I have a Drive that is showing a lot of errors that needs replaced.  I also want to replace the parity drive with a much larger drive and replace a smaller data Drive with a bigger one.

 

I read through the documentation.  There seem to be 2 different ways to replace drives depending on if the drive is the same size or will be bigger.  The last time I attempted this I guess I did something wrong and ended up losing all the data that was contained on that drive but somehow managed to keep the array intact.

 

This is the way I did it last time.  Although I was replacing it with a bigger disk.

 

To replace a failed disk or disks:

1. Stop the array.

2. Power down the unit.

3. Replace the failed disk(s) with a new one(s).

4. Power up the unit.

5. Assign the replacement disk(s) using the Unraid webGui.

6. Click the checkbox that says Yes I want to do this

7. Click Start to initiate the rebuild process.and the system will reconstruct the contents of the emulated disk(s) onto the new disk(s) and, if      the new disk(s) is/are bigger, expand the file system.

 

This next bit is if the replacement drive is bigger, but not necessarily failing.

 

To perform the upgrade proceed as follows:

1. Run a parity check if you have not done so recently and make sure that zero errors are reported. Attempting an upgrade if parity is not valid will result in the file system on the upgraded disk being corrupt.

2. Stop the array.

3. Unassign the disk you want to upgrade.

4. Start the array to commit this change and make Unraid 'forget' the current assignment.

5. Unraid will now tell you that the missing disk is being emulated. It does this using the combination of the remaining data drives and a parity drive to dynamically reconstruct the contents of the emulated drive. From a user perspective the system will act as if the drive was still present albeit with a reduced level of protection against another drive failing.

    If you started the array in Maintenance mode then this will ensure no new files can be written to the drive during the upgrade process

    If you started the drive in Normal mode then you will be able to read and write to the Emulated drive as if it was still physically present

6. Stop the array.

7. At this point the array is in the same state as it would be if the drive you have stopped using had failed instead of being unassigned as part of the upgrade process.

8. Assign the (larger) replacement drive to the slot previously used for the drive you are upgrading.

9. Start the array to begin rebuilding the contents of the emulated drive on to the upgraded drive.

     Since the replacement drive is larger than the one it is replacing when the contents of the emulated drive have been put onto the replacement drive Unraid will automatically expand the file system on the drive so the full capacity of the drive becomes available for storing data.

 

Which method(s) should I use to replace theses disks?

 

Current setup is 7 disk array with 1 parity

Using version 6.10.0-rc1 (but I am going to be updating this before undertaking the project)

System is Custom built

If you have a failing drive fist replace that one, then replace parity, or you need to use the parity swap procedure.

Should i replace that drive with the first, or second method?

Either one will work if the new disk is not larger than current parity, if it is use the 2nd method, note that it requires the server to be offline during the parity copy process.