Hi All,

I currently have an array of 6 disks including the parity drive which are all 3TB in size each, I am planning to increase storage capacity to larger volumes (8TB).

What is the best method in performing this upgrade assuming I will replace all array devices?

 

There are 2 basic approaches I can see.

1. Upgrade the parity disk to 8TB (as no dataa drive can be larger than the parity drives) and then one at a time replace the other disks rebuilding their contents onto the new 8TB drives. 
2. Create a new array of 8TB drives and then mount the old 3TB drives one a time using Unassigned Devices to copy their contents onto the new 8TB based array.   If going this route it would be fastest to only add the parity drive at the end after doing the copying.

Option 2 assumes that you are going to replace all drives at the same time.    Option 1 is the more traditional Unraid approach as it can spread the cost over time and allows you to upgrade capacity more slowly as you only add the 8TB data drives as you need the space.

Hi Itimpi,

Assuming I go with option 2, I would have to ensure enough connection SATA ports for connecting all 8TB + the 3TB drive to copy to the new array?

13 minutes ago, Jon Geo said:

Hi Itimpi,

Assuming I go with option 2, I would have to ensure enough connection SATA ports for connecting all 8TB + the 3TB drive to copy to the new array?

You could connect the 3TB drive via a USB dock.   This is often the way users connect drives that are nor permanently connected for purposes such as backups.  Although USB is not recommended for use in the main array it is fine if used with UD.

22 minutes ago, itimpi said:

You could connect the 3TB drive via a USB dock.   This is often the way users connect drives that are nor permanently connected for purposes such as backups.  Although USB is not recommended for use in the main array it is fine if used with UD.

Thanks!