So i bought 2 8tb hdd to replace both my 5tb installed now for parity and then reassign them into the array to expand my storage. Can I swap all the disks at the same time and start the array to build it, or do I need to do them one at a time?

 

Thanks in advance

 

~Acps

You cannot do all those changes at once and retain valid parity.  If you want to retain valid parity throughout then the changes will have to be done incrementally taking much longer.

 

If you are prepared to take the risk of running without party for a while then you can use Tools->New Config; assign the disks as you want them to end up and then start the array to build new parity based on the new disk set.   The 2 existing data drives will be recognised as containing data and their contents left alone.   The 2 new data disks (the old 5TB parity disks) will show as unmountable with unRaid offering to format them to create an empty file system so they are ready to store files.

Do i need to use that New Config tool? I was just gonna stop the array and reassign the disks that way?

You can do a new config if you want to do it all at the same time, array will be unprotected until the sync finishes.

10 hours ago, Acps said:

Do i need to use that New Config tool? I was just gonna stop the array and reassign the disks that way?

No you do not, but unRaid will not let you assign the new parity disks and then re-assign the old ones as data disks in one step.

 

If you do not use the New Config tool then the process will be:

• Assign the new parity drive(s) and build new parity. 
• If you want to maintain parity throughout then you need to replace each parity disk in turn and let parity build on that disk before proceeding
• After parity is built on the new disks assign the old ones to the array as new data drives.
• Wait while unRaid 'clears' them by writing zeroes to every sector
• Format the drives so they have an empty file system ready to receive files.

So I decided to maintain the parity since my array is 18tb. The first disk rebuilt in about 20 hours at 100 MB/s, which is fairly average for speed. However i started building the parity on the 2nd disk and it's only rebuilding at 20 MB/s and going to take 4-5 days. I am a little worried maybe this indicates that their might be a hard drive issue. I havent had any errors reported in my array yet. Is this normal and should I let it continue to build the new parity disk?

Please post the diagnostics: Tools -> Diagnostics

18 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Please post the diagnostics: Tools -> Diagnostics

 

Here it is! unraid-diagnostics-20210301-0423.zip

Nothing obvious, parity disks are SMR though, and some units of that particular model has been known to sometimes perform inconsistently.

Well thats certainly frustrating as its identical to the other parity drive, is there any chance it would get better, or is my only option to be to replace it? It is brand new so I might be able to exchange it. What SMR btw?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingled_magnetic_recording

I stopped the rebuild and rebooted my server, and the speeds are now back over 100+ MBs during the parity rebuild.