Help with order for maintenance list.

[jakeslominski]

Hello Folks,

 

I have a list of things that I need to do to my server this week before the holidays and I need help knowing what order to do everything in correctly. Attached below is my array devices as well for reference. The list is below in what im assuming might be the correct order:

 

• install new Seagate IronWolf Pro 18TB NAS Hard Drive into parity slot
• move current 8tb parity disk to array
• remove disk 3 due to errors
• remove disk 4 for use elsewhere
• install new other Seagate IronWolf Pro 18TB NAS Hard Drive into array
• update unraid from 6.10.3 to 6.11.5

 

I welcome any help, articles, or videos that you can share!

[itimpi]

Some questions:

• Do you have any specific plans about what to do with existing data on the disks you intend to remove?
• Do you have backups of anything important in case things go wrong at any stage?
• Are you intending the old parity disk and the new 18TB disk to go into slots 3 and 4 to replace the drives you intend to remove?  

Knowing this is likely to affect any recommendations.

 

my first thoughts we’re to:

• use the Parity Swap procedure to upgrade the parity and let the old parity take the place of one of the disks to be removed.
• use the standard disk replacement process to replace the other array drive with the new 18TB drive.

[jakeslominski]

I want to keep all the data. Not sure if its best to remove and let parity rebuild the missing drives or another way.

 

I dont have backups, but its nothing that I can't get back easily enough. Just some movies and TV.

 

Yes, the old parity and new 18tb will be in slots 3 and 4.

[Frank1940]

19 hours ago, itimpi said:

use the Parity Swap procedure to upgrade the parity and let the old parity take the place of one of the disks to be removed.

Do this and replace disk3 with the old parity disk since you said this disk had "errors".  (I think it is almost always best to get suspect disks out of the array and figure out what to do with them later...)   See here:

 

        https://wiki.unraid.net/Manual/Storage_Management#Parity_Swap

 

You will find a warning there about doing what you are proposing to do but since an read error on parity rebuilt would be a big problem, it is probably less risky to use the parity swap procedure in this case.

 

This process will take (at least) a couple of days.  So be prepared for extended period of reduced performance.  (In fact, I would actually not use the server at all to minimize the time required.  The longer it takes, the more risks there are that something bad will happen...)

 

Obviously, you would then replace disk4 withe new 18TB disk using the standard disk replacement procedure in the manual .  See here:

 

     https://wiki.unraid.net/Manual/Storage_Management#Normal_replacement