How to swap an HDD without losing data on an unRAID server with a single HDD


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I have an unRAID server with one 4 TB HDD. There is nothing wrong with it. I don't need that much space so I want to swap it with a 2 TB HDD I have.

 

My thought is to put the 2 TB in an external enclosure, plug it into my unRAID server, do a data transfer, then swap the 4 TB with the 2 TB.

 

But I assume there are some additional steps I gotta do? How do I make sure the data I copied to the 2 TB from the 4 TB isn't lost when I add it to unRAID. 

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1 minute ago, IMTheNachoMan said:

Will that work? Won't I have to format the drive or something? 

You will have to format the 2TB drive you want in the array before copying data to it, but the 4TB drive you move to the external enclosure can  be mounted with no problems.    Every array drive in Unraid has a self-contained file system that is readable outside the array.   You probably want the Unassigned Devices plugin installed to simplify the mounting of the drive in the USB enclosure.

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