After upgrading some hardware, I am reducing the number of drives on my system as I have setup other backup solutions and no longer need some redundency.

 

CURRENTLY, I have a cache pool of 2 HDDs, 500GB each.

What I would like to move to is a single cache drive, a 500GB NVME M.2 drive.

 

There are a few ways to go about this, and I am wondering what is the best and safest way to do so. Worth noting that the cache is backed up every day. Here are the options that I see.

 

1. Remove one drive from the drive pool (as per the following) and then copy all the drive contents over to the new drive, stop the array and replace the old drive with the new one from the cache selection

2. Replace one the 500GB drives with the M.2 NVME drive, let it rebuild, then remove the other 500GB HDD as per the above instructions

3. Copy all the data from cache over to the new drive (as an unassigned drive). Stop the array and unassign both cache drives. Then assign the NVME to cache as a single drive.

 

I have a feeling that 2 is possible and the fastest way to do it without having to worry about moving data around. 

Greatly appreciate any input/help.

 

Thanks!

Edited December 26, 20205 yr by benyaki

I would use option 2 mostly because you can keep the cache online during the entire process, time it will take is going to be about the same.

6 hours ago, JorgeB said:

I would use option 2 mostly because you can keep the cache online during the entire process, time it will take is going to be about the same.

Thank you for your input, same way I was going. Also minimizes potential errors. Just wanted to be sure it would work. 
thanks!