I'm considering switching my Linux server to UnRaid. I built it as a lockdown project, but at present, its only used as a Plex Media Server, so I might as well change it to UnRaid and avoid the regular fiddling about keeping Ubuntu up to date.
Currently I have 4 drives formatted as EXT4. When I read the Introduction to UnRaid it says 'Unraid can manage an array of drives (connected via IDE, SATA, or SAS) that vary in size, speed, brand, and filesystem". Yet it also talks about formatting drives. Obviously with 4 nearly full drives, I of around 20 TB I don't want to lose data or take on a massive transcoding job..
My questions are:
1. Am I correct that I'd have to reformat all 4 existing drives, or just the new drive I'll buy as the parity drive?
2. If I have to format them all, is there a way of temporarily hanging them off the system as EXT4 drives so that I can copy from them onto an UnRaid Formatted drive?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Cheers Fogey