?).
If I put an external HDD (the 4tb one) into an external enclosure and connect it to the ReadyNas Ultra 2 via the USB will I need to format the HDD first and put a partion on it or will the ReadyNas Ultra do that ?
If I put an external HDD (the 4tb one) into an external enclosure and connect it to the ReadyNas Ultra 2 via the USB will I need to format the HDD first and put a partion on it or will the ReadyNas Ultra do that ?
I assume that StephenB recommends manual formatting with NTFS so that the drive can be directly accessed by Windows in case you have problems and need to read it from your PC. That's not bad advice, but you can also have the NAS format the drives automatically (although not with NTFS):
Run Frontview and click on Volumes:USB Storage. You'll see the USB drive along with a drop-down list of options, including "Format FAT32", "Format EXT3", and "Format EXT4". Personally, I'd choose EXT4, as FAT32 has numerous compatibility issues and is therefore generally unsuitable for a backup drive; if your PC can't read EXT4 directly, there are utilities ("Linux Reader" is one that's often recommended here) that will allow it to read from the drive if that becomes necessary.
EDIT: I just read this post: https://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=75861. It indicates that OS6 devices (like your RN314) running old firmware might not be able to run backup jobs properly on EXT-formatted drives. I don't have an OS6 box to test it on, so I can't confirm that, but if it's true and your RN314 has old firmware, it's possible that EXT4 wouldn't be a great idea.
...I assume that StephenB recommends manual formatting with NTFS so that the drive can be directly accessed by Windows in case you have problems and need to read it from your PC...
I know its been awhile but I just wanted to say your advice worked like a dream !!
I backed up all the data to one of the 4tb drives I bought using an external HDD enclosure.
Here are the steps I followed:-
1) back-up data to spare 4tb drive. 2) Move the two 2tb drives into the new RN314. 3) Move the spare 4TB drive into the new RN314 3) set-up the drives in the RN314 with x-raid (Factory Reset) 5) copy data over from external 4tb HDD 6) put additional 4tb drive into RN314.
Worked great.
However I appear to have a new issue I didn't see coming with the RN314 (Not sure whether to post this here or start a new thread)
But it appears the RN314 will not allow users to update the Plex server that comes pre-installed.
I have a similar situation as BingDanT. Currently have single 2 TB running on my Ultra6 with all my data. Backed it up using RSYNC pull to new RN516, also with 2TB disk which was initialized in that machine and used to upgrade it to latest firmware. So now all my data is on the new machine with the latest software and firmware, with a backup in the old radiator format running on the older Ultra6.
The ultra6 needs to go back to Netgear now, since the 516 was sent to me as a replacement
I also just bought 2x new 4TB disks, and now want to expand the volume in the new machine by adding both disks. Once I have the new raid for the 3 disks in the RN516 stabilized (2tb with all data format and firmware updated + 2x 4tb unformatted), I want to remove the original 2tb disk with my original data from the Ultra6, put it in a external disk enclosure, then format it for NTFS or EXT4 using the new NAS516 and just keep it as an external USB backup. Does this sound OK? I think I need to do these steps:
1. Turn off 516 gently 2. Add both new unformatted 4TB disks (or leave machine on, add 1st 4tb, stabilize, then add 2nd 4tb disk?) 3. Let system re-raid disks automatically upon turn on with new 3 disk setup, hopefully preserving data on exisiting 2TB disk and writing across all 3 for a single raid volume 4. Verify data is secured on new machine in xraid format 5. Remove old 2tb disk from Ultra6, place in external enclosure, connect to USB on RN516, format using NTFS or EXT4 via 516, keep as external backup 6. backup data from 516 using RSYNC via USB from that machine 7. Return ultra6
2. Add both new unformatted 4TB disks (or leave machine on, add 1st 4tb, stabilize, then add 2nd 4tb disk?)
The system will add the drives to the array one at a time anyway. I'd add hot-insert the drives one at a time (waiting for resync to complete before adding the last drive).
There might be a reboot needed towards the end (a while after the last disk is installed).
Thanks Stephen, 1st 4tb disk inserted hot, os6 gui shows 4tb disk synching (with 2tb I suppose) and display changed to raid1, ~4 hours estimate. Also, shows a portion of the health as degraded now, hoping that goes away after completion, old disk showed healthy before I began, new 4tb WD Red out of the box I'm assuming should be healthy too.
Sound normal?
Also, any comments in preparing my other 2tb (with all my original data) in the ultra with the radiator format prior to wiping with a format on the new machine?
Recall above, I plan to use that as a backup USB for the data I transferred to the RN516 by putting it in an external enclosure, and could format NTFS either by PC or the 516, though I'm leaning to ext4 based on a lot of reading. Thoughts?
Also had some bad experience formating USB drives (just bricked one) and I'm not too familiar with making/modifying/removing MBR and partitioning. Need layman approach, though I think it is important to be able to read that drive from either device, and know both can provide that option with appropriate software/drivers.
Any other advice getting the new system up and running, my data preserved on the original 2 TB drives and all new copies universally accessible on at least 2 storage devices from any platform?
@wolfie111 wrote: Thanks Stephen, 1st 4tb disk inserted hot, os6 gui shows 4tb disk synching (with 2tb I suppose) and display changed to raid1, ~4 hours estimate. Also, shows a portion of the health as degraded now, hoping that goes away after completion, old disk showed healthy before I began, new 4tb WD Red out of the box I'm assuming should be healthy too.
It sounds ok, the volume is degraded until the resync finishes. When this phase completes you should have a 2 TB volume size (shows up as 1.8 TiB on the NAS).
With mixed disk sizes, I think of the RAID mode as a layer cake. You have one "bottom" RAID-1 layer now. With the third disk, that layer is expanded to 4 TB (and converted to use RAID-5) first. That is called horizontal expansion. After that phase, a new RAID-1 layer is added on top to use the remaining space on the 4 TB drives. That layer is joined into the existing volume (so you end up with a 6 TB volume (5.4 TiB). That second phase is called vertical expansion.
The system needs to reboot to start the second phase - and it might want you to do it manually. So keep an eye out for that later on.
@wolfie111 wrote: Recall above, I plan to use that as a backup USB for the data I transferred to the RN516 by putting it in an external enclosure, and could format NTFS either by PC or the 516, though I'm leaning to ext4 based on a lot of reading. Thoughts?
I tend to go with NTFS for backup, just because you can read it on any PC. So I'd put the drive in a USB 3 enclosure, connect it to a windows PC and reformat. You shouldn't need to worry about MBR or GPT. Either can be used with a 2 TB drive, and Windows should simply handle it. Open the windows disk manager, right-click on each partition (windows calls them volumes) and delete. Then create a new one for the entire drive (windows might then tell you to initialzie the drive - not sure about that). Finally do a quick format.
With older firmware there was a significant performance hit if you used NTFS, but that problem went away with 6.5.0
