insert filled disk to array

[Azarog]

Hello, my problem is fairly simple, yet i couldn't find a clear approach in other threads (i hope i search enough, else, don't hesitate to redirect me to the right thread)

 

I have an old server with 1x 3TB, 2x 1TB filled drives.

 

On the new server i have a new (empty) 1x 4TB drive.

 

I would like:

1. copy the content of the 3TB to the 4TB.
2. Format the 3TB to have it ready for array.
3. copy back the content of the 4TB to the prepared 3TB
4. repeat for both 1TB drives.
5. after everything is ready for the array put the 4TB as parity and the prepared drives too

 

On a side note i have a 1TB NVMe, empty that can help for the heavy lifting but i plan to use it for the windows gaming VM only afterward

 

For what i've read:

• copy is better than moving (in any case i assume that by preparing the disks for array, they'll be erased of zeroed)
• it's better to do all the preparation part outside of an array (so, not adding the 3TB to the array before copying back)

 

My question is How to do it?

 

I was hoping for an app to automate the cp - clear disk - cp back (with a gui would be awesome) but i don't mind doing cli commands

 

Thank you all,

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by Azarog
formatting

[JorgeB]

16 minutes ago, Azarog said:

4TB as parity

Not clear if this is another drive, do you have two 4TB drives total, and what is the current parity size?

[Azarog]

I only have 1x 4TB

 

After it has done the moving, it will be used for parity.

 

As for now I have 1x 320GB old and ureliable drive as array and nothing else (no parity)

[JorgeB]

Aah, OK, so I assume the old server is not running Unraid?

[Azarog]

Definetely not.

[JorgeB]

OK, disks to be used in Unraid need to be formatted by Unraid or the UD plugin, or they won't be accepted, you can also use the UD plugin to mount the disks for the copy or add them to the array, without parity it will function similarly, though in the array you can already use user shares to split the data over multiple disks, if needed, copy will need to be done manually, but you can use Midnight Commander (mc on the console) or the Krusader docker, both have a GUI.

[Azarog]

Thanks, i'll give it a try

[Azarog]

My main concern is not about the parity, i just wanted to give some general context.

 

What i try to achieve is.

58 minutes ago, Azarog said:

1. copy the content of the 3TB to the 4TB.
2. Format the 3TB to have it ready for array.
3. copy back the content of the 4TB to the prepared 3TB
4. repeat for both 1TB drives.

 

Also, my backup plan is to use cli to do the job but i was looking for a way to do it more easily (i'm pretty sure it's a case that a lot of people will face)

 

 

[trurl]

1 hour ago, Azarog said:

way to do it more easily

1 hour ago, JorgeB said:

Midnight Commander (mc on the console)

 

[Azarog]

yes, i've read about mc but it is not as straightforward as i thought, am i missing something ? i thought the steps would be in a tutorial somewhere as i thought it would be "starting unraid 101" kind of process

[trurl]

Have you installed the Unassigned Devices plugin? When you mount an Unassigned Device, the contents are in /mnt/disks. Your user shares are in /mnt/user.

[Azarog]

yes i did, and the "best" way i found is going into console and doing.

dd if=/path/to/input of=/path/to/output status=progress

 

Although i'm not sure i need to mount them as they are seen in /dev, right ?

[JorgeB]

1 hour ago, Azarog said:

es i did, and the "best" way

That won't work, it will clone the disk but it won't be usable in Unraid, you can use rsync instead for example.

[Azarog]

how so ?

How should id do it then ? (using cli for instance )

 

I get this :

 

(i did not fiddle with shares just yet)

[JorgeB]

1 hour ago, Azarog said:

how so ?

Google rsync, but basically:

rsync -av /path/to/source/ /path/to/dest/

[Azarog]

I thought there was a plugin to have an unraid feedback in dashboard or something.

 

So that did the job for me :

1. mount devices in Unassigned Devices
2. copy entire disk :

3. rsync -avxHAXh --progress /mnt/disks/source/ /mnt/disks/destination/

4. put old drive in array
5. format old drive
6. add destination folder as a share
7. Copy back all the files :

8. rsync -avxHAXh --progress /mnt/disks/source/ /mnt/user/destinationshare/

Rinse and repeat for any drive.