Moving to larger disks on the array

[Christopher Deal]

I'm sure this is probably a simple question but wanted some guidance on the best way to accomplish this, or if it's better to just backup/nuke and start over.

 

I currently have 4 8TB Disks. (3 array, 1 parity) and a Cache Pool (2x 1TB SSD). The Cache Pools holds the dockers, appdata, etc..) These will stay as is.

 

I have 4 14TB Disks coming and I'd like to use those all and keep 2 of the 8TB around for a total of 6 disks. I know one of the 14TB will become a parity disk.

 

The current setup I have is my first 8TB disk is for a set of two shares, and the rest of the shares live on disks 2 & 3.

 

Ideally what I'd like to do is the following:

 

Parity #1    14TB

Disk #1       14TB

Disk #2      14TB

Disk #3      14TB

Disk #4      8TB

Disk #5      8TB

 

I was originally thinking to just disconnect the old disk one by one and let it rebuild via parity, I'm guessing that might take a really long time for 4 drives. Or is there a better method of moving the data? I had read about Unbalance but wasn't sure if that was the way to go. 

 

My first inclination was to just nuke the parity drive from the array (all my data is already backed up) and remove it from the system. Then connect a couple of the 14TB disks and find a way to move data from disk to disk (I'm not sure if it would mess up shares) - and then once all is said and done, turn the parity back on.

 

Any guidance would greatly be appreciated.

Edited April 1, 2023 by Christopher Deal

[JorgeB]

Depends on much data you have but rebuilding one by one is probably still the easier way of doing, and less prone to user error, also the array will be always available during the various rebuilds.

[apandey]

I agree with JorgeB. It may not look to be the fastest, but it's the safest way to upsize, while being protected by parity all the way. 

You should also consider that replacing disks one by one also means you don't have to take extra steps to copy data across and deal with any other additional steps which can cause an error, so some of the time you spend doing it slowly is recovered by you not having to nervously sit while you move data around

[JonathanM]

Technically with single parity you are unprotected for the duration of the rebuild, if you do the rebuilds in maintenance mode you can always return to the state just before the rebuild started if necessary.

 

I agree with rebuilding one at a time though, for one reason you will still have all the data on the removed drives if something goes wrong. If you move (not copy) data the chances of messing something up greatly increase.

 

Yes, there may be faster ways to accomplish what you are asking, but the added complexity would probably add more of your interactive time where the rebuilds are largely fire and forget.

[Christopher Deal]

Thanks for the insights! I'm not terribly afraid of the rebuilds as I have all data backed up on external disks each month so right now I'm only a couple of days away - and most data is replacable.

 

So what would be the best method of doing this? I have everything how I want it now, but was not sure how to set up the disks in the array.

 

I attached a photo of what my current setup looks like.

 

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong regarding this method.

 

1. Remove the current Parity disk from the array - remove drive from the server permanently (I'll have 2 extra 8TB disks)

2. Connect first 14TB disk in its place and set up parity to the disk.

3. Remove DISK 1 from the array. Shut system down and connect up 14TB disk. Assign this disk as DISK 1 in the array window and allow a rebuild.

4. Remove DISK 2 from the array. Shut system down and connect up 14TB disk. Assign this disk as DISK 2 in the array window and allow a rebuild.

5. Remove DISK 3 from the array. Shut system down and connect up 14TB disk. Assign this disk as DISK 3 in the array window and allow a rebuild.

6. Format a couple of the 8TB disks via the Unassigned disks and add as DISK 4 & 5.

7. I don't know how it specifically works with data already on the disk, but is there a way after all this is done to spread the data after the fact? Currently I use high-water but I assume after I add the 8TB's they would just be empty. Is this where Unbalance comes in?

 

This is my end goal:

 

SATA PORT 1: 14TB [DISK 1]

SATA PORT 2: 14TB [DISK 2]

SATA PORT 3: 14TB [DISK 3]

SATA PORT 4: 8TB [DISK 4]

SATA PORT 5: 8TB [DISK 5]

SATA PORT 6: 14TB [PARITY]

 

Hopefully the formatting sticks. So, if I use this method, it'll preserve all the shares and permissions?

 

Thanks!

 

Edited April 2, 2023 by Christopher Deal

[Frank1940]

I would only replace one of the 8TB data disks.  Leave the other two  8TB drives with all of the their data intact.  (These two drives will now become the 8TB data drives that you want.)  This will reduce the time required by (roughly) a factor of three!

 

Then just add the other two 14TB drives as new drives.

 

If you want your drives in specific physical slots in the case, you can shut the server down and physically move the disks to those slots.  (Unraid tracks disks using the serial number of the disk.)  There is no reason to have the three 14TB drives to be in SATA port arrangement as shown in 'end goal' configuration except to satisfy an OCD compulsion. 

 

Personally, IF I were doing it, I would just add the 14TB parity and two of the 14TB drives as new data drives.  I would put the fourth 14TB drive on the shelf as a spare in case of a disk failure or until I needed the extra storage space.

Edited April 2, 2023 by Frank1940

[Christopher Deal]

The only reason I had the setup as I did, is I want one of the 14TB disks to replace disk 1. One of my shares is dedicated solely to disk 1 (an always online disk) where disk 2 and 3 are mostly just cold-storage and maybe spin up once a month at most.

 

AH that's good to know it tracks by serial, I was thinking it tracked via mountpoint /sda etc. That does sound like a better idea, as I'd just have to deal with the replacing of drive #1 with a 14TB and replacing the parity disk.

Edited April 2, 2023 by Christopher Deal

[Frank1940]

The serial number of the hard drive is logically attached to the disk #  that you see on the MAIN and DASHBOARD tabs of the GUI.  (This relationship is what allows you to change out the motherboard (and most of the other hardware) and still have the disks be properly assigned.  (Obliviously, you will have to move the flash/boot drive to the new setup.) The    /sda    mountpoint can (and often, will) change without effecting this relationship. 

 

A quick piece of advice.  When you do the swap of disk 1 from the 8TB disk to the 14TB disk, verify the physical serial number of the 8TB disk to see that it matches what is shown in the GUI.  

Edited April 3, 2023 by Frank1940

[Christopher Deal]

Just wanted to give an update - thanks everyone for guiding me. The move went perfectly. It took about 3 days to do but the parity worked great at rebuilding drives as they were replaced and didn't have to deal with much downtime other than installing the drives and cable managing everything.