Upgrading my unraid parity drive, any tips for a smooth ride?

[Clayto]

I'm kinda new to the unraid scene and this is my first time upgrading my array. Currently rocking a 12TB parity drive in the Parity 1 slot, but I just grabbed myself a shiny new 18TB drive to chuck in the system.

 

I'm keen to keep the system up and running as much as possible, and I reckon I'd like to avoid parity rebuilds if I can swing it. I'm thinkin' about tryin' this out:

1. Pop the new 18TB drive in Parity 2, kick off a rebuild.
2. Once that's done, stop the array, pull out the old Parity 1 drive, and start the array back up.
3. Give the old 12TB Parity 1 drive a preclear.
4. Once that's sorted, stop the array again and add the old 12TB drive to the array.
5. Way down the track, chuck in a new Parity 1 drive.

Couple of questions for you experienced folks:

• Will this plan even work, or am I off my rocker?
• How many rebuilds am I lookin' at here? I'm guessin' one when I add the 18TB drive.
• Any dramas runnin' with just Parity 2 for a bit?
• Should I just ditch this idea and swap the Parity 1 drive with the 18TB one, then preclear the old one and add it to the array?

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated, cheers!

[itimpi]

I would simply replace the existing parity1 drive with the new one (and keep the old parity1 intact until parity rebuild completes just in case something goes wrong), although if you want to go the parity2 route and then run without parity1 then that is also viable (Unraid does not mind parity1 being missing).

 

Also do not bother with running a preclear on the old parity1 drive.    Simply add it to the array and let Unraid Clear it which is faster.  The only reason normally for running a preclear is to stress test a new drive and since you have been using it as a parity drive this is not needed.

[Arbadacarba]

What would the Main tab look like with Just Parity 2? Would there be an  indication that 1 was missing? I've done it the pull and rebuild many times and have how long it takes without a proper functioning parity. (Unless I stop using the array...)

[itimpi]

Just now, Arbadacarba said:

What would the Main tab look like with Just Parity 2? Would there be an  indication that 1 was missing? I've done it the pull and rebuild many times and have how long it takes without a proper functioning parity. (Unless I stop using the array...)

When you start the array then any slots (parity or disk) that do not have a drive assigned to them are removed from the display.